He's late, I can't believe he's late for this! Cruz thought, as she sat on the ultrasound bed and waited for the technician. It was her eighteen week ultrasound. They would be able to tell if it was a boy or a girl now, but Cruz already told Bosco she did not want to find out. She was showing more now since she had entered her second trimester.
Cruz had reminded Bosco several times in the last two days about this appointment, and he still forgot about it. This only made Cruz's raging hormones worse.
A female technician came in, smiling friendly-like at Cruz.
"Hi," she said, "Are you Maritza?"
Cruz nodded with a small smile. "Yeah, hi."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Beth, I'll be doing the ultrasound for you today," she said.
"Alright," Cruz said.
"Okay, before we begin, I just have a couple of follow-up questions for you," she said, glancing at Cruz's medical chart, "You are twenty-nine years old, is that correct?"
"Actually, I'll turn that next month, I'm still twenty-eight," she told her.
"Oh that's right, I'm sorry. I was looking at the wrong date here," she apologized.
Cruz shrugged, "It's okay."
"And your due date is May.." she said, scanning for the number.
"Twenty-second," Cruz finished for her.
"Okay, right. Have you been having any problems, anything you think I should take note on here for your doctor?" asked Beth.
"Just the usual symptoms of being pregnant, I guess."
Beth smiled. "And what symptoms are you experiencing?"
"Nausea, but that's gotten better. Uh, occasional insomnia," she said, pausing briefly, and looking up at Beth, "This kid's pretty active lately."
"That's normal, this is a time when you may be feeling a lot of movement and probably some kicking around this time too," she explained, "You can try some warm milk to help you sleep at night."
Cruz didn't let Beth see, but she made a disgusted face at that suggestion. Warm milk? she thought, Wow these people are stranger than I thought.
"Oh...okay," she said, pre-tending to take her suggestion into consideration.
"Alright then," said Beth, putting down the clip board in her hand, "Let's start the show. I need you to lay back here, just relax for me."
Cruz scooted up further and laid back against the bed. Beth pulled the paper shirt Cruz had to wear up to just below her breast bone. "This might be a little cold at first," she warned her beforehand.
Cruz nodded, and couldn't get Bosco out of her mind. He's going to miss this! The first important ultrasound of his child, and he's not going to see it! she thought, I'm gonna kick his ass.
Beth put some blue gel on Cruz's stomach, and made her shiver a little at the temperature. She caught Beth giving her an apologetic smile. Just as she picked up the wand, and was turning the machine on, there came a knock at the door. It opened, and in walked Maurice Boscorelli.
Beth turned her head and smiled. "Hello," she said.
"Hi," he said shyly, walking towards Cruz. "I'm sorry I'm so late. Sully took forever to get to my crime scene and take over," he said, sounding extremely sincere.
"It's okay," said Cruz quietly. Sure, she was still pissed at him for even making her nuts for so long, but what was she supposed to do? Start chewing him out in front of the technician?
"I assume you're the daddy?" Beth asked, smiling at him.
Bosco nodded proudly. "Yep, that's me. Maurice Boscorelli, how ya 'doin?" he said, helping himself to a chair next to Cruz.
"Beth," she introduced herself.
"Oh," he nodded, "Are you her doctor?"
"No, I'm just the ultrasound technician. And you're just in time to see the show," she said, smiling at them both.
Bosco rubbed his hands together eagerly and smiled excitedly over at Cruz. She didn't really smile back. Instead, she turned her head to look at the screen, as Beth turned down the lights, and began moving the wand over her abdomen.
"Alright, here we are," she said, pointing, "There is your baby."
Bosco peered at the screen closely and gasped in amazement. "It looks bigger than the last picture she showed me," he said, smiling to himself.
"Yep, this baby looks like it is right on track with the growth expectancy up to this point," Beth assured them. "Would you like to hear the heartbeat?"
"Sure," they answered.
She typed some things on her keyboard below the machine, and turned up the volume button. Then, a steady wave that sounded like the hoofbeats of a galloping horse.
"Whoa," Bosco said, looking at the technician with wonder, "That's it? That's the heartbeat?"
"Sure is," Beth said, smiling as she looked at the screen. "Here is a pretty clear picture of it too," she pointed out.
Cruz was watching in amazement, and felt the corners of her eyes tear. "Wow," she whispered.
Bosco frowned and asked, "Wait a minute...is it supposed to like beat that fast?"
"I'd be worried if it didn't, Mr. Boscorelli," she said.
"Oh, Officer Boscorelli, please," he corrected her. Cruz rolled her eyes as Beth raised her brows, "Oh you're a police officer too?"
"Yes ma'am, 55th precinct," he said, taking pride in his response.
"He's always doing this," Cruz mumbled, "It never ends."
Beth smiled at her, and proceeded to point out the head, arms, and legs. She asked if they wanted to know the gender, and they told her no. Then she showed them the spine, that looked like a string of pearls.
"Oh, look at that," she giggled, "It's sucking its thumb."
Cruz looked closer and spotted it too. She and Bosco both laughed. "That's cute," he nodded.
"Well, everything looks great here, Maritza. You look very healthy and so does the baby," Beth told them.
"Great," Cruz said, as the lights came back on. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. I'll get you a copy of this on tape, and here are your pictures," she smiled.
"Terrific.." Bosco said, taking one of the photos for himself.
"Good luck," Beth said to Cruz, winking at her as she left the room.
Cruz went behind the curtain to change back into her regular clothes.
"You almost missed it," she said to Bosco.
"But I didn't," he retorted, "So can you please not hassle me? I told you, it was Sully."
"Blame everything on Sully," she muttered under her breath. Bosco wanted to get back at her for that comment, but he bit his tongue.
"Maritza, I'm sorry I came so late," he said instead.
She shrugged and re-emerged from behind the curtain. He smiled at her and made her ask, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You're glowing, Ritza," he said, "I'm really glad you let me be a part of this today."
"Yeah well, you're the father," she said with a sigh, as she retrieved her purse. "What did you think anyway?"
"I thought it was...incredibly interesting. And 'amazin. I still can't believe that was....our baby," he said, getting softer with those last two words.
She looked up at him and smiled a little. "I know," she agreed, "It was pretty cool."
Bosco walked closer to her and just stared in her eyes for a moment. I miss you so much, he thought, Why can't things be different between us?
Cruz stared back at him and bit her lip. We were so wrong for each other, she thought, So why do I feel so in love with you?!
"How did you get here?" she asked him.
"Cab," he said.
"Want a ride back to work?" she offered. "I'm headed there myself."
"Yeah," he nodded, half grinning at her, "Thanks."
TBC
