Matrimonial Surprises (8b/?)
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“I’m hungry.”
Jeff glanced from the TV to Annie who was sprawled out on the other end of the couch then back to the screen, “Okay.”
She sighed and pushed at his thigh with her foot, “Heeey.”
“What?”
“I’m hungry. Feed me.”
“You can’t feed yourself?”
“No, I’m worn out from growing your child inside of me for months.”
Jeff snorted out a laugh and clasped his hand around her ankle, “What do you want?”
“We have ground beef in the fridge, will you make those good burgers?”
He leaned over the length of the couch and kissed her. “For you, I guess I will.”
Annie smiled and ran her hand through the hair on the back of his head as he pulled away. “Thank you, sweetie.”
He got up and went into the kitchen to make the burger patties while Annie stayed on the couch watching a rerun of The Walking Dead. Once he brought the patties out to the grill they kept on the balcony she got up and started cutting up a tomato and getting out the plates.
He had just come back inside to get the cheese when Annie suddenly froze in the middle of the kitchen and her hand flew to her stomach. “Whoa.”
Jeff’s heart nearly stopped and he was at her side in an instant, the cheese abandoned on the counter. “What’s wrong?”
She looked up at him and smiled, “Nothing, I think I just felt the baby move!”
“Jesus you scared me,” He sighed as his shoulders slumped in relief. “Wait, seriously? I wanna feel!”
She grabbed his hand and put it on her abdomen, “I’m not sure if you’ll be able to yet, it was pretty soft. It was like a little flutter.”
Jeff’s large hand nearly covered her small but noticeable baby bump and frowned when he didn’t feel anything. “Is it still moving?”
“Yeah, a little bit.”
Disappointment settled onto his features and he looked from her stomach to her face. “I don’t feel it. Why can’t I feel it?”
Annie’s eyes turned sympathetic, “Aww I’m sorry, sweetie. From what I read it’s not uncommon for there to be some time between when the mother feels the baby move for the first time and when other people can.”
Jeff removed his hand and small pout formed on his lips before he stalked off to the couch. He fell into the cushions and grabbed the remote, flipping aimlessly through the guide.
Annie watched him carefully and sighed before following him into the living room. She sat down beside him and snatched the remote out of his hand to turn it off. “Jeff, talk to me. I know you’re disappointed but why are you acting like this?”
“Because I want to feel my kid kick and I can’t even do that.”
“Sweetie it’s nothing you’re doing wrong. It’s normal. I mean it makes sense right? It’s inside of me so of course it’ll be
easier for me to feel movement. The baby just has to get a little bigger then you’ll be able to feel it, too. There’re a lot of layers between it and the outside, there’s amniotic fluid, my uterus, body fat, muscle, and skin and it’s just a little thing.”
“I guess,” He mumbled, still staring at the now black screen.
She reached up and put her hand on his cheek to turn his face towards her. “Hey, listen, it’s nothing personal. It’s not like the baby is purposely not letting you feel anything.”
“I know an unborn baby doesn’t have anything against me, I’m not paranoid. It just sucks because I’ve been, I don’t know, looking forward to it or whatever,” He said almost embarrassedly. Sometimes he still wasn’t comfortable with confessing his mushier emotions, or even having them in the first place.
“Aww.” She pulled him closer to kiss him on the lips before pulling back a little to look at him again. “Just give it a bit more time, a few weeks tops, then it’ll be big and strong enough so you can feel it move, too.”
Jeff’s eyes searched her face for a second before he relented and pulled her in for another kiss. “You’re right. What’s it feel like anyway?” He put his hand back on her abdomen even though he wasn’t expecting to feel anything himself.
Annie smiled wide and wrinkled her nose, “It’s really strange. Almost like someone tickling me softly from the inside. But if we don’t finish dinner pretty soon the only thing I’ll be able to feel is my stomach rumbling.”
Jeff laughed and kissed her one last time before standing up and offering her his hand to pull her up. “Point taken, come on lets get you some food.”
X-X-X-X-X
Annie stood in the lobby of the hospital anxiously fidgeting with her hands and biting at her lip. She had a 4 o’clock doctor’s appointment where they were going to find out the sex of the baby. Jeff swore he would be there on time but it was currently 3:49 according to her watch and he was no where in sight. She was alternating between wanting to ring is neck if he didn’t make it and being worried. Just as she was considering the best way to make him pay she spotted his familiar tall figure walking across the parking lot towards the building and let out a huge sigh of relief.
He strolled through the automatic door then saw her standing by the reception desk and smiled. The ‘hey babe’ had barely left his mouth when he noticed her expression. “What? Am I in trouble? You said 4 o’clock, right?”
“Yes, and it’s currently,” She checked her watch again, “3:53! I said to meet me here at 3:40, where were you?”
Jeff raised his eyebrows, “Did you check your phone?”
“No…”
“Well maybe you should do that.”
Annie sighed and dug it out of her purse as she headed towards the elevator with him in tow. She unlocked it and tapped the message icon, “Got stuck in a meeting but left early to make it in time, on my way, be there soon.”
“Uh huh, I walked out of a meeting that was running long to get here. It’s not my fault you had your phone buried and didn’t see my text.”
She looked up at him sheepishly as they stepped onto the elevator and she hit the button for the third floor. “Sorry, thanks for making sure you got here in time. I shouldn’t have assumed the worst but you know how I like to be early.”
“Oh I know. So, are you ready to find out if it’s pink or blue?”
Annie’s focus instantly shifted, her eyes lit up and she put her hand on her stomach and bounced on the balls of her feet. “So ready! I’ve barely been able to focus all day, I’ll be happy either way but the waiting is killing me. By tonight we’ll know what names to focus on and I can start planning how to decorate the nursery!”
The elevator doors slid open and Jeff laughed as he threw an arm over her shoulders and lead her down the hallway. “Which is really what you’ve been waiting for.”
“No, that’s not all of it. I’m also excited to find out more about the tiny person who has been inside of me for nearly five months and will be a huge part of our lives until we die.”
“And to obsess over names and nursery décor.”
She sighed and leaned into his side as they walked, “Fine, yes, and obsessing over names and nursery décor.”
Not long after Annie was once again lying on the exam table with Jeff at her side while the tech took measurements and checked over the baby’s development. The pair stared at the screen transfixed and gushed over the baby’s now clearly visible profile and how much he or she had grown since the last ultrasound.
“I think I see a pointy little nose,” Annie cooed.
“Great, can I preemptively apologize to the kid for passing that on?”
“Sweetie I told you, I like your nose, it’s cute.”
“That’s exactly what my mom always said when I complained about it.”
“And it’s what I’ll tell our kid.”
The tech moved the wand to a different spot on her stomach. “There’s the view I was looking for. Alright, moment of truth, do you have any guesses?”
Annie tilted her head and stared closely at the screen, “Um, I don’t think I see anything there but I’m not sure.”
“No idea, I’m lucky I can see the head and spine.”
“Annie, you’re right. It’s a girl, congratulations.”
Annie gasped and tears instantly sprung to her eyes as her gaze snapped to Jeff. “We’re having a baby girl!” She beamed.
Jeff stared down at her with that look that made her breath catch, the words echoed through his head as it began to sink in that he was going to have a daughter and he let out a breath before leaning down to press a gentle kiss to Annie’s lips. When he pulled away he smiled softly at her as he continued to stoke her hair. “Yeah, I heard,” He intended it to sound joking but instead it came out choked with emotion.
Annie very nearly melted into a puddle of goo right there on the table at his reaction and reached up to put her hand on his cheek. They stared at each other in the dim light until the tech spoke again and brought their attention back to the screen. “And so far she looks like one healthy little girl. Here’s her heart beating nice and strong, her kidneys look normal, brain looks normal, she’s a bit on the smaller side but still pretty well within the normal range.”
“So she’s not too small?” Annie asked concerned.
“Nope, sometimes when the mother is petite the baby is smaller. But she’s doing great.”
“I was actually kind of worried I’d have a huge baby because he’s so big,” She said motioning towards Jeff.
Jeff didn’t even register her remark. His mind had already wandered back to the fact that he, Jeff Winger, was going to have a little girl. He was beginning to feel the urge to apologize to the father of every woman he had ever even ogled.
Just a few days later Jeff and Annie were in bed, he was lying on his back and was already asleep while she was snuggled against his side still awake. She was tired but she was feeling some flutters from the baby that were keeping her up. Just as she was starting to drift off she felt something new in the form of a quick, sharp kick against her. It startled Annie enough that she bolted upright in bed with a gasp and her hand on her stomach. “Oh my God, Jeff, wake up!”
He only grunted in response.
She reached over and shook his shoulder, “Jeff! The baby…”
Before she even had time to finish the sentence Jeff was up and in a panic. “What, what’s wrong with the baby? Are you okay?”
“She’s fine, relax. She just kicked hard!”
Relief washed over Jeff’s features and was quickly replaced with excitement and his eyes lit up in the dark room. “She did?”
“Yes!” Annie took his hand and placed it on the spot where she had felt the movement. “Feel it?”
After a few seconds of waiting he felt the small thumps against his palm and his eyes went wide. “Holy crap,” He breathed. “That’s our kid.”
Annie put her hand on top of his and smiled wide. “Pretty cool, huh?”
Jeff never looked away in amazement from her stomach and swallowed hard. “Yeah…it’s like…wow…” he trailed off.
“Worth waking up for?”
He nodded enthusiastically, “Absolutely. We made her. You’re still making her.”
She giggled and leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips. “I’m so glad you can finally feel her move. I know how much you were looking forward to it.”
There was a particularly hard kick from the baby and his smile grew even wider. He leaned down and kissed her stomach, “Hi, baby girl. I’m really happy I can feel you in there now, even if it is kind of weird.”
Annie grinned down at him and ran her fingers through his short hair. “You should feel it on my end. It’s like someone poking me from the inside.”
“I wonder what she’s doing.”
“Other than keeping me awake, probably just moving around because she can.” Annie laid back against the pillows and reached for him, letting him know she wanted him closer.
Jeff took the hint and shifted closer then settled back down on his side so he was facing her with his hand still on her stomach. He kissed her shoulder through the soft cotton of her pajama top then laid his head down on the pillow beside her. “I’m glad I knocked you up, you know that?”
Annie giggled again and scrunched up her nose, “You do have such a way with words.”
“That’s why they pay me the big bucks to talk, kiddo.”
She smiled at him sleepily, “I love you.”
Jeff’s chest tightened. Sometimes hearing someone say that to him with such sincerity still caught him off guard. “I love you, too,” he said softly.
He watched Annie’s silhouette in the dark as she drifted off to sleep. The baby had mostly gone still but every so often he felt a little bump here and there and had to wonder if his own father had been even half as excited to feel him kick for the first time when his mother was pregnant. He doubted it, and while that once would have only pissed him off, now he found it just a bit reassuring.