“What are you even doing here?” I ask climbing out of the car.
“Your dad called me and said he couldn’t be here and asked if I would join you.”
He did what?
“You should’ve told me, Amelia. I told you I want to be included in every appointment.”
“It’s not a doctor’s appointment. This is to help me prepare for the birth.”
“What, I don’t need to be prepared?” he snaps.
“Not for the birth, no!”
He steps closer to me. I hate it when he does this. There’s nowhere for me to go and his closeness plays on my mind all day, reading into things that are never truly there.
“I’m not missing my daughter’s birth.”
“You can wait outside or something…”
“No. I’ll be there when she takes her first breath. It’s not like I’m some stranger, and it’s not like I haven’t already seen everything that’ll be on show.”
Sighing, I ask, “Why do you keep doing this?”
“What?”
“Pushing for everything your way. Did it ever occur to you that you are like a stranger to me now? I have no clue who you truly are, and you only bring me stress.”
“You better learn to deal with it, babe. You don’t have final say over our child or me. Let’s go.”
He matches my pace as I head inside and holds the door open to the room where the class is being held.
It looks like we’re the last ones to arrive and everyone stares.
“Hi, I’m Jennifer. I’ll be here to help you through your journey to parenthood.”
“Hi, I’m Amelia and this is Darius.”
It would be rude to act like he’s not here, and when I do that, he just puts himself in the centre and introduces himself.
“It’s nice to meet you both. If you’d like to take your place on one of the mats, we’ll get started.”
There are seven other couples and I head over to the mat on the end of the group. Darius is quick to hold my elbow as I sit down but he sits beside me, leaving a wide gap between us.
“You missed the introductions,” Jennifer says, and I feel embarrassed when everyone looks our way. She runs through everyone’s names, and I smile at each of them.
“Why don’t you introduce yourselves and tell us how far along you are.”
I’d rather not but I say, “I’m Amelia and he’s Darius,” I say pointing to him. “And I’m six months along.”
“It’s nice to have you both with us today. I hope you find these classes helpful.”
For the next hour we sit through her telling us what to expect in the last few months of pregnancy and I take everything in she tells us. All the while she talks, I see fathers-to-be sitting real close to their partners, rubbing their stomachs and backs. Asking questions, just as interested as the women are. I want these classes but I’m grateful when it ends.
I quickly wipe the few tears falling down my cheeks as I push open the door and step outside. Darius is close behind and I ignore him until I’m safe in my car and he’s walking over to his waiting ride.
How am I going to cope with him for the rest of my life?
Clare is standing around outside her gates and I slow down to a stop. Lowering my window, I have to call out her name to get her attention from her phone.
