Page 52 of Slap Shot Surprise
I exhaled with relief—I hadn’t even realized I’d been scared. Mabel squeezed my hand, and I held hers even tighter.
“And now...” Catherine moved her arm again. “See that flickering in the center there? That’s your baby’s heartbeat.”
My chest grew tight. How was it possible to see something so small? Hadn’t Mabel said the baby was only the size of a pea? “It is?”
“Yes. Let’s have a listen, shall we?”
More clicks, and then suddenly I could hear it—this wild little galloping that made my own heart feel like it had just been given a jolt of electricity.
“Doesn’t that sound nice?” Catherine asked. “It’s at one-sixty-nine, which is perfect.”
Stop talking!I almost yelled. I just wanted to hear that sound. Suddenly I realized why Gianni had suggested recording this moment.
But Catherine moved on before I could ask permission to take a video, taking more measurements and chatting with Mabel about her cervix, which I tried not to hear. When it sounded like she was about done, I spoke up.
“Would it be possible to get the heartbeat once more?” I asked. “I’d like to take a video, if that’s okay.”
“Sure.” Catherine tapped some buttons, and the little flicker appeared again, along with the graph on the bottom and that quick fluttering sound.
“You want to take a video?” Mabel looked up at me in surprise as I pulled out my phone.
“Yes. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes, I’m just—” She smiled. “Yes. It’s fine. I’d like to have it too.”
“I’ll send it to you.” I aimed my camera at the screen and hit record, my own pulse accelerating as I captured that tiny beating heart.
A feeling I couldn’t explain engulfed me like a tidal wave.
Outside, I walked Mabel to her car.
“Are you missing training camp?” she asked.
“No. I caught a flight after practice this morning. Rented a car at the airport and shot up here.”
“When do you go back?”
“Really early tomorrow.” I paused. “I thought maybe after this, I’d drive down and tell my parents.”
“Oh.” She glanced up at me. “Are you nervous?”
“Yes and no. I mean, I’m not the first Lupo brother to find myself in this situation—this happened to Gianni too.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but it was a while ago.” I ran a hand through my hair. “My niece Claudia is twelve now.”
“So they got married?”
“Yes. But they were... Their situation was different.”
She nodded in understanding and gestured toward an older-model, two-door Kia. “This is me.” It reminded me of what she’d said about being so practical she’d never know what a new car smelled like.
I stuck my hands in my pockets while she unlocked the doors. “Thanks for letting me come today.”
“Of course,” she said. “Good luck with your family. I told mine on Monday.”
“How did it go?”
