A Reason To Stay

Chapter 22

Christmas time passed and my stomach was becoming more and more planet like. Yet another doctor appointment was set up to check on our Katherine's health. I was only three months away from delivering now. Our appointment passed with nothing wrong with me or Katherine. Aaron and I decided to do a little shopping before we went back home.

Okay. So usually it's the woman who goes crazy when baby shopping, right? Well it was the exact opposite with Aaron and I. Aaron went absolutely crazy in Baby's R Us. I'm pretty sure he got at least 5 things from every isle. "Oh look at this! It's so cute!" he grabbed a Tigger stuffed animal. I rolled my eyes and looked at him. He gave me his'I love you so much, pleeeaasseee' look. He knew I hated it because I could never say no. We got what seemed to be hundreds of stuffed animals, blankets, different baby foods, like fifty boxes of diapers (which I wasn't complaining about because I knew that we would need them) We bought a 4 different mobiles to hang above the baby's crib. It was crazy. We had to use two baskets. If the item said 'baby' on it, I can assure you, it was in our basket. "Aaron..." I moaned. Still caught up in his baby frenzy, he looked at me with an armful of items, "What?" he asked. "My feet hurt and we have enough supplies to give to a hospital nursery. And we still have a baby shower," I leaned over the basket. He dropped the items in the almost overflowing basket. "Go ahead and go out to the car. I'll be out there in a minute," he gave me a kiss on the cheek while handing me the keys. I walked off but looked back behind me. "Aaron!" I crossed my arms. "Sorry," he mouthed. He had continued putting even more items in the basket. "I want you to glue your hands to those baskets. Go to checkout," I pointed towards the registers. "But..." he started. "Now." I said firmly. He walked to the registers with his tale between his legs.

"I'll be such I good Mom," I smiled while walking to the car. Aaron eventually met me out there. It took forever to load and unload all of the bags. Aaron told me to go lay down, that he would unload everything. I wasn't arguing. "So do you want to put Katherine's room together?" he asked later that day after I woke up from my nap. We walked downstairs which was starting to be a hassle.

"I don't understand how this works, Aaron sighed as he held up the crib chart and two pieces. "Honey," I said. Aaron looked at me. "Flip the chart," I sighed. I was folding clothes. He gave me a stupid look and then did so. "Ah, gotcha. I knew that," he laughed. I just nodded my head and smiled. Then my stomach started to feel weird. "Woah," I gasped. "What is it?" Aaron rushed to my side. I took his hand and put it under my shirt. "Is she kicking?!" he smiled. I nodded my head yes. Then I started crying. I wasn't sure if it was from happiness or horomones again. I never knew why I cried anymore. Because I felt like it I guess. Then she kicked again. Aaron's eyes lit up. He put his ear on my belly. "Hey baby girl," he whispered. "I'm your daddy." he looked at me and smiled after she kicked again. "I promise I'll take good care of you," he traced little circles on my stomach.

"Sing to her," I suggested. "What song?" he asked. I remembered the song that came on, on the way home. "Bed of Roses by Bon Jovi," I smiled. "I wanna lay you down on a bed of roses. For tonight I sleep on a bed of nails," Katherine kept kicking. I couldn't help but laugh. Aaron's face got serious and he closed his eyes. I knew when he did this that he was feeling it within himself. He did This when something really touched him or got to him. "I wanna be just as close as the Holy Ghost is, I wanna lay you down... on a bed of roses," he sang. I loved it when he sang. I could tell that Katherine loved his singing too. The kicking stopped. "Where did it go?" Aaron whimpered. "I think she liked your singing so much you sang her to sleep," I smiled as I combed his hair with my fingers. He kissed my stomach. "Sweet dreams baby girl," he whispered.