Part 61

It was somewhere between 5 and 6 in the morning. Unable to sleep, Charlotte had gotten up and wrapping herself up in their luxurious fleece blanket, and settled herself into the oversized pink sanctuary in the family room. A cup of tea in one hand and the trashy romance novel she kept on hand for such sleepless nights, she shrugged up her whole body to generate some immediate warmth. Despite all her complaining about the world's worst case of insomnia, she truly cherished this early mornings. For now she really had time on her side. Of course there was plenty of that with not being able to lift anything heavier than the cup of tea now pressed to her lips. But it was the quiet.

Reaching under the blanket, she rubbed her expanding abdomen. Perhaps in a few months, if they were lucky, th house wouldn't be so quiet. A smile spread across her face. She was getting use to the idea of being the oldest parent in history of a kindergartener. Or at least that was what Sarah was saying. Wouldn't that be nice? To have a baby and then a child that was happy and whole and healthy.

And then as if on cue the baby kicked, and Sarah walked into the room. "What are you doing up? Mother asked sleepy yawning daughter, but she could have been asking either of her children present at the time.

Sarah stretched and as her arms reached their longest extension the baby kicked again. "Stop that!" Charlotte said in a sharp but teasing way.

"Stop what?" asked back the only child who she could physically hear at that time.

"All that stretching. Your brother is following along with every motion. I'll be black and blue from the inside out."

Sarah hurried towards her mom. Her eyes were wide with curiosity and her hands were reaching for her mother's bump.

These early mornings, Charlotte wouldn't miss them for the world. She reached out one of her own hands, and directed her daughter's gentle touch so that she too could feel her brother's playfullness.

And as if to know there was love on the other side of the thick muscle wall, the baby kicked his foot out into their hands and held it there. Sarah's eyes widened even further. "Does he know we're here?"

"He could," answered Charlotte, just as excited as her daughter. Even with this being her third child, feeling him move inside her was so deeply and emotionally binding. She couldn't wait to hold him, to love him. Regardless of the physical problems, or length of his time on earth, she would love him.

Her daughter's words broke into her little lovefest. "You know Mom, he reminds me of one of those dolphins that comes to the surface when their trainers are around."

"Really. Do you think you'll be calling him a dolphin when he comes out?"

"I hope I get to call him period, when he comes out." Sarah's seriousness hit Charlotte head on. She wasn't the only one worried about the little life inside her. The web of life spreads its threads far and wide. Here she thought she was putting on the brave face, and carrying most of the baby burden within her. Of course, Sam had his own worries he toted, but Charlotte had assumed the girls were floating free and easy as it were. Obviously she was wrong.

"Do you want to be there for the birth?" The question was out and floating in the air, before she fully realized what she was saying. Sarah must've been equally shocked, as if touching a hot stove or being hit with a jolt of electricity , she momentarily withdrew her hand from her mother's warm bump.

"You want me in there?"

The staunch mother in her stopped and thought for a moment. The quick answer, No not really floated into her head. But... for the sake of her daughter and her son... the words, "Yes, if you want to be there, yes," came out of her lips.

Her daughter sat in silence. Her hand resumed its fishing for movement. The baby accommodated her by sending up flutters. "What's he doing?"

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Swimming around. After all it's toasty warm."

Then turning all serious, Sarah answered her mom, "Can I decide about being there later?"

"Sure."

For the next hour as the sky outside the window brightened with the new dawn, no words were spoken, as the mother and her children reached out to touch each other.

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