“I’m okay,” I said. “I’m just really excited.”
“I’m excited, too.” His thumb brushed over my knee. “We’re going to find out who they are today.”
My chest fluttered. “I know.”
The door to the imaging waiting room opened, and a woman in maroon scrubs stepped out.
“Nora Archibald?”
Theo and I looked at each other. From the look in his eyes, I could tell he was feeling everything I was.
Excitement.
Nerves.
Hope.
Theo stood first and held out his hand. “Ready to find out what we’re having?”
I took his hand and rose carefully. “I can’t wait.”
Later that night, after we celebrated Charlotte crushing her first day of kindergarten over dinner and dessert of her choice, we went into the living room for the little gender reveal that we had planned.
Just the three of us.
No balloons. No confetti cannons. No audience.
Just us.
Charlotte sat crisscross on the couch, her curls still a little wild from the wind outside.
“Okay,” Theo said, setting a gift bag on Charlotte’s lap. “Inside this bag are baby clothes.”
Charlotte’s eyes went huge.
“If the baby is a boy,” I added, “the clothes will be blue.”
“And if the baby is a girl,” Theo said, “they’ll be pink.”
Charlotte gasped like we’d just told her the baby was going to be a dragon.
As I held up my phone to record her reaction, Theo stepped behind me, arms wrapped around my rounded belly, his chin resting near my shoulder.
“Ready?” he asked.
Charlotte nodded hard.
“Okay,” Theo said. “You can open it up now.”
Charlotte squealed as she ripped the tissue paper out at record speed.
Then she froze, staring into the bag like it might bite her.
“It’s a…” she whispered. “It’s a…”
She reached in and pulled out a tiny blue onesie and matching little shorts, holding them up like a prize.
“Boy!” she shouted.