Human Nature

Chapter 46

April 15th, 1993

The bump.

That was all that was on Michael's mind as Mariah was getting dressed near the closet. He hadn't noticed it until she pulled her shirt down, which made the slight bulge apparent. 

He grinned, propping himself up with his elbow. "You look so beautiful."

Mariah glared at him. "No, I don't. I look huge."

"Come here." He said, sitting up.

She sighed and walked over to him. "What?"

He put his hand over her belly. "There's life in there. This is beautiful, you're beautiful."

She giggled, running her fingers through his hair as he placed a kiss on her stomach. "You're really excited about this, aren't you?"

"Yes, I've always wanted to be a father. I love kids, I love you, this entire experience is..." He blew out a breath. "Thank you."

"Huh?"

"Thank you for being pregnant." He said.

She laughed. "You're welcome."

He was glad that Mariah's moods had settled a bit, and the color was returning to her skin as the morning sickness subsided. She had an ethereal look to her, as if she were Mother Nature herself. 

"So you know what today is right?" She asked.

His eyes glowed. "Today we find out if it's a boy or a girl."

"So wanna make a bet?" She asked.

He bit his lip. "What kind of bet?"

"Well, if I'm right I get to pick the first name and if you're right you can pick."

"Alright, deal." 

She pulled his arm. "Alright, let's go."

It was Michael's first time in the doctor's office which had several posters depicting the female anatomy and a fetus at different stages of development. 

A short black woman came out to shake their hands.

"Ms. Carey and Mr. Jackson." She said with a smile.

Mariah smiled back. "Hi, Dr. Powell."

"How are we feeling, Mariah?" She asked.

"Better, I'm not having the morning sickness anymore."

Dr. Powell nodded, writing something on her clipboard. "Very good. You're about 13 weeks so you should be feeling pretty much back to normal. Also, your risk of miscarrying is a lot lower and the fun part, if you're lucky you can find out the baby's sex today."

Mariah grinned at Michael. "What do you think?"

"A boy."

Dr. Powell looked between them with a smile. "Well I'll be right back. Mariah, if you could lay back and lift up your shirt...?"

Mariah nodded. "Okay."

Michael scooted his chair closer to Mariah. "Are you excited?"

"Yes." She giggled, rubbing her hand across his face. "So you still say boy, huh?"

He nodded. "Because it is. I can feel it."

"You feel it?" She chuckled.

"I feel it."

She shrugged. "We'll see."

Dr. Powell returned with a large machine and a bottle of gel. 

"Alright, let me just set this up really quick-" She pressed a button under the monitor and turned around to Mariah. "this may be a little cold."