Can You Hear Your Heart

Chapter Sixteen

So Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and it's impossible to not stop by the store to look at the cool lights displayed. Since I have been walking much more often in the past week, I make a small stop by some stores to see the cool decorations.

Something else that's really cool is how well I've been knowing my baby girl with only her movements! It's weird how much she reacts to certain sounds and noises. The other day, I was walking through campus for one of my classes and then this kid just yelled something from the top of his lungs right beside me. I jumped at his yell and she also did a small jump inside of me that made her do a small jab at my belly button. I furrowed my brow angrily at this guy not only because he scared me, but because he made her jump too hard to give me a painful jab.

Then there's the music part of her movements. I actually test this out the most with her. There's afternoons where I find myself alone in the apartment so I put on some music. One day, I put on a good song with an good upbeat rhythm. As I cleaned my room, I noticed how she moved and danced to the sound of this song. So I stopped what I was doing and felt her little show until I went through my playlist and decided to change up the music genre. I put on one of my favorite classics from Louis Armstrong of La Vie En Rose, and waited to see what she did next. She stayed completely still until she gave me a hard jab at the top of my belly.

"Ouch!" I said to her. "Really?! But this is a classic!" She gave me another strong kick towards the middle of my belly until it started into her famous pedaling feeling inside of me. "Okay okay!" I quickly changed the song back to an upbeat song and she lowered the power of her pedaling movement. "Geez," I whispered. "Attitude. I wonder who taught you that," I said with a smirk, knowing that hanging out too much with me will bound to teach her my bad sides as well.

Then I've been experiencing difficult nights. I love having her move and kick inside of me during the day, but at night....Eesh, I have to say that I find it a little tedious. This month is the month I've felt the most tired. And I long for a pillow at the end of the day but when I finally find myself drifting to sleep, she starts moving. A little too strong.

I'm glad she's growing big and strong, but God. It's quite the fight with her as I turn to one side or the other. There are nights where I have to sit up and she angrily kicks me towards the top to lay back down. I sigh and decide to tiredly stand up and walk around the house; finding something to do until she falls asleep again. I love her, but she loves trying out her new moves with me way too much at the wrong moments.

Well, not all nights are bad. Most of them are okay. But my main focus now is school as I make my way through the class I have with Shaun to prepare for finals. In two weeks it will be finals and I can't fail this. Not when I'm in a special program that the minimum fail will count on my scholarship. I find Shaun near the far corner of the front row and sit next to him. I wince as a stabbing pain goes up my back and I do an exhausted sigh.

"Hey," he says to me as he puts a kiss on my cheek.

"Hey," I respond back as I put a hand on where the pedaling movement has started on my belly. Those kicks turn more powerful now and I wince at a certain kick. I sit up straighter and rub my hand on this part so the jabbing pain slowly fades away.

Shaun notices this and says, "You alright?" Concern runs through his eyes as he sees me painfully rub my stomach.

"Uh yeah," I say to him with a small smile. "Don't worry. It's just a hard kick. Or kicks. More like pedaling."

"Pedaling?" Shaun says with wide eyes. "Is she riding a bicycle in there?"

I chuckle at this as she gives my stomach another powerful kick. "It feels like it!" I gently take his hand and place it to where this crazy lady has started up her moves.