Sing to Me

Chapter 31

Two in the morning and the outside roared as if it was 1 in the afternoon. Regardless of the borough you lived in, New York never slept. And, just like New York, Delilah couldn't sleep. Her pregnancy was its end, but the pain seemed to be just starting. Finding a comfortable position to sleep in without kicking Valentin in his back or on the floor was almost impossible. The swelling in her feet forced her into a seat for 14 out of the 16 hours she was awake. The heartburn she had been experiencing for the past month will be in vain unless the baby popped out with Rapunzel-esque hair. Her hormone-driven mood swings have driven Valentin to the point of not breathing, out of fear of facing her wrath for making her listen to him breathe.

They were at their wits' end, to say the least.

Delilah laid awake, staring up at the ceiling, as the stream of street lights and Valentin's light snores filled the room. Her pregnant belly was stretched to capacity. Luckily, the baby had stopped moving and flipping a few weeks ago, realizing it was too big to keep rolling around in, what was now, a tight space. She felt her stomach, taking in how stiff and firm it was.

Taxis and cars outside zoomed by, blowing an occasional horn at another car or a pedestrian. Any other night, this urban lullaby would've lulled her to sleep. But, tonight was different. Sick of laying down while not gaining restful sleep, Delilah pushed herself into a sitting position and swung her legs over the side of the bed, standing up while making sure the bed didn't creak too much. She crept of their shared bedroom and made her way into the living area. Once there, she looked towards the kitchen, imagining the banana waiting for her on the counter. Before going to retrieve her snack, she turned her head and looked at the couch, making sure Ramon was still sleeping soundly.

Ramon had been staying here for the past week, not that his mother's family had really noticed. Blanca had been away with her new boyfriend on a vacation. Supposedly, he was some rich guy who hadn't been touched by the Depression, for whatever reason. There was no point in questioning it. As long as Ramon was safe and with them, Valentin and Delilah made it a habit to not ask about Blanca did. They had enough to worry about with being newlyweds, living with his mom, having a baby on the way, living in a job market that's crawling out of a depression with its teeth, and living in the US as an interracial couple and neither of them were white, or could pass for white.

Life was hard.

Almost as hard as Delilah's pregnant belly.

Delilah walked over to the couch, watching Ramon sleep. There was no denying this was Valentin's child. From their sleeping position to their soft snores, the resemblance was undeniable. She noticed the quilt that he had managed to kick on the floor. She dusted it off and laid it over him, watching him pull it up to his chin in his sleep. She smoothed his hair back and made her way to the kitchen where her banana awaited her.

She didn't bother turning on the kitchen light, not wanting to disturb Ramon. She felt around on the counter, until her finger tips grazed the smooth skin of a tree crescent. She peeled the flesh away from the soft, sweet fruit meat, burying her front teeth into the fruit. As she was swallowing, a twang of pain shot through her, almost causing her to choke of her bite of banana. She coughed up the piece of banana as quietly as someone could cough up a partially choked-on piece of fruit and spit it into her hand.

"What the hell?" She grunted to herself, throwing away her cough-up banana fragment. She examined the rest of the banana in her hand, making sure nothing was in it. She, cautiously, brought the fruit back up to her lips. Before she even opened her mouth, another twang of pain surged through her body, this one more intense than the last. She dropped the rest of the banana on the floor, grunting in pain. She held onto the counter, attempting to breathe through the pain. Seconds, which felt like hours, passed and the pain stopped. Delilah was, slightly, panting, recovering from the painful episode she had just experienced. She had been feeling some twinges of pain for the past 2 weeks, which Cecilia said was normal towards the end of pregnancy. For a moment, Delilah figured it some of those twinges again, even though these seemed a little more intense.