Ever since the night of my party, JC's hand had not left my belly. It may have been because he was still in disbelief and wanted to make sure it was actually there, or he was just being JC, and entertained by the smallest things. And our baby was pretty much the smallest thing I had seen him entertained by as of late.

"How far do you think you are?"

I looked over at him, his hand at my belly, gently rubbing up and down as I shrugged, thinking. In actuality, I hadn't even thought about it. "It's what, November nineteenth, right?

He nodded. "Yeah. What's that got to do with it?"

"I'm calculating," I smirked, opening up my phone and looking through the calendar to remember when I had last set the 'alarm' so that I'd have count. "Four months?"

"Damn," he said softly, letting out a low whistle. "That means you're not in the first trimester anymore. Why haven't you been to the doctor earlier?"

"Our schedules were too busy," I stated as I motioned to the beeping PDA as proof, "I tried to make it around all your stuff."

"No," he said, reaching down and shutting off my PDA, "we schedule everything around this baby from now on, all right? There's nothing more important than it's health and your well-being. I don't care about anything else."

I felt that stupid emotional feeling in the pit of my stomach, jutting out my lip and leaning into him as he kissed my temple. Every since I had realized that I was pregnant, my emotions were on the brink of everything. If something slightly irritated me before, I got pissed now; if something sappy began, I was already bawling; and with almost every happy moment, I pretty much wanted to cry tears of joy or hug someone. It usually ended up being JC, though he wasn't complaining. Not to mention, my sex drive had kicked into high gear and I was pretty sure that by the time I had that baby, it would just fall out.

Sorry about the bad mental image.

"Hey," he said softly, grasping my attention once more, "we can find out if the baby is a boy or girl, soon, right?"

I nodded. "They actually may be able to do it within the next few weeks. Isabelle said she found out Tyler was a boy at fifteen weeks."

"According to the Chinese Prediction Chart, we're having a boy." He grinned at me as he held his little handheld, showing the small pink and blue chart. "Another boy in your family and the first grandson in mine."

"Jace," I laughed, taking his handheld and looking at it, "how do you know the conception period if I don't?"

"Because, you haven't had your ... monthly thing since when? July? That's about four months ago. And, I'm pretty sure I remember in sex-ed class that it takes two weeks for the whole egg to be ready thing ... so we definitely had to of made that baby on the boat or sometime shortly after ... "

"Well, I'm glad you're more educated than I am," I laughed, shaking my head and handing him the handheld back, "because I honestly don't know when this baby decided to pop up. Though Charlotte is going to be very angry if this baby is a boy. She wants a niece to spoil."

"I think I'd kind of be, too," JC said softly, eyes meeting mine once more, "I kind of like the idea of having a daddy's girl."

"I can see that," I smiled, watching as he turned his head, eyes lighting up as he got up, picking up a magazine and sitting down next to me once more. "What's that?"

"PEOPLE," he laughed. "You know, we honestly forgot about it. After all was said and done there, all I wanted to do was just forget about it and actually start living life like a family."

I looked over his shoulder as he lay the magazine on his lap, opening it up to our cover story. "Jace, those photos are amazing."

"They are," he said softly, turning his head and kissing my face as I touched my fingers to our wedding photo they had used (the one of us by the bridge kissing) and a photo of me sitting on a wooden swing with JC behind me, he holding me up as if he were going to let go, mouth to my temple as I smiled up at him. Originally, I had felt huge in the white sundress they had chosen for me, but in the photo (and I'm sure with the help of airbrushing - hey, I'm pregnant, not stupid), they made me look better. My breasts actually looked normal and not 'hey, we gotta grow huge for baby'.

"Lily Chasez?"

I looked up from the magazine, JC's head soon following as the doctor's assistant stood at the door, holding a clipboard and looking around until she met my gaze. "If you just want to follow me, we'll take your stats."

I nodded, getting up as JC tucked the magazine under his arm and followed close behind, snickering from behind me when the woman stopped at the scale and I shook my head almost as if on cue. "I'd rather pass than know how much I weigh ..."

"You can turn your head and not look if you'd like," she laughed as I sighed deeply, slipping off my shoes and stepping up to the scale, cringing when I heard it ache underneath my feet as if did with mostly everyone, unless you were ten pounds. I turned my head, meeting JC's eyes as he made a face, sticking his tongue out and crossing his eyes just to make me smile as I did, rolling my eyes and hearing her finally say that I could step off. JC bent down, picking up my shoes as we followed her only two doors down, she handing me a paper gown and instructing me to put it on, open part to the back and that the doctor would be in shortly to examine me.

Great.

"Wonder how long it'll take for him to get in here ..."

I turned from pulling my shirt up, meeting JC's mischievious gleam. "Don't get any ideas, bucco."

"I already did," he grinned, going to sit, but not before running his hand over my bare baby belly. I changed quickly, looking in front of me and seeing a model of a baby getting ready to exit the birth canal. If my insides and down below didn't hurt before, it was aching now at just the sight of it. "By God, I think I'm scheduling a Caesarean," I mumbled as JC looked up from the magazine, eyebrows raised in confusion. "That baby ... it's head is like, the size of a fucking basketball. I'm not shoving that out of me, no way!"

JC laughed, shaking his head. "It's just a replica, baby. It's probably made larger just so you can actually see what happens."

"Better be," I mumbled as he laughed, setting the magazine down and walked over to it, fingers touching it gently as he read random posters. "If there's anyone I know that can do this, it's you, Lily. Don't worry. I'll be with you every step of the way coaching you."

"Right. Because you're gonna be conscious after seeing them poke and prod me with all the needles and administer the epidural if I choose to have it."

"Maybe I'll have to leave the room, but I know Charlotte will be there. She's still moving up here, isn't she?"

"Yeah. Jeremy's so-called big kid job moved them to San Fransisco so they'll be closer than anyone else."

"Well, good. Then you'll have her."

"I want you to be there. You're the one with the fertile sperm."

"Hey. You're the one with the egg that just asked for it."

I laughed. "You do realize we just made our baby into a hooker and a pimp, right?"

He shook his head, grinning. "I guess we did. Maybe we shouldn't do that."

We both jumped at the knock at the door, looking up as the doctor appeared, bright smile and tired eyes. "Hello, you two," she smiled, shutting the door behind her and pulling up the rolling chair as she sat down, clipboard and folder in hand. "You must be Lily," she smiled, extending her hand as I shook it, her eyes wandering over to JC as she reached to shake his after, "and you're dad, right?"

I looked over at him, cheeks tinting red. "Y-yeah, I'm dad." He sat down in the chair next to me, leaning onto the soft leather of the examining table, eyes meeting mine. They looked bluer then, he giving me a smile as he leaned down, kissing my bare skin just above my elbow. "And you are -"

"Dr. Benson," she smiled, turning my head to watch her as she placed a blanket over my legs to just below my belly, lifting up the fabric of the paper gown and smiling. "You seem to be growing nicely. It's definitely certain you are with child." "Now, you filled out all the questions that would basically answer a lot of questions that I would have. With my calculations, conception date was August 11th, so May 3rd is your approximate due date."

I heard JC laugh, looking over at him with a confused look. "What?"

"Boat," he laughed. "The boat."

I grinned, the doctor chuckling beside me as she placed a monitor to my stomach, my heart skipping a beat as I heard the most amazing sound in my entire life - beside's JC's voice. "Is that -"

"That, is your baby's heartbeat," she smiled, JC's hand finding mine and bringing it to his mouth, kissing it gently. "Sounds good and healthy. Strong. I think you've got an athelete in there."

I laughed, vision slightly blurred as I blinked a few times to rid the tears, looking over at JC as his eyes welled up. "Well, if we were ever questioning if it wasn't real -"

"It's very real," the doctor replied, she pulling the handheld device away from my stomach as she wrote down notes in her book. "And since this is your first appointment and you are 16 weeks - out of the woods and also your first trimester, I'm going to do a sonogram. If possible, do you want to know the sex of the baby?"

"Do we?"

I turned to look at JC again as the doctor wiped off the gel she had used for the heartbeat, his question lingering in the air as I watched my stomach rise and fall. I put the heartbeat to my baby, I put the roundness to my belly to my baby - did I want to know the sex?

"Yes."

"Then, yes," JC said, voice steady as he looked up at the doctor, "we'd like to know if possible."

She nodded. "Usually we can find out within the fifteen, sixteen week mark, but sometimes it's not clearly visible yet." Her hands went to my stomach as she pulled out a measuring tape, measuring my stomach at all angles. "Baby is probably about four, five inches long now. We may be able to determine the sex. You may actually begin to feel baby move within the next few weeks, too. If you press just right, you can feel a lump almost like a tennis ball. That," she smiled as she took my hand, pressing to where I felt a tell-tale ball, "is your baby."

"Damn," I mumbled as she laughed, getting up and grabbing the large machine across the room. I pulled my hand that JC was holding to my stomach, placing his hand on my belly and slightly pressing, letting him feel what I had felt moments before. His breath hitched in his throat as I grinned, feeling him shift and place a kiss on my belly, then one to my lips. "Thanks," I chuckled as he kissed me again, his face unreadable. "What?"

"I love you," he said softly, eyes searching mine. "I mean that. I love you."

"I love you, too."

The doctor's clearing of her throat brought us both back to reality, she grinning bashfully as she flipped the lights off, sitting back down next to my belly as the black and white screen in front of us jumped, she putting gel to my stomach and putting yet another piece of equipment to my belly, sliding it around until a little form with a large head and little limbs suddenly appeared in the midst of a black circle, it's gray form jumping with the screen. "And here, is your baby," she said, voice quiet as she flipped a few buttons, the sounds of the baby's heartbeat again echoing in our ears. "There's the little head and the arms and legs. Let me see if I can get a different angle to determine the sex," she added, moving the wand over my belly every so often to try and get a good view. "Well, baby has it's legs wide open waiting for a gender label," she laughed, turning the screen a bit more and looking at both of us. "You want to know?"

"Yes," I nodded, she smiling as she reached up and pointed. "Boy?"

"Well, unless your baby is going through an identity crisis," she laughed, as JC looked down at me, his eyes going back up to the monitor. "It's a girl."

JC let out an excited air of breath as I held back a dry sob, the doctor speaking about printing photos for us to take home and pamphlets for the baby. "You can go ahead and get dressed and your things will be waiting for you at the receptionists' desk when you make your appointment," she smiled, saying her goodbye.

"A girl," JC's voice filtered into my ears, it a beautiful sound once more, "a girl."

"Yeah," I smiled, he helping me up as I reached for my clothes, putting them on as he stood by the door, doing a little dance from foot to foot. "Excited much, baby?"

"I am," he laughed, walking over to me as I pulled my lounge pants up, hating that they didn't rest the same way they did before, but laughing anyway when JC's arms went around my body, hugging me tightly. "I am so, so happy," he said softly, voice muffled in my hair as he placed gentle kisses to my neck and ear, nuzzling his ear to my skin once more. "I don't know what happened along the way to have this happen to us, but I am going to be thanking God for the rest of my life for putting you and this baby in it."

"Baby girl," I added, he laughing as I wrapped my arms around his neck, he pulling away and placing a kiss to my mouth. "Our baby girl."

"Yes," he grinned, reaching his hands up and cupping my face. "I don't think I've ever felt more whole in my life as I do right now. I just want you to know that I will make sure no one and nothing comes between us. I've going to protect you and make sure you know that I love you every single day I'm alive."

And I believed him.