Chapter Six

Chapter Six

A few weeks had passed.

Life continued much as it always had.

Daisy worked. She slept. She worked some more.

And according to Harper, she was doing entirely too much of it.

"You need to slow down."

Daisy barely looked up from her coffee.

"I'm fine."

"You're pregnant."

"I'm aware."

"Your baby is aware too."

Daisy rolled her eyes.

Somewhere along the way, Harper had appointed herself head of pregnancy management.

Not that Daisy minded.

Much.

Still, despite her sister's constant worrying, Daisy kept working.

Because work was what she knew.

What she trusted.

What made sense.

The pregnancy was different.

The pregnancy was unknown.

Which was probably why she found herself sitting nervously in an ultrasound room one morning.

The lights were dim.

The room was quiet.

And despite being a doctor herself, Daisy suddenly felt like she knew absolutely nothing.

The ultrasound technician smiled warmly.

"First scan?"

Daisy nodded.

The technician adjusted the machine before placing gel against Daisy's stomach.

For a moment there was only static and blurry shapes.

Then—

"There."

The technician pointed toward the screen.

Daisy looked.

And froze.

Tiny.

The baby looked impossibly tiny.

A small shape moving on the monitor.

Her baby.

The baby she'd spent weeks worrying about.

Weeks trying not to get too attached to.

Then suddenly the room filled with a rapid heartbeat.

Strong.

Fast.

Perfect.

Daisy's breath caught.

The technician smiled.

"That's exactly what we want to hear."

For a moment Daisy couldn't speak.

Couldn't look away.

Because somehow everything had just become real.

The baby wasn't just an idea anymore.

Wasn't just a positive test.

There was a heartbeat.

A tiny little person growing inside her.

The technician took a few measurements while Daisy continued staring at the screen.

Tiny arms.

Tiny legs.

Tiny movements.

Every second made it harder to imagine a future without this baby in it.

Eventually the scan finished.

The technician printed several photos and handed them over.

"Everything looks great."

Relief flooded through Daisy.

"Thank you."

She left the clinic holding the ultrasound pictures carefully in her hand.

Outside, Manhattan was as busy as ever.

People rushed along sidewalks.

Taxi horns echoed through the streets.

The city carried on completely unaware that Daisy's entire world had shifted.

Again.

She stopped walking for a moment and looked down at the scan picture.

Her baby.

Not a possibility.

Not a fear.

A baby.

A real baby.

For weeks she'd focused on practical things.

Appointments.

Work schedules.

Finances.

Now all she could think about was the tiny heartbeat she'd just heard.

As she continued down the street, her eyes drifted toward a shop window.

Then she stopped.

A baby store.

Rows of tiny clothes sat displayed in the window.

Soft blankets.

Stuffed animals.

Miniature shoes.

Everything looked impossibly small.

Daisy stood there longer than she intended.

For weeks she'd avoided things like this.

Avoided making the pregnancy feel too real.

Avoided imagining the future.

But after hearing that heartbeat?

Something had changed.

Without really thinking about it, she crossed the street.

The bell above the door chimed softly as she stepped inside.

Warm lighting filled the store.

The entire place smelled faintly of baby powder and fresh cotton.

Everywhere she looked there were tiny things.

Tiny socks.

Tiny hats.

Tiny pyjamas.

Tiny shoes no bigger than the palm of her hand.

Daisy wandered slowly through the aisles.

Overwhelmed.

Excited.

Terrified.

All at the same time.

Her fingers brushed against a cream-coloured baby onesie.

It looked impossibly small.

How could an actual person fit inside something that tiny?

A smile tugged at her lips.

For the first time she found herself imagining it.

Her baby wearing it.

Her baby sleeping in the nursery.

Her baby in her arms.

The thought made her chest ache.

In the best possible way.

"You okay, honey?"

An older sales assistant smiled kindly from nearby.

Daisy laughed softly.

"Yeah."

The woman looked at the scan picture in Daisy's hand.

"First baby?"

Daisy nodded.

"Is it obvious?"

The woman smiled.

"A little."

Daisy looked around the store again.

At the blankets.

The clothes.

The cribs.

The toys.

And suddenly she realised something.

She was already attached.

Already imagining the future.

Already loving someone she'd never even met.

The thought should have scared her.

Instead it made her smile.

As she left the store later carrying her first tiny purchase and clutching the scan photos to her chest, Daisy felt lighter somehow.

The fear was still there.

Of course it was.

But for the first time since finding out she was pregnant—

excitement had finally started winning. ❤️