Back to normality?

Chapter 24

Six weeks later, it was the first week in February and Carla was now at 20 weeks; although she still had her moments of doubt and uncertainty, she had continued to stay strong and embrace the pregnancy. On the morning of her next scan, she woke up in Peter's arms, his hand resting on her bump; now she had started showing, everyone in the street was aware of the new gossip but as of yet, no one had said anything in front of Carla herself. Sitting up, she ran her fingers through her hair and gently touched her bump; she couldn't put her finger on what had woken her up but she recognised she felt anxious. Not wanting to take an anxiety tablet before going to her appointment, she turned back to Peter and gently shook him; as his eyes opened, he saw the familiar look in her eyes and sat up.

"What's wrong?"

"I feel anxious" she admitted.

"About what?"

"I don't know; I woke up feeling it"

"Okay, remember your breathing; in for five, then out for five. Do it with me..."

Taking her hands, she copied his breathing and matched it; she felt his one hand rubbing her back as the thumb on his other stroked across the back of her hand.

"That's it, keep going"

"Its not working" she said, getting herself worked up.

"Its okay, try not to talk; everything is fine. Our baby is fine and in a couple of hours, we'll know if we're having a boy or girl; we can start on turning the spare room into a nursery. You have nothing to feel anxious about; we're going to go to the appointment and then we can decide what to do later"

"What if it's not okay?" She whispered.

"Why wouldn't it be?" He asked, kissing her hair.

"Our last one wasn't"

"Love, having a miscarriage in the past, five years ago, doesn't mean anything will happen this time; all the tests that all the doctors have been running have been fine. If there had have been something wrong, they would've picked it up by now; try not to worry about it. Focus on your breathing..."

As she finally started to calm down, she leant against him; feeling his fingers tangling in her hair as he allowed her the time to recover. Two hours later, they were in the hospital room, a midwife preparing to conduct the scan as the doctor checked over her notes; lying on the bed, she lifted her dress to under her breast and moved the waistband to her leggings down before gripping Peter's hand.

"This will be cold Mrs. Connor" the midwife warned as she squirted the gel onto her bump.

As the wand ran over her bump, the sounds of a strong heartbeat filled the room; the doctor took a closer look at all the measurements before nodding to the midwife and leaving the room.

"Is everything okay?" Carla asked, having notice the doctor leaving. "Where's he going?"

"Given your medical history, Doctor Williams wanted to personally check your scan before getting back to his clinic; everything is looking perfect. Baby Connor is a healthy weight and size and in a perfect position to tell their gender; would you like to know?"

Carla turned to Peter who was still staring at the screen.

"Peter? Can we?"

"Do you want to love?" He asked, tearing his eyes away to look at her.

"I do"

"Okay, then we will"

As they both turned back to the midwife, she double checked before turning back to them.