Free Give Me Desire (Reason Series) by Zoey Derrick Page A

to be able to see what she's pointing out. She moves the wand again to my right side, and I can see feet. Two of them with little tiny bones. As if on cue, the baby spreads its legs, and one foot goes off the screen.  
    Dr. Alston laughs. "Yup, she's quite the showoff."
    "She?" Mikah and I say together. I smile.  
    "Uh huh. Look." She points to the apex of the baby’s thighs. There is nothing there to look at, just some more semi-transparent lines.  
    "There's nothing there," I say.  
    "Exactly," Dr. Alston says, pride in her voice. "You have a baby girl."  
    I smile and tears roll down my cheeks.  
    "A girl," I hear Mikah say through the device over my shoulder. His voice is soft, quiet, reverent.  
    I look over toward him and I see him staring at something. I'm assuming it's the monitor. Though he's not actually crying, I can tell by the look on his face that he is in awe.  
    I turn back to Dr. A., and she is back to pushing buttons. Sometimes the image freezes momentarily as she pushes a button.  
    I’m about to ask what she’s doing when she says, "I'm assuming you'd like some more pictures."
    "Yes, please."
    After a few more clicks she pulls the wand away.  
    I turn back toward Mikah. He's wiping his eyes, not like he's wiping away tears, but rather like he's rubbing at them. I notice now that he looks very tired.  
    "How are you doing, Mikah?" I ask.  
    His hands come away and his head pops up a bit. "Thank you for letting me join you both for the ultrasound."  
    "Anytime," Dr. A. says. "I'll give you two a minute, and then I'll be back in." She walks around the bed, pulls the device out of its cradle and hands it to me.  
    I sit up and take hold of it.  
    As soon as the door clicks closed behind Dr. Alston, Mikah asks, "You okay?"
    I nod. "It's just all so overwhelming sometimes. I wish you were here right now," I say. There is definite sadness in my voice, but also excitement. “How are you doing?”
    "I'm fine. Was just up late last night dealing with some stuff." He smiles. I can tell that he's not wanting to go into details, which is okay with me. He quickly changes the subject. "A girl, huh?"  
    I smile. "I guess so." I can't stop the smile from spreading wider. "I was hoping, but you know..." I trail off. I had been hoping for a girl, but I didn't want to be let down.  
    "So you're happy?"  
    I cock my head at him, puzzled by his question. “Yes, though regardless, boy or girl, I'd be happy, so long as it were healthy."  
    He smiles. "Good. If I'd known that you wanted to know, I would have given you the envelope."
    "No, it's okay. I'd forgotten about it until she brought it up again. Besides, she seems more sure now than she was when she gave us the envelope."
    "True. What else has she said?"
    "Not much. We talked about my aversion to red meat." He laughs at that. "She said it was normal for me to not like everything I may have liked before. She also asked about my vitamins and if I was taking them, and that was about as far as we got when you called."
    "Okay, no more red meat. Got it." He laughs, teasing. "Can I call you tonight?"
    My heart pounds. "When are you coming home?" I pause momentarily at what I've just said about home.  
    Mikah, on the other hand, doesn't quite catch it. “Tomorrow, in the morning. Early. I think. It's been pretty chaotic around here."
    "I can tell, you look exhausted."
    He snorts. "Yeah, I didn't sleep very well last night."
    My brows knit together. "Why not?"
    "We can talk about it later. I'm going to let you get back to your appointment. I'll call you when I'm done here, okay?"
    "Okay. Thanks for joining us."
    "No, thank you for letting me be a part of this."  
    I smile a little wider. "By the way, what is this thing that I'm talking to you on?" I ask.
    "It's called an iPad. It's like your iPod, only bigger and a bit more sophisticated. Do you like it?"
    "It's pretty cool, though all I've done is talk to you. Not sure what else it can do."
    "I'll show you