Free to Love

Chapter 6

Shawn

It was the week of Christmas and Mal and I were back at Dr. Abbott's for the four month check up. We brought Gracie with us this time, since Dr. Abbott had told Mal at the last visit that she'd love to see her.

"She's beautiful," Dr. Abbott said to us.

I was holding her, though she was trying to get down. There were way too many things she could get into on the floor, so that wasn't happening.

"Down!" she demanded.

"Not right now, Grace," I whispered to her. "Lets read a book."

I sat down and pulled a board book out of the diaper bag and quietly read it to my squirming daughter while Mallory was examined. I tried to listen to what Dr. Abbott was saying, but Grace had my focus. This was definitely the last time we'd be bringing her. Grace was still a pretty easy child, but toddlerhood was proving to be a lot harder than babyhood.

"Everything was fine, right?" I asked Mal after we got to the car.

"Yep! I'm measuring slightly ahead again, so I guess we have another big baby."

"And you scheduled the ultrasound?"

I'd taken Gracie out to get her in the car seat and missed all that.

"That's on January 18th and my regular check up is two days after," she said.

"I'll text my mom the dates when we get home so that we can have her watch Grace."

Mal laughed. "Just think, before long we'll have our energy-filled toddler plus a newborn. It's going to be a bit of a challenge."

"I know we'll adapt. And there's always the nanny option."

This suggestion was met with silence. Mallory was still strongly anti-nanny. She felt it was unnecessary and pretentious. I mostly agreed, though there were times when I craved time alone with my wife. We had time after Grace went to bed, but Mal was so tired from being pregnant that she often went to sleep soon after putting Grace down. During nap time, Mal tried to get everything done around the house that was difficult to do while watching Grace.

"I need some friends," Mal said, completely shifting gears in the conversation.

"Yeah? You missing Kris and Vera? We could invite them to visit. It's been a few months since you saw them."

"I do miss them, but I was thinking more along the lines of mom-friends. I picked up a flyer for a playgroup in Dr. Abbott's office. There's a website that hooks you up with a group near your home that has similar aged children."

"If that would make you happy, then I say go for it," I said encouragingly.

"It would be good for me to meet people, and I think it would be good for Grace to start playing with other children."

I guess I hadn't realized how isolated Mallory was. I had my family close by, as well as a lot of my friends. I also had my career to keep me occupied. She had Grace and me. Of course she had my family, too, but she really didn't have any friends in Toronto.

"You should definitely do this, baby."

"I think I will. I'm hungry. Can we grab lunch?" Mal asked.

"Sure. What sounds good?"

"Guess."

I took my eyes off the road and looked at her. She was grinning like crazy.

"Oh shit, is it guacamole time again?"

"It is! The craving just hit me. I think that means number 2 is a girl."

"We'll see about that. Mexican food sounds incredible, so I'm happy our baby boy is asking for it."

We went to one of our favorite places. Gracie ate black beans and rice while Mal had chicken tacos with three sides of guacamole. I opted for a beef burrito.

While Grace napped that afternoon, Mallory joined the playgroup site. Someone would get back to her with a potential group to join.

                               ~~~~~~

Christmas was wonderful. Mal's parents arrived on the 23rd and stayed through the 27th.

We hosted Christmas Eve dinner at our house for both of our families. The meal was comprised of multiple seafood dishes, which was a tradition her mom's family had always followed. It was outstanding. I hardly had room for the caramel bread pudding Mal made for dessert.

This Christmas was especially fun because Gracie had a vague idea of who Santa Claus was. We'd read many books and had watched several holiday television programs, and we'd taken her a department store to sit on Santa's lap. She'd go to the fireplace and point at it and say, "Santa?" at least ten times a day.

On Christmas morning, we helped her open her gifts. Santa had given her a baby doll and all sorts of doll accessories. She loved putting her baby down in its bassinet. The doll had several bottles so that she could feed her baby. Mal joked that Grace would be confused when she saw how her new sibling was fed.

When we were done with the presents at our condo, we drove to Pickering for a huge breakfast. The present routine was repeated there. Gracie got all sorts of toys, but she was only interested in that doll, which she named 'baby.' 19 month old toddlers are not particularly creative about naming things, apparently.

We spent the day at my folks' house and had an early dinner there. Gracie had napped on the couch before dinner, but not long enough. By the time dinner was over, she was both over-stimulated and exhausted. We quickly ate our dessert and drove back to Toronto.

Jean and Parker went to bed soon after Grace went down. Mallory and I plopped down on the couch and cuddled against each other. We were both tired, but we wanted to enjoy the last few hours of Christmas together. The fireplace was lit and flickering softly. There were no lights other than those of the Christmas tree. Mallory had been right, of course. Many ornaments had bit the dust thanks to our daughter.

"This was a good Christmas," I said before kissing my beautiful wife on her forehead.

"It was. We have so many more ahead of us, too. We have a few more years with babies, and then we'll have the really magical years when our children understand and believe in Santa. I can't wait for that. Then they'll grow and change. Eventually we'll have teenagers who might be difficult most of the time, but who becomes kids again on Christmas morning."

"I'm looking forward to experiencing all of it. It's going to be quite an adventure."

Mallory climbed onto my lap. "It will be. And maybe there will be a third baby Mendes at some point to add to it."

"I hope so. I feel in my gut that we're going to have three."

"The baby is moving right now, by the way," she said. "It's just those tiny flutters. It must have energy from all that pie I ate."

I placed my hand on her belly even though I knew it was too soon to feel anything on the outside. I couldn't keep my hands off the firm round bulge that was now visible through her clothing.

"Have you thought about names?" I asked her.

"Do we want to stick with Nolan for a boy?"

I nodded. "I still really like that name. I'm not sure about the middle name, though. Your dad has changed a lot, and I don't want to insult him by using my dad's name and leaving him out."

"We can rethink the middle name. We need a new girl name. That's going to be tougher."

"Naw. It's a boy. I know it," I said. I enjoyed teasing her about this.

"So we should show up for the delivery with no girl name picked out?" she asked.

"We won't need it, so yeah, that's what we should do."

"I love your confidence. Or wait, maybe cockiness is the better word."