Alex walked into his bedroom to see his wife sound asleep. He had just gotten Junior to settle down, which was no easy feat due to her teething, and now it was his turn to go to bed. He crawled under the covers as lightly and as gently as he could in an attempt not to wake his pregnant wife. After he succeeded in the mission to let Diana sleep he set his glasses on his nightstand, pulled the covers over his shoulders, and shut his eyes.
About an hour later he was startled awake by the sound of his wife shrieking. As soon as he opened his eyes he saw that his wife was gripping her calf.
"Ouch," she exclaimed. "Leg cramp! Leg. Cramp."
"It's ok," said Alex as he reached over and began gently massaging her leg, feeling the tightened muscles beneath her skin slowly relax. "Shhh, it's ok, it's ok." When the muscle fully relaxed, he slumped back against his pillow.
"Thank you, honey," said Diana, snuggling up against him. He kissed her on the forehead. "I read about how some pregnant women get charley horses at night, but that was slightly awful."
"I know," replied Alex, closing his eyes. "The worst is how they sneak up on you while you're sleeping."
"You got them?" she asked, not lifting her head off of his chest. "I mean, with Junior?"
"Quite a bit," he replied not opening his eyes.
"How did you get rid of them when they happened?"
"Well, I'd try to rub it out with a tennis ball," replied Alex groggily. "I don't remember where I read about it as a remedy but it seemed to work."
A few moments later Alex opened his eyes at the sound of his wife softly sniffling. He looked at her to see tears rolling down her face, saturating his t-shirt.
"Why are you crying, Diana?" he asked softly, knowing from experience with her over the past few months it could be attributed to anything.
"It's just," started Diana as she choked back a sob. "Here you are doting on me, but when you were pregnant no one was helping you. I should have been there… I could have rubbed out your cramps. You did so much of it without any help."
"Don't cry over that," said Alex, pulling her closer to him. "You didn't know, I didn't let you in, I'm the reason I didn't have your help. It's not your fault. Not to mention Larry was always around if anything serious ever happened. So I wasn't completely alone."
"I guess not," replied Diana.
As Alex fell back asleep Diana was still awake, with her head resting on his chest thinking back on the past year. She never would have thought that she'd be married with a 10 month old daughter, and another child on the way. She made a silent vow to remember all the small, loving things that her husband did for her on a daily basis, because at that moment she was sure that she was the luckiest woman on earth.