My Number One Fan

~Saturday~
The show playing on the television only held half of my attention. I was starting to get worried. Jeff should have been home by now, sure he was only here a week, but it would be a week of us catching up. Not only that, but his birthday was this Monday, and the first ultrasound was scheduled for the same day.
“Why is it that women always want to fix what doesn’t need fixing?” the older guy on the television asked the younger woman. She turned to him smiling.
“”Makes us feel all warm inside,” she replied. He smirked a little.
“So does scotch, but it doesn’t cost you a house.” The front door opening had me turning around.
“Riley?” a voice called. I smiled and stood up, running to the front door and jumping into his arms.
“Jeffy,” I said, burying my face in the hollow of his neck. He wrapped his arms tightly around my back, kissing my cheek every so often.
“Damn, I missed you.” he said, grabbing my face and pressing his lips to mine.
“I missed you,” I said when I could talk again. He pulled back more and looked me over. I knew there were changes to me that he wasn’t used to seeing, my body had started to fill out more from the pregnancy.
“So, how are you feeling?” he asked, grabbing my hand and bringing it up to his lips.
“A lot better now,” I said. I knew it was cheesy, but it was the truth. “So, your birthday is coming up,” I started saying.
“So is yours.” he pointed out.
“Well, I have a surprise set up for you on Monday.” I continued. He nodded and pressed himself closer to me.
“Don’t give it away.” he said, bending his head forward. I smiled as his lips met mine again. He was just about to slip his tongue into my mouth when I suddenly gagged.
“Damn sorry,” I muttered before running to the half-bathroom. I heard him follow, and he sighed when he saw me doubled over.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how sudden that is,” he said, kneeling beside me.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said as soon as I could talk. I took a deep breath to settle my stomach as Jeff grabbed a wash cloth to wipe at my face.
“You’re not the only one suffering,” he said, a smile on his face. “I’ve been exhausted all week.”
“Men do take some of the strain.” I said, walking into the living room and sitting back down on the couch.
“Shane mentioned that you could be going through the hormones already.” Jeff said, sitting next to me.
“Yeah, I had an appointment a couple days ago, I asked Rorwan about it and she told me it could happen.” I noticed he wasn’t exactly looking at my face, but further down. “See something you like?” I asked him teasingly.
“You’re filling out,” he pointed out.
“I know, I look like I’m bloated.” I said, looking down at myself.
“For now,” Jeff said, shrugging. “So, I have a confession, we were in Austin, so I decided to go down and tell Mike.”
“I know, he called and told me.” I admitted. I brought my legs up beneath me and leaned against him, letting my head rest against his chest.
“If touring keeps up like this it’s going to kill me.” Jeff muttered wrapping his arms around my shoulders. I didn’t reply, I was too content to think of anything to say. I felt my eyelids droop the longer we sat together.
“You know what I can go for right now?” Jeff asked suddenly. “A nice nap in our bed.”
“That sounds wonderful, just one problem,” I said, my eyes still closed.
“What’s that?” Jeff asked. I felt his lips on my head, and smiled.
“I don’t’ want to move.” I answered, snuggling into him more. He felt his lips twitch in a smile. He stood up, and I gasped as he picked me up and started carrying me up the stairs.
“Well, I guess this works,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. He laid me down on the bed and quickly laid beside me, groaning as he stretched out fully. I put my head on his shoulder again, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
“Oh, Rorwan said after next month, if I’m still doing okay, she’s going to take the high risk status off.”
“That’s great. So what’s this surprise you have for me?” Jeff asked suddenly.
“You’ll see on Monday.” I replied, moving my hand so it rested on his stomach.
“Just give me a little hint?” he asked.
“Fine, we’re going to be going to Raleigh.” I said.
“I can deal with that.” he said back, resting his arm over his eyes. It was a few minutes later that I realized he was asleep.

~Monday~
“Jeff, c’mon we’re going to be late!” I called, jittery at the thought of what we were getting ready to do.
“Hang on a sec, my damn zipper broke on those jeans.” Jeff grumbled running down the stairs in a new pair of jeans. “That’s the last time I spend 80 bucks on a fucking pair of jeans at a mall.”
“Why the hell did you spend so much on them in the first place? Wal-Mart has just as good jeans for half that.”
“I know,” he said. “Just seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“What did that teach you about impulse purchasing?” I asked, getting into the driver’s side of my car. Since Jeff had no idea what was going on today, I had to drive.
“Never spend 80 bucks on a pair of jeans,” he grumbled more. I shook my head and started the car, pulling out of the driveway onto the road. When I hit the highway, I set my cruise control to the speed limit.
“So, you’re not telling me a single thing about what we’re doing?” Jeff asked, staring out the window at the passing woods.
“If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise,” I said. “And to be completely honest, I totally spaced out about it being your birthday today when I agreed to do this, so I just thought it would be the perfect birthday present for you.”
“I’m not going to be able to top it am I?” Jeff asked, looking over at me.
“It’s not a competition Jeffrey,” I said. “Besides, you’ve already given me everything I could ask for.” I let on of my hands fall and rest on my stomach. Jeff’s hand covered mine as our eyes met for a split second. We were silent the rest of the way, occasionally making a joke or singing along to the radio. When I saw the exit, I took off the cruise control and pulled over into the lane. I pulled into the doctor’s office parking lot, and looked over to see Jeff’s confused gaze.
“I thought your appointment went well last Thursday,” he said, looking over at me.
“It did.” I replied, getting out of the car and walking to the front door.
“So, why are we here?” Jeff asked, following me inside.
“Riley Hardy here for her appointment.” I said to the secretary. She nodded and jotted my name down. A few minutes later, Rorwan came out.
“So we missed you the last appointment Jeff. So glad you could make it for this one.” Rorwan said as we followed her into the back.
“I wouldn’t of came without him, especially not for this today. It’s his birthday and this is my gift to him.”
“That’s sweet,” Rorwan said. “Just lay on the table and lift up your shirt. The tech will be in in a minute.”
“Thank you,” I said, sitting down on the exam table.
“Tech? Riley Michelle you better tell me what the hell we’re doing here.” Jeff said, standing in front of me. Before I could say anything, a woman entered the room.
“I’m Margret, I’m the ultrasound technician.” she said. I looked up at Jeff’s shocked expression.
“U-ultrasound?” he asked, looking back down at me. “As in,”
“We’re going to get to see the baby for the first time Jeff.” I said, grabbing his hand. He stared at me for a long moment before realizing we were waiting on him so we could get started.
“So, if you would just lift your shirt over your stomach,” Margret said, setting up the ultrasound device. I laid back and lifted my shirt, shivering when she squirted the cold gel on my bare skin. Jeff grabbed my hand and kissed my head as the black and white picture came up on the screen. After a few adjustments, there was a sudden hollow looking area, and in the middle of the black was a mass of white, which was undeniably in the form of a developing baby.
“Oh my God,” Jeff muttered, staring at the screen. I couldn’t take my eyes away from the image if I tried. I could just barely make out the curve of the baby’s head, and even what looked like an arm. Margret pointed to the spot and confirmed that’s what it was.
“Here’s the head, and the tail.” She said. “Looks like the spine is starting to develop as well.” I heard a sniffle behind me, and that was enough for me to turn my head around. Jeff was still staring at the screen, but his eyes were bright with unshed tears. He looked down at me finally and brought the hand that was still in his up to his face.
“That’s our baby,” he said, smiling.
“I was told your case,” Margret informed us. “I wish you both the best of luck.”
“Thank you,” I replied, looking over at her. “Do we get print outs?”
“Of course,” Margret replied with a grin. She printed out 5 different images. “In case you have someone you wanted to send any too.”
“Baltimore,” Jeff replied before I could say anything. Margret helped me clean off the gel from my abdomen and I was done.
“Thank you,” Jeff said as soon as we were out of the building. I just shrugged and handed him the car keys.
“You can drive home,” I said, climbing into the passenger seat. He got into the driver’s seat, but didn’t start the car.
“The image is burned in my mind right now,” he admitted. “That was out baby growing inside of you.”
“I know,” I said. “I always heard the ultrasound was a magical thing, but I didn’t realize it was that amazing.”
“Just wait till the kid gets bigger and more formed, then we can start arguing about who he or she will look like.”
“Can’t wait,” I said, smiling at him. He shook his head and started the car, backing up and pulling onto the street. The ride home seemed to take less time than it normally would of.
“Do you want to start showing them off?” I asked, talking about the sonogram pictures.
“One thing before we do that,” Jeff said, passing out driveway. When he passed my aunt and uncle’s driveway, I knew we were now heading into town.
“What are we doing?” I asked, looking up at him with confusion in my eyes.
“Post office, to send a couple to Baltimore.” Jeff replied. I nodded, remembering he mentioned sending them there while we were in the exam room. We reached the post office and got two envelopes and a roll of stamps. I filled out the address information for Baltimore and Texas, and then filled out mine and Jeff’s address on both of them. Jeff placed a picture into each envelope and handed it to Sam, the post office manager.
“Haven’t seen the two of you in a while,” Sam commented, looking Jeff and me over. “I heard about the baby, congratulations.”
“Thanks Sam,” Jeff replied. “We just had the first ultrasound done today and we sent a couple pictures from it to her family.”
“Texas and Maryland, pretty far journeys.” Sam said, placing the envelopes into the outgoing mail slot.
“Not too bad,” I said, resting my hand and elbow on the counter. “Considering what they’re getting.”
“Yeah understandable. You know my oldest just had a little girl of her own.”
“Oh really?” Jeff asked. “Miranda right?”
“Yep, 27 with her first baby. How old are you two now?” Sam asked.
“33,” I muttered.
“Nothing to be ashamed of.” Sam said kindly.
“I know, my Dad was a lot older when he had my brother and sister.” I said.
“Well, we need to get heading out. We haven’t even showed the family here yet.” Jeff said, grabbing my hand.
“Congrats to the two of you again.” Sam replied, walking around the counter. He shook Jeff’s hand and kissed my cheek.
“Thanks Sam, you enjoy that granddaughter of yours now too.” I said, following Jeff out of the post office.
“Ha, that just got me thinking, how do you think our Dads are going to handle this?” Jeff asked as we pulled back onto the road.
“No idea,” I said, smirking. We pulled into my aunt and uncle’s driveway, surprised to find Dad’s car by the house.
“Hello!” I called when I walked into the house.
“Hey you two, where did you go earlier?” Dad asked, looking over at us. We needed to get Matt, Mandy, Jason, and Gilbert over here, so Jeff quickly left to call them.
“No where, just out.” I said, sitting next to him. Sara, who had Chasey in her lap, looked at me with a smile on her face.
“You’re gonna have to buy a new wardrobe soon girl,” Dad said, looking me over. “That shirt’s stretched beyond it’s limits.”
“It’s your grand kid causing that,” I pointed out. He just shrugged and wrapped his arms around my shoulders as Jeff walked back into the house, Gib and Matt following right behind him.
“No Mandy and Jason?” I asked, looking up at my brother-in-law.
“They’re coming, Jason’s cranky today.” Matt replied just as the two walked in.
“So, Jeff said you had something to show us.” Amanda said, looking around. I stood up and in front of everyone. Gib, Amanda and Jason sat on the couch while Matt stood behind them.
“By the way, happy birthday Jeff!” Matt shouted suddenly.
“It really was, Riley set up a great surprise for me.” Jeff replied, smiling. He reached into his back pocket and pulled the sonogram pictures out. “We had the first ultrasound done,” he announced.
“Really, are those images?” Sara asked, nearly tripping in her haste to stand up.
“Yep,” I said, grabbing one and handing it to her.
“Oh my goodness look at that!” she squealed taking the picture and showing Dad. He looked at it, amazement in his eyes. I handed one printout to my aunt and uncle and the other one to Gib, Matt and Mandy.
“Eww, I’m seeing my sister-in-law’s uterus,” Matt mumbled, looking at the picture. “This is great though, it looks like a sea monkey though.”
“Hey, that little Sea Monkey is your niece or nephew,” I pointed out. Matt just shrugged, but received a smack to the head from Amanda.
“Uncle Jeff?” Jason asked suddenly.
“Yeah buddy?” Jeff asked, looking down at our nephew.
“Are you going to be a Daddy?”
“Yeah, I am. Why?”
“You’re going to be a good one.” Jason said.
“Thank you, that means a lot.” Jeff replied, smiling. I watched the exchange and glanced over at Dad. He was staring at the sonogram picture.
“She would have been freaking out over this.” he muttered suddenly. He looked up at me, and I knew right away he was talking about my mother.
“We sent copies to Baltimore, and Houston.” I informed him. He nodded, sighing as he handed the picture back to me. “What’s wrong Dad?” I asked, sitting on his lap.
“Nothing,” he said. “Just taking everything in. It’s really happening isn’t it?” he looked up at me and smiled. “You’re about to become a mother.”
“I am,” I said.
“We have so much to celebrate tonight,” Aunt Mary said. “Call the others and get them over here.”