"This class will last for eight weeks! We meet every Tuesday at 6 PM, and you can expect to be here for about an hour and a half."

The woman standing at the front of the room was a peppy person, but was trying to be serious. It made the expressions on her face pretty amusing. She looked to be about Kathryn's age, her dark hair in a short bob. Her name was something an 80's movie cheerleader would be called. Fifi, or Buffy, or something like that.

The room had 12 partners total, sitting in various poses on mats on the floor. My only assumption for the mats was that we would need to be vertical at some point in this class. Emmett sat beside me, Regina sitting off to the side and interpreting for him.

Her wrist had been cleared by the doctor, and though she was still trying to take it easy, she had immediately volunteered when we were going to the class. I'm sure it was more a desire to be in the class than to actually interpret. I was grateful for the help either way. Though I was getting better at signing, I doubted I'd be able to keep up in this class.

"I'm sure most of you hear Lamaze, and you think of the breathing. You know, hoo hee hoo hee. And we will certainly cover breathing techniques as a coping mechanism, that's not all Lamaze is. This class is to help educate about different birthing plans, what to expect in your pregnancies, and to teach your partners how to give you the best support possible. Today, I want to go around the room and get to know everyone. Afterwards, I'm going to do a brief overview of some different birthing methods. Let's start with you two. Your names, how far you are, gender if you know it. Anything else you may want to add."

The first woman stood and started talking, and I tuned out. We were closer to the back of the room, so it would likely be awhile until it was our turn.

'What do you want to tell them?' Emmett signed.

'I don't know. I'm Bay, you're Emmett, and that's my mom Regina. 20 weeks.' I shrugged slightly. Why give more information than they wanted?

'They're going to want to know if the baby is deaf.'

'Well, we don't know if he's deaf.'

'You need to be prepared. Someone is probably going to say something ignorant. When they do, just ignore them.'

I sighed heavily. That was still something I wasn't used to, and I never seemed to handle it well.

"Thanks for sharing, Mia! Ok, looks like next are you three."

I sighed slightly and stood, Emmett's hand on my lower back to help. "Hi. I'm Bay, and this is Emmett, the father. And this is my mom Regina. I'm 20 weeks pregnant, and we don't know the gender." My hands moved as I talked.

"What do you think you're having?" Someone from the front asked.

"I think it's a boy."

Emmett grinned widely. 'Girl.'

"And he thinks it's a girl." When there were no other immediate questions, I sat down again.

"What, is your kid gonna be dumb, or something?" The woman was one of the friends of another pregnant woman. Her voice was nasally, obnoxious even without the remark. Regina lips pressed together, but she continued to dutifully interpret.

"Um... Excuse me?" I felt Emmett's hand on my arm, and I knew that he was trying to calm me, to tell me to just ignore her.

"I mean, I wouldn't want a deaf kid. It'd be dumb, right? I wouldn't want a dumb kid." She shrugged slightly.

"Call my kid dumb one more time, I dare you. Call the father of my child dumb. My sister. Just one more time."

She rolled her eyes, lifting her hands slightly. "Gawwd, chill much? I'm just sayin'. If it's deaf, it can't go to school, right? Dumb kid. If you wanna do that, whatever, but I couldn't handle a dumb kid."

I grit my teeth, trying my best to calm down. "Do the world a favor and never procreate." I moved to stand, and Emmett held me back. "No, let go. I'm leaving. Stay if you want, but I'm not dealing with this." I pulled from his grasp and left the room.

I quickly found a bench outside and sat down, taking deep breaths. Emmett sat beside me and just waited.

"I know I'm going to have to learn to handle that situation better. We're probably going to deal with that a lot in life. I mean, you already know that. You've been dealing with it all your life."

'You'll get better at it.'

"I find that doubtful."

'No, you will. You've only been at this for a year. You have your whole life ahead of you. Especially if she's deaf."

"I really hope she's not there next week."

'Yeah, me too.'

Regina came out soon after, and we went home.

...

The next class, the woman wasn't there. She had been replaced by an older woman, most likely the pregnant woman's mother. No one commented on being deaf again.

Fifi/Buffy/Whatever her name was was going on about types of birthing methods for a while, before the reason for the mats came into play.

She was going around the room, setting down those big pillows that had a back, so you could lean back in them. "Ok, birthing partners, I want you behind your mamas. Get her nice and comfortable between your legs and lean back. I want you to put your hands on her belly. Then we'll do some breathing."

The position was actually really comfortable. And the second Emmett's hands were on my belly, I felt the fluttering of the baby. I twisted around. 'Did you feel that?' I signed.

He frowned slightly and shook his head.

'I felt the baby.'

I faced forward again, smiling softly when I felt the light press of a kiss to the back of my head.

The breathing itself made me feel ridiculous, and a little lightheaded, but Fifi/Buffy kept on insisting that it helped with pain. Or rather, it helped you to focus on something else. I figured if you were in labor, though, breathing wasn't going to be enough to distract you.

Class went by rather quickly, and I was sure it had something to do with Emmett's arms around me. They always had a calming effect on me.

Emmett and I left the room with the rest of the class. Today, Regina hadn't come to interpret, having had other plans. Emmett led the way out to the car, and when we got in, I allowed my mind to wander.

John and I seemed to be getting along. He asked about the baby, about the appointments, had even asked to see the pictures from the ultrasound. He reminded me more of my dad than he had in months.

Emmett still didn't trust him. If he came in while we were talking, he would sit by me and wouldn't move until either someone else came in, or John left. It didn't matter what he was doing, though most of the time it had to do with his bike. He said he was still doing repairs on it. I had assumed that the damage hadn't been that bad, and that it would have been working by now. But I guess the accident had only been three weeks ago, and really, what did I know about motorcycles?

It wasn't long until we were pulling up to the house, and we got out and went inside.

So I still have 40 minutes until midnight, I still made it in today. After accidentally deleting everything last night, today I've been having internet issues. So the second I would hit save, I would lose internet, and the entire thing would crash, and I'd lose everything again. It's been a nightmare.