Pregnancy and Other Things
12th Down: Insanity
He's seen the movies and seen the people around him when Mamori drags him shopping. The pregnant ladies always look so calm. The guys just wrap their arms around the wife's back and they stroll happily. So, what happened to his own wife?
Everything began to go downhill, in regards to Mamori's behavior, when the morning sickness came. He found her awake at 6:00AM (she usually wakes up at 7:00AM) retching into the toilet bowl. Like any other husband, he rushed over in concern and held her soft auburn hair back as she emptied last night's sukiyaki. When she was done, she looked miserable: nose runny and eyes watery. He had carefully tucked her back into bed only to have her visit the restroom again.
Then came the food cravings, he's heard the myth about crazy women who crave things in the middle of the night so he felt prepared for it. Besides, his wife was different from every woman he's ever met...or so he thought until Mamori woke him up at 3:00AM on a Saturday morning which was usually his time to rest since football practice often tired him out on the weekdays and he had games on Sunday. He tried to shrug her off and tell her he would get it for her when the sun came up, however, that just pissed her off. She ended up getting so angry that she just lectured him for an hour about how she was pregnant and this is what happens – he's been to the classes! She then sarcastically apologized for being such a nuisance and that next time, if he wanted another child, he should be the one carrying it. They both knew it was biologically impossible, but another impossibility was Mamori being sane right now because she was bombarded with hormones. His wife continued her lecture until 4:00AM and then politely pointed out that the sun was up to a less than enthusiastic blond.
So off he went to the 7-Eleven store to buy some milk and eggs so he could make his wife the Kariya cream puffs she was craving to eat. He cursed loudly at the fact that Kariya hadn't expanded overseas yet and now he had to learn how to make some stupid cream puffs. Thank God his learning curve hadn't declined and that there was a convenience store near their home. He looked at his surroundings and saw a poor bastard like him. The way he could tell that poor bastard wasn't some drug junkie with the munchies was his disheveled hair, constant yawning, and the fact that he was in flannel pajamas which Hiruma was sure the poor bastard was forced to wear. Likewise, he had the same look except instead of flannel pajamas he just had a black set. Only husbands would actually bother to wear pajamas, any normal bachelor would have just worn a t-shirt and boxers or no shirt at all. He trudged up to the counter, paid for the things and then ran back to the house before she could throw a fit at him being late. The non-pregnant Mamori would have been understanding, but this Mamori was different – she was the devil
incarnate herself and he thought he was the devil in the family.
Then came the mood swings which bugged the shit out of him. After he had come back from the convenience store, she would sit on their couch and look shy as she apologized for throwing such a fit. She kissed his cheeks and shyly told him to go back to bed after he was done baking since she still wanted the cream puffs more than she wanted her tired husband to sleep. Hiruma muttered soft curses; he wasn't allowed to curse publicly in front of her anymore because she was scared it might affect the baby. After he was done baking the cream puffs, which were a lot harder than he expected for some stupid bread stuffed with cream filling. She ate them happily and then requested for some Campbell's soup which they didn't have in their fridge so back to the 7-Eleven he went.
He found out there was something worse than pregnancy cravings and that's the weekly weigh-ins she did. He constantly tried to avoid it, but once that deafening scream sounded through the house, he knew, it was coming.
"I'm so fat!" She sobbed as she stepped onto their electronic scale, which Hiruma usually used to see how much weight he had gained or lost. Of course, Mamori knew that gaining weight was normal, especially when she was already five months pregnant, but that didn't stop her estrogen from making her act this way. It was even worse when they went shopping and she saw all those skinny girls or worse – skinny girls that are pregnant. Hiruma would constantly have to reassure her that she was beautiful the way she was and he was getting tired of saying the same lines over and over again. It got even worse when she became so large that she waddled...like a duck. Normally, he would have teased her about this, but again, the hormones. He missed non-pregnant Mamori.
After a while, shopping even became too difficult for her, which Hiruma was glad for because he didn't enjoy walking around the mall and looking at stupid love-sick teenage couples that they never were. However, it hurt him to see his wife suffering though. She would wake up in the middle of the night to want food only to throw it up in the morning, have back aches, her feet would be swollen, and she would constantly need to go use the restroom and couldn't control her digestive system. All in all, she would have a crappy four more months ahead of her.
Despite all this, Hiruma did love Mamori and was constantly reminded of it whenever he started to get angry. Seeing her at his football practices were the constant reminder. He looked up to the stands and saw the woman he fell in love with. The woman whose eyes narrowed as she concentrated on the play the opponent was doing and was jotting down notes. She would still have her video camera from high school and she rewind and replay clips. After her analysis, she would sign something to him and he would grin and tell the players the plan.
After the practice and games, she would have a water bottle ready just for him and wait for him in the Armadillo's private locker room. She would happily greet Yamato and Taka, presenting the whole team with some snacks and then hand Hiruma his own homemade bento.
After they went home and all the insanity died down, she would curl up next to him on the bed, lying on her side since that was the closest thing to lying on her stomach, and she slept. Hiruma glanced down at her from his book and stroked the soft hair and tucked it behind her ear to see her peaceful expression.
When he saw her like that, he silently promised to himself that he would take care of her and her unborn child. He didn't even need to say it out loud because she knew it and she knew he never broke promises.