Veronica nervously bites her nails as they wait for the doctor to walk into the room. Archie took her hand away from her mouth a couple of times already but not even he can calm her. So now his hand rests on her thigh. "Baby don't stress"

"How am I supposed not to stress"

"It'll all be okay. I promise" he smiles as he moves his hand to her cheek and carefully runs his fingers over her skin. His soft smile makes her relax a little.

"Don't promise me something you have no control over Archiekins"

Before Archie can answer the door opens and an elderly man walks in. This hair is blonde but already has a tint of grey in it.

"Good morning Miss Lodge. I'm Dr. Brown and I'll be taking a look at your baby today" he smiles.

"Good morning Sir" she says and takes Archie's hand into both of hers.

"I assume you're the father" the doctor says and sits down on the chair close to the examination bed.

"Yes Sir. I'm Archie Andrews"

"Nice to meet you" Dr. Brown nods. "Miss Lodge could you please lie down"

Veronica nods as she slowly lies down. Her heart beats fast and her hands are shaking. Archie sits next to her. He runs his fingers through her hair and kisses her forehead.

The gel is cold on her stomach. Usually she likes that cold feeling. A happy moment used to follow. A moment of big smiles, kisses and happiness but now she's scared. She's scared she will hear something she's not ready to hear. Well actually will never be ready for. Tears already form in her eyes. It's silent and that silence is really hard to take.

"So Miss Lodge, I've seen enough" Dr. Brown says as he turns away from the screen and towards Archie and Veronica. He hands her some paper towels so she can clean her stomach and sit up. Her fingers are still interlaced with Archie's.

"Well I can't say for sure because your baby is still very little so I can't see much but there is definitely something wrong with the heart but don't worry. Since everything else is perfectly developed and the heartbeat is normal too I don't think it's anything serious. There are a few diseases, major heart disease, I can rule out. I can say for sure in a few weeks"

Veronica sighs relieved "well that's kinda good news. How come the heartbeat is normal today? Yesterday it was too fast"

"Well the heartbeat is a little faster than average but nothing to worry about. It's okay"

"Will our baby make it? Can it live a normal life with the heart disease?" Archie asks.

"I'm pretty sure your baby will survive the pregnancy. I don't think it's anything big. That doesn't mean your child doesn't have to take medication though. I know you have a lot of questions but I really can't say anything specific yet. You have to wait a few weeks. There is not much you can do except for relax and no stress but I think my colleague already told you that. You will still attend your normal sonogram appointments just that afterwards you come to me"

Veronica nods.

"I'll take care of her" Archie says. It makes the doctor smile. "Very good" he nods. He shakes Archie's hand and then looks to Veronica. "I see you in a few weeks Miss Lodge. Take care"

•••

Veronica sits on the couch. Her left hand is on her stomach and in her right she holds the sonogram picture. As much as she tries she can't ignore the tiny white spot.

"Ronnie you're only making it harder for yourself" Archie sighs as he sits down next to her with a glass of water in his hand. "Here drink something" he smiles.

She takes the glass from him with a little smile "Thank you" After she took a sip she places the class on the coffee table.

Archie takes the pictures out of her hands and stares at it with a smile on his face. "This is my baby. Mine!"

"Mhm" Veronica smirks. She wraps her arms around his and lies her head down on his shoulder.

"My mom texted me earlier. She will be here soon with the kids and she wants to stay to cook lunch for us"

"She doesn't have to do that"

"I told her but when my mom wants something, no one can change her mind" he chuckles "maybe it's good. You can relax a little, I can watch the twins and my mom's food is very delicious"

"Well then" Veronica giggles. She looks up to him and just stares at the smile on his lips for a minute until he looks down to her. He places his hand on her stomach and then kisses her lips. "We'll get through this, okay?"

Veronica nods. She closes her eyes as she feels a tear roll down her cheek. Archie kisses her forehead just as the front door opens causing Veronica to flinch. "My mom has a spear key" he whispers. "It's all good"

"Daddy!" Ella giggles. He can hear her kick her shoes off and toss her jacket somewhere on the floor and then the sound of her little feet running over the wooden floor towards him. "Daddy" she giggles again as she jumps on the couch and cuddles into his side.

"Hi princess. Did you have fun with grandma?"

"Mhm"

"Where did you put your shoes and jacket? I hope they're not on the floor"

"Uhm—" she mumbles and snuggles more into his side.

"I put her clothes away" Ben says as he walks towards the little group of three. He climbs on the couch and sits down next to Veronica. "What's that in your hand daddy?" he asks.

"A picture of the baby"

Both of the twins gasp at the same time.

"I wanna see, I wanna see!" Ella squeals and Ben joins her.

So Archie flips the little paper around and shows them the sonogram. "Where is it?" Ben asks. "I only see this white jelly bean"

"The white jelly bean is the baby" Veronica giggles. "It's still super small. That's why it doesn't really look like a baby yet"

"I think it looks cute Ronnie" Ella smiles. Archie wraps his arm around his little girl and kisses her cheek a few times. The girl looks up and starts grinning. "Grandma come in. Don't just stand in the doorway"

"I was just enjoying the cute view for a second" Mary laughs as she walks in. "The four of you look like a little family"

Archie blushes deeply and tries to hide it by kissing Ella's head again.

"Because we are!" Ben says. He crosses his arms in front of his chest and looks up to his grandma. "Ella and I are two kids. We have a daddy and daddy and Ronnie are in love" he giggles and then covers his face with his hands. "And now daddy and Ronnie will have a little baby"

"Look we have a picture" Ella grins. She takes the sonogram out of Archie's hands and holds it up so Mary can have a look.

Mary walks over with a smile on her face. She takes the paper out of Ella's little hand and stares at it. "Wow"

"It's still little" Ben says.

"You can keep this if you want. We have more" Veronica smiles.

"Thank you, really. This— is amazing. Fred will fall in love just as quickly as he fell in love with the twins"

"You're welcome Mrs. Andrews"

"Call me Mary honey"

"Uhm kids can you go play for a second?" Archie asks. The kids jump up and race to their room. Mary sits down next to Archie who now has his arms wrapped around Veronica.

"What did the doctor say?"

"It's a heart disease. He couldn't say anything specific though" Archie sighs while he runs his fingertips up and down Veronica's arm "but he also said that it doesn't look that bad and that our little bean will be strong enough to come into this world. We will know more in a few weeks"

"Well that's something" Mary smiles softly "don't worry Veronica. It'll be okay and if you ever have any questions or just want to talk about pregnancy stuff you can always come to me"

"Thank you Mary. I really appreciate that"

"No problem honey. I'll start cooking now. The twins wanted to help. I'll take care of everything. You two just relax a little"

"Are you sure mom? I can—"

"Very sure!" Mary interrupts "stay with your girlfriend and make her feel better"

She runs her thumb over her son's cheek and kisses his head before she gets up and walks upstairs to get the twins.

Archie holds Veronica close and plays with her hair. "Do you know what I would love to do and will maybe even distract you?"

"What" Veronica whispers.

"Shopping for our baby. I still have some clothes from the twins and a few toys but we can get more and a cute little crib and a changing table and cute stuffed animal, oh and baby shoes. Oh my baby shoes are probably the cutest thing on this planet"

"How do you want to buy baby clothes when you don't know the gender yet?" Veronica giggles.

"Well then lets buy a crib. We can buy gender neutral clothes though. Please!" he whines "baby clothes are so cute"

"Okay fine" Veronica smirks. "Let's go shopping for our baby"