“Is something wrong?” Ric said mimicking Alexis

Dr. Brinkley took her eyes from the monitor to them and then back to the monitor

Both Ric and Alexis seemed frozen both watching the expression on her face

“Everything’s fine…”

“Do you see something wrong? Ric questioned

 “For a moment I thought I had detected arrhythmia in the heart beat but now it seems fine. You can hear and see every thing looks and sounds ok”

The doctor still had a discouraged look on her face

Ric let out a deep breath silently but Alexis never reacted again

The heart beat of their baby sounded clear and each pulse in perfect rhythm

“But do you think something could be wrong?” Ric asked again

He wanted a real answer

“You know technology isn’t fool proof and anytime there is any sort of red flag for me I like to look in to it…”

Alexis could no longer hear the baby’s heart beat over the sound of her own

“What do we need to do?” Ric asked somewhat panicked

“I want to schedule an appointment with a specialist to have an echocardiogram done…”

Ric turned his attention to the look on Alexis’ face as Dr. Brinkley spoke

He brushed her bangs across her forehead catching her eyes

“…Like I said it could be nothing. But I want to be sure. And I know I can’t tell you not to worry but it really could be nothing…”

“So when do we get the test done?”

Ric was doing all of the questioning

“We should wait at least a week, maybe two…”

“Two weeks?” Alexis spoke up as if that’s all she heard

“It’s still early and any kind of heart problems are better detected and diagnosed at, at least seven weeks but to be even more clear, eight weeks is better…”

“So you do think something is wrong?” Ric said his eyes glassy

“The heartbeat sounds fine right now. It sounds strong… But I want to be cautious…”

“Of course, of course” Ric agreed

“Alexis” Dr. Brinkley said turning her attention to her “Everything will be ok. I just want to make sure…”

Alexis shook her head, her eyes blank

“We’ll schedule you an appointment to see how much the baby has progressed in the next week and listen again to the heartbeat… then we’ll set up the appointment for the echocardiogram right after ok”

Both Ric and Alexis shook their heads

“Guys, I think everything is fine, and I don’t mean to scare you but I want the test done. Better safe than sorry”

Dr. Brinkley handed Ric a picture of the sonogram

Ric suddenly couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the little tiny being and the word Lansing written in the corner in bold white lettering

“Now remember what I said about the eating and gaining weight. That should be your focus. Leave the rest of this up to me…”

By the time they had reached the hallway of the doctor’s office Alexis’ grip became tighter and tighter in Ric’s hand

He wasn’t sure if she would make it to the elevator, or to the street, or in the cab…

He had watched her hand shake as she made her next appointment

He had heard her voice quiver as she politely said thank you

She made it to the street

The streets were crowded and people bustled around them

His arms now wrapped around her waist, he found a place for her face to hide, a small coffee shop

“You ok?”

She shook her head yes, she didn’t argue that he should or shouldn’t think otherwise

“I know she scared you”

Alexis’ hands suddenly went to her face, her palms digging in to her eyes

“Hey, hey everything’s going to be ok. Dr. Brinkley said everything was ok. And we heard for ourselves… the baby’s ok…”

Ric tugged at her hands to pull them away from her now red eyes

“Sweetheart”

“I knew something was going to go wrong, I mean I was waiting for something to go wrong…”

“Everything’s going to be fine”

Now Ric was convincing himself

“I, I don’t mean to be pessimistic or to not believe that everything is going to be ok but God I was just waiting… and when Dr. Brinkley paused… I knew, I just knew something was wrong and…”

“Alexis, honey, it’s ok, everything’s ok. It scared me too…but everything’s ok. We’re going to have a healthy and beautiful baby…”

Ric then pulled her forehead to his lips

When he pulled away tears were streaming down her face though she tried desperately to hide them from anyone who may be paying attention to them

His palms pressed in to her cheeks crushing the tears against her face

Those tears were enough for him. Enough that he now had to swipe at his own tears

And enough with the convincing, Dr. Brinkley had scared them both. Scared them enough that their world could have fell apart at that very moment

They sat in silence

People past by, some noticed, some didn’t that there were two people sitting there with tear stained faces gripping each others hand

“Look, look at me” He said finally taking her face in to his hands

Alexis looked up at him almost startled from the sound of hi voice after such a long silence

“We’re gonna be fine. Our baby, you, me… we’re gonna be fine”

Alexis shook her head with a deep breath

“Let’s just do what the doctor said and focus on you getting through this morning sickness thing and fattening you up!” he said with a slight grin

Ric leaned in for one more kiss to her check

“I love you, more than anything”

“I love you” she said, her voice barely auditable

“Hey, why don’t we go home and you and me and Kristina, we’ll get a little dinner, and we’ll hang out in front of the TV… just take it easy. We’ve done enough for one day…” he assured her

Alexis shook her head ok and tried to compose herself for the ride home

++++++++

“There they are!” Maria said as she released Kristina running towards her mommy

“Hey there sweetpea! Did you and Maria have fun?”

“Yeaaah!” Kristina said excitedly

Kristina’s arms were wrapped tightly around her mother as if she sensed she shouldn’t let go

“Was everything ok?” Ric asked Maria

“She’s easy… she practically entertains herself”

“Yeah I don’t know where she gets that from!” Alexis said

Alexis could tell at that moment Maria was studying her face, her once tear stained face

“Did everything  go ok?” Maria asked truly not wanting to intrude

“Yeah everything’s fine” Alexis said turning her attention to a jabbering Kristina

Alexis let Kristina down and Kristina tugged at her mommy to follow

Alexis gave a smile to Maria though it quickly diminished and followed Kristina leaving Ric and Maria standing there

“I don’t mean to intrude but are you sure everything’s ok?” Maria asked truly concerned

“I think everything will be fine…”

“Ok” Was all Maria responded though she could tell by the lingering look on Ric’s face  he wasn’t sure himself “Well I’ll go and let you all have some family time… unless you need me to stay?” She asked still concerned “I mean I will stay if you need me”

“No, um…” Ric took a moment to gather his thoughts “The doctor… thinks she might have heard some arrhythmia while listening to the baby’s heartbeat and we just have to go back next week and make sure everything’s ok…” Ric explained “So we’re both a little on edge… but we’ll be fine”

“I’m so sorry?”

“Thank you, it just scarred us both…”

“It’s gonna be a long week”

“Yeah, it is”

“If you need me, and it’s ok to just need me anytime. I’m here for all of you”

“Thank you” Ric said sincerely

“I mean it… I know Alexis wanted to have Kristina to herself this week before she started work but even if she just needs time to herself for a few minutes or a few hours… will you please tell her I’m here”

“Ok, thank you. I’ll tell her”

“How about I get you two dinner before I go. I know you’re both tired…”

“That’s so great of you but we’re going to have something delivered and we’re going to just try and hang out on the couch for the rest of the night”

“Ok if you’re sure”

“I am and thank you so much for taking care of Kristina and for everything…”

Maria said her goodbyes

+++++++

Dinner delivered for three and a half

And Kristina had provided the much needed entertainment

So much so she had worn herself out

Ric held her in his arms and stood looking out the huge windows to the lights that surrounded them in the city below

“See that building over there all lit up with the blue lights?” Ric pointed

This would now be their nightly ritual

A study of the city below and whatever bedtime story that he could conjure from the top of his head

Alexis stood for ever watching the two of them

Her yes fixated, but her mind wandering

She then left them to the dark sky and the bright city

+++++++++

“She’s down for the count… Ric said walking in to the bedroom, unbuttoning his shirt

He stopped… noticing his wife, naked

He stopped to admire her

She was starting to show…

She smiled, blushing when she caught him staring

“Beautiful” was all he said

She continued to blush before she made her way to the bed not bothering with her usual, one of his t-shirts

She tugged at his arm as she began to help him undress button by button

Moments later Ric was in bed beside her, his hands roaming as they usually did but stopping at her belly

Alexis pressed her hand on top of his

“Tell me what you’re thinking” Ric whispered

She let out a slight nervous laugh and looked away from him

He moved down to her belly and began to give her small gentle kisses

He wanted her to know he knew exactly what she was thinking about

His lips to her stomach, her hands running through his hair

“I want our baby…”

The way she said that made Ric stop and look up at her

“I want our baby” she repeated

“I know you do Alexis”

“But I was so reluctant at first. I mean what if I…”

“Alexis! Honey you had every right to be reluctant. Our baby was a surprise to us both but you didn’t do anything… don’t feel guilty”

“I just want the baby to be ok to be healthy”

“Everything’s going to fine”

“What if it’s not? What if everything isn’t fine?”

“We’ll deal with it. We’ll figure out what our next step is”

Alexis didn’t question any further

She knew no matter how hard her husband tried he couldn’t give her any answers to the million questions they both had

Ric’s lips pressed against her bare shoulder with kiss after kiss

His hand went back to her belly and her hand went back atop his

They would fall asleep…

Both holding on for what seemed dear life