Can’t Look Away

“What do you think about ‘Gabrielle’?”

Lionel looked up from his tablet, smiling as he watched Sasha pad across the kitchen, retrieving the toast that she had left in the toaster. It wasn’t the first suggestion that she had made. In the weeks that had passed since she had fainted, she had taken to starting conversations with Lionel by suggesting a potential name for their baby, and it never failed to make him smile. It had taken a little while for things to settle down again. The kiss had hurt Sasha, and it wasn’t the kind of thing she had been able to simply put behind her, but after Lionel had returned home, things had slowly knitted back together between them and left them in a good place.

“I think that most of your suggestions seem to be girls names” Lionel quipped “You know that we could be having a boy, right?” he prodded.

Sasha glanced over at him, offering him a playful roll of her eyes.

Lionel held his hands up innocently. “I’m just saying” he mused “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to come up with a few boys names. I have a pretty strong feeling that that is what we’ll be having” he added, his stare drifting down towards her stomach where she sported a more noticeable baby bump.

Sasha flushed slightly under his stare before she turned back to her toast, hiding her bump slightly. “Why are you so sure that it is a boy?” she asked.

Lionel frowned, slightly confused as to why she had tried to hide her bump from him, before he lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “It’s just a gut feeling” he quipped.

“A feeling or a hope?” Sasha quipped impishly, taking a bite of her food.

Lionel fixed her with a look, something which made Sasha giggle gently before she shook her head. “We could find out” she suggested, shrugging her shoulders slightly “I mean, we do have that appointment with Christina this afternoon. It seems like the perfect opportunity to ask” she added, the corners of her mouth twitching with a small smile.

They hadn’t talked about finding out. From the moment that they had found out that they were expecting, Sasha had been insistent about keeping the surprise, and Lionel hadn’t tried too hard to change her mind, but he had dropped a few hints, something which had got Sasha thinking. She knew that he wanted to know. Whilst he hadn’t been obvious with it, she knew that he did, and, after a lot of thought, she wanted to know too.

Lionel’s eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise. “I thought you didn’t want to know” he replied “I mean, you were pretty adamant about it. It was one of the first things you told me after we’d visited your doctor. You told me that you were thrilled that you were pregnant, but that I should forget any notions of finding out before the birth. We hadn’t even left the car park” he added, grinning amusedly.

Sasha rolled her eyes. “Do you want to know or not?” she asked.

“Yes, I do” Lionel quipped “But only if you’re absolutely sure that you do, too. I’d love to know, Sasha, you know that, but maybe think on it for a few more hours, OK?” he added, offering her a soft smile.

Sasha quirked a gentle smile in return before she leant over the counter, touching her lips to his briefly. “I’m going to go and shower, and then I have to get going” she mumbled between light touches “But I will see you at the hospital later” she added.

“You’ll make sure not to overdo it?” Lionel prodded, tucking a flyaway hair off of her face. She had taken good care of herself. Since her trip to the hospital, Sasha had become extra careful not to overexert herself, and to make sure that she was taking in enough of the right things, but it still didn’t stop him from worrying. She had scared him, and it wasn’t something he wanted a repeat of.

Sasha nodded her head, allowing him to touch a gentle kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be careful” she said gently.

Lionel smiled against her forehead before she pulled away. She kissed him lightly once more before she padded out of the room.

~#~
“Are you off home after this?” Christina prodded as she rolled up the front of Sasha’s shirt.

Sasha shook her head. “I’ve still got a couple of appointments to get to afterwards” she mused “But, hopefully, they will be brief. My feet are killing me” she added, rolling her eyes amusedly.

Lionel, who was sat next to her, eyed her concernedly but Sasha squeezed his hand softly, reassuring him that it wasn’t too much. She knew that he worried, but she wanted to reassure him that she knew what was, or wasn’t too, much for her. She had scared him once and she had no intention of being reckless enough to do it for a second time.

“You are taking breaks, aren’t you?” Christina prodded.

“Regularly” Sasha confirmed.

“No more dizzy spells?” Christina asked.

“One or two” Sasha replied “But they’re fleeting, and usually cured with a glass of water and something to eat. I still get nauseous, on occasion, but I’ve not actually been sick since I was about 13 weeks. My blood pressure has evened out well, too. I monitor it frequently” she added.

Christina offered her a grin as she moved to start the scan. “I’m glad to hear it” she mused.

Sasha leant back, squeezing her eyes closed as she felt the wand trace over her stomach. Letting out a slightly anxious sigh, she felt Lionel’s hand gently wrap around hers, squeezing lightly until a familiar steady thumping noise filled the silence. Greeting the noise with a slightly breathless laugh, she allowed her eyes to flutter open and turned to look at the screen, marvelling at the picture that filled it.

Lionel pressed a doting kiss to the crown of her head before he dipped down slightly, whispering softly into her ear. “Do you want to know?” he said quietly.

Sasha nodded without a beat of hesitation, something which made Lionel smile against her temple before he picked his head up, glancing at Christina. “Can you tell us whether we’re having a boy or a girl?” he asked.

Christina tilted her head. “I thought Sasha didn’t want to know” she said.

“I do now” Sasha whispered “Really, Christina” she added.

Christina nodded, continuing the scan whilst she made notes, before she looked back over at the two of them. Moving the wand over Sasha’s stomach, she quirked a small grin, tipping her head towards the screen. “Look for yourself” she announced.

Sasha studied the screen before she let out a happy sob, something which caused Lionel to look down at her. “Sasha?” he prodded.

Sasha sniffled before she cupped his jaw, her thumb tracing the line of it. “Your gut was right” she said softly “We’re having a baby boy” she added.