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Stella had once had pieces of a ceiling fall on top of her in the mayhem of a fire rescue, but even the soreness from that call, didn’t quite rival the immense back pains and aches she felt in the final days of her third trimester.
Sleeping had all been abandoned as a lost cause, though she was surprised at the four hours she was able to clock in last night. Or should she say early morning?
After adjusting to the discomfort of sitting up in bed, her senses began to focus on other things besides the various pangs and cricks in her body. For example, she immediately recognizes a sweet smell emanating from down the hall. She smiles to herself as she takes in the flavorful aroma of her latest craving, French toast. She also notices the velvet jewelry box that sits on her husband’s night stand, wrapped surprisingly neatly with a bow.
She takes a deep breath to prepare herself for moving up out the bed right when Kelly walks through the door. Tray in hand, his smile is wide as he takes in his now awake wife. Her braided hair, out of her face, highlights the beauty of her face with puffy cheeks and a wider nose. Her glow is shining through her pores and her protruding belly fills him with so much warmth and delight.
Nothing has ever felt just so damn right.
“Happy Mother’s Day!”
Climbing on the bed, he carefully places the tray at the right distance so that could eat, but also so that the tray was not bumping her belly. He’s quick to adjust her pillows and gently pushes her back against them.
“I’m not a mother yet, Kelly.” Stella quips. It wasn’t the first time she had done so. Kelly had made jokes and remarks about her already sounding like a mom as she corralled her firefighters in her role as lieutenant. Every time, Stella would point out that the baby was not here yet, and so therefore, she wasn’t a mom as of now.
Kelly could’ve have seen it any differently.
“You’ve been using your own body to house, feed, and protect our baby this entire time. You’re absolutely a mother. And a damn beautiful one at that too.” His declaration ended with nuzzling kisses along her cheek and neck as she bit into her breakfast. The touch of his beard always tickled her skin and the sensation never failed to make her shiver.
Her mixture of a hum and a growl stems from both the deliciousness of the morsel of food in her mouth and the sensitivity of her body as his fingers dance around her hip.
“I’m only one woman, baby. You gotta choose one, food or sex, or else I’ll go into pleasure overload.”
Kelly laughs at her banter before making a motion that signaled, “hands off.” He lounges back in the bed next to her and takes the bite of French toast she offers.
“Anything special you want to do today?”
“Hm. Having this baby would be nice.”
Stella was a few days overdue and while she wasn’t quite nervous about the baby’s condition, she was definitely antsy to get the daunting experience over with and hold her first born. The doctors were sure to assure them that everything was okay and nothing was out of the ordinary. Still, she’d be happy to get rid of the the random aches and pains, Braxton-Hicks contractions, and feeling out of breath after only taking a few steps.
“Yeah, well, baby girl wants to cook a little longer.” Kelly strokes his hand back and forth against her stomach, feeling out for his daughter’s kicks. The sound of his voice usually sent her movements into overdrive, much like he was feeling right now.
Stella gives a sigh before replying, “Well, if that’s the case, then I just wanna watch movies all day. Anything to get my mind off of feeling like a senior citizen..”
“Movies it is.”
Kelly moves back the tray some after his wife has finished her breakfast and holds the orange juice up. He silently gestures for her to finish the drink, wanting to make sure she’s maintaining her fluids.
While she does that, he reaches for the jewelry box on his night stand. He jokingly shakes it as it nears his ear as he lends a cheeky smile her way.
“I wonder what this could be.” He whispers as he slides the box across the bed to her.
She gives a pointed look his way, though, unable to fully hide the smile dancing across her lips.
Stella opens the box and revealed is a gold plated necklace with their daughter’s name inscribed within the jewelry. She gasps at the stunning yet understated style of the necklace and the sentiment behind the infinity emblem charm attached to the chain.
“So she’ll always be with you.”
“Kelly, it’s beautiful, thank you!”
It shouldn’t have been a surprise due to how well he knew her and the way their love had only grown on their shared journey to parenthood, but the gift perfectly captured, both classic and not too ritzy, her essence. She looked at the name in the necklace and at the man who she made life long vows to and basked in the beauty that was her life.
Her gratitude and capacity to love grew two fold later that evening as they held their baby girl for the very first time.