A Dance of Life

55

"I'm tired," Diana moans, leaning against a pillar in the airport.

"You basically woke up three hours ago, D," I sigh.

"That was from a nap. I woke up at seven, or eight... it might have been nine. But we were cleaning up the Airbnb and everything, after that I took a nap. The nap was like an hour-long, so yeah, I'm tired."

"Maybe you need to be active. You could go help my dad at the check-in counter," I say, nodding to where my dad is with Lucas.

"And leave you here all by yourself?" She says with fake concern. "No way. I'll just... stop complaining."

"Ah! Ow!" I arch my back, my lower abdomen suddenly hurting.

"What? What was that? Is it your bra? Is- what's going on?" Diana says, grabbing my arm.

"My bra?" I repeat, face scrunched in confusion.

"Yeah, I mean- there was this girl in my class, she had big boobs. She used to do that in class a lot, saying her bra was uncomfortable," she nods earnestly. "And your boobs... um."

"No, Diana, it's not my bra," I say, rolling my eyes.

She frowns and releases me. "Then what's wrong?"

"It was just a contraction," I tell her, taking her place at the pillar.

Her features are filled with fear all over again and her mouth drops. "Contraction? Like you're giving birth?"

"What?" I shake my head and close my eyes, trying to will away the migraine that's forming. "No, D. Contractions don't mean you're giving birth, labor comes first."

"Semantics."

"They were just false contractions. Braxtons something. It's like a warm-up before the actual thing." I open my eyes and raise an eyebrow at her.

She eyes me warily and crosses her arms, "Okay, cause now wouldn't really be a good time."

"Uh-huh, no problem. Just let me know when it'll be a good time so I can let them know," I say.

"What's your problem?" She scoffs.

"I'm pregnant," I retort.

"That doesn't mean you have to be rude," she sneers before walking away to meet my dad.

I sigh again and resist the urge to sit on the floor. My feet are still hurting from yesterday and I've already had two leg cramps today. Abdomen and back pain have joined the party, and the only desire I have is to lay down and sleep. Luckily the only luggage we had was for check-in, so I don't have to worry that someone would steal anything if I close my eyes for a second.

"Alright," my dad says when he reaches me. Diana is a little way behind him avoiding my eyes and Lucas is glued to my dad's side, blinking the sleep away. "Let's go home."

"Are Nathan and Pat not coming to say goodbye?" He asks, his eyes partly closed.

"We said goodbye to them already, little man," I say, tapping his head. "Remember? Before we left the house we had a goodbye dinner?"

"Uh-huh," he nods, probably not hearing me.

"Could we get one of those airport car stuff? We're all tired and I know you don't really have the strength to carry him right now," I suggest.

Please say yes. Please say yes.

"It's alright, I've got him," Diana says coming closer. She separates him from my dad and carries him into her arms. "Oomph, you're soon going to be too big for this bud."