Passion's Instinct

Fifteen

Natalie

I cried as I laid back in bed from throwing up for the thousandth time. I had been sick all night last night, and gotten no sleep whatsoever.

Surprisingly, Hayden had gone to the store for me, and I had given him a list of things we needed.

I fanned myself with my hand and sipped on some water, as well as eating small portions of crackers. Right when I was pretty sure I was done throwing up, my body felt as if one more time would be a suitable stopping point.

I moaned. As the day went on, I felt myself straining to keep my eyes open until night came. Hayden came home around twelve in the afternoon, bringing ginger ale for me to sip on.

When night finally came, I was a lot better, and even slipped into the shower to get myself clean. I changed the sheets on our bed and took out the trash, wanting everything to be nice and clean again.

Hayden was on the phone with George for a while, so I fell asleep while he was on it, and when I woke up the next morning, he was right at my side.

"Natalie. We got the parts in the Revenge of the Sith, and we should be starting next week."

"That's great!"

"I know. And, don't forget the ultrasound's this morning."

I nodded and got up, pulling on my athletic leggings and tank. In ten minutes, we were ready to go.

Once we were at the ultrasound center, Hayden held onto my hand tightly. His leg bounced up and down as we waited to get called. We were both extremely excited to figure out our baby's gender.

"Are you sure we're not having twins?" Hayden asked.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and shook my head, smiling. "No, don't say that."

The reason we said that was we actually thought we were going to have twins because of how big I already was. I honestly hoped we weren't having twins, but it could always happen.

The sonographer came out and looked around the waiting room, mostly full of pregnant women. "Natalie Christensen?"

I nodded, and Hayden helped me stand up as we followed the sonographer to the ultrasound room.

"My name's Mary, and I'll be performing your first ultrasound today. So, you must be pretty excited about this, huh?"

"Yes, we're very, very excited," I replied.

"Well, Natalie, I must say it is quite a treat to have you two in here today. I'm a fan of your work." She smiled as we followed her into the ultrasound room. She closed the door behind us.

"Thank you," I said.

"There is going to be a next Star Wars movie, isn't there?"

"Yeah, we actually were notified just last night that we were casted in it," Hayden answered, nodding.

"I'm guessing it'll be pretty emotional," Mary said, laying me down on the table and turning on the machine.

Hayden nodded. "It'll be worth it in the end." He winked at me. "It's really fun to be in those movies, and everyone loves them."

"Yes, my sons and daughter are into it. They absolutely love you guys and the movies."

"Aww, that's sweet."

"They would be overjoyed if they could see you guys today. They're actually in school right now."

It was January, so it was cool outside. The perfect climate, which consisted of a nice breeze.

Mary sighed. "Well. Let's get started, shall we?" She uncapped the ultrasound gel and asked me to lift my tank, exposing my stomach. "Now, I'm going to slather this gel all over your belly so we can use the probe-" She held up a slender stick with a metal ball at the end, "-to determine whether the baby is a boy or a girl. Got it?"

I nodded, and Hayden sat beside me, squeezing my fingers. As Mary touched the probe to my stomach, a faint crackling noise came to life, and I could hear the heartbeat of the tiny human being inside of me. I laughed, and Hayden kissed me. We looked up at the screen together and watched, waiting for news.

Mary turned to us and smiled. "Would you like to know what gender?"

We both nodded, smiling.

"The only thing I need to ask you is, were there any expectations or hopes?"

We shook our heads, and I spoke up. "We agreed that as long as it's healthy, we don't mind."

"Okay. Well, I'm happy to tell you that your baby is a boy."

I laughed, and I could see Hayden beaming out of the corner of my eye. "Thank you." We kissed each other, pressing our foreheads together. "Thank You."