The Good Life

Chapter 34

Marla looked at her dress in the closet early in the morning. A bright yellow Grecian inspired gown with red ballet flats were going to complete the long reverse braid the hairstylist was going to complete later that afternoon. “Oh it’s soooo pretty!” she said.

Bruno hugged her from behind, ‘You’re sooo pretty!” he kissed her cheek and walked out of the room.

“Ha. So cheesy.” Marla, now 37 weeks pregnant was slightly nervous about being on the Grammy Red Carpet with Bruno that evening. She was mostly nervous about the flashes, but also about what people might say about her. His people had announced the pregnancy in early January. People were buzzing, but it wasn’t too crazy. He gushed when people asked about it. When reporters asked how many kids he wanted to have he said he wanted to compete with the Duggars. But only all the kids named would start with Bs instead of Js. Marla studied pregnant celebrity red carpet looks for months, she had it locked down. Answering questions, though, was going to be a problem. She didn’t know how to answer questions. “Ouch.” she said quietly as she walked into the kitchen to get something to eat.

She sat down next to Bruno who was eating a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table. “How are you, today, beautiful?”

“Pregnant.” she responded.

“I see that…” he smiled at her.

She flinched in pain as she took a bite of the blueberry bagel she had just finished covering. “Holy crap, baby. That hurt.” She had had several contractions throughout the week, but this one felt more powerful. But, she knew that she didn’t need to react to them until they were a really close together. Oh please no, not yet. Tonight is supposed to be special. He has so much to do tonight. Hold on baby. Hold on for at least 12 hours. You can do it. Be strong for us.

“You said ouch when you walked in the kitchen, Mar…is that the second one?” he asked her. Can she tell I’m nervous? I get more and more nervous the closer to the due date it gets. I want to stop everything when she says she is having a contraction.

The pregnancy was so uneventful and normal, that, knowing Marla’s history of being dramatic, the baby would probably make an appearance today, of all days. Friends had actually bet on the due date. Several, namely Eric and Travis, had bet on it being today. Marla thought it would be a bit later, she didn’t feel ready nor did the doctor. The doctor said she baby was face down, but that she still needed to gain a little bit of weight. She was a small baby, which according to everyone was normal. All they wanted was a healthy baby and a healthy mommy. That was all they could ask for.

“Yeah. The second one.” How the hell did he hear that? I could hardly hear that.

They finished eating and started getting their things together for the Awards ceremony. Marla started dancing around in her fancy new shoes while Bruno took a shower. After he took a shower she ran into the bathroom to put on moisturizer and foundation. She was, of course, going to let the stylist finish everything, but she needed a base. There were only a few people in the world she let see her without make-up on and some fancy Hollywood stylist was not one of them. She squeezed her moisturizer on her hand and started to rub it on her face. She moved over to the other side of the sink to put away Bruno’s toothbrush which he never had the decency to put back where it belonged. As she moved her feet she felt a little wet spot near the cabinet. “What? How does he not manage to dry off? He’s not a football player.” Marla reached for a towel and felt the wetness follow her to the towel. “Oh…oh…oh…oh my! My watttttteeerrr!” she screamed.