Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 751 : It’s a Girl

*Months Later*

*Cat*

“Here we go,” Elio said calmly, giving me a grin as he opened up the door to the clinic wide open for me. I groaned, shifting on my bloated feet as I waddled past him inside, a hand on my massively growing stomach. I was just seven months pregnant and I felt like I was ready to pop right here and now already.

“Only two months to go,” I murmured in a kind of encouraging good luck charm as I turned the corner and let out a pitiful groan as I saw the staircase before us. What kind of person put a staircase in a maternity care clinic?

A sadist, that’s who.

Elio chuckled as he took my side, pressing a kiss to my temple. “Take your time, baby. We’re still early.”

“Carry me,” I pouted at him, giving him my biggest puppy-dog eyes, but Elio just gave me a wry smile. I grumbled unhappily, knowing he was under strict orders from the doctor to stop carrying me everywhere.

I knew he would in a heartbeat, but the doctor had already gotten on me about watching my blood pressure and my lack of exercise since I’d been pregnant. It didn’t help that Elio was such a doting fiance, waking up at three in the morning to get me whatever I was craving.

He didn’t even blink when I asked him for onion and pickles in my peanut butter ice cream. It had the worst crunch, I thought as I slowly climbed the steps, Elio by my side as he kept a hand on the small of my back, just in case I lost my balance.

“You better be cute, baby,” I grumbled, huffing like I’d run a marathon rather than just climbing fifteen steps to the second floor.

“They’ll be the cutest,” Elio assured me with a laugh, “and absolutely adorable, like you.”

“I doubt that,” I huffed as we finally reached the top. “Those genes of yours are pretty strong. If it’s a boy, he’ll have your curly hair.”

“And then you’ll have somebody else’s curls to play with. Won’t that be fun?” He coaxed me happily, careening me around the hall. He held the door to the clinic open again and we entered.

“Miss Leone! Mr. Valentino.” The receptionist, Bethany, gave us a wide grin as she saw us approaching. “You can go right on back. Dr. Manning is waiting for you.”

“Thanks, Bethany,” I said, relieved that I wouldn’t have to try to squeeze into those tiny waiting room seats. We headed right back, having been here so many times we knew exactly where to go.

The examination room was just as bright and cheerful as I remembered, and I smiled as I saw all the colorful toys and books dotted around the room. After the nurse came in for my vitals and I got my gown on, Elio helped me onto the table, sitting beside me and grabbing my hand like he always did.

“You ready?” he asked with a doting smile.

“To find out the gender of our baby?” I asked, amused.

He nodded.

“Of course I am.” I beamed. “I can’t wait to see them. Boy or girl, I just want a happy healthy baby, though I hope he or she can be kind to their mommy and come out smoothly. My mom had a twenty-hour labor.”

He winced, then leaned over to press a kiss to my belly. “You hear that?” he whispered to the baby. ”You’d better come out all nice for your mommy. Don’t give her a hard time, alright?”

I chuckled, feeling as the baby responded with a squirmy kick. It still felt unbelievable how our baby could be moving so much. It didn’t hurt, but it felt odd and wonderful all at once.

Elio made a few faces, speaking lowly to the baby as we discussed the gender. Elio’d had his heart set on a baby girl, but ever since we’d decided on a name for a baby boy–after my dad–that was what I hoped he would be.

But we both agreed that either would be wonderful, a girl or a boy. Just having them born healthy was all that mattered.

“Alright then.” Dr. Manning came in after a few minutes, giving us a kind smile as she entered. She wasted no time, as usual, getting to work as she turned on the ultrasound machine, already going to jelly up my stomach. “How are Mom and Dad doing today?”

“Pretty good,” I winced at the cold liquid poured directly on my exposed skin. “Just wish you could get rid of those stairs. Maybe put in an elevator.”

“Oh, you’re not alone. We get that complaint a lot.” Dr. Manning laughed, putting the instrument over my belly and beginning to move around. The screen lit up with the black and white images. It still amazed me every time I saw it as it just looked like watery blobs to me.

“Well, the baby is a good size for seven months,” Dr. Manning reassured us, smiling as she focused entirely on the screen. “No issues so far. Good lung development so far, heartbeat is loud and strong.”

“Can we hear?” I asked hopefully.

“Of course.” She laughed as she held the instrument still. She pulled her stethoscope from around her neck, expertly finding what she wanted. Her eyes flickered back and forth as she listened intently and then smiled. “There we go.”

She kept the metal piece still as she offered the earbuds to me and I put one in, immediately hearing the steady and very loud thump of a heartbeat. My eyes heated up as tears pricked the corners and I beamed, letting Elio have a chance to listen as well.

He grinned like a silly fool, beaming just like I was.

Dr. Manning spent a few more minutes looking around the ultrasound, making sure the baby and I were both healthy before she set down the tool, handing me a fluffy white towel to wipe the gel off.

“Okay, well, everything looks good so far. Keep watching your blood pressure for the next few weeks, okay? You’re almost there,” She said with a firm look at Elio. He shrugged sheepishly then she blinked in feigned surprise. “Oh, have I forgotten something?”

“The gender,” I reminded her, giggling at her antics as she gave me a wide smile.

“Oh, that’s right,” she beamed.

She reached into the machine that had finally stopped printing and pulled out some still-warm photos. She took a moment to look them over, taking a blue marker to write out something quick, and then handing them over with a tender smile. “Only if you guys really want to know.”

“We do.” I glanced at Elio and we both nodded.

We’d made that decision already. I took a deep breath, holding the photos, and then flipped them over. Written in the blue script at the top was a, ‘Congratulations on your new baby girl!’

“It’s a girl,” I breathed in shock and elation.

“A girl?” Elio repeated, both of us staring mindlessly at one another as it really began to sink in. We were having a baby girl–a little girl.

Tears spilled over my eyes and Elio’s face split into a wide grin as he got to his feet with a cheering yell.

“I knew it! Oh, a little princess. She’s going to be so beautiful and kind, just like her mother,” Elio rambled excitedly. “Oh, I’ve got to learn how to do her hair. Ponytails and pigtails can’t be that hard, but what if she wants a French braid? Mom can teach me.”

He nodded like this was a serious matter that needed debating.

I laughed tearfully, opening my arms, and he wasted no time folding me into a hug.

“I’ll leave you two alone. Have a wonderful rest of your day and I’ll see you back in two weeks, okay? Call me if anything changes, alright?” Dr. Manning, as wonderful as ever, smiled as she left.

I was much more delighted leaving than I was coming. The little bit of dread that had been on my shoulders–wondering if the baby was healthy–was gone. We had a beautiful, healthy baby girl.

Elio was even more excited than me and much more than I expected him to be. He’d told me before he wanted a girl, but the sheer delight he took in announcing we were having a daughter to every person we passed was both charming and embarrassing.

“Bethany, We’re having a daughter! I’m gonna be a girl Dad!” he declared proudly, his chest puffed up as we left and Bethany burst into giggles, giving us a little congratulations as we walked away. His silly antics continued as we left, heading home.

“You’re really happy, aren’t you?” I asked as we got into the car.

Elio gave me a playful look as he retorted, “Did it show?”

I rolled my eyes, slapping him playfully across the arm and he leaned over to kiss me deeply.

Once we broke apart, he gazed me in the eyes, full of happiness that I couldn’t imagine him having only a year ago.

“The business is going well–everything is quiet since we took out Katz–and now, you’re giving me a beautiful daughter on top of everything. Why wouldn’t I be happy? You and our girl are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.”

“I love you,” I whispered tearfully, not sure if it was the emotions of the moment or the hormones, but I really didn’t care. Our life together was just starting, and there was nothing in this world that could tear us apart.

We made a little game on the way home to suggest names for our baby girl since we couldn’t use Vincenzo–at least not for this baby–but we couldn’t really settle on one we liked. We argued over a few pretty ones, but Elio hated both ‘Rose’ and ‘Serena’ and I disliked ‘Isabella’ and ‘Valentina.’

Elio took me home and after a quick lunch, I found Elio working in the new nursery once again. He was building some kind of furniture and I leaned on the door, my hand on my stomach as I watched him.

He had insisted on doing everything from scratch.

“So we’re going with a light purple then, right?” I asked cautiously.

Sitting on the floor, he looked up, different colored paints all over his face. The walls, ceiling, and floor were still covered with the plastic sheeting and the crib now sported a fresh color of lavender.

“Green for a boy and purple for a girl, right? You didn’t want pink or blue as they were too traditional, remember?" he said with a cocked head.

“Yeah, but I’m surprised you remembered,” I chuckled. “We’ll need more stuff before she comes.”

“Like what?” he asked, looking around cluelessly. “There’s a crib and a bookshelf, right? Babies don’t need much right?”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“Like a changing table and a rocking chair for when I’ll be nursing,” I reminded him, and I only smiled as he rushed to grab his phone, typing everything down. I ignored him, glancing around the now-empty room as I imagined the nursery of my dreams in front of me.

“A chest for her toys and a dresser for her clothes. A stroller downstairs. A bassinet in our room–we’ll want her close by for the first few months....”

As I watched my soon-to-be husband and father of my child hang onto every word, quickly looking at stuffed toys and fancy play packs for the baby, I placed a gentle hand over my belly.

“You’re so lucky to have him as your dad.”