Julie's appointment wasn't until early afternoon, but she and Harry had gotten up early to do everything they could to calm her stomach before they had to leave for the doctors office. Harry looked over at the passenger seat and could tell she was concentrating on keeping her nausea at bay. She had sipped on ginger ale, ginger tea, and water all morning. Harry had given her crackers, made her some toast, and scrambled eggs. She ate some, which was better than nothing, but her morning sickness, so far, was not relegated to just the mornings. He knew it had only been a couple of days, but she was sick all the time. "Hey, love. We're almost there, how you holding up?"

Julie glanced over at him and grimaced. "Managing. I just need to get out of the car soon." Julie looked down at her lap again. She couldn't look out the window because the scenery flying by did nothing but cause her stomach to feel worse.

"A couple more minutes, love." Harry was feeling quite anxious now that they were almost there. He had tried to remain calm for Julie, but now he didn't know what to expect. He had annoyed Julie enough this morning with questions. She had finally told him to back off because she didn't have the answers. She had told him it's not like she'd been pregnant before and could walk him through everything. He may or may not have had the bathroom door slammed in his face. He suppressed a chuckle at the thought.

Harry parked the car in the back of the clinic, and they made their way to the employee entrance. Julie had called when they arrived, and someone was meeting them at the back door. They would be taken to an exam room immediately. He was extremely grateful that all of her doctors were more than willing to work with them to keep their privacy. He didn't want her to have to change the doctors who she was comfortable with because of him. He greeted the receptionist with a handshake and wrapped his arm around Julie's waist to help her to the room. Since they'd left the car, she had become pretty pale.

The receptionist must have noticed as well, because she showed Julie to the bathroom before she took him a couple of doors down to the exam room. He thanked the woman and then sat down. A few seconds later, he hopped up from the chair and started pacing the room. No matter how much he thought he was good with this, the anxious nerves kept coming back. He wasn't sure what to expect, and he hated the fact that he had no way to help ease her nausea. He looked at the door when it opened and Julie walked in. "You ok?"

Julie shrugged. "It's nothing new. They had me pee in a cup again and said they will come in and talk to me in a few minutes." Julie climbed up onto the exam table. "Best thing about being with you is everything is extremely fast and everyone is very accommodating."

"Best thing, huh?" Harry asked amused.

"Right now, yes. Because I'm still mad at you for doing this to me." Julie shrugged her shoulders at him.

"I know. I'll be paying for it for the rest of my life." Harry walked over to her and stood in front of her.

"I swear if 'Kiwi' starts playing, I'm leaving." Julie joked, referring to the line 'I'm gonna pay for this'.

"I did kind of foresee this, somewhat when I wrote that song, huh?" Harry chuckled.

"No, cuz I still say it's entirely your business and entirely your fault." Julie rested the top of her head on his chest when he rubbed over her back. He felt her smile into his chest. They both knew it wasn't 'entirely his fault', but Harry understood Julie's emotions were running high with all the hormones coursing through her.

"I accept full responsibility." Harry said quietly as he kissed her head.

"Good." Julie replied as she heard a soft knock and the door open. She said hello to Dr. Milburn and introduced her to Harry. Julie had been seeing Dr. Milburn since she'd moved to LA.

"Ah, so I see we had a bit of an issue with the birth control you were on." Dr. Milburn smiled at Julie. "You're definitely pregnant. We always have to run the stick test in our office and, of course, that confirmed it. I also have your blood work results. Your HcG levels are a little higher than what we expected them to be at about 8 weeks. It isn't impossible, but a bit unusual."

Harry looked between the doctor and Julie through the discussion. Julie had tried to explain what the levels of various hormones in her blood meant to him earlier, but he really was quite lost. "Does that mean something could be wrong?"

"Oh, no, not at all. There could be multiple reasons, or it could just be normal. What we will do is a transvaginal ultrasound. This way, no matter how early you are, we can confirm. We can do one today, I know how important your privacy is, so we will do everything we can today instead of having you come in and out. And then afterward, we determine how far along you are and will discuss the next steps."

Julie nodded along to the doctor's explanation and recommendation. "Thank you. We really appreciate that."

"No problem. A technician will be in here shortly with the ultrasound machine. She will then share the results with me, and I will be back to talk to you again." Dr. Milburn shook Julie's hand and then Harry's before she walked out the door.

Julie couldn't help but laugh at the lost look on Harry's face. "You have no clue what a transvaginal ultrasound is, do you?"

Harry shook his head no. He was a little uncomfortable with the talk about transvaginal anything. "No, but, seems weird to just talk about it like that."

Julie laughed. "Oh, there's no avoiding it now. You're going to get a crash course in all things vagina." Julie laughed harder as Harry seemed to become a bit uncomfortable. Tears were now coming to her eyes.

"I'm glad you find this so funny." Harry shook his head.

"I do. You seem plenty interested in my vagina when....". Julie started but was interrupted.

"Could you stop, now?" Harry asked. "Seriously." He could feel the heat in his cheeks as she was talking.

"I never pictured you getting embarrassed over this kind of talk." Julie tried taking a few deep breaths to calm her laughter, but couldn't help but to giggle a little. "It's just a little wand that they insert a bit and it shows the inside. If you're uncomfortable with that, you can leave the room. But it's not like you have to watch 'down there', if you want to stay." Julie was going to say the 'v' word to watch Harry squirm just a bit more, but decided to be nice since it was his first encounter with all of this, and she could tell he was a bit overwhelmed.

"So, we will see the baby?" Harry asked looking into her eyes and then at her stomach and back to her eyes. "Even though we can't tell from the outside at all?"

"Yes, love. You can see anything that's in there. No matter how small." Julie smiled at the look on Harry's face. He seemed completely shocked at that fact. A good shocked, but shocked nonetheless. She turned and looked at the door when the ultrasound tech came into the room wheeling the machine. She handed Julie a gown and asked her to change into it, and she would be back in a few moments.

Harry didn't move at all when the ultrasound technician walked into the room. He didn't even hear the exchange. He was still in complete and utter shock that he was going to see his baby today. He shook his head when he heard Julie call his name. "Huh? What did you say?" He looked over to the table and saw Julie sitting there in a gown. He hadn't even realized she changed.

"Are you, ok?" Julie asked again. She was a bit concerned about his lack of color right now.

"Yeah, sorry. I just can't believe we are going to see the baby already. Things are happening so fast." Harry blinked back the tears he felt filling his eyes.

"Yes, love. It is. But we need to know how far along I am. Make sure everything's ok." She reached her hand towards him. "Bring your chair and come sit over here." She motioned towards the top of the bed where her head would be when she lied down. "Whoever thought I would be the calm one during this appointment?"

Harry scooted his chair over towards her and then took her hand. "Yeah, sorry." He sat in the chair as he didn't think his legs would hold him much longer. "I just, I don't know. Didn't expect it to happen so quickly, maybe? I mean, I don't know."

"It's ok, love. I'm used to being poked and prodded, so I think it just seems normal to me." She felt how clammy and sweaty his palm was and how tight he was squeezing her hand. "Harry, you have to breathe." She tried not to chuckle because he literally seemed to be panicking, and she knew how that was. "Everything will be fine."

Harry took a few deep breathes and then gave a light chuckle. "Yeah, does seem weird for you to be giving me a pep talk about this right now. Considering you're the one who has been freaking out for the past two days."

"Exactly, but we both can't freak out. So, I'd selfishly appreciate it if you would go back to being the strong and supportive type so I can freak out." Julie smiled when he gave her a real smile. "Ah, so there's the smile." She winked at him and then kissed him when he reached up for her lips. There was a knock at the door, and the ultrasound technician walked back in. Julie looked over at Harry and saw the color once again drain from his face. After she lay down on the table, she whispered to him. "Please don't pass out on me. I need you."

Harry shook his head and looked at her face and into her eyes and realized that she was just as scared as she had been, but was pushing it aside for his sake. "I'm here baby; we have each other." He held her hand in both of his and kissed her forehead. He squirmed a little when the tech had Julie put her feet in the stirrups and then placed a condom over the wand they were going to use for the ultrasound. He gave Julie a look, like 'what the fuck is happening', and she grinned at him.

"Just watch the monitor." Julie said to him quietly as the technician turned it towards them a bit more before she inserted the wand gently. "Don't pay attention to anything else but that, and me."

Harry scooted himself closer to the table and held Julie's hand still in both of his and rested them on the table by her side. He watched the monitor as things started to focus. He listened as the tech described everything she was seeing and doing. And then he saw it. The unmistakable image of a baby on the screen. He gasped as the technician moved the wand around to get a clearer view. He found himself moving his chair closer to get a better view of the monitor. "Julie, that's...our baby." He felt his eyes fill with tears and didn't even try and stop them as they started to spill onto his cheeks. He didn't expect this. He didn't expect to see the baby today at all, and he definitely didn't expect it to look so much like an actual baby already. Man, he had so much to learn.

"It is." Julie squeaked out. She was dumbstruck right now. She wasn't sure what she was thinking, but she wasn't expecting to see this. Maybe she still thought they were wrong and there was no baby. Just something crazy going on. But there it was, clear as day. There was definitely a baby happening. Quickly, by the looks of it. She didn't know what she was feeling, but she felt a comforting warmth wash over her entire body as she watched that monitor.

"Oh my, did you see that?!" Harry asked incredulously as he watched the baby move its little arm. He was amazed. All this from a little wand covered in a condom.

Julie just nodded. She wasn't sure Harry would hear her anyway as his focus was completely on the baby. She was growing a baby inside of her. She was creating a miracle. And it felt amazing. To realize that, that little baby was half of her was a very surreal moment for her. It was so hard to grasp that it was happening inside of her when she couldn't feel anything, and you could not tell from the outside at all. No baby bump to speak of. She reined her thoughts in for a moment to ask the technician a question. "Do you know how far along I am?"

"I will have to confirm with the doctor, but from the measurements, it seems like you're probably 11-12 weeks along." The technician advised still clicking through some detailed measurements.

Julie looked at Harry. She did some quick math in her head. Calculating back to her last menstrual cycle about that long ago and then forward to when she would have been ovulating. It was mid-August now, so after the mental math, she figured it had to have been right when Harry's tour was coming back to the States around the beginning of June. And it made sense, since they hadn't seen each other for about a month. When he came back from Mexico, they'd spent a lot of time locked up together 'hanging out'. They'd definitely made up for lost time.

Harry looked at Julie and could tell she was thinking hard about something. "What? What is it?" He didn't get an answer though because the technician asked if they wanted to hear the heartbeat, and his breath caught in his throat. He looked at Julie who was blinking back her own tears as he felt his fill his eyes again. "Yes, please." He was pretty sure he said it, but nothing was computing completely for him.

Julie was glad Harry answered because she was starting to get overwhelmed by all of this. So much so, that she wasn't sure what she was thinking. Everything was just jumbled together in her head. She gasped when the technician turned on the speaker and then slowly turned it up. The technician moved the wand around a bit and settled in the area the heartbeat was the strongest through the machine. A melodic, steady beat came pouring through the speakers, and she literally lost her cool. The sobs came fast and hard.

Harry heard the heartbeat and remained extremely still for a moment taking in the sound. He looked at Julie and saw her hard exterior start to break. He leaned closer to her and pressed his lips against her forehead and shushed her quietly. "It's ok, baby. Listen. Listen to how strong that heartbeat is. We did that." He closed his eyes and tuned out everything other than the sound of the baby's heartbeat and the connection he felt with Julie in this moment. A few moments later, he felt Julie's breathing sync with his and felt her body calm.

The technician advised them that she was done and turned off the machine and cleaned everything up. She helped Julie from the stirrups but asked her to stay in the gown for now. Harry watched the technician bend and take some papers from under the machine. Almost looked like a big receipt. He soon realized they were pictures printed from the ultrasound machine. She placed some under a paper clip on Julie's folder but then put some into an envelope and handed them to him. She said something about always needing first baby pics. He stared at the envelope in his hand as the technician closed the door behind her. "Baby?"

Julie took a couple more deep breaths. "I'm ok. That was just.....". She couldn't even think of anything to say at the moment.

"Yeah, I know." Harry agreed. "It really was." He looked from the envelope up to Julie's eyes as she was now sitting back up on the table. He stood up and walked between her knees and hugged her tightly. He'd thought he was prepared for this. He'd thought it would just be an appointment to tell her that yes, she's definitely pregnant and this is what you have to do next, but then he saw his baby. Their baby. And heard the heartbeat. He saw the baby move. In less than 72 hours, he went from fear of Julie being ill, to learning they were having a baby, to seeing the baby and hearing the heartbeat. It was absolutely crazy.

"I can't, even believe all of this." Julie mumbled with her face buried in Harry's neck.

"I know. I never even imagined any of this. And now, we've seen and heard the baby. Our baby. Looking at you from the outside you would have never guessed that's what was happening inside you. But, he or she looks exactly like a baby already. I'm not sure what I was thinking. I've seen ultrasound pictures before, it's just, I don't know. It's different."

"Oh, yeah, I agree." Julie pulled back a little but still made him keep his arms around her. "I have seen multiple ultrasounds, working in the hospital. But it's way different when it's happening to you."

Harry found himself kissing her forehead again. Then he rested his forehead on hers for a minute and then kissed it again. "You were thinking really hard a minute ago. What were you thinking about?"

"About when this could have happened. If I'm almost 12 weeks along. I was going through the math in my head." Julie clasped her hands behind Harry's back and laid her ear to his chest. His calming heartbeat underneath her ear. It had always been her favorite sound, but now she had another favorite sound. The rhythmic beat of her baby's heartbeat. One she would forever link to Harry's.

"And? What did you come up with? Because I'm not exactly sure how to even do that calculation." Harry chuckled deeply.

Julie couldn't help but smile as she heard the low chuckle radiate under her ear. "Well, I figure it would be right when you came back to the States after Mexico. You know, when we didn't see the outside world for a couple of days?"

"Oh, yeah. I remember it well." Harry smirked at the memory. "Totally makes sense it would have happened then. Those were some very good days."

"Apparently, there is too much of a good thing. We over worked the birth control." Julie closed her eyes again as she concentrated on his heartbeat.

"Nope, not going to agree." He leaned down and kissed her head as he heard the door open. He turned and saw the doctor walk in. "So, Doctor? Is everything ok?" He then apologized for asking so quickly, as she hadn't even shut the door behind her yet.

"Oh, don't be sorry. It's sort of expected in my line of work. People tend to want answers right away." Dr. Milburn smiled reassuringly at Harry. "But to answer your question, yes, everything looks great. With the measurements and the date of your last menstrual cycle around that time, I'd put you at 12 weeks. That would tentatively put your due date at February 28, 2019."

Julie ran forward until that date. "That's only 6 ½ months from now." It was her turn to lose color in her face. She expected at least another month to get used to this, and get ready for it.

Harry rubbed over Julie's back. "Well, at least the baby and I will likely share a birthday month." He tried to joke, but it fell flat. If Julie heard him, and it was a big 'if', she didn't find it amusing at all. The doctor, however, dashed his dreams almost immediately. Telling him that the dates could adjust based on further ultrasounds. And that a lot of first time mums went past their due dates. He honestly didn't care at the moment. As long as the baby was healthy, and ready, he would accept any birthdate.

Julie was aware Harry and the doctor were talking to each other, but she didn't know about what. She was still trying to gather in the 6 ½ month timeframe she had to get ready for a baby. The doctor gently shook her from her thoughts and asked her to lie down again. The doctor pushed on her stomach and then took a small tape measure and measured the distance over the bottom of her stomach up to where the doctor felt her uterus. Dr. Milburn again advised everything pointed to 12 weeks. Then she told Julie that she could get dressed, and she would be back soon with detailed steps.

Julie grabbed her clothes and started to change. As she did, she glanced over at Harry a few times, and he was staring at the pictures from the ultrasound completely lost in those images. She finished putting her clothes on and zipped up her boots. She sat down in the chair against the wall, and it wasn't long before Harry dragged his chair next to hers and laced his fingers through hers. He gently slid the pictures back into the envelope. "Wow."

One corner of Julie's lip curled up into a smirk. "Yeah, wow." Was all she could say. They sat there in complete silence until Dr. Milburn came back into the room. She looked up at the doctor when she started to go through Julie's instructions.

"I have a few medications for you. The pharmacy down the hall had them, so we had them filled for you there. The prenatal vitamin I have here is a little different than the one Dr. Mansfield gave you, but it does, in essence, do the same thing. Continue to take your medication for the UTI. That does seem to be clearing up quickly. It was a very minor infection. I also got you some medications to help with your morning sickness. You're still pretty dehydrated, and we need to get you to be able to hold things down again. These pills should help with that. We are also sending you for your 12 week scan. It's a more detailed ultrasound done with the wand over your belly. I have you scheduled for early next week for that procedure. And lastly, we will see you back here in 4 weeks for your next checkup."

Julie took in everything the doctor said. What a whirlwind. She took the paperwork from Dr. Milburn and would have to look at it more when they got home. This day had completely overwhelmed her. But she wasn't sure it was in any bad way at all. She and Harry thanked the doctor and walked out to the very nice receptionist who had walked them in. Harry took Julie's hand and walked silently through the hallways and out the back door.

"Here you go, love." Harry held open her car door and then shut hers and went and got in the driver's side. He knew it was going to be a quiet ride home. And he was ok with that. They would be together. Supporting each other; and nothing needed to be talked about or decided just yet. Harry took Julie's hand in his once again and laid them both on the middle console together. What a few days it had been. But, he had his own little happy family right now. And that was more than he could ask for.

I can't think of anything better than a Daddy Harry.  It's going to be a learning curve for writer and characters.  Thank you, once again for coming on this crazy ride.