Category : Stories

Sub Category : Drama

Eleven- Lamaze With Henry

Jay opens up the shower door after shutting off the warm water. He wrapped a long beige-colored towel around his waist then stood in front of the large rectangular bathroom mirror to inspect his profile. Jay watched his belly move as the baby rolled around in it. Noticing the ever increasing length of the stretch marks on his belly, Jay felt self-conscious about his current image. Suddenly, Jay sees someone's reflection in the mirror. It was his, but it was an image of what he looked like before getting pregnant. The reflection was wearing a black suit and tie. It had its arms crossed with a judgemental attitude. Jay was surprised and he staggered back a little. He looked behind him to see if there was someone actually standing behind him, but there wasn't. Jay looks back into the mirror again and sees the reflection of his former self. 
"Who are you?" Jay asks with bewilderment.
"I'm you. Well, your insecurity." It looked up at down at him, shaking its head disapprovingly.
"My insecurity?"
The reflection rolls its eyes and grunts. "Yeah. I just said that. Come on, keep up!"
"Why are you here...in the mirror?"
"We need to talk about how you let my figure go. Dang, man! My legs and my butt have more fat on them now."
"Hey!" Jay objects. He realized his reflection is an insolent individual. 
"And what has this free-loading parasite done to my amazing physique?!" The reflection stooped low to view Jay's pregnant belly, made an expression of pure disgust, then gasped dramatically. "Are those stretch marks?! They're hideous! You've turned me into a monster!" 
"You stop it!" Jay defensively pokes the mirror.
The reflection narrowly stared down at Jay. "You have ruined me beyond repair! I use to be much more attractive, energetic, and..." The relection looks down at Jay's belly. "...in shape. I bet Ava prefers this excellent physique over that bowling ball you call a "belly." I highly doubt she still loves you after all that pregnancy weight you put on, and how emotional you've gotten."
"Look! I will eventually lose the weight after the baby is born!"
"...Or never..." The reflection mumbled under its breath.
"And Ava still loves me! Pregnancy pounds and all."
Jay's reflection snickered and sneered. Then rhetorically asks: "Does she? Really?"
Jay became quiet.
"That's what I thought." The reflection of insecurity said. "Great talk. See'ya around fatso." It started to fade away. 
"Wait." Jay says.
"What?"
Jay tightens his fist and knocks his insolent reflection out cold. "That's for calling my baby a free-loading parasite." 
Ava walks into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She finds Jay staring at himself pensively into the mirror. 
"Jay, how was your shower?" she asks, patting Jay's back.
He snaps out of his daydream and realizes Ava was in the room with him. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you come in."
"Where were you just now?" Ava asked as she spreads the toothpaste onto her toothbrush.
"I was just thinking..."
"What about?"
Jay looks at his body again. "Ava, can I ask you something?"
"Yes...?"
"Am I...am I still attractive to you?"
Ava puts down the toothbrush onto the sink. "What brought this on?"
"Well, just look at me." Jay makes a full turn. "Everything about me that you fell in love with is gone. I'm all stretched out and fat, less active...I must look grotesque to you. I don't even like me right now."
Putting her arms around Jay's neck, Ava smiled. "Jay, that is the most ridiculous notion you've ever had. You are being too hard on yourself. I am sorry you're feeling self-conscious about yourself right now, that is to be expected when your hormones are acting crazy. But believe me when I say, that I still love you-every bit of you. I am still attracted to you even if your stretched out, because you're doing this for the baby-and your brother. That makes you a beautiful person. And that is a very, very attractive attribute I love about you."
Ava tiptoed up and kissed Jay on the lips. "You're still and always will be a very handsome guy to me. You won't ever have to worry."
A feeling of satisfaction and relief. Jay's fear and insecurities melted away. Ava always seemed to know the right words to say. 
Smiling back at her, he says: "Thank you, Ava. I feel a lot better."
"Good." She happily responds. "Now, go ahead and get dressed. Since class starts at nine-thirty, we need to leave about fifteen minutes before. So, hurry. Wear comfortable clothes." 
Jay opens up the bathroom door to go to the bedroom. Ava turns around and views her husband's backside, then she flirtatiously whistles at him. "Work it, Blue-Jay." she says.
He responded by blushing. Ava laughs, then continues to brush her teeth.
Around nine o'clock, Ava packed two lunches, some pillows, water into a backpack, along with a floor mat. Then she set them near the front door. Ava happened to glance out the window and see her parents walking up the driveway. She opens the front door and lets them inside. Diana was carrying a few full grocery bags with her.
"Hello, dear." Diana hugs her daughter. 
"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad."
"I got the items you need for later." Diana whispers, handing Ava the bags.
"Oh, thank you. Jay is going to be so surprised." Ava says excitedly. She quickly hides the bags in the storage closet in the hallway.
"Where is Jayden?" Henry asked.
"He's getting ready. We're going to a Lamaze class today."
"When your father and I attended our first class, we were so nervous. I nearly passed out from watching the birth videos!" Diana laughed. "Your father on the otherhand was hardly squeamish."
Jay waddles down the hallway adjusting his sweatshirt and sees his in-laws. "Good morning." he smiles.
"Hello, Jay." Diana greets him. "How are you feeling about going to your first Lamaze class?"
"Ah, a little nervous...but excited. How are you two? Did you get a rental car?"
"Yes we did. We came by to help clean the house while you and Ava were out."
"That is nice of you. Thanks."
Unbeknownst to Jay, Ava had an ulterior plan. "I think I heard my phone ring."
Ava excuses herself to go to the kitchen and gets her phone from her purse.
"I didn't hear anything." Jay says.
Ava grabs her phone then pretends to answer it. "Hello? Emergency, really? Well...if it's that bad...okay, I'll be there in a few minutes."
"What was that?" Jay asks.
"An emergency at work. A customer brought in a heavily damaged oil painting. I'm the only one who can do the repairs, so I have to go in to work. I am so, so sorry babe. I can't be with you for the first class."
"No one else can take care of it?" 
"Unfortunately, no." Ava gets her purse. 
"Should we call in and cancel?" Jay follows her to the kitchen. 
"No, no. Don't do that. Look, since I will be at work and my Mom will be here helping around the house, you can go with my Dad."
"But, we were suppose to go together." Jay whispers.
"Dad? Would you be okay with taking Jay to the class? Just for today, please?" Ava asks.
"Please say no, please say no, please say no..." Jay prayed.
"I will take him." Henry agreed.
"Thank you, Dad."
Jay slowly turned his head towards his clever wife and crossed his arms. "You planned all this, didn't you?"
Ava had a smirk of victory on her face. "You made a promise, my love. I'm just seeing to it that you accomplish it."
Ava walks to the front door and picks up the backpack, floor mat, and hands them to her father. "If you two are going to get there on time, you need to leave now." Ava reminds him.
"Alright." Henry opens the door. "We'll see you later." He goes to put the stuff into the car.
"I will get started in the kitchen." Diana says as she marches to her first cleaning destination.
"Now remember Jay, behave yourself, learn a lot, and get along with my Dad. Alright?" Ava pats Jay's belly and kisses his cheek. "I love you."
Jay walks out to the car. He briefly looks over his shoulder giving a nervous facial expression. Ava sees and chuckles. She waves goodbye. "Bye! Have a good class."
When they finally drove away from the street, Ava called her sister. "Hi, Grace? Yeah, they're gone. You can come over now and help set up. Okay, goodbye."
"Grace is coming over." Ava tells her mother.
Henry and Jay made small talk on the way to the class. Comments on the weather, the traffic, and more weather. Eventually, they arrived at the Lamaze class. The an older woman welcomed them in and showed them the way. She had a beautiful shape, long and wavy salt and pepper hair. She must have been quite the looker in her day. 
"Welcome! I am Mrs. Hannah Taylor, the instructor. May I ask your name?"
"Jayden Evers."
"Nice to meet you. Is this your first time taking the class?" She asked as she shook Jay's hand.
"Uh, yeah. It is." Jay says.
"Don't be nervous. Most of the other participants are first time parents. Everyone will learn at the same pace. Is this your first baby?"
"Yes."
"And who is going to be your moral support today?" Ms. Taylor asked.
Jay introduces Henry to the teacher. "This is my father-in-law."
"I'm Henry Addison." He shakes Mrs. Taylor's hand. 
She studied him for a moment. "Have you attended here before? You look familiar."
"I came here years ago when my wife was pregnant with our two daughters. Now, I'm here with my son-in-law. My daughter couldn't make it, so I am filling in for the day."
"Oh...wait, didn't your wife have an incredible sense of fashion?" Mrs. Taylor asked.
"That's her."
"I think I remember her. Diana. I usually have a pretty good memory of who I've taught over the years. I just thought for some reason you...hmm, oh, never mind. Maybe my memory is slow today. Anyway, go ahead and find your place with the others. Get comfortable. It's good to have you with here Jayden."
Henry and Jay started to walk into the classroom. 
"So, she was your instructor back then too, huh? She is in good shape for her age." Jay looked behind. He was impressed. 
"Eyes front." Henry sternly said.
"Yes sir."
Opening the classroom door, Jay and Henry see at least twelve couples sitting on the floor together with their mats and pillows. There was one couple he did recognized immediately. Evan and Izzy. They caught sight of Jay and Henry and offered them the empty space next to them. 
"Hi, Jay! Glad you could make it." Evan says excitedly.
"Hi, Henry." Izzy says.
"How are you, Isabelle?" Henry asks.
"Fine, fine. Jay? Do you need help sitting down?"
"Well..."
Henry assists Jay to the floor then sits down himself. "Thank you." Jay said.
"You're welcome."
"It's been a while since I've seen you Evan. How are you? How are the girls?"
Evan patted his huge belly and smiled. "I have been doing good. Taking things easy. I also have something to tell you..."
"Tell me."
"I went back to the doctor about two weeks ago to check up on the twins. Let's just say, that I went in with twins and came out with triplets!" Evan says with excitement.
"Triplets?! Congradulations, my friend!" Jay scoots over and hugs Evan. "I'm happy for you."
"Thanks. How is Parker?" Evan asks.
"He's doing fine. Ava and I found out he loves music. Just like Ryan."
Mrs. Hannah Taylor walked into the room and everyone's chatter became quiet. She sits in her chair in front of the class. "Alright everyone. Lets begin."

"Now that we have gone over the knowledge portion of this lesson, it's time to practice the breathing exercises and when to push. The support group will get behind their mates and help them practice while I give the commands. Make sure their arms are clinging to your knees. This gives the mother or father the support they need as they face contractions and urges to push." The instructor says.
Henry brings Jay's back between his legs and has Jay hang onto his legs with his arms. Jay opens up his legs.
"Alright, let's begin. Now, when I say there is going to be a certain contraction, do the correct breathing that corresponds to it. When I say the cervix is dialated to ten centimeters go ahead and push. Any other number I say, you what?"
"Breathe through the contraction." One man said. 
"Good. Now, Support Group...while your partner breathes, practices the massages we went over. And keep them calm. Okay! Ready, set, beginning contractions!" Mrs. Taylor says with pep. 
The class starts with slow, deep breaths.
The teacher walks around the class making sure everyone was doing it right. She makes another command. "Good. Now, contractions have increased!"
Jay increases his breathing pattern while Henry massaged his shoulders. "Hoo, hoo, hee!" 
"Well done. Alright! Now the cervix has dialated to eight centimeters...do you push?"
"No." Evan answered. "Its too early."
"Very good, Mr. Connor." Mrs. Taylor says. Then she gives her las command. "Now, you're completely dialated! Bear down and push!"
The pregnant fathers and mothers practiced pushing. Jay brings in his legs then pushed, grunting and breathing heavily while Henry kept him firm. 
"Well done, everyone! Relax, now. Class is almost over, but first take a break. Before you all leave, we are going to watch a birthing video so that you can see what we will be going over in the next class."
Everyone clapped then relaxed. Jay wiped off the sweat on his forehead and drank some water.
"Enjoying the class?" Izzy asked Jay.
"Yeah, learning a lot." Jay sounded winded. "Definitely much effort is put into pushing. I'm tired."
"You and me both." Evan says. 
"What did Ava pack you for lunch?"
Jay looks through the backpack and pulls out a sandwich. "Looks like...a ham sandwich with mustard, tomato, and lettuce. You?"
"Pastrami."
"How are you enjoying the class, Henry?" Izzy asks.
"I do like it. Some techniques have changed since Diana and I were here." Henry looked around the classroom.
"Did the doctor tell you what the sex of your third baby is?" Jay asked.
"Well, a boy managed to squeeze himself in there." Evan laughs.
"Wow, a boy! That is great." 
Break was soon over, and everyone sat down to watch a birthing video. It covered breathing, different laying and sitting positions, and then came the vivid images of a woman screaming while pushing out her baby. It was making Jay feel very nauseous to see everything else coming out along with the baby. He turned his head away, but what he saw, he couldn't unsee. Jay felt the ham sandwich coming back up his throat.
"Are you alright?" Henry asked.
"I...ugh...I'm gonna hurl." Jay says as he turns greener. His stomach made some indecent noises.
"Go to the restroom."
Leaning to one side, Jay says in a low voice: "Ugh....I really don't think I'm going to make it..." 
Jay immediately grabbed the empty lunch bag, aiming for the inside. He vomits blatantly, startling the rest of the class. Jay suddenly realized he missed the bag completely and instead, he threw up on Henry's pants. The scene was embarrassing.
Mrs. Taylor acted, and swiftly moved everyone out of the classroom. "Alright class, thank you for coming and I will see you here next week."
"I'm so sorry Henry! Really..." Jay starts to apologizes. 
"Jayden, don't worry about it. I have been though this before, I understand." He helps Jay up onto his feet. "I'll go wash my pants in the restroom, then we'll head home." Henry goes to find the restroom.
"Are you okay, Jay?" Evan asks his friend.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got squeamish watching the video."
Mrs. Taylor approaches Jay. "You don't have to be embarrassed about this. I have seen this kind of thing happen all the time. I'll get maintenance to clean up this floor."
"Thanks, Mrs. Taylor."
"Evan and I are going to follow you to your house, Jay. Ava asked that we come by to pick up some things." Izzy says.
Henry comes out of the restroom about ten minutes later with his clothes clean again. Across from him, was Mrs. Taylor sitting at the front desk. She looked up from her paperwork and lowered her reading glasses. 
"Is everything alright, now?" She asks him.
"Yes, thank you." Henry adjusts his shirt.
"Your son-in-law said that he'd wait for you in the car." Mrs. Taylor puts down her glasses. "You know, I do remember you coming here almost thirty years ago." She says. 
Her mind was undoubtably very sharp.
"I remember you too." Henry says.
"Can I assume you haven't told your son-in-law why you really came here all those years ago?
"What makes you figure that?"
"I'm no detective, but...I could tell that you fudged the facts slightly for his benefit."
Henry softly clears his throat then casually slides his hands into his pockets.
"If you aren't ready to let this certain cat out of its bag, I won't bring up anything about it."
"I appreciate it." 
Mrs. Taylor smiles and puts her glasses back onto her nose. "It was good seeing you again, Henry. Let your wife know I said 'hello'."
"I'll be sure to tell her." Henry waves 'goodbye' and joins Jay in the car.
Jay was kept his mouth shut on the ride home. He figured he would not bring up the recent incident. He just felt Parker roll and kick to the sound of the radio. Henry breathed softly and reclined his elbow on the car door.
And then, out of the blue, Henry starts cracking up.
"What's funny?" Jay asked. 
"I was thinking about the vomiting incident back there. It was, hehe...hilarious."
"Oh, I thought you'd still be upset with me for messing up your pants."
"Jayden, this may come as a surprise to you. But I am not without a sense of humor. And my pants are fine."
Jay chuckles.
"If you ever feel that sick again, try putting your head between your knees and breathe deep."
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Jay says. "Oh! Thanks for going with me to the class."
"You're welcome."
"Can ask you something, Henry?"
Henry nods. "Sure, go ahead."
"I understand that Ava means a lot to you, you're her father...but, why should it be awkward between us?"
Henry sighs with regret, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. "Jayden, I want to... apologize for my attitude towards you. You're right, Ava does mean so much to me. I guess it started when she was born...I had promised that she wouldn't have to experience harm or heartache. But, I am now seeing that she is in your good capable hands. Ava is well protected and happy. Diana says she's even happier these days because of the baby coming soon. Jayden, I am sorry for being short with you and not having faith that you could care for Ava."
Jay didn't know what to say. It was the most perfect heartfelt apology Jay had ever heard. He tried his best to not tear up. Unfortunately, a "few" drops got passed him. 
Jay sniffles. "Henry...that's..." 
"Are you okay?" Henry asked perplexed.
Jay wipes the tears off his face. "Yeah. Its just that..." He hugs Henry tightly, catching him off guard. "Thank you." 
"You're welcome." Henry smiles. "Now, keep that hug brief. Wanna get home alive."
Henry drives the car to the front of the house with Evan and Izzy behind them. They all get out of the two cars and headed up to the front door. Jay couldn't help but notice Grace's red Camaro was park near the house, but he didn't give it a second thought. Next, he noticed the house's window blinds were shut. 
"Odd...what is going on?" Jay says.
"Haven't the faintest idea." Henry answered.
"Beats me." Evan and Izzy shrugged.
Jay unlocks the front door and everyone enters, finding that all the lights in the house were turned off. "It's dark in here. Now, where is that living room light switch?"
Jay finds the light switch and flips it up revealing the room's very festive appearance. Then Ava, Grace, and Diana jumped out from behind the furniture and yelled: "Surprise!!"
The room was decorated with blue and pink balloons, streamers, and ribbons. Hanging with the ribbons, was a banner that said: "Congrats, Jay and Evan!" Up on top of two fold out tables were a bunch of varied presents, and on the living room table was a two layered cake designed with blue polka-dots, pink feet, bows, along with baby-sized shoes on top. 
Evan and Jay were very amazed and excited. Jay felt his jaw drop to the floor. 
"Welcome to your baby shower!" Diana and Grace say at the same time.
"What do you think Jay?" Ava comes up and hugs her husband.
"This is amazing!" Jay kisses Ava on her lips. "When did you decide to do this?" 
"This little arrangement was put in motion before my parents came. Grace, my mom, and Izzy were in on it."
"You were in on this too?" Evan asks Izzy with surprise.
"I was responsible for bringing you here." She smiles.
Evan laughs and hugs her. 
"Did you know about this too, Henry?" Jay asks his father-in-law.
He nods. "I did. But I promised the girls I would keep my mouth shut."
"Did you figure what was going on before you came inside the house?" Grace asked.
Both Jay and Evan shook their heads. 
"We both were completely clueless. You all did a great job keeping this under wraps." Jay replies.
"With that being said, let's get this party started." Evan says with hype.
Later that evening, Jay and Ava were sitting on the bed going through the baby presents. The baby got a bunch of clothes, diapers, toys and blankets. Jay holds up a pair of the tiniest socks he's ever seen.
"These socks are so small, its incredible."
"Did you like the baby shower, Jay?" Ava asks.
Jay puts down the socks as he leans in to kiss Ava. "I loved it. Thank you. Evan was so surprised, that I thought it would send him into labor." He laughs. "He's having triplets by the way. He told me in class."
"Wow! Good for him." She scoots closer to Jay's side and rests her head on his shoulder.
"So how was the Lamaze class today?"
"Good...um, I didn't find the videos appealing though. I threw up all over your dad's pants." Jay blushed.
"Oh, you poor thing! I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Everything turned out fine."
"So, are getting along better with my dad now?"
"Better." Jay softly smiles.
"I'm happy to hear that." Ava nuzzles her nose against Jay's cheek.
Jay continues looking through the presents, "oo-ing" and "awe-ing" over them.
"I have one more present for you." Ava whispers.
"Really? What is it?" 
Ava gets off the bed and helps Jay get onto his feet. She takes his hand and leads him into the hallway. "Come with me." She says excitedly.
They stood in front of the door with the sign that said: "No Peeking."
"Are you ready?"
Jay nodded.
Ava takes down the sign, opens the door and turns on the light. What was once the guest bedroom, was now the baby's room. The walls were painted in a pastel blue. One of the walls had tree painted on it with small birds on the branches. The baby's crib and rocking chair were next to each other. There were shelves on the wall, holding a collection of children's books. And other shelves were holding stuffed toys. The crib was solid, sturdy, and safe for the baby. 
"What do you think?" Ava asks with a smile.
"Ava... its..." Jay was trying to find the right words to say. He took a turn about the room. He was absolutely blown away.
"Oh, wait. Hold on..." Ava turns off the light. "Look up at the ceiling." She says to Jay as held his hand.
There were glow in the dark stars illuminating the room. Little stars, big stars and comets. 
"Wow..."Jay says quietly. 
"I thought it was a great idea to put those up there. I had those when I was a kid."
Jay was filled with amazement. The room was even more beautiful than he imagined. Jay gently holds Ava face and brings her in for a long kiss.
"It's perfect."