I'll Be There

35 | say a little prayer

Spencer tried to keep a straight face while Olivia's nails dug into the back of his hand. The abdominal ultrasound hadn't picked up much and her already present nerves had skyrocketed ten minutes into the appointment. If he had sensed how nervous she was on the drive over, he would've done a better job of providing words of encouragement. But because he was too preoccupied talking himself down, he missed it. Now, her nails were sinking deeper, and all he could do was maintain a steady breath.

He knew there was mostly likely nothing to worry about since it was still early on in the pregnancy, but Olivia didn't care about facts or timelines or medical procedures. She just wanted to see her baby. With her own eyes, she needed to see that they were there.

"Relax, mama," Dr. Roberts soothed, rubbing a gloved hand along Olivia's lower stomach, trying to get the anxious mother to relax so that she could position the ultrasound wand where it needed to go.

"Liv," Spencer mumbled, half in pain, half in reassurance. Lucky for his hand, she caught his tone and eased up. A little.

An image started to show, and Dr. Roberts let out what could only be considered a sigh of relief. "There we go." Then all at once, the obstetrician smiled, Olivia's grip relaxed and Spencer remembered to breath. Turning to her pained boyfriend, Olivia offered a weak smile.

"Now, depending on how far along you are, there's a small chance we can see a heartbeat," Dr. Roberts explained, causing Olivia's hand to clench right back up and Spencer to swallow a groan. At this rate, he was going to need to ask for a bag of ice on the way out.

"Let's see here." Hypnotized by the blurry images, the couple kept their eyes glued to the screen while the doctor explained what she was checking for. "And there's your baby," she smiled warmly, pointing at the tiny bundle that was supposedly the fetus, "and that little fluttering you see is the heartbeat. I would say you're just about seven weeks along."

Spencer opened his mouth to address the elephant in the room, but being an expert in reading young parents, Dr. Roberts spoke first. "It's very unlikely that you will go through that again."

"What are the chances?" Olivia squeaked.

"Very small. The chances of second miscarriages are about twenty percent and only two percent of women will experience two miscarriages in a row," she eased the wand away, and Olivia flinched. "There was nothing in your bloodwork that would indicate you have any higher risk."

Twenty percent didn't seem very small to Olivia. That was one in five, which was definitely more than enough of a chance to induce a mild panic. For the rest of the appointment, she stared at the ceiling, listening to Spencer while he meticulously went down their list of questions.

"That wasn't so bad," Olivia let her shoulders relax back into the car seat.

Spencer's gaze shifted down to where his right hand gripped the smooth leather of the steering wheel. He could still see the small crescent-shaped indents.

"Yeah. Not bad."

She grimaced. "Sorry. I was a little nervous."

"It's okay," he chuckled.

"Hey, we got a heartbeat," she looked over hopefully, attempting to push away the heaviness. Nothing bad had come from the visit, and that was reason enough to celebrate. There were a long thirty-three weeks ahead, and she truly wanted to enjoy them.

"We got a heartbeat," he grinned. Lacing his fingers with hers, he brought her hand to his lips.

As they drove through the city, Olivia leaned her head against the window, watching the palm trees fly by and enjoying the quiet comfort that came on full days spent with Spencer.