"Mitch?" He was sitting at the dining table reading a book his boss had ordered him to read. "You're never gonna guess this." He looked up at me with a quizzical look on his face. "I'm pregnant," I squealed.
"You are?" his eyes widened and a happy grin came across his face. "That's amazing news!"
"I'll get to work immediately," he said, leaving to go to the DIY store.
"Nic, can you come out here?" I called for my six year old son.
"Sure Mom." He came out and looked at me curiously.
"I have news for you. You're going to be a big brother."
A smile spread across his face. "Really? Woohoo!" He jumped around with his arms in the air.
I smiled widely at his enthusiasm.
"Is it a brother or sister?" he asked when he had calmed down a bit.
"Well, it is too early to tell, but we also want it to be a surprise."
"No, you have to find out! I want to know, Mom." he said demanding.
"Honey you just have to be patient. We will know soon enough."
Nicolas loved messing around with his new chemistry set. Experimenting was a huge passion of his.
He would lie in bed for hours, coughing until his head hurt. Finally i managed to convince him to go see the doctor.
"I don't need this," he said annoyed while we waited in the waiting room.
"Yes you do!" I said determined. "I'm getting sick of you whining at home."
"Mitchell Bloom?" The secretary called out in the room.
"That's us!" I said aloud. "Come on Mitch."
We walked through the hall to the doctors office.
"What are your symptoms Mr. Bloom?"
"Well, i'm coughing a lot and sneezing, both gives me a headache. And i have these spots on my skin."
The doctor examined Mitch with some of his equipment and then said: "Yes.. hmm... yes, i see. Well Mr. Bloom it is quite clear what's wrong. You have the Llama Flu. It's easy to treat. I'll just give you an injection and some medicine to take when you get home, and in a few days you will be as good as new."
"Wow thank you doctor. That's a relief." He looked at me, then looked at the doctor again. "So when can i go back to work?"
"Just give it a couple of days. Then you'll be as good as new."
Mitch sat up on the patient bed and was given a vaccination shot. "Ouch!"
"Yes it does hurt a little," the doctor mumbled.
"Here is your medicine. Be sure to take it as soon as you get home."
"I will, thank you doctor."
We drove home in a taxi, while Mitchell read the inscription on the medicine bottle. "Can you believe i have to drink this whole bottle in one go? It's huge!"
"Well you could just have went to the doctor earlier like i said." I was a bit annoyed with him. I had told him several times he should see the doctor, but had he listened? No, of course not. Men doesn't need doctors, he had said. Well i showed him wrong.
When we got home he was still quizzical about how he would be able to drink it all.
"Just do it," I said. "Then it will be over and you can rest."
He opened the bottle and drained it down his throat. "Gross" he said afterwards, messing up his facial expression.
"Well, at least it is over now." I said turning to the refrigerator. "I'm gonna start making lunch. Do you want any?"
"Sure," he said, sounding pretty sour.
Life moved quickly by for our little family. Soon Mitch got a promotion to Technician. He was now payed 54 sim. per hour at work. It definitely helped our growing family a lot that he was earning more and more money. We had build a small room for the baby next to the none-existing living room. We still hadn't bought a television or anything. All the entertainment we had was the chess table and my guitar. I still made it down to the bar sometimes to practice piano, but mostly i was at home or at work.
"Time is really flying by quickly, huh," Mitch said one morning while we were eating breakfast all three of us together.
"What do you mean Dad?" Nic asked with his mouth full of scrambled eggs.
"Well, it feels like it was just yesterday you were an infant, just born at the hospital." Mitch said thinking back.
"I'm seven now!" Nic exclaimed.
"Yes you are," I said, giving my first born child a warm smile.
"And soon there will be another little child here." Mitch stroked my protruding belly.
This pregnancy had been worse than the previous. I'd had morning sickness, throwing up almost daily the first two months. Now that i was in my fourth month i was very sensitive to the smallest things.
Tears appeared in my eyes as i thought about how i was going to have another little child in just five months.
"I'm sorry," Mitch said pulling away his hand with a scared expression on his face. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"No, no," I said swiping away the tears. "You didn't upset me. I was just thinking about our baby." More tears appeared, running down my cheeks. Why was it i had to cry about almost anything? It was so annoying! I couldn't even be out in public seeing kids play without starting to cry. It was embarrassing. Men and women would walk up to me asking if i was alright. They seemed to understand when i told them it was just hormones from the pregnancy. They all had a look of pity on their faces when they said they understood. At least they knew to walk away again was decent, and let me cry by myself on the bench, watching kids play around on the jungle gym.
I hoped it would be a girl. Then i would have both a boy and a girl and i would be fulfilled. I really wanted a little princess I could dress up in pretty little dresses and have her little friends come over for home baked cookies and playtime.
Mitchell's Pov
Besides my family, work was all i cared about. Since my promotion to Technician, work had become even more demanding. Having a pregnant wife and a seven year old kid at home didn't make my job any easier. It was now my responsibility to bring food to our table every day, since my Veronica was on maternity leave. Just one more month and we would have a new bouncing baby boy or girl. Secretly i hoped for a little princess. But i would love it no matter what gender it turned out to be.
"Dad, can i join you?" Nic asked me one day while i was practicing strategies on the chess table.
"I'm trying to work. Can't you play with your chemistry set?"
"Okay Dad," and he walked away with his head low. I felt bad having to reject his attempts to have my attention, but i had to work out this new strategy my boss had asked me to check out. Jack was very demanding. He was a nice person, but he could really push my buttons. Sometimes i had to bite my lip so i would not give a retort.
"DAD! HELP!" I heard Nic yell from his bedroom. I ran to him to find his chemistry set in flames.
Quickly i found the fire extinguisher and extinguished the flames.
"Nothing! I just mixed a couple of things together and then sparks started to fly." I could tell he was close to tears. I held him in a close hug and lowered myself to his level. "It's okay. This can happen if you are careless. But you have to be more careful from now on, okay? If you are unsure of anything, don't hesitate to ask either me or your mother." Veronica stood beside me and nodded.
"We just want you to be safe," she said in a warm voice.
"Okay," Nic said and hung his head low.
"Come on, i'll make us some dinner." Veronica walked out of the room and to the kitchen. We both followed her as we talked about what had just happened.
After i had cleaned the floor that night, and promised to buy him a new chemistry set, I was lying in bed with Veronica in my arms.
"You're getting so big V. I can't believe my child is actually inside you right now." I lowered myself to kiss her swollen belly.
"I know. I'm so excited," she said. "We're about to be parents for the second time in our lives. That's huge!"
"It truly is." I kissed her eyelids and we both fell to sleep soon after.
No comments:
Post a Comment