A Dance of Life

23

Rachel glues herself to my side, much to her parents' delight once we got properly introduced during lunch. She chooses to hold my arm and when that's not possible, my shirt, as Jocelyn shows me around the house.

"Is she normally this friendly towards strangers?" I ask, concerned that she'll get too attached and therefore hurt when I leave.

Sound like anyone you know?

"It really all depends, I guess," she replies with a chuckle, "Maybe she believes she's found a new friend or maybe she's viewing you as an interesting person because Nicole brought you. I really have no clue."

I nod my head in understanding but she isn't done talking. "But you're going to be taking care of her anyways, so you should see it as a good thing; you won't have to run around looking for her."

"You're right," I verbalize. "If I may ask, why isn't she in school?"

"We engage her in mental games like puzzles and read along books but we don't want her to start preschool until she turns three."

We head to the living room as the final stop of the tour and Jocelyn flops into a love-seat. I take that as an invitation to sit as well, pulling Rachel unto my lap but I guess she's had enough of me because she jumps down and runs away. I make an attempt to go after her but Jocelyn stops me. "She's probably going to Nicole's room; she'll be fine," she tells me.

I personally don't think children should go unsupervised at any point in time but I'm not her mother so I stay silent.

"I'm so tired," Jocelyn groans, "And my feet hurt all the time. I-"

She stops her rambling and turns to me with an apologetic look. "Sorry; here I am, telling you about all the negatives of pregnancy when you're not even in your second trimester. I should be telling you the positive side so you have something to look forward to."

I shrug and fidget my fingers. "But on the other hand, I need to know the negative things that are coming so I can prepare myself mentally. For example, I didn't know that lying on my back would reduce blood flow."

She sucks in her teeth and nods her head, "That is so true but luckily I've never really been a back sleeper so that didn't affect me. I still experience back pain though, so I have this special pillow that catered towards pregnant women."

"I actually just recently found out about that so I ordered one but the address was to my apartment not here," I tell her with a sigh.

"I can give you mine hopefully by the end of the week if you want."

"That wouldn't be asking for too much?"

"Ha, no, of course not. What am I going to do with it anyways? I tried using it after I gave birth to Rachel but it suddenly wasn't comfortable," she says with a smile.

"Nicole said you're due tomorrow?"

"Oh, I hope so. I'm doing everything in my power to make sure of that; being active, castor oil, and even eating more pineapples."

"And if the baby doesn't come out tomorrow, or this week?"

"Honestly, I don't want to think about it. I'd only get anxious and that might push the date further away," she informs me.

I think of her words, glad that there's someone who can understand what I'm going through. "I appreciate this talk; it's a real eye-opener," I tell her but she doesn't respond.

"Jocelyn?" She still doesn't respond so I assume she's sleeping and go back to my room. I check my phone for any new messages as I turn on the TV. There's one from Pat and one from Nathan.