I was late. Super late. But one of the team members didn't show up to take over the next shift, so I quickly had to call around. Thankfully I managed to get a hold of Jessica and, after explaining what I needed to get to and why I couldn't stay to cover the shift, she agreed to ditch her uni class to cover it (on the premise that I owe her one, which I reminded her that as her boss now I technically don't but... she was saving me and my relationship).

Most of the free parking spaces at the hospital were full as well to my dismay. So I parked a good distance away and legged my way to the hospital, walked at a brisk pace down the halls, until finally I reached the women and children's ward.

Breathless, I scanned the waiting room, unable to find her and begrudgingly headed to the reception area. "I'm here for Lily Williams? She's my partner due for her morphology scan results." I already hated that I missed the big ultrasound, not that they told her anything then.

"She just went in. It's door number five," she nurse said, eyes a little judgy.

I walked through the waiting room and down the hallway slightly, lightly knocking on the door. The OB opened, brows furrowing.

"Nice of you to join us, Cory," she said, standing out of the way to let me enter.

"Sorry," I said, still a little breathless. "Got caught up trying to cover a shift." My eyes found Lily who was still on a chair and not the examination bed.

"You didn't miss much," she said, giving me a small smile.

Pulling up a chair next to her, I felt myself internally sigh with relief. So long as Lily wasn't mad, that is all that mattered. I grabbed her hand in mine.

"Congratulations on the new job, by the way," the OB said. "Lily just finished telling me about it."

"Thank you."

"Now, let's go through the results shall we?"

To our luck, the babies were fine. Healthy hearts, healthy size, all normal growth, right number of fingers and toes and vertebrae at their development stage. They also showed no abnormalities just yet.

We were both smiling on the way home, Lily seeming much warmer for the first time in a few weeks. I was happy to know the weight had finally been lifted off her shoulders and whatever was causing her strange emotions would now be gone.

"Shall we find out the genders?" I asked, glancing at her as I drove us home.

"I'm not sure... I want to leave it a surprise but if it's not then we have to think of so many names... Two boy names and two girl names then a combo if it's one of each." She shook her head. "Maybe we should."

"Want to do one of those cheesy gender reveal parties?"

She groaned. "Probably not. Maybe just something with our families?" Then her eyes lit up, like she had an idea. "What if we give the envelope to Jojo? Ask her to get it made into a cake or those popper things and she can organise the surprise. She might like the excuse for a distraction."

I gave her hand a gentle squeeze as her warmth hugged my heart. Every day I found new reasons to love this woman. She was always worrying about everyone else's feelings and opinions before her own. "Sounds great to me."

The moment we walked into my family home that weekend, Lily went immediately for the stairs up to Jojo's room to have a chat with her. Meanwhile, I meandered over to my mum who was pulling fresh laundry out of the drum.

"Need help hanging that?" I asked.

Grinning, she handed me the basket.

We walked outside and began to peg the clothes onto the line.

"What's this?" I asked, holding up what resembled fishnet stockings.

"Another piece from Jojo's new wardrobe."

"Does one need to even wash this? There's not exactly a lot of fabric to catch sweat..."

Mum shook her head. "Don't ask. How's things with you though?"

I smiled at her. "Excellent. Never better. Loving the job. Babies are perfectly healthy. In fact," I glanced over my shoulder up towards Jojo's room to check her window was closed before I leaned over to my mum and whispered, "Lily's going to get Jojo to organise the gender reveal for us."

Mum dropped the wet shirt from her hands into the basket. "You're going to find out?"

I nodded. "I mean, we don't care whatever they are, you know? Just helps with name selection and the more we know about them already the better."

Abandoning the washing, she walked over to me, wrapping her arms around me. "I'm also super excited to learn something about my grandchildren."

When she pulled back, I looked down at her and smiled. "Mum?"

"Yes, love?" she asked, picking up the clothes again and starting to hang them.

"Have I let you down?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... none of this has gone to plan. I dropped out of uni. I'm making you a grandmother way before expected..."

She shook her head. "When I look at you, Cory, I see my son who knows what he wants in life. He wants to work hard for his family. He loves his partner and babies. You've grown so much thanks to all the hardships you faced. As much as we all miss the baby we never got to meet, you meeting Lily and her getting pregnant changed you for the better. And I'm so proud of the person you've become."

I smiled warmly at her. "Thanks mum."

"Just don't ever mess up again. Lily's such a catch and keeps you in line."

I rolled my eyes and hung the last shirt, before picking up the basket and heading inside with her.

"She said she will do it," Lily sighed when she sat down at the dining table with us, grabbing her glass of juice mum had put out for her.

"Why don't you sound happy though?" I replied.

"She was so... indifferent. I'm really worried about her."

Mum pursed her lips and looked down. "I am too, to be honest. The heartbreak, the clothing change, the lack of emotion... I've asked if I can take her to see someone but then she just gets mad at me. I feel like I'm losing my little girl and I don't know what to do to help her."

"I think she just needs time, Kate," Lily whispered, placing her hand on my mum's. "But do keep trying and letting her know you're there. She will surely come to you when she's ready."

We had somehow gone to bed at the same time for once. The light was still on when Lily walked into the bedroom, rubbing her new lotion onto her belly as she grimaced.

"It's getting so big," she mumbled.

"It's only going to get bigger," I laughed. "You're 19 weeks. Nearly halfway.

"There's supposed to be the size of mangos now," she said, using her hands to try to indicate size, but she kept fluctuating in her guessing, a cute little crease forming between her brows as she sat down on the bed. "I wonder what type of mango they mean because they really vary in size."

Laughing, I reached over to her, pulling her into my arms, breathing in the lovely jasmine scent of her new body wash. "Whatever fruit they are today, you smell delicious," I mumbled into her hair.

She giggled and squirmed out of my grip as she climbed under the sheets. We had been much closer again since the scan and finally she was letting me touch and kiss her more, which was nice. I had concluded that the scan must have been freaking her out so much.

Glancing at me, she caught me still watching her. "What?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Just looking at you."

"Well stop," she said, grabbing a pillow and hitting me with it. "It's too much."

"I don't want to. I don't get to look at you enough." I scooted closer to her and began pressing my lip along her jaw. She sighed and leaned into me.

But all too soon I stopped, because I knew if I kept going we would miss a chance to talk. "We need to discuss baby things."

She frowned, seemingly a little peeved that I had stopped kissing her. "What about them?"

"We need to start thinking about what cribs we want, what stroller, all of that."

She groaned. "But I have like three more assignments still and some exams after that. I don't have the time or energy to think about baby things."

"We need to start collecting though. At least looking and thinking about what we want because you know our family is going to start asking any day now, especially with the gender reveal next week."

"I know, I know. How about we go shopping on Thursday night when you've finished work? My classes finish at two that day so I can go out too."

I smiled at her and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Sounds like a plan to me. Now where were we..." I leaned back down, pressing my lips back onto the soft, delicate skin on her neck.