Heaven Knows it's High Time | Joanne

Chapter Eleven

Graham reached for Emelia's hand as they walked out of the gate and onto the road. "Right, little one. We've got a special job to do today."

"We have?" Emelia asked, bouncing slightly as she walked. Joe and Dianne had gone to their 20-week scan appointment, and children were not allowed to attend. Her annoyance had dissipated the moment she was told that her Grandad Graham would be looking after her for the day.

Graham nodded. "We have. I understand it's your mum's birthday soon? And Joe thought it might be good if we went to find her a present from you. Then we can keep it a surprise."

Emelia grinned. "Definitely."

They made their way through the streets, heading for the centre of the borough. Emelia looked in every shop window on their way through.

"Do you see anything you think she'd like?" Graham asked.

She shook her head. "Not yet."

They walked a few steps further, until they reached a shop selling beauty products and what Joe would call 'nice bath crap'.

"What about some nice stuff for when she has a bath?"

Emelia grinned. "She loves baths. Let's go in and see."

Graham smiled as Emelia confidently walked into the shop and began sniffing at all the products on display.

"Mmm, this one smells good" she said, holding out a bottle for him to sniff. "I think she'd like that."

"Excellent. So we'll get one of those. Is there anything else you could put with it?"

Emelia perused the shelves, before waving Graham over to one corner. "They have candles too. She likes candles."

Within a few minutes, Emelia had selected four items for Dianne. Graham took them to the counter, asking for them to be giftwrapped as he paid.

"Well, that was quick and painless" he said to her as she stood next to him. "Is there anything else you want to look at while we're here?"

Emelia shuffled on her feet, before looking up at him. "Maybe we could get something for the baby?"

Graham smiled softly. "Of course we can, my darling. That sounds like a lovely idea."

///

"Do you want to know the sex?" the ultrasound technician asked as she held the probe to Dianne's abdomen.

Dianne looked across at Joe for confirmation before turning back. "No... I think we want it to be a surprise."

The technician smiled. "Lovely. Well, in that case I'll tell you that everything is looking good. Baby Sugg is growing well, all the organs look great. The 20-week scan is primarily to check for any physical abnormalities we wouldn't be able to see at 12 weeks, but everything looks fine. Little one has a healthy heart, there's no sign of a cleft lip or any facial abnormalities. Head circumference is normal, the kidneys are working and there are no issues with the spine. At this point in time, I'm confident in saying your baby is healthy."

Dianne sighed with relief. "That's great."

Joe looked over at the image of their child on the screen. He smiled. "It's amazing; it actually looks like a proper little person. And so much bigger than last time"

The sonographer smiled. "It does. At this point, your baby is about the size of a banana. Ah- look" she pointed to the screen, "we have some movement." Tapping the side of Dianne's abdomen, she tried to get the baby to move into a good position, "come on. Turn over so your mummy and daddy can see your little face". Once the probe was back in place, she smiled at Joe and Dianne. "Can you see that? I think someone is already learning to suck their thumb."