On Love: Agape!!!

Chapter 10

9:00 am Week 12, May 9th, 2017

"Good morning Yuri! Good morning Baby!" Viktor greeted, smiling from ear to ear. I opened my eyes a little, and see he's crouching next to the bed, at eye level to me. A soft rain taps against the large window behind the bed, and the light is on its lowest setting.

"Good morning Viktor."

"I can't wait for the appointment! It's 9:00 right now, so we have an hour to get you presentable and fed and then to the hospital!"

"I can see you're excited." I chuckle.

"Of course I'm excited! We have the first ultrasound today! Now get up, get dressed, and meet me in the dining room! I have a special breakfast for you!" He divulged, skipping out of the room.

I put on a long sleeve-blue striped t-shirt and jeans. I've been wearing more form-fitting shirts lately, to show off my bump. I never had the confidence to wear those kinds of shirts before, in fact, I've felt somehow more confident in my decisions since I became pregnant. Ever since the baby has been inside me, they have brought out sides to people I've never seen before. I don't think Viktor's ever been this giddy, and while I don't think Yuri's improved overall mood isn't directly caused by the baby, the nurturing environment their existence has caused is one that is helping him flourish.

After I finished getting ready, (with NO morning sickness!!! Thank you for the second trimester!) I went into the dining room, rather excited for what Viktor's "Special Breakfast" would be. Not many people know this, but Viktor rather enjoys cooking, especially Russian foods like Blini and Knish. But to my delight, his surprise isn't something home0 cooed, but strawberry pop tarts with peanut butter spread on top, and peppermint hard candy crushed up and sprinkled on top, with a side of cinnamon apple sauce for dipping. For whatever reason, I've been craving really sweet foods, and this was the combination that seemed to pop into my head the most. Not that I was supposed to have it often because it contained literally all of the sugar I was supposed to have in my entire day.

But what my new found favorite food of all time is those American styles Peppermint Hard candies. There just perfect. They aren't too big, you don't chew them, so they last longer, yet the flavor still stays, not to mention they were the only thing that would settle my stomach. I've become so obsessed with them, I'm pretty sure at some point someone (probably Mari) is going to start bribing me to do stuff with them, and It will absolutely 100% work. I remember a few weeks ago, I overheard a conversation between Her and Viktor, swearing there must be cocaine in those things, otherwise he wouldn't be so obsessed with them. Viktor, of course, replied that there couldn't possibly be cocaine in them, after all, if there were, it wouldn't be sold in stores and such, so Mari had to explain that it was just a joke and to stop taking everything so
seriously.

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10:18 am, Hasetsu Maternity Clinic

As we sat in the flatiron room, me on the elevated cushioned table, Viktor in a swivel chair by my side, waiting for the Ob/Gyn, the ever-mounting nerves that had been building up inside of me since the night before, suddenly skyrocketed. My entire body felt heavy, as I trapped in a gigantic container of mud, my chest became tight, my right hand instinctively held my stomach, my breathing starting to shallow. What if something was wrong with the baby? What if they weren't developing properly, what if I had accidentally done something that would hurt the baby?!

"What if the ultrasound hurts the baby? It's all sound waves, what if it hurts their ears?" I panicked, thinking of all the blog posts and medical journals and baby magazines I had read online

"The baby can hear from inside the womb?"

"Yeah, starting at 18 weeks but our baby is only 12 weeks so that should be ok but what if the lady in the lobby and what if we're having twins and the-" I fretted, my breathing becoming more rapid my vision starting-to blurtogerinonebigaxiousswirlofdoom and-