Settling Down [KJ Apa]

Chapter Thirteen

It's my birthday tomorrow! 🎉
So this is my present to all of you :)

- Tess

•••

The waiting room of the birthing center is always full of life. Nurses are walking around with smiles on their faces to calm down the women, and women with starting bellies are softly rubbing theirs.

When I look around the waiting room, I don't see a single shred of anxiety. Luckily, it also smells flowery. Not antibacterial like hospitals do.

Keneti grabs my hand, intertwines our fingers and pulls it onto his lap. His thumb draws little circles on my knuckle. My left hand automatically travels up to my belly, wanting to protect the growing baby against the dangers of the outside world.

"It'll be all right, George." Keneti whispers in my ear, leaning in as if no one can know we're talking.

"I really hope so." I sigh as I rest my head om his shoulder, "Distract me, please?"

"Okay, uhh..." He perks up a little, causing me to sit up and face him.

He has this huge smile on his face as I can see the memory flash in front of his eyes.

"Remember that day on the beach?"

"Which day? Because we spent most of our free time on the beach." I smile back at him.

"It was the first time we did a bonfire and stayed up to watch the stars. Until that moment I was a little hesitant to hang with you. But that night, you were pointing out all the stars you knew and I was genuinely impressed. I mean, you were actually cool."

I let out a laugh as I cover my mouth, failing to keep the loud snort from leaving my body.

"I just remember that moment really clear. That was the moment I knew we would always be friends one way or another."

I stare into his eyes and I know he meant every word he just said, because when Keneti tells the absolute honest truth, his eyes just have a little twinkle in them.

"I have a confession to make though." I break the silence between us.

"What?" Keneti frowns worried.

"I didn't know shit what I was talking about." I smile innocently as his face breaks into a huge grin.

We look at each other, barely containing the laughter as Keneti's laugh finally escapes. I join in shortly after, resting my forehead on his shoulder to contain the funny tears.

"Man, I should've known you were this sly back in the day." He sighs happily, his shoulder still shaking a little bit.

We are interrupted though, as the nurse at the reception calls out my name and appoints me to examine room 3. My eyes are focused on the door, the ghost of laughter still ringing. My heartbeat has gone through the roof; it's the sudden anxiety and the 'what if's' that cause the spike.

"This is it." I sigh worriedly.

Keneti squeezes my hand, making me look up to him.

"You've got this, George." He says, nodding reassuringly.

We stand up, hands still intertwined, and walk up to the door. Keneti opens it and lets me enter before him.

The examination room is quite white, almost clinical, with some wooden cabinetry breaking up the white walls. The examination table is ostentaciously placed in the middle, with the ultrasound machine standing next to it.

"So... What now?" Keneti asks while looking at a sculpture of baby in utero.

"We wait for the doctor." I shrug, sitting down on the examination table.

Keneti leaves the sculpture for itself and joins me at the examination table. His right hand travels up to my back, softly carressing the skin through my sweater. Yet, it doesn't calm my nerves. Especially not when the lady doctor walks in.

"Hi there. My name is Dr. Julie Patson." She smiles at us while taking the rolling stool.

"Where's Dr. Fuller? He's normally my doctor."

"He's home, sick. So, I'm filling in until he's back." She smiles sweetly, "How are you feeling today?"

"Nervous. It's the important echo today." I sigh.

"Right. Well, let's get to it then." 

She grabs the tube with the cold lube  before turning back to me.

"Is it okay if I lift your sweater?"

"Sure."

"Is it okay if I put this on your belly?"

"Eh, yeah." 

She squirts some cold lube on my belly and takes the transducer to press against it. Just before it touches, she strikes up a conversation.

"So, is this the father?" She asks lightly.

"Oh, no." I laugh uncomfortably, "Keneti over here is just a good friend. The dad, well, he cheated on me, so he's currently not in the picture."

"Right..." She nods as she presses the transducer to my stomach, "I read something about that."

I frown, as this is the first time a doctor has ever talked about my celeb status. To be completely honest, it's the first time any professional talks about it like that. What if she sells all this info to the press?

She sees my expression and chuckles lightly.

"Don't worry. This all happens in full anonimity. We all signed NDA's before starting to work here. Besides, the whole patient-doctor confidentiality. Not ready to lose my license yet." She grins jokingly.

The room grows silent for just a few seconds, until a clear heartbeat sounds from the machine.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as Keneti lightly squeezes my hand for reassurance.

"Is that-- Is that the heartbeat?" I still ask, making sure I'm not dreaming.

"It is." The doctor says, "It's not as strong as we expected at-- oh, 23 weeks. You're not quite showing that much at 23 weeks pregnant. Anyways, it's most likely in correlation with the stress and changing surroundings."

"What can I do to strengthen it up?"

"Try to be as stress-free as possible. Sometimes changing diets helps too; I'll have the nurse type some ideas up for you."

"Thank you."

"So, do you want to know what you'll be having?"

I glance at Keneti, knowing I have to make the decision, but seeing his genuine smile and the happy tears building up in his eyes, that's what I need most. Well, next to knowing the sexe.

"Yes, please." I breath out happily.

"Well, congratulations. You're having a girl."