Spark in the Dark

Chapter 158

Shawn walked into St. Thomas for her appointment and was surprised to see Juice waiting in a chair in the main lobby. She knew he was going to be there, Clay had an appointment that morning as well that Juice had planned to drive him to, but she assumed she'd meet him outside her doctor's office. He was playing with his phone and didn't noticed her come in. She walked over and lightly kicked his boot to get his attention. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Hey," he said and stood. "Ready?"

"Yeah. Where's Clay?" Shawn wondered.

"He went up to his appointment when we got here."

"You didn't go with him?"

"He's a big boy. He can take care of himself," Juice said with a smirk.

Shawn rolled her eyes and started towards the elevator. They rode the elevator up to the right floor. Shawn checked in with a nurse and sat down to wait to be called.

"You nervous?" Shawn asked.

"No," Juice answered. "Should I be? Are you?"

"A little bit."

"You think something's wrong?"

"No, nothing like that. Just anxious really, I guess," Shawn said as she started playing with her wedding ring.

Juice took her hand. "Everything is going to be okay. He or she is just fine in there."

"I know. Pretty soon we're going to have to name him or her, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

"Any ideas, yet?" Shawn asked.

"Maybe. Let's just find out what it is first."

"Oh, c'mon! You have a name idea and you're not going to tell me?"

The door opened and the nurse stepped out. "Shawn Ortiz? We're ready for you."

"They're ready for you," Juice said and stood. He took her hands and helped her up. "I am never going to get sick of people calling you Shawn Ortiz."

Shawn smiled and followed the nurse back to the room. The ultrasound tech was already there, so they were able to get started right away.

"Do you want to know what you're having?" She asked Shawn and Juice as she began.

"Yes," they answered in unison.

"Alright, let me just take a few measurements and we'll take a look. It may take a minute. Baby sure is moving a lot. Do you feel movement, yet?"

"Sometimes. It's not really obvious all the time," Shawn told her.

"That'll change pretty soon," she said and moved the wand around Shawn's belly. "Well, if you really want to know, I can tell you right now."

"Go for it," Shawn said.

"It's a," the tech said slowly to build the anticipation.

"You're killing me here," Juice complained.

"It's a girl!"

Shawn let out a shriek of excitement and covered her mouth. She looked up at Juice to see him beaming at her. Juice leaned in to kiss her forehead. She finished up the scan and Shawn saw her doctor. Before they left, Shawn needed to get some blood work done and Juice watched the nurse do the blood draw in fascination.

As they left the office and went down to find Clay, Juice couldn't stop looking at the print outs the ultrasound tech had given them.

"You're not disappointed that it's not a boy?" Shawn asked.