Soon

“I can’t sleep” Abigail muttered. The clock said it was 3:15am. Abigail was not happy about this. She climbed out of bed and headed towards the bathroom for the third time that night. Abigail was eight months, three weeks, and two days pregnant, and she felt it. With the baby due within a matter of days she was having all sorts of trouble sleeping. If it wasn’t a full bladder that troubled her it was cramps or back pain. Carrying a developing human being for several months had put a great deal of strain on her back. Abigail was ready to just be done with the whole ordeal. 

After Abigail finished emptying her bladder, she decided to go to the living room and watch tv. Abigail knew that she wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon. Abigail stopped in the kitchen first to grab the half empty bag of potato chips for something to munch on while she was up. As Abigail sat down on the couch, she turned on the tv for something to watch. She didn’t care what was on just as long as it didn’t have subtitles or involved murder; she didn’t have the stomach or the patience to watch either while sleep deprived. Abigail decided to settle on “Bob’s Burgers;” she could use a laugh. 

Abigail stared blankly at the screen while the show was playing as softly as possible. She didn’t want to wake her husband, Jerry, up from his slumber. “One of us should get sleep” Abigail thought. Abigail knew that when the baby came sleepless nights were going to be the norm. That thought kind of scared her. Right now, Abigail’s insomnia was just an annoyance albeit a huge one. Once she and her husband brought the baby home and the baby couldn’t sleep... yikes. Abigail won’t be able to just watch “Bob’s Burgers” until she felt sleepy, she would have to stay up as long as took to make sure their baby was soothed or fed. It would take a while to figure out what was making their baby cry and then they had to fix it. That could take hours. Abigail and Jerry had experienced it second hand when they stayed the night at her older sister’s house. Her sister had twins and they cried for hours. It was incredibly stressful to be around and that’s when it wasn’t even her responsibility. Abigail Just thinking about that made her feel even more tired. 

A light came on came on from the hallway. Abigail turned her head and saw it was Jerry putting on his bathrobe and walking towards her. “Hey honey. Are you okay” Jerry said as he leaned in the doorway of the living room. “Baby keeping you awake?” 

“Yes” Abigail said as grabbed more chips to eat. “Everything part of my body feels lousy. Not to mention I have to pee every ten minutes. I just want the baby to come.” 

Jerry came forward to rub Abigail’s back and said “I’m sorry to hear that honey. The baby will be here soon. You know you look very cute right now.” 

“Jerry, I love you but please stop” Abigail said exasperated. 

“Okay. Do you want me to make you some chamomile tea? That might help make you sleepy” Jerry said as he headed towards the kitchen. 

“No thank you. You can head back to bed. I’m super cranky right now and wouldn’t make good company,” said Abigail. 

“No, I’ll make you some tea. You need to hydrate after scarfing down those chips,” Jerry said while putting the kettle on the stove. 

After a moment of consideration Abigail said, “Thank you, baby.” 

“It’s alright. It’s not fair that I sleep while you’re up. It’s good practice for when the baby wakes us in the middle of the night” said as he headed back to the couch. 

Jerry sat down on the couch and put a blanket over him and Abigail. Abigail leaned on his left arm and squeezed it tight. “We’re going to have a baby, Jerry.” 

“I know” Jerry said, “I’m scared shitless.” 

“Me too” Abigail replied. 

Abigail and Jerry have spent the past few months preparing for the birth of their son. They have bought the baby books, decorated the baby’s room, taken Lamaze classes, and prepared an emergency bag to bring to the hospital for when her water broke. Yet despite taking all the appropriate steps to welcome their baby into the world it still seemed unreal to them. 

“I've been dreaming of having a baby for years now. Ever since my sister gave birth to her twins, I’ve just known I wanted to be a mother. I’m terrified but I can’t wait to meet him.” Abigail clung to Jerry’s arm even harder now. 

“Me too,” Jerry said as he kissed Abigail’s cheek. 

Abigail jumped. “He’s kicking. I feel him kicking.” 

Jerry put his hands on Abigail’s stomach. “I’m not fee... Oh wait. There it is. My word he’s kicking hard. He’s going to be a kicker for the NFL.” 

“I’d rather have him be a doctor but having a millionaire football player for a son wouldn’t be bad either,” Abigail replied. 

The kettle started to whistle. “Oh, tea’s ready,” Jerry said while getting up. “You want anything else while I’m up?” 

“Nah I’m good,” Abigail said as she slumped on the arm of the couch. Jerry had been waiting on her hand and foot since she found out she was pregnant. He said that he wanted to make her feel as comfortable as possible since she was doing “the hard work”. At times it annoyed Abigail. Such as when Jerry wouldn’t let do simple things like carry bags of groceries or a load of laundry; she had wanted to not feel completely useless. However, after hearing stories from her coworker about how her husband barely helped her around the house while she was pregnant, Abigail knew she got lucky with him as a father. Jerry would actually care about their child and do his part to raise him. He would be present and show their son how to be a man. “That’s what a father should do,” Abigail thought. 

Jerry sat back down on the couch with two mugs of tea in his hands. “Here you go,” Jerry said as he handed Abigail the mug.

“Drink that and hopefully you’ll be able to fall asleep soon.” 

“Thanks, baby,” Abigail said. “I love you very much.” 

“I love you too,” Jerry replied. “Soon we will have a baby,” he said excitedly. 

Abigail then looked at her stomach and put a hand on it saying “Yeah. Soon. Very soon.”