"Yes," Matty said, the same time Genna said, "No!"
"Wait, okay, yes," Genna said as Matty mumbled, "We can wait."
The woman laughed. "How about I write it down and stick it in an envelope? That way you can decide later if you want to know."
"Perfect," Matty said, glancing at the screen again one last time before the monitor shut off, the image disappearing.
"I'll print some pictures and you can be on your way," she said, standing up. "I'll be right back."
As soon as the woman left, Genna sat back up. "Holy fuck."
Her hands went right to her stomach, the panic returning.
Oh shit.
"You okay, Genna?"
"No."
"What's wrong?"
"There's a person in there."
"There is."
"It's got to come out somehow," she said. "A person is going to come out of me."
"It will."
"That's not normal."
He laughed. "It's probably the most normal thing there is."
"It's weird," she said. "We made a baby."
"We did."
"How the hell did we do that?"
"Well, when two people love each other…"
"Shut up." She laughed. "I know how we did it, but wow. It's weird. I let you stick it in and part of you just stayed there, and it's growing. It's, like, attached to me. And then it's going to come out and be this person we're responsible for. We'll have to feed it, and water it, and keep it alive, when we can barely keep ourselves alive. Wow."
"Wow is right."
The door opened again, the woman returning, clutching a couple pictures and a small envelope. Genna took them from her, thanking her quietly, and the two of them left. Matty stopped by the front desk, paying some cash for the visit, as Genna flipped through the stack of photos, in a trance.
She said nothing as they left the clinic, nothing in the car on the way back home. She was still staring at the photos when they headed in the house.
"I'm going to shower for real this time," Genna said, handing the stack over to Matty. She held the envelope out also, hesitant to let go when he grabbed it. "I don't want to know yet. The fact that it's a baby is enough. Any more information might make my brain explode. But you can look, if you want. Really, you should. But don't tell me. Not yet. Okay?"
"Okay," he said.
She disappeared upstairs as Matty strolled to the living room, propping the ultrasound photos up against the broken picture frame beside the couch, the one of the peculiar family that Genna refused to let him throw out. He stared at the envelope before slipping his finger beneath the flap, tearing it open.
He pulled out the slip of paper, seeing the simple word scribbled on it in pen.
Boy.
"You sure you don't want me to drive you?"
Dante stepped out of the apartment building, holding the door open for Gabriella to follow. She offered him a small smile of gratitude at the gesture before shrugging off his question. "I'm sure. Besides, I kind of like taking the subway."
"Weirdo."
She laughed, stopping right in front of him. She had on her usual hospital get-up, her dark hair pulled back with some loose strands falling around her face. Wrapping her coat tighter around her, she shivered a bit, the air borderline frigid. The glow from the setting sun made her lip gloss shine, drawing Dante's eyes to her lips.
Damn, he wanted to kiss them.
"Are you going to be around when I get off?" she asked.
"I sure as hell hope so," he said, staring at her mouth, "because I plan to be the one getting you off."
She laughed again, shoving him. "I'm being serious."
"Fine, fine…" He held up his hands, forcing his eyes to meet hers. "I'll be around."
"Here?"
"Somewhere."
She groaned. "Ugh, you're impossible."
"Wait." He caught her arm before she could leave. Of course he'd be there. Wasn't he always? For weeks, he'd done nothing but linger around, spending every minute possible with her. She should've known he'd be around. "Why don't you let me pick you up from work? That way I'm around when you get off, then maybe we can, you know, talk about getting off."
She rolled her eyes, but the smile returned to her lips. "My shift ends at seven."
"I know. I'll be there."
He kissed her then, her lip-gloss sticky, smearing across his lips. Her cheeks flushed when she pulled away, and she dipped her head shyly, biting her bottom lip. "Have a good night, Dante."
"You, too, baby."
His tongue darted out, sweeping across his lips, tasting the strawberry stickiness. He watched her