15-05-2021-052358It-Ends-with-Us

“Hand me a towel.”
Ryle’s hand appears around the shower curtain a few seconds later.
I try to fit the towel around me before pulling the shower curtain
aside. It’s odd, hiding your body from your own husband.
The towel doesn’t fit. It covers up my boobs but then opens like an
upside-down V over my stomach.
Another contraction hits as I’m stepping out of the shower. Ryle
grabs my hand and helps me breathe through it, then walks me into
the bedroom. I’m calmly picking out clean clothes to wear to the
hospital when I glance over at him.
He’s staring at my stomach. There’s a look on his face I can’t
decipher.
His eyes meet mine and I pause what I’m doing.
There’s a moment that passes between us where I can’t tell if he’s
about to frown or smile. His face twists into both somehow, and he
blows out a quick breath, dropping his eyes back to my stomach.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispers.
A pang shoots through my chest that has nothing to do with the
contractions. I realize this is the first time he’s seen my bare stomach.
It’s the first time he’s witnessed what I look like with his baby growing
inside of me.
I walk over to him and take his hand. I place it on my stomach and
hold it there. He smiles at me, brushing his thumb back and forth. It’s
a beautiful moment. One of our better moments.
“Thank you, Lily.”
It’s written all over him, the way he’s touching my stomach, the way
his eyes are looking back at mine. He’s not thanking me for this
moment, or any moment that came before this one. He’s thanking
me for all the moments I’m allowing him to have with his child.
I groan, leaning forward. “Fucking hell.”
The moment is over.
Ryle grabs my clothes and helps me into them. He picks up all the
things I tell him to carry and then we make our way to the elevator.
Slowly. I have a contraction when we’re halfway there.
“You should call Allysa,” I tell him when we pull out of the parking
garage.