Can You Hear Your Heart

Chapter Twenty

Now I really can't sleep. I have terrible headaches and I can barely keep awake in class. The only thing keeping me awake is counting her kicks in that hour. I went to visit Aaron in the last week that has passed as I am now officially in my seventh month. She told me the important part for me to do is eat lots of things that contain calcium and count my baby kicks twice a day.

I don't have to worry about that part because she kicks nearly all the time. Well...more like jabs. I long to go home at the end of the school day because I find myself extremely tired. When I eat, she jabs my ribs. I wince every time she does that. I don't get it! I am feeding you!

But of course she doesn't care as she uses my ribs to play around with. Her kicks feel more like knees to me now. But those hurt the most. One day, I was walking through the grocery store looking for some ice cream to buy and then she awoke and my brain stayed on alert. Watch it. This little one is about to do one of her mischievous moves.

I wasn't wrong. She gave me powerful kicks all the time in the store. I think the cry from a baby from afar made it worse as she jabbed and jerked and punched. At one point I had to lean on the cold fridge door of the store to whisper to her, "Come on now. Just a few more minutes. Give me just five more minutes and I'll give you all the time you want to break my ribs." Of course she didn't listen. Instead, she gave me a hard jab at the middle of my large belly and I winced. "Okay then," I whispered in a sigh.

Well. At least the Thanksgiving break made it better for me as I had time to rest all day if I wanted to. Or more like if she wanted to let me rest, but it's okay. I prefer to have her jab at me and know that she is healthy instead of wondering if she still lives.

The celebrations still continued and I smiled wider than ever as I helped Anna decorate the house to the season. Indina went out to get the turkey for the next day and I told Anna to sit down with me. When she did, I gestured towards my large and bouncing belly. She smiled wide and obeyed excitedly as she began talking with her. Anna seems to be back to normal now. I wonder what happened to that young man and her. They must've finally declared their feelings to each other and kissed. That is usually the only reason to getting fixed in her situation.

Then Thanksgiving Day arrived and everyone, including my little one, were excited for that night. I helped as much as I could bare with the preparations. Shaun arrived with a couple of apple ciders and my sisters greeted him happily. I guess they've gotten used to the fact that he is now part of the family. When he went up to me, he gave me a long kiss and rubbed my belly affectionately. "How's my princess doing today?" he said as he leaned over to talk to her and she happily responded back with strong movements.

I've found moments where I understand when she longs for her father's touch. So when those hard jabs and kicks made me wince at the dinner table on that night, I gently took Shaun's hand from underneath the table and laid it on my belly. He smiled at me and started rubbing at her kicks tenderly, and this relieved my stabbing pain.

Then the weekend came and I enjoyed it with Shaun. We laughed a lot and it hurt. Especially because she likes jabbing my stomach whenever I laugh. But then there were times when he'd soothingly sing to me and my little girl. This didn't help much as she has decided to make the night her training hours. Even Shaun kept getting up at night as I turned and turned to find a comfortable position. There was one moment when I turned to my left side and Shaun had his back on my belly. I closed my eyes trying to find sleep as she jabbed at my middle part of my womb and poked at it.

Then Shaun turned around slowly and looked to where my belly was. I opened my eyes and smiled at him. He chuckled warmly and said, "It looks like someone is giving me massages tonight." He turned over so he could be facing me and I scoffed. "I wish I could have massages. I could really use some right now."