Jurassic Baby

8

We told Claire the very next morning, and as you can imagine, with her in charge, the work got started right away. I hardly had time to grab my stuff and go to Owen's bungalow before construction workers moved in, doing the work we wanted.

I was at the raptor pen and Claire wouldn't leave me alone to do paperwork as she was shoving kitchen catalogues in my face. She was truly so efficient, and hadn't wasted a minute since we broke it to her that we wanted renovation work on the bungalow. She completely understood why we couldn't accept the offer to move into the new houses, and she more than understood when we told her that she could rip out and decorate everything she wanted, except for the nursery, as we wanted to do that.

"Do not worry about cost, pick whatever you want." she said, "Think of it as a baby gift."

"Are you kidding me? A baby gift?" I said, "people give you blankets and toys, not a whole house renovation, Claire. We're paying for half, whatever you say."

"Quarter." she narrowed her eyes at me and I reluctantly agreed.

"I don't want you lying to me about the cost though." I warned her and she giggled, skipping away from me with my choices. Barry twirled her around and kissed her romantically as she passed by and I rolled my eyes, returning my attention to the raptors.

Within a few weeks, a lot had changed. My stomach had rapidly grown, and it was now very obvious I was pregnant. Claire and I visited the mainland and got lots of maternity clothes to fit up until the very last week, and I also introduced her to Maria.

Claire was coming with me to the mainland to get the scan to determine the sex of the baby. Owen and Barry were back in Isla Nublar, doing the final touches to our new house. Owen had made me promise to call him the minute I knew, so Maria, Claire and myself made our way to the hospital, seeing Dr Gomez again.

"It's so good to see you again Rosie." she beamed as I got onto the bed and lifted up my shirt that was taut on my growing stomach, "so I understand you're around twenty one weeks?"

"I believe so. I'd really like to find out the sex today." I said eagerly.

"I think the sex will be revealed today, so you're in luck." Dr Gomez smiled and began the scan after squirting the cool gel on my stomach.

For a few moments she zoomed in and out of the image, moving the wand slowly across my stomach. Claire was staring at the screen in amazement, and I felt my heart leap in my chest as I saw my baby on the screen and heard the heartbeat echo throughout the room.

"So, are you ready?" Dr Gomez said, causing me to nod eagerly, "it's a girl! Congratulations! You can see just there if you like." I squealed in excitement, tears welling up in my eyes.

"Owen is going to so thrilled." I said immediately and I looked over at Maria who was crying.

"I'm having a granddaughter!" she cried.

"I'm having a niece!" Claire said, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

"I'll give you all a minute." Dr Gomez said, discarding of the gloves she was wearing. I automatically dialled Owen's number and he answered quickly.

"Well...?" he asked.

"We're having a baby girl, Owen!" I giggled, holding the phone away from my ear as he whooped and cheered.

"Are you ready for the big reveal?" Barry greeted us outside the bungalow. From outside I could tell that it was different, it had been painted a crisp white, lifting the overall appearance of it straight away.

"I love it already." Claire commented as Barry threw an arm over her shoulder, "right, let's go see the work my best builders have been paid for."

We went inside the front door, which had also been painted a beautiful cornflower blue and instead of the grey threadbare carpet on the floor, a deep wood floor had been put down with some beautiful Indian style rugs scattered everywhere. The living room had been transformed from basic and dingy into light and airy with large plush grey sofas and a new glass TV stand.

The kitchen and living room had always been open plan, but it looked so much different. The kitchen was larger with the grey wood doors I had specified and gleaming black work surfaces. Bright green appliances were on the vast expanse of work top, and a petite kitchen table fit perfectly in the corner. A skylight had been put it in the middle of the room which let the kitchen be flooded with light, and I found myself in awe. To the left, there was our bedroom door, the bathroom door and then an extra door, which was obviously the nursery. We went in and it was spacious, white washed with a simple white wooden cot and moses basket in the corner of the room. The wardrobes matched and there were large windows with pale pink roll-down blinds on three of the walls, allowing the room to be perfectly lit.

"How are you liking it so far?" Claire asked, placing her hand on my shoulder. I turned around to face the three of them, smiling widely.

"I love it, thankyou so much guys. It's everything I could have ever imagined." I breathed, hugging each of them in turn.

"You do realise there's more, right?" Barry said and I furrowed my brows before turning accusingly to Claire.

"What did you do?!" I asked sternly and I saw Owen and Barry back away slightly.

"I may have just tweaked the other rooms too." she said, smirking. I raised my eyebrows at her and let her lead me into the bathroom. My once cramped bathroom was now transformed into a bathroom with a walk in shower and sleek vanity unit with a toilet attached.

"Jesus Claire!" I gasped, taking it all in.

"You haven't seen the best of it yet." she teased and I spun on my heel, following her into the bedroom. The bedroom had been extended, it had to have been as it had been fully transformed. A fluffy cream carpet was on the floor and a huge bed with an elaborate wooden headboard was in the middle of the room, small nightstands either side. There was a large photo of me and Owen staring at each other and laughing that was taken on the beach by Claire one day, and a framed photo of our most recent ultrasound was on one side of the bed.

"Claire..." I breathed, walking around the room. Owen came up to me and laced his fingers through mine and I leant into him.

"This is so perfect, I cannot thank you enough." I turned to her and squeezed her tightly. She hugged me back as best as she could with my pregnant belly.

After I had looked around the bungalow a few more times, we collapsed on the new sofas with champagne and apple juice for me.

"I'm so happy I could burst." I said out loud, leaning into Owen more, when suddenly I felt a peculiar feeling in my stomach. I sat up, clutching my belly protectively.

"Babe, what's up?" Owen asked, concerned, and so was I, until I realised that the baby was actually kicking.

"She's kicking Owen, she's kicking!" I said delightedly, grabbing his hand and placed it over where I could feel the little feet movements. Owen's face lit up when he felt it, just as mine had.

"Oh my god, that's my baby girl." he gasped and then everyone clamoured around, desperate to feel.