Chapter 28 - Congratulations, It's A . . .
Friday was their next doctor's appointment. Like last time, Justin arranged to have the appointment scheduled under Daphne's name. Having the car service had also worked, so he set that up as well. Things had been going pretty well as of late, so Justin was hopeful they could make it through another doctor visit with minimal fallout.
Brian was actually looking forward to this checkup because the doctor would be doing another Ultrasound and they could find out the baby's sex. This seemed like the only fun part of the whole process so far. He'd never been part of Lindsey's pregnancy when she had Gus, so everything was new to him. He figured it was part of the weird hormones, but he was more excited about this appointment than he'd thought was possible. And, despite how silly, sentimental and lesbionic it seemed, he caught himself daydreaming about baby names more than once that week.
The only bad part of the whole week had been his visit to his tailor. The man was by far the best tailor in Pittsburgh and was known as a model of discretion. He'd often bragged to Brian how he could hide almost any imperfection, not that Brian had ever needed those particular skills. Brian therefore bravely bared his soul, and his belly, to the man and begged him for help.
The tailor adeptly hid his amazement at Brian's extraordinary news. He barely batted an eyelash before his professional demeanor was back in place and he started on the necessary alterations. However, the prognosis for Brian's wardrobe was NOT good.
The crafty tailor advised that he could make some adjustments - letting out seams, moving around buttons and hasps and even adding extra little gussets into the sides of Brian's slacks - but there was a definite limit to what even he could do. If he altered the clothing too much, it would ruin the lines of the suits and the effect would be unflattering. The only option in the long run would be for Brian to move up several sizes. The tailor did assure the depressed fashion diva that he could alter the larger sized suits so well that it would be practically impossible to tell exactly what was causing Brian's weight gain - at least for a few more months. The bold little tailor actually seemed thrilled by the challenge Brian's unique situation posed. He couldn't wait to get started. Brian arranged to have pretty much his entire closet delivered to the tailor the next day and placed an order for five new, larger, suits.
So, with his wardrobe concerns at least temporarily allayed, Brian had nothing to worry about other than the impending doctor's visit.
Justin and Daphne were in such high spirits when the car service picked them up from the loft, that they didn't even notice the unkempt man in the older model sedan parked across the street pointing a camera at them and snapping away picture after picture. When the hired car pulled away from the curb, the sedan followed. They'd arranged to pick Brian up at his office on the way to the hospital and the sedan managed to keep on their tail all the way, in spite of the heavy Friday afternoon traffic.
The group arrived at the hospital's rear entrance on schedule and were reassured to see the same two security guards waiting to usher them up to Chiefy's office. Lardass Larry, unfortunately, already had his telephoto lens in place on his camera and was getting some lovely shots of the trio from the far edge of the parking lot. He was far enough away, though, that nobody noticed the avid cameraman.
The visit with Chiefy wasn't too bad. She noted happily right from the start that Brian had gained four and a half pounds since the last checkup. Brian groaned loudly at this proclamation while Justin beamed proudly. Chiefy did note that Brian was still underweight compared to where he needed to be at this stage of his pregnancy and advised him to keep eating. When she mentioned that she expected Brian to put on at least 40 pounds total before his delivery date, Justin thought for a moment that Brian might actually faint again. Daphne and Chiefy laughing at the poor man's reaction didn't really help.
Everything else seemed to be good. Both Brian and the baby seemed healthy. They all got a kick out of listening to the baby's heartbeat on the Dopler machine the doctor brought in. Then, it was time for the main attraction - the Ultrasound.
The same genial technician that had done the first ultrasound was shown in with his portable equipment in tow. Justin had managed to convince Brian to at least drape a sheet over his lower half for the sake of modesty before the guy was admitted - the youth figured enough people got regular views of Brian's privates in Woody's and Babylon and he didn't really need the ultrasound technician to be added to those legions. Brian was amused at Justin's proprietariness and complied with a snicker.
The procedure was about the same as before. The baby's heart rate was calculated and the same measurements were taken to ensure that the fetus was developing properly. However, the changes that were visible from that first blurry black and white blob to the easily identifiable shape they now saw on the monitor were astounding. Even the inexperienced eyes of the parents-to-be were able to make out the baby's large head, clearly delineated hands and feet with delicate, almost see-through fingers and toes, and the beginnings of facial features. But, the best part was when the technician flipped a switch on the machine and pulled out a different, more elaborate wand, and the group watched in amazement as a perfect 3D image of the baby appeared on the monitor.
It was fascinating. The picture was still a bit grainy and the colors were obviously computer generated, but the image was still amazing. You could see the baby almost as clearly as if it was there in the room with them. The tiny little hands and arms, the little face that seemed to be all eyes except for the tiny bump of a nose, the rounded belly and thin looking legs. You could even see what looked like hair on the crown of the head.
Brian watched as his baby moved one hand up to its face and started sucking its thumb. He felt like crying except he was too excited and didn't want to be distracted for even a second. Justin was busy trying to watch the screen, hold both Brian and Daphne's hands and jump up and down in a frenzy all at the same time. Daphne was squealing and hopping along beside her best friend. The technician looked on with a blasé amusement at the familiar - to him - parental reaction.
"Now for the big question, Dads," the technician interrupted the squeeing. "Do you want to know the baby's sex?"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes . . . . " Justin and Daphne were chanting vociferously.
"Calm down, Sunshine," Brian ordered affectionately. "Of course we want to know the sex!" Brian agreed and gestured to the guy to get on with it.
The indulgent technician moved the wand around for a few seconds until he got a different view. Then he typed at the computer keyboard and a miniature arrow appeared on the monitor screen with a few important words following. "Congratulations!" Techy said. "It's a boy!"
"A boy," Brian muttered as a look of bemused euphoria washed across his features. His smile was almost as incandescent as Justin's. He quickly slapped a hand across his eyes to try and hide the unabated emotions that were exploding from within him. It was a futile gesture, though, because the slack-jawed gaping smile gave him away. Justin and Daphne were hugging each other madly in the background and even Techy was grinning a bit at this overwhelming reaction.
Techy printed out a couple copies of the Ultrasound pictures and then stowed his equipment and moved off to help the next set of adoring parents-to-be. Justin wouldn't let him leave before enthusiastically kissing the startled man in gratitude. Then he kissed Daphne, and the nurse who'd been assisting and even Chiefy when she came in to see what all the ruckus was about. He really wanted to be kissing Brian, but knew his lover would need time to pull himself together first, so he held back as long as he could. Finally, when there was nobody else left to kiss, Justin dove at Brian, pulled the man's hand away from his face and started raining down passionate kisses all over the beloved countenance.
Everyone else vacated the room and gave the two men a few minutes to celebrate in private.
Their jubilant mood lasted until they were down the elevator and out through the back door.
"Mr. Taylor! Would you like to comment on how it feels to be the first Male Pregnancy in the US?" Someone shouted at them as soon as they cleared the doorway and all three of the previously happy group were immediately blinded by the bright electronic flash that went off in their faces as Lardass Larry ambushed them complete with camera and digital recorder.
Baby Boy Taylor-Kinney:
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