She rubbed her hands over her swollen belly pausing when she felt a series of kicks on her left side of her stomach. She stopped what she was doing and walked towards her best friend who was reading a parenting magazine. The woman looked up showing off a large belly of her own.
"What if I'm not a good mom?" Tamara suddenly questioned her friend. Irina looked at her and lightly laughed closing the magazine.
"You're going to be a great mom Tam. Don't worry about it!"
"I just don't know," Tamara sighed. She adjusted some of the flowers in the vase that sat on the counter top. Their husbands refused for them to do any heavy related work once they reached the third trimester of their pregnancies. Irina had to take time off from racing while Tamara wasn't allowed to continue her ambassadorial duties in Africa.
All the time off had Tamara wondering about how she'd be as a mother. She had only met her mother when she was still a kid and while those times had been good, she worried if she could do the same for her children.
"I think I'm going to go for a walk," Tamara said before heading towards the door.
Irina knew her friend was troubled. She knew that she didn't get to grow up with her mom being there. She also knew that Tamara would be a wonderful mother, both strong and loving. She wanted some advice from her mother so she locked her house and headed towards her maternal compound.
Her mom beamed when she walked in the door hugging her tightly and only letting go when Irina reminded her that she had to breathe. Her mother had done this every time she'd seen Irina since the pregnancy began. "Mom," She started, "I need to ask your advice on something."
"Absolutely," the older Suarez replied pouring the pair of them cups of tea.
"Tamara is worried that she won't be a good mother and I don't know how to help her." Irina started.
"That's nonsense. She'll be a wonderful mother!" said the older Suarez while sipping her tea.
"I've tried to tell her that but she didn't grow up with her mother so I don't think she believes me." Replied Irina
"Have you connected them?" Mrs. Suarez asked after a short while.
Irina, confused, asked her mother "What do you mean?"
"I told you about the family spell. You have been connected to your baby for quite some time now, right?"
"I didn't think I could connect someone other than myself." The Suarez women had a clan spell where the pregnant mother could mentally connect with their unborn child. The result has been a deep bond between mother and child. Irina had been connected with her baby for several months and it had just become a norm for her to feel her baby's presence. She had even known she was going to have a son before Suzanne had told her at the hospital.
"Of course you can connect them!" her mother laughed.
"Thanks, Mom," Irina smiled kissing her mother on the cheek before she left, "I know how to help her now."
Irina looked for her until she found Tamara on the swings at the playground near the Nova compound. Tamara was surprised when she looked up to see Irina with a mischievous grin on her face.
"I locked my house and told my husband I won't be back 'til dinner," Irina said, "Let's go to your place. I have something I want to show you."
Tamara's eyebrow rose in confusion but she didn't ask her knowing that the woman wouldn't answer, nevertheless she followed anyway.
They sat on the edge of the porch looking out onto the garden that they had grown together. They had included flowers from both Greece and Italy in a way to symbolize the two lands being one in their home. "What did you want to show me?" Tamara asked the other blonde after they sat on the swing.
"I haven't told you, Kelly, or Suzanne about this. It's a Suarez clan secret spell but in this case, I think I can show you." Irina placed her hand on Tamara's head and the other on her stomach. Tamara looked towards her friend, confused, as Irina closed her eyes to concentrate.
Then Tamara's eyes widened in surprise. She felt someone in her head. It was familiar yet unfamiliar all at the same time. The presence was vague and small but has a warm feeling to it. She didn't hear words but she felt what this presence was feeling. It was love. A love that Tamara had never felt before. The kind of love that a parent and child share. Her eyes began to water.
Irina opened her eyes and smiled knowing exactly what Tamara was feeling at that very moment. She had felt it herself several months ago.
She stopped what she was doing and just looked at her friend with a genuine smile plastered on her face. Tamara hugged Irina tightly while tears of gratitude and joy streamed her face.
"Thank you," Tamara sobbingly said, "Thank you so much."
"That's what friends are for," Irina smiled with tears, threatening to fall, at the corner of her eyes.
"I hate crying. Why am I crying?" Tamara asked while laughing.
"Hormones," they both laughed.
FIN
