16 Weeks....Part 2

Picking up right where we left off Dr. Evans is getting ready to take

 a look and see how baby is doing.

After about a minute of prep work on the 
keyboard she's ready.

*Dr. Evans* "Okay! Let's take a peek and see baby...."

Luke and Laura are are equally excited to find out if they are having a girl or a boy. Luke cranes his neck around so he can see what the Dr is doing. Dr. Evans grabs a white bottle and gets up off the chair. She faces Laura at the exam table and lifts her shirt...

 *Dr. Evans smiles* "This jelly can sometimes be a bit cold...But I'm sure you know that."

Laura nods and she squirts some out and rubs it across Laura's emerging baby belly. Dr. Evans then switches out the bottle of jelly for the ultrasound wand.

 As soon as she beings to move the wand you can hear that telltale slooshing sound, and soon you can see an image on the screen of the ultrasound machine. Dr. Evans taps at the keyboard and takes a few measurements before moving on with the sonogram.

 *Dr Evans* "Well, baby looks good. Heartbeat is strong. Now lets see if
 we can find out if we've got a boy or a girl in there."
 Again Luke and Laura look on in eagerness and awe as they see glimpses of their second child on the monitor.
Laura holds on tight to Luke's hand.

 *Laura* "Awww, look Luke I can see a little belly and profile."
 *Luke* "I see it, Babe..."
*Dr. Evans* "Lets see if I can find baby's face..."
Dr. Evans takes a seat so she is not blocking anyone's view. Then she begins to move the wand over Laura's little round belly, 
stopping more on the top.

 Then in the blink of any eye, everyone is looking at a tiny 
little face up on the screen. Luke gets very 
excited at what he is seeing...
*Luke* "Oh wow! It's a little skull!...Look Babe, you can see the
eye sockets and everything!..."
*Laura* "I see it..."

 *Dr. Evans* "Pretty cool, huh?..."
*Laura* "Well, anything with skulls is pretty cool to him, he loves them."
*Dr Evans* "Ah I see, Well I'll save this one so it can be printed out for you."
*Luke* "Oh, wow....thanks!..."
 *Dr. Evans with cheer* "Oh you're very welcome!....Now
let's see if we can find out who's in here..."

 Dr. Evans takes the wand and moves it back across Laura's belly trying to locate the sex of the baby. Eventually she stops in one spot, nods confirming to herself that she knows what she is looking at.
*Dr. Evans* "Okay! You two ready to find out..."
*Laura with excitement* "Yes! Please tell me it's a girl...Is it a girl?"

 Luke looks up at the monitor too, both of them trying 
to hone in on what they are trying to find.
*Luke* "I think you might be right babe, it looks like it's a girl."

 Dr. Evans adjusts her wand's position on Laura's 

belly a little better giving everyone a better view...

*Dr. Evans* "Just give me one sec..."

And with a few more click clacks of the keyboard, Dr. Evans now 
has the perfect shot. She saves the image, so that they have 
something to show family and friends. 

*Dr. Evans points at the screen* "Alright...See that section right there?"

Luke and Laura both respond nodding yes and Dr. Evans 
continues with her reveal of the gender.
 *Dr. Evans* "That tells me you're having a boy..."
 *Laura* "Oh, yes...I see it now. I was so hoping it would be a girl."

 *Dr. Evans* "Well it's without a doubt a boy, I'm marking it on the
picture here then I'll print these two that I saved for you."Dr. Evans removes the wand from her belly putting it away 
and goes to finish up her work on the keyboard, 
while Luke and Laura talk.

*Luke* "Well look at it this way, Babe. Now Phoenix gets to pass down clothes
 to his little brother. Saves you time and me money instead of going to buy girl clothes."
*Laura* "That is true and they can easily share a room for much 

longer than if the baby was a girl."

 *Laura continues smiling* "And I think Phoenix will love having a little brother..."
 She's happy no matter what, and knows she will love 
this baby with all her heart and soul.

Luke lifts up her hands towards his mouth and kisses 
the back of it, then looks at her and smiles.

*Luke smiling* "Maybe the next one will be a girl..."
*Laura laughs* "I can't even go there right now,
please tell me you're kidding."
 *Luke laughing back* "Whaaaat?! You told me yourself you wanted 3 kids."
*Dr. Evans* "You know you're not the only couple who's had that conversation..."

Then the printer spits out a few pictures....
 *Dr. Evans continues* "Well we are done here! You can sit up now if you like."
 Luke gets up and helps his wife get back to a sitting position.

 Dr. Evans reaches down grabs the two pictures then gets up off her own chair, and turns to face the parents to be. 
Handing the pictures to Laura.

 *Dr. Evans* "Congratulations! And remember, if you don't start feeling better from
this cold come back and see me. And make sure to keep a small log of your blood pressure,
I'd like to keep a close eye on that..."

 Laura nods yes to all of her instructions.
*Dr. Evans* "Do you have any other questions?..."
*Laura* "Um, no I don't think so..."
*Dr. Evans* "Alright, then I'll see you back here in a month for
your 20 week check up."

 *Laura smiles and nods* "Okay, thank you."
*Dr. Evans* "Have a good day..."

Dr. Evans begins to walk out of the room then stops to 
quickly congratulate Luke on her way out.

 *Dr. Evans* "And congratulations to you too!...
Y'all have good day now."
She smiles then walks on through the 
door closing it behind her.

*Luke* "You ready, Babe?..."
*Laura* "Yes....So you excited it's a boy?"

 *Luke* "Yeah, I'm happy about it...I'm glad Phoenix will
be getting a younger brother and someone to play with. Being an only
child it was something I always wished I had. Especially a brother, someone to go ride bikes with or explore the woods behind our house. Or someone to get in trouble with and blame it all on him..."

 *Laura smiles* "Oh lawd! Our house will never be quiet for like the next 20 years..."

 *Luke laughs* "Don't worry, Babe. I'm gonna be here with you every
step of the way. I love you."
*Laura* "I know...Because there is no way I'm letting you out of this mess either.
For better or for worse.

*Luke* "For better or for worse..."
 Then he leans in stealing a quick kiss, and helps her off 
the exam table. Laura grabs her bag, and 
Luke opens the door for her.
*Luke* "So tell me again where this place is at?..."
*Laura* "It's off 1/6 street and right around the corner from Bull Tavern."

*Luke* "Oh, really?!..."
*Laura* "Yes, that's what I was trying to tell you yesterday...."
*Luke* "Oh! Well, maybe we'll have time to catch lunch at the Tavern
 before it's time to get Phoenix,"

 *Laura* "Yeah, that sounds good."
A short while later Luke and Laura make it to the business 
location that is for sale. Meiying is inside waiting for them. 
She cheerfully greets them at the door immediately.

  *Meiying* "Hello! Come in, come in..."
 She walks towards them and reaches out her hand 
introducing herself to the two.

 *Meiying* "Hi, I'm Meiying...."
 Laura reaches out and grabs her hand also 
introducing herself.

*Laura* "Hi, I'm Laura. I talked to you yesterday. This is my husband, Luke."
*Meiying* "Hi, yes....Please come in and have a look around and if you have any questions just ask."
*Luke* "What kinda restaurant was here before, it shut down?"
*Meiying* "It was a tea room, it was a quaint little spot, but it just couldn't make it anymore. I personally think a coffee house would be a better choice."

 Luke nods in agreement, a coffee shop would definitely be good for the area. Then his eyes are immediately drawn to the piano in the corner of the room.
 *Luke* "Oh, look Babe, there's a piano..."
*Laura* "Oh yeah....is the piano included?..."

  *Meiying* "Yes it is and the piano is in great shape, works wonderfully, do you play?"
 *Laura looks back to her* "Me? No...he's the musician in the family. I'm the chef..."
*Meiying* "Ah Okay. Is this your first time at looking to buy a business?
A piano is not something you see often..."
 *Laura* "For me, yes. My husband owns his own business, 'Vintage Vinyl Record Shop'..."

*Meiying* "Yes, I have heard of it! My sister likes to shop there sometimes.
She's very much into music. She plays the violin."
*Luke* "That's great to hear, business has been really booming lately with the
recent surge of new collectors..."
*Meiying* "Your right it sure has.....Well go ahead and have a look around. If you
have any questions just ask..."
Luke and Laura step farther in and begin to scope out the
 seating area first, Luke heads straight to the piano to check it out.

While Meiying, looks at her phone to check on her schedule 
and see where she needs to be next.
Laura walks over to Luke, she is curious to see 
what he thinks of the place...

Luke is tapping away on the piano, testing out the keys as his mind drifts off to a different time. He has wanted a piano for some time now.  It was the first thing he learned to play, his grandmother taught him. She is the one who had music in her soul and showed Luke so much at such a young age. Her quick and unexpected passing was a devastating blow to him as a budding teenager. That anger he held in from loosing her got him into trouble sometimes but it also charged him to take control of his life. 

*Laura* "Soooo...what do ya think?...The place is pretty much ready to go."
Luke is pulled out of is trance, stops and looks up at her, 
being lost in thought he didn't hear what she said.

 *Luke* "What was that, Babe?..."
*Laura* "What do you think of the place?..."
 Luke knows she's really hell bent on owning her own restaurant. She had plans to start one years ago but they ended up having Phoenix, which was not planned and very unexpected. Now nearly 3 years later she wants to make it happen...But Luke is still skeptical about the timing of it all.

*Luke* "Babe, you're having a baby in like 5 months!...I just don't see how this is
all possible. I...I know this is important to you but..."
*Laura* "I know, don't you think I've thought about that?...Luke, this place is perfect, just needs a bit of tweaking and it would be a great little bistro coffee shop."
*Luke* "How are you gonna run a business and take care of two kids?..."
*Laura* "Lots of women do it everyday, Luke! It's the 21st century."

*Luke* "It's not that I don't doubt you, Babe. I know you can run a business, but...What about your blood pressure? I thought you were concerned about it too? If that goes
up I don't see how this can be possible."
*Laura* "Of course, I'm concerned about it...But...I..."

 Meiying can see that they are at odds about the place, being a business woman herself she hopes to make a quick sale here. So she escorts them into the kitchen hoping that all the fairly new commercial grade kitchen equipment catches their eyes.

 *Meiying* "Follow me into the kitchen. Everything in there is all fairly new updated appliances. I can assure this place will not stay on the market for long, with such a quality commercial kitchen..."
 After a walk through of the kitchen they come back out 
into the dining area, to talk a little more. Luke comes out a little behind the ladies, he's still unsure about all this. Especially 
with a baby due in 5 months...

*Meiying* "So....What do you think of the place?"
*Laura* "I love it and I think it could definitely work for me."
*Meiying* 'That's great! So would you like to make an offer then?"
*Laura* "Um, Yes...I mean maybe. I need to run all this info by my
parents as they will be investing into this business."
Meiying turns to her manila folder that is sitting on the counter top.

*Meiying* "Ah, okay....Lemme give you one of these papers. It has all the info
you need and if you need to come back and take a second look, just call me."
She hands the paper over to Laura, who takes it while 
she is listening to her talk.

Laura takes the paper and looks at it, Luke looks on as 
well and Meiying continues to talk.

*Meiying* "As I said before, if you're very serious about this place let me know, and we can write up an offer....I have a feeling it will sell quickly. This area is beginning to boom with life again and a lot of young couples like you two are buying businesses in the area."

*Laura* "Okay, as soon as I go over this info with my father, I'll get back to you.
Hopefully it won't be too late, because I'm very interested."
*Meiying* "Sounds perfect! I hope to hear from you again."
*Laura* "Me too, and Thank you for taking the time to show us the building..."
Everyone nods, smiles and says goodbye to one another. Then Luke and Laura begin to walk toward the front doors, making their
 way out of the business.

*Laura* "Still not convinced it's a great place?"
*Luke* "Oh, it's a great place Babe. No doubt about that, I just don't think it's
 a great time to be doing this."
*Laura* "I know, but can you just keep an open mind about it, at least until I can
show my Dad and see if he wants to follow through with this deal. Because if I can't convince him then it's dead in the water, at that point."

*Luke* "Yeah, that's true...okay I promise I won't give you a hard time about it. Besides I know this is something you have wanted for a very long time now."
Luke drops the subject, he feels Laura's father will be much harder to convince than him, especially since her father is the one who will be investing in the business. They did after all promise Laura they would help her out, if Luke signed that prenup. Laura my have her work cut out for her.
*Luke* "So, you ready to eat?..."
*Laura smiles* "Of course. I'm eating for two now..."
Luke smiles at her and they walk to their car to make the quick trip around the corner to Bull Tavern.  Grabbing an early lunch before it's time to pick up Phoenix from pre-school.


Later that same day
>>>


Meiying is back at the same business location that is for sale, 
another young couple has just walked in...

 *Meiying* "Hi....Come on in...I'm Meiying."
The man reaches out and shakes Meiying's 
hand and says hello.

*Man* "Hello....I'm Miguel...And this is my wife, Penelope."
Penelope smiles and says hello to Meiying.

*Penelope* "Hello!..."
*Meiying* "Well, come in have a look around...tell me what you think."



The End!
^_^
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