The months began to go by, and I gained a lot of weight. Once I was 7 months along, Wonka insisted I didn't work at all, but I stayed in bed or just simply walked around the factory. I knew how hard it was for him to do everything himself, but every time I tried to do a little work, he would be right behind me, telling me that I had to be resting.

I was sitting on my bed, doodling and drawing on a tablet of paper. This was what I usually did during the day, and my tablet had many pages filled with meaningless drawings and scribbles on it for that reason.

Wonka came in and sat beside me.

"How are you feeling?"

"Well, I'm doing pretty well. You know what I realized this morning?"

"What?"

"I can't see my feet anymore!"

This upset me, because I had never been fat, not even a little heavy. When you wake up in the morning and can't see your feet, it makes you feel bad about yourself. I had been upset all day, and now was no different.

"Oh, don't worry Bridget. It's ok. You are still beautiful to me."

I really loved it when he called me beautiful. It made me feel special and loved.

"Thank you. Very much."

He was still afraid to touch me, because he thought he would hurt the baby. I kept telling him that he could, but he still seemed relentless to even put his hand on me. Oh, how I wanted a hug from him now. I was very scared about the baby, and I needed assurance.

"Are you scared?"

"Of course I'm still scared. I'm going to be a mommy now. I don't know how anything is going to turn out. I mean, what if there's something wrong with the baby? What if it's missing something?"

"Well, that's why you are going on Tuesday so we can find out all these things."

"That's what I'm worried about. I just want the child to be normal so I know how to raise it properly."

"I'm sure everything will be ok."

Why wouldn't he just hold me? I needed him to, really bad.

"Would you please hold me? Please?"

"I can't."

I took his arms and put them around me, so he would feel more secure. He started to pull back, but then decided not to and kept his arms where they were. He finally realized that it would be fine, and he held me a little tighter. Not too tight, just enough to fulfill its purpose.

"I really hope everything will be ok."

"It will, Bridget, it will."