"You’re not going to eat? Are you and the baby not hungry?" Hayden asked from across the table.
I doubt anyone could get hungry when faced with this kind of food. However, I couldn’t bring myself to tell Hayden that after all the effort that he put in to ensure the best food for me and the baby.
"I’m not that hungry but I’ll eat..." I replied before forcing a smile.
"Do you want me to feed you?" Hayden asked.
"Umm...no. There’s no need for you to do that," I refused while trying to maintain my smile.
"The food looks and tastes bad, doesn’t it?" Hayden asked but it didn’t really feel like a question.
I guess he did realize it after all. There’s no point in lying about it now so I just nodded at my head in response.
"You should have told me. I can fire the chef or get the nutritionist to change something to make it more palatable," Hayden said as he stared at me from across the table.
"I just didn’t want to burden you with something like this. Plus, I guess it isn’t that bad when I get used to eating it," I replied although my words didn’t even sound convincing to myself.
He probably had no idea how much I was itching to eat everything that was fried and crunchy. All of those unhealthy and oily fried food was what I was secretly craving for. Maybe what I was experiencing was the cravings of the baby and I am void of any fault.
"Here, eat..." Hayden instructed as he thrusted a spoonful of food towards my face.
"It’s ok, Hayden. I can eat by myself," I refused politely.
"Does doing this really help you bond with the baby?" I asked in wonder.
Hayden had developed a habit of pressing the side of his face and his ear against my belly. It started from when my tummy was still pretty much flat. At that point, I doubt that he could hear anything or feel anything except for my own tummy rumbling randomly. He probably knew that as well, but he was still determined about being close to the baby.
"Of course, it does..." Hayden replied without hesitation.
"Is that your personal belief or is that scientific?" I asked, although I guess I sort of knew the answer.
"Shhh..." Hayden hushed me up.
I wasn’t sure if during such an early stage of pregnancy our baby could even feel of acknowledge our presence; however, having Hayden close to me did make me feel better. Even if we couldn’t connect much with our baby just yet, we surely connected with each other more this way. I ran my fingers through Hayden’s soft blond hair as I enjoyed his presence close to me.
As my pregnancy progressed and my belly swelled up more and more each day, things became more challenging for me to work and move around like before. That was when I truly started to appreciate having Hayden with me all the time. Just getting up from where I was seated required an effort and my back pain was no joke especially when it came to the end of the day.
"Did you feel that?" I asked before I smiled at him.
Our baby was definitely an energetic little one. I could feel and see some movements of the baby inside of my belly. It wasn’t unusual for bumps to form on the surface of my belly when the baby moved by kicking or elbowing.
"Definitely. That was such a strong kick..." Hayden replied with his hands pressed against my large belly.
It wouldn’t be much longer now before we could hold our little one in our arms. I had never felt this excited in my life about anything before. The smile on Hayden’s face and the gleam in his blue eyes told me that he also shared my excitement.
--To be continued...