The Monday after Ponyboy and Cathy's wedding, just two days later, I had my first ultrasound. I was now twelve weeks and one day, meaning I only had six days until I entered my second trimester.

To say I was nervous was an understatement. So far, everything was going smoothly, but this early into the pregnancy, there was still room for something to happen.

"Babe will you stop freaking out?" Soda said as I ran around frantically looking for a hair tie in the messy bathroom. I had about three loads of laundry I hadn't done yet, not to mention mine and Claire's makeup all littered the counter. And this whole thing about seeing if the baby was okay or not was really getting to me. I didn't think I could handle a miscarriage.

I could feel the frustration intensifying as my hair fell in my face and I still couldn't find anything to pull it back with. Sodapop came in and he gently grabbed me around my arm and spun me around to face him. Upon seeing the concerned look on his face, I couldn't help but shed a few tears. His patience was so strong with me and I didn't know what I did to deserve it.

"Listen. It's all gonna be okay. Stressing isn't gonna help anything, okay?"

I nodded. I wrapped my arms around his middle, sniffing a little. When I pulled away, Soda held out his hand. When he opened it, all I could do was laugh.

"Where'd you find it?" I asked him, taking the hair tie from him.

"Bedside table."

I sighed, rubbing my face with my hands. I quickly tossed my hair up in a ponytail. "Foggy brain is already getting to me."

"Hey, it'll be okay. I'm right here to help."

"Thank you, Soda," I told him, smiling at him.

"You don't need to thank me, doll." He gave me a light squeeze. "I love you."

I smiled up at him. "I love you, too."

"Are you ready to go now?"

I nodded. "Yeah, appointment's at nine-thirty."

"And it's nine now," he said, looking down at his watch. "Let's get going." I nodded.

"Going for your ultrasound?" Claire asked and I nodded.

"Yeah. We shouldn't be gone too long. Will you guys be alright with Robin?"

"Yeah, definitely," Greg said.

"Yeah, I'm sure we can figure out this whole... aunt and uncle thing."

Robin, who sat on the couch with a bowl of cheerios, looked between Greg and Claire and then turned her attention up to Sodapop and me. She didn't say anything, but you could see that she was nervous about us leaving.

"We'll be back soon, okay?" Sodapop told her, putting on a wide grin.

"Promise?" she asked in that small voice of hers and I felt my heart break in two. All I could imagine was Sandy saying, "I'll be right back," only to disappear off to god only knows where and that reminded me of how my mother left me with my siblings. Maybe this was God or whoever's way of saying they were sorry for ripping me son away from me and now I had not one but three kids to look after with one on the way. As messed up as it sounds, maybe this all happened for a reason.

I walked over to Robin and I stooped down in front of her. I gave her the biggest smile I could manage. "Dad and I promise," I told her. Shivers went down my spine at the use of the word dad. It was the first time I'd referred to Soda as such. Robin smiled at me, somewhat convinced we weren't going to run off and leave her. Robin tossed her arms around my neck and Greg was quick to grab her bowl of cereal before it went toppling over. I squeezed her tight. "We should be back no later than eleven."

Robin looked at the clock, then back at me and nodded. "Greg and Claire will watch you until we get back, okay?" Sodapop said, moving over so he could give his daughter a reassuring squeeze as well.

I turned to the twins. "Call--"

"Darry and Tash if we need to, we know," Claire said, smirking at me as I gave her a playful eyeroll.

"Thank you guys, so much," I said.

"Hey, no problem."

"Now go, you're gonna be late!" Claire said, making a motion with her hands to shoo us out the door.

"Yeah, we gotta go, Can," Soda said. I stood up and, seeing it was now ten after, we both hurried out to the car.

"I'm so nervous," I told Soda as I did up the seatbelt.

"Me, too. But I can't wait to see that little baby on there. And I have a good feeling." He sent me a reassuring smile.

"You always have a good feeling."

"Hey, those tacos last night didn't give me a good feeling."

"That's probably because you loaded them with beans."

He let out a boisterous laugh and turned back to me with a smile.

"Eyes on the road, hotshot," I joked and he just bit the inside of his cheek, smile still evident, and turned his attention back to the road.

We arrived at the hospital not too much later and we got all checked in. The nurse-- a different one from the last time-- did all my vitals and took down my height and weight again, even though I don't think I've grown any taller in the last few weeks.

"Ready to see your baby?" Dr. Manny asked.

"Definitely," I said.

"Alright, come with me."

Dr. Manny led us out of the small room and down a hallway. She took us to a completely different wing and then into a room with a giant machine. There were a bunch of switches on one side and a monitor on the other. Over the bed was a giant gadget that looked like a crane. The part on the end is a weird kind of camera and that's how you get the image of the baby on the monitor.

"I'll need you to lay here on the bed and I'm going to go and get the ultrasound technician."

I nodded and, while she left, I got comfortable on the bed. Sodapop stands next to me and holds my hand reassuringly. He studies the machine, his eyebrows scrunched up.

"This is so weird," he said.

"What is?"

He waved his hand around, gesturing to all the machinery. "This is really gonna help us see our baby?" Him saying our baby like that sounded so heartwarming.

"Yes," I said.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so weird about it... I've just never done this before."

"Well, now you get to experience it all."

Just then, the technician walked in. He looked to Soda and me, then waved. "I'm Doctor Chance. Here to see your baby?" he asked and we both nodded.

"Can you tell me approximately how far along you are?"

"Eleven weeks yesterday," I told him.

"Alright, so your baby isn't going to be very big, but we should still be able to see it." He started getting the machine ready. "You've had plenty of water today, right?"

I nodded. "A ton."

"That's good. The more water you drink, the clearer the picture will be. Now, if you could pull up your shirt and push down your pants so we can get to the lower abdomen where your uterus is."

I pulled my shirt up and tucked it underneath my bra before pushing my pants down. Dr. Chance pulled the sheet up and tucked it down into my pants. Sodapop held my hand as the technician put the gel on my stomach. I sucked in a breath. It was cold.

"Alright, now let's find your baby." He pulled the wand down from overhead and placed it down onto my abdomen. It glided around my lower stomach. "Here we go," he said. He pointed to the monitor. "The black part around here, that's your uterus and then this black part here inside the white area is your baby."

"Oh my god," Soda gasped, squeezing my hand. "It's so tiny." I could see a few tears threatening to spill.

"Aw, Soda," I cooed.

"What? I'm not crying." He quickly wiped his eyes with his free hand. 

"Right now, he's about the size of a brussels sprout. Heart rate is good and he seems to be overall healthy."

I sighed with relief.

"Can you tell the gender?" Sodapop asked.

"Not yet. The baby's genitals are still developing. We won't be able to tell until as early as sixteen weeks, but it could be as late as twenty weeks."

He nodded slowly.

"Would you like pictures?" the technician asked. Soda nodded his head up and down.

'''

Soda and I walked out to the car.

"You know what sounds good?" I said as he started up the car.

"Hmm?"

"A big, red apple. Like those shiny, crunchy ones they have in produce. That sounds so delicious."

"How about we stop by the store, the, and get some? I think we need bread and a few other things, too."

I nodded. I reached into the glovebox and pulled out an old receipt Soda had shoved in there and dug around in my purse until I found a pen.

I wrote down a short list.

"Your handwriting is so messy," Soda commented.

"First of all, we're in a moving car," I replied. "And second, yours isn't much better." He just grinned.

"You've always got a good argument, don't you?"

"Hey, I'm a woman."

After grabbing what we needed from the store, we headed home. I couldn't wait for those apples; Sodapop had to yell at me to wait until after they were washed. We pulled up in the driveway and I went to grab a few bags, but Soda stopped me.

"What? They're not even that heavy," I said.

"Again with the arguing?"

"Yes. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can't help."

He sighed, knowing I was just going to continue to argue. He let me carry in a few of the lighter bags while he handled the heavier ones.

Greg, Claire, and Robin all greeted us as we stepped inside. I glanced up at the clock, noticing it was almost 10:45.

"You're back!" Robin yelled, scampering off the couch and running to give us a proper hug.

"We're back!" I exclaimed in return.

"Let me help with that," said Greg as he followed over. He took my bags and followed Soda to put groceries away.

"Back to work tomorrow," Sodapop complained from the kitchen.

"I've still gotta talk to Jesse about taking up that office job," I said.

"You're moving to the office?" asked Greg.

"Yeah. I can't be around the fumes and everything. And, once I get bigger, it'll be difficult for me to bend down, let alone be getting under cars and stooping over engines all day. Anyways, I've done office work before. It's nothing new to me. I prefer being in the garage, but Jesse needs help in the office and that's a better place for me while I'm pregnant."

"Did you get any pictures?" Claire asked excitedly as she washed off an apple. She handed it to me and I smiled knowingly over at Sodapop.

"Yeah. You guys wanna see?"

"Um, of course!" I pulled the pictures out of my purse and handed them over to my brother and sister. Claire even held them out for Robin to be able to see.

"Is that little black bean thing the baby?" Greg asked.

"Yep!" said Soda proudly.

"Do you know the gender yet?"

"We won't find out for a couple months, yet."

"Have you thought of names?"

"Honestly, no, we haven't," I said, looking behind me at my fiance. "Suggestions would be great, though."

Hiya! I'm still undecided on names for baby Curtis but any suggestions would be great! I'd love to see what you guys are thinking.