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Bella was on the phone with her mother. They were playing catch-up since they hadn't talked much recently. Renee and Phil had just returned from spring training, and Bella had been really busy the last few months.
After hearing about her mother's activities, Bella was updating Renee with what had been going on in her own life.
"Mom, I really thought I was prepared for this life. I read all the books and I took all the classes. I have friends who've been through this already and we talked all the time about what was coming and how things would change. But honestly, I keep having these moments where I'm looking around and I'm trying to figure out how I got here," Bella sighed.
Renee chuckled and said, "Baby Girl, nothing can fully prepare you for this experience. This is the biggest, most life-changing thing anyone can go through. There is no book or class that can truly prepare you for everything that will happen from here forward."
Bella replied, "I guess. I mean, I knew there would be surprises. But this is a never-ending source of amazement. This is like nothing I could have imagined. "
Her mother chuckled and the conversation turned to other things. Before they hung up, Bella looked into the house through the sliding glass door. She smiled and laughed.
Renee asked what was funny, and Bella described what she was seeing. Her husband, all 6 foot 7 inches of him, was crawling around on the floor, playing with their son, Jonah, who was crawling after him, giggling madly. Jonah was trying to catch Jake's foot, and Jake kept pulling it away from him. Jonah, enjoying the game of chase, kept attacking, determined to catch his daddy. Jake was laughing, and pretended to get caught, rolling over onto his back. Jonah rushed over, his little diaper making that plastic rustling noise as he crawled quickly to his daddy's face. Jonah tried to climb Jake's head, so Jake blew razzberries on his belly. Jonah slid off, giggling because it tickled his tummy. Jonah clutched his daddy's big head to give him kisses (which, from a 6-month old, meant sloppy, wet, open-mouthed smooches), and Jake let him, grinning with his mouth closed against the slobbery love from his pup.
Bella sighed, and said, "See, this is what I was talking about, Mom. Right now, this moment, my heart is so full, I feel like it's going to explode. I just get so overwhelmed with it. I never expected to love someone so much and still feel like there's more love every day, every minute -" she stumbled, getting choked up.
Renee smiled, "Baby Girl, is anything ever really what you expect it to be? This isn't a problem, you know."
Bella suddenly needed to be inside, with her family. "I know. Thanks, Mom. I'll call you next week." Bella ended the call, and went inside, to roll on the floor with her husband and her baby.