Chapter 37

Today was the day. It was the very first ultrasound Jack and Ana were going to together. And it was special.

Ana had woken up pretty early even though the ultrasound was at 9:30 am. By 6, she was up and restless. Also, this baby hadn't let her sleep. It was like s/he sensed the importance of this day and was being all fidgety.

By 7:30, Ana was dressed and she was making breakfast. She didn't know why she was feeling so excited.

Actually, that was wrong. She knew exactly why she was feeling excited. It was the first moment she was going to be sharing with Jack concerning their baby.

At 7:45, there was a knock on the door. Ana frowned. Who could it be? The only person she was expecting was Jack and she didn't think he was going to come this early.

She walked to the door and opened it and to her greatest surprise, he was standing there with a box of chocolates and something else in his hand. Yes. Jack.

Ana's face broke out into a smile. It was expected but it was so nice and she didn't even know how exactly to react.

"You're not going to let me in?" Jack asked and she came out of her reverie. She opened the door fully and he walked in.

"You're here so early," was the only thing she found to say. He smiled and Ana blushed.

She looked down at his hands and smiled when she saw the chocolates, then frowned when she saw what was in his other hand.

"What's that?" Ana asked curiously.

Jack's reaction was surprising. He blushed. Ana giggled but it made her more curious to know what he was holding.

Jack didn't say anything just extended the chocolates to her first of all. She took the chocolates and placed them on the worktable absent-mindedly. She was more interested in what was in his other hand.

Jack held out his hand and Ana almost melted. In his hand, was a pair of little grey socks. They were so adorable and it was so touching.

Ana advanced towards Jack and took the socks from him. She held them in her hand then looked up at Jack and her eyes were glistening with tears.

He didn't have to say anything. He just opened his arms and she burrowed herself into them. Jack held her tight then they released each other.

"When did you get this?" she asked.

Jack rubbed his hand on his neck. He was obviously nervous. It was obvious he was out of his element. But it was kind of cute.

"Yesterday. I don't know. I had the urge," he said and Ana smiled at him. Then she tiptoed and placed a kiss on his lips. It was the first time since the whole pregnancy issue that she had kissed him.

Jack took advantage of the situation and deepened the kiss, holding her by the waist. Ana responded just as passionately and gasped when they pulled away from each other.

"I should buy socks more often," he whispered, staring at Ana with a smile that could be qualified as love sick on his face.

"You should," Ana said with a teasing smile then slipped out of his arms slowly and walked to the worktable.

"I was actually expecting you to come later on," Ana confessed, walking to the fridge and opening it.

"And I thought you were going to open the door in your pajamas," Jack said and both of them laughed. It was evident they were both excited about the day and what it entailed.

Jack joined Ana in finishing with the breakfast and soon enough they were on their way to the hospital.

"Jack!" Ana gasped a few minutes into the ride. Jack almost crashed into the car behind him with his abrupt stop which brought about a string of curses and insults he ignored.

"What's wrong? Is it the baby?" he asked worriedly.

Ana didn't say anything worrying Jack further. Just took his hand and placed on some part of her belly. Jack frowned. Then all of a sudden, a smile of wonder overtook his face. The baby had just kicked.

"Was that- was that the baby?" he asked, looking into Ana's eyes.

Ana nodded and Jack kissed her softly, then wiped the tear that had escaped her eyes. She was crying not because she was sad like the first time this had happened. But because this time around, Jack was there to feel the moment with her and she was happy about it.

Jack kissed Ana again then started their ride again. He kept on sneaking glances at her and Ana kept on smiling, pretending not to notice.

They reached the hospital and walked to where the ultrasound appointment was supposed to happen. Ana had told Jack not to do anything, but he was stubborn and has pulled strings for them to be the first appointment. And of course, it was a very prestigious hospital. Of course.

By the time they got into the ultrasound room, Ana's nerves were jittery. It wasn't that she was scared. She was not scared. She was so excited she thought her heart was going to explode from pounding too much.

And the fact that she was there with Jack made everything better. He was her rock in that moment and she was happy that he was here with her. And they were going to find out the sex of their baby together.

"Are you ready ma'am?" one nurse asked politely and Ana nodded. If Ana had said no, maybe all hell would have broken loose but luckily for the nurse, she was not going to find out what Jack's impatience looked like.

Under Jack's watchful eye, Ana was settled in the bed comfortably. He had wanted to do it, but apparently he was not "skilled" enough, whatever that meant. And the look Ana had shot him was enough to make him back off and let the nurse do her job.

A few seconds later, the doctor got in and without much ado, told the nurse to apply the ultrasound gel on Ana's tummy. By this time, Jack was standing next to the bed, one of Ana's smaller hands in bother of his.

The nurse rubbed the gel and Ana gasped. Jack looked at her worriedly and said, "it's cold," as a response. He didn't say anything, because he could not do anything about the gel, just rubbed her hand, as if the warmth from there was going to transmit itself to her tummy.

Jack looked on in awe as the doctor rubbed the wand on Ana's tummy and images appeared on the screen. It was very obvious that it was his first time, and for him, Ana was murmuring things like fingers, toes and the occasional I already know our baby is going to be so beautiful.

That was when Jack heard the heart beat. It was a feeling like no other he had ever experienced. He was already protective of the baby. He already loved them.