I supposed that the technician was about to ask, “Would you like to know the sex of your baby?” because that is what these technicians always say in movies. Then, with a smile, we would both defer to the mother’s preference to know the baby’s gender. But the technician didn’t say those words, and I had no practiced deference to act out a response. Instead she said, “I don’t see a heartbeat.” Perhaps someone can say a phrase so often it is impossible to feign gravitas in their speech, words worn down like tread on a tire, and I’m pavement underneath wheel.
