Passion's Instinct

Fourteen

Hayden

Today was the usual shopping-at-the-grocery-store day, and I hated it. So much. Natalie would always make me come with her because she said I needed something to do. As for this morning, I wasn't sure if we would be able to go.

Natalie rolled over to my side of the bed and ducked under my arm. I wrapped my arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, babe."

"I love you too, Hayden," she mumbled, burying her head in my chest.

Her pregnancy over the past three months had not gone well at all. Almost every morning she was sick, wanting to stay in bed and sleep. She was very lethargic about everything, nauseous all the time and almost always felt like she would vomit.

"I didn't know it would be this hard," she moaned.

"It'll be worth it in the end," I said, repeating the words she used in the beginning; two months ago when it wasn't so hard.

Later I had finally gotten her to come downstairs and eat the food she had been craving most. Out of all the things it could be, it was lemon. She would eat it straight without any sugar. Nothing except for sour lemon.

Other times, she would want to chew on ice or fruit, usually grapes.

She was curled up on the couch watching TV when I walked over to her for my third round of distributing ice. "Thank you," she whispered, dumping some into her mouth and starting to chew on it. Her swollen stomach couldn't possibly be covered by any cloth. It protruded from under the blanket, and it gave me a warm reminder that we were actually going to have a son or daughter in a little less than six months. In a few weeks' time we would be able to find out the gender.

I plopped down beside my wife and hugged her to my side, kissing the side of her head, but she grimaced as a result. "What?" I asked, cautiously pulling away.

"Everything is sore and tender. All my muscles. They ache from the strain put on them." She sighed. "And the fact I still have six months to go."

"It's going to be okay, babe," I said, kissing her again. The buzzer at the front door startled both of us. I got up and went to see who it was, with Natalie waddling behind. I knew that if I told her to stay, she still wouldn't listen, just like the dog. I opened the door to reveal Kaylen holding a basket filled with goods.

"Hi, Hayden. This is for Natalie," she said to me quietly.

"She's right here." I gestured to Natalie, and Kaylen walked in, handing her the basket.

"This is for you," she said, smiling.

Natalie held Kaylen in a tight embrace. "Thank you so much, Kaylen. This is so thoughtful."

Kaylen nodded and pulled away, showing her everything that was in it. "Now, this is mostly filled with foods women crave while pregnant, so, indulge in those things. It's mostly chocolate and stuff. Then, I put some relief supplies and spa stuff to help you relax during your pregnancy."

"Kaylen, this is extremely sweet. Thank you so much." Natalie pecked her cheek lightly.

"Oh, it was fun to put together. No problem at all." She looked behind her where her car was sitting, under the overhang. "Well, I'd better get going."

Natalie smiled as Kaylen hugged me and ran out to her car again. She walked to the kitchen, beaming, setting down the basket on the counter. "That is so sweet that she would even think of that."

I shrugged my shoulders. "You know her. She's creative an thoughtful, and those two things together can really come in handy. Sometimes, she'll even do stuff like that when she's bored."

"Speaking of, I do feel like chocolate..."

We laughed as she took some from the basket and bit off a piece.

"Good?" I asked.

"Wonderful," she replied. Natalie sat up on a stool beside me. "This is just what I needed."

"Good." I kissed her temple and hoped that the rest of the six months wouldn't be too hard.