My Life Without You

Chapter 16 {Continued}

April 9, 2020
34 weeks: 6 Weeks to go

"We are in the middle of a pandemic," she said, as she stood in the kitchen. Valerie takes some food out to warm up for dinner. She had left the door open for Romelle once she saw his truck pull up in her driveway. "I was scared the government wasn't gonna let you come home. You were supposed to come back three weeks ago," Val cries. "I kept sending you text messages and calling your phone."

"Listen, I'm sorry," Ro exclaims, as he shuts the door behind himself. "It was hard getting back home, and to top it off, non of us had any signal to call out. "You know I would've called you. I missed talking to you and my daughter so much."

Val takes a frozen pizza out the box and sets the stove temperature to 400 degrees.

As Val continues, Romelle stands in the foyer and opens the closet door. He grabs a hanger for his coat. "Val," he said," as he walks towards the kitchen. "Turn around, don't be mad at me." He turns her around and pulls her closer to him. "Look at you!" His hands are placed on her round belly. I know I've been go for like a month, but you must've grown like three sizes since I last saw you," he said.

"Boy stop. No I have not!" Val replies trying to pull away.

"Are we having twins?" he chuckles. His smile is wide--His teeth illuminates his perfect set of white teeth.

"Oh, you got jokes?" She stands there with her hands on her hips, propping herself up so her back has support from her heavy stomach. "Hee, hee, hee. No!"

"No wait. Let me look at you. That's really my baby in there," he said smiling. "I can't believe it." His dimples deepen as his smile widens. His gaze remains on her stomach. "I didn't get to go through this with you when you was pregnant with Nairobi. How many weeks are you now? Thirty-four right?"

"Yeah," Val replies.

"Was Nairobi this big?" he questioned. "Were you still slender everywhere else? Well, you know... Your stomach is so huge and round. He stands fixated in amazement, as he holds her stomach in his hands.

"Well, actually no. I wasn't this big with her," she replies. "I was slender still, but she was not nearly as big. I actually find it hard to breath sometimes. And I'm having sharp pains more frequently now."

"Pain, what pain? Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she replies. Probably just early Braxton Hicks Contractions. I'm on bed rest now so I don't go into labor early."

"Bed rest? Is the baby ok?"

"Yes, my doctor said it's normal. It's because the baby... The baby is soo big. She takes a breath, her lungs feel crushed under the weight of standing up with the baby. She holds on to the counter with one hand on her back, as Romelle continues to hold her stomach up from the bottom. Her stomach sits in his hands, but Valerie can't see anything. But the support of his hands make her feel like so much pressure has been lifted off her pelvis.

"Is she sure? I mean, do you need to see someone else?" he said with his eyes intent on Val.

"Yes, Dr. Gray says everything is normal Ro, calm down. She said to take it easy. Because of the pandemic, things are a little hectic right now, you know? I'm so scared of getting sick in the clinic or hospital, I just prefer to talk with my doctor over the phone." She takes a deep breath in to catch her breath. Her legs feel weak from the prolonged standing, and her ankles hurt from the increased water she has retained. "I haven't been able to seen my doctor since January. I missed my February appointment because I was too sick to go."

"That's when you had that fever and was throwing up all day, right?"

"Yeah. Then my March appointment was canceled do to this pandemic. So, I haven't even had my ultrasound appointment. But that's my fault, because I didn't know if I was keeping the baby. I have been to the doctor's twice. Once in November and once in December with you."