Come, Fly With Me

TWENTY FIVE

Another three weeks had passed. Today we were setting up our nursery as the nesting feeling had already kicked in for me. I'd find myself cleaning and organising cupboards that were already spotless at crazy times, sometimes well into the night as they weren't to my satisfaction. Ehsaan begged me to calm down and spend time resting instead as my strength was really running low. Recently, there's been many days where my back pain would flare up and I'd barely been able to get out of bed and walk. Ehsaan was worried sick, insisting he take time off work to take care of me until it cleared up, which fortunately was only for a few days. The sickness had returned around halfway through my second trimester and had hit me full force, this time causing me to be completely unable to eat anything and I was only relying on fluids, whiwould would also make me nauseous. I'd lost a lot of weight, and had ended up being put on an IV drip at the hospital to get me back up and running. Now though, at almost 30 weeks pregnant, I was free from the horrible side effects I'd experienced alhamdulillah and am back up and running.

We built the cot and the dresser, and I unpacked the changing station and organised it on top. We put up a mirror and my favourite addition to the room, the bookcase. As a teacher, I am a lover of literature, and seeing as my husband is an educated man, he is also a lover of books. Everyone had laughed at us when they saw the boxes of books I'd ordered to place in my newbornbaby's room, but I was adamant that my child grows up to be an intelligent individual with a passion for literature from an early age. I'd bought the Harry Potter book set, all the Roald Dahl books, even some classics, like Jane Eyre and Great Expectations, more for myself than anyone else really, along with the usual children's books like The Gruffalo, Peter Rabbit and Winnie the Pooh. We are going for a neutral theme with frames on one wall, each with a drawing of a wild animal, there is a lion, an elephant, a few others, and my all-time favourite, a tiger.

Since a very young age, I'd always been obsessed with these magnificent creatures. They left me in awe and their gracefulness inspired me. Besides the picture I had gotten a print of my favourite poem framed. It was beautiful, and though many may wonder why I'd placed it in my baby's room, I loved it, so I'm going to use it.

I held it out in my hands and smiled, leaning it against the wall on the dresser. I stood back and smiled, feeling accomplished as I saw the whole room come together. Ehsaanhad gone to put the kettle on to make us a cup of tea as I began to read,

'Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand, dare seize the fire? ' I paused, thinking about the words.

"And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand?  what dread feet?" 

I gasped, spinning around to see Ehsaan standing in the doorway, reciting the next stanza.

"I didn't know you liked the Tyger?"

"Well, darling. Anything you love, I love. But it's a bit of a morbid poem, don't you think?

What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp,

Dare its deadly terrors clasp!"

"Yeah, maybe it is. It isn't exactly uplifting, but the writing is just so beautiful."

"I can't disagree with you there. Blake did a wonderful job with it."

He came and took me in his arms and kissed me slowly. He spoke with his deep voice low and quieter,

"When the stars threw down their spears

And water'dheaven with their tears:

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"

I finished the last stanza

"Tyger Tyger burning bright,

In the forests of the night:

What immortal hand or eye,

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?"

We stared at each other for a few moments, the electricity growing in the quiet evening, I lifted my hand to pass it through his messy hair as he watched my every move intently. "I can't wait to see you become the best daddy ever, Ehsaan"

He chuckled, "I can't wait to hold our baby in my arms."

He bent down and lifted my shirt to kiss my belly and speak to our baby. These moments would surely be treasured forever, every day that passed we're one step closer to being parents, and I hoped and prayed with all my might that the last 10 weeks go smoothly.

That night, we were lost in ourselves together, no worries playing in our heads, no doubts in our minds, no fear in our hearts.

All will be fine and we'll be a family soon.

I just know it.