"Do we really need to be here?" I whispered a little louder than I had intended. The instructor opened her eyes and sent me a warning look. Jazmine took deep breaths and continued to "focus" her energy.
"Yes Huey, we really need to be here. Now shut it; you are ruining my concentration." Jazmine snapped. From the corner of my eye, I could see Riley taking a few shaky breaths as if he was trying not to burst out laughing. Cindy smiled brightly and took a deep breath, following the cadence of the soothing music.
"Jazmine, this is not the first time you've gone through labor." An annoyed frown made its way to her face, causing cute wrinkles at her forehead.
"Every time is different, Huey. Now stop talking and focus your energy and send good vibes to the baby or you can go wait in the car." She snapped in a harsh whisper. The instructor sent me another warning glare. I frowned then closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Somehow, Jazmine had managed to wrangle me into the same "Mommy and Me" childbirth classes that we took while she was pregnant with X. To add to her excitement, and my annoyance, Cindy had been forcing Riley to the same classes. While it was beneficial for Riley to take the classes, I didn't see why I had to suffer through the 1 hour class then the 1 and a half hour "Mommy yoga" class directly after; not that I didn't enjoy spending time with my family, but the last thing I wanted to think about at 8 in the morning on a Saturday was likening the worst pain a woman could endure to the budding of a flower ready to show its beauty to the world. Seriously? To make matters worse, X had wanted to come to the classes too, which meant I couldn't even leer at Jazmine's beautiful ass in yoga pants while we contorted into unnatural positions, which usually turned her on and led to a little shower play when we got home.
I had to change the direction of my thoughts; there was no way I would make it through yoga with a hard-on straining against my gym shorts. I began to focus on what I wanted for our daughter, the kind of life I wanted her to have, and the kind of father I wanted to be to her; I knew that I wouldn't put her through the anxiety I had put X through. I thought about the qualities I wanted her to embody; I wanted her to be nothing like my mother, but everything like the sweet, albeit naïve, little girl that Jazmine was. I tightened my hands slightly around Jazmine's growing baby bump and pulled Jazmine closer to me. She relaxed against my body, and I placed a kiss at the junction of her neck and shoulder. A light tinkling bell brought us out of our trance like state, signaling the end of class. I unfolded my legs, which had almost fallen asleep, and helped Jazmine stand up. X scrambled to his feet and brought his yoga mat to me. I rolled up the mat while X rubbed Jazmine's stomach. Over the months, rubbing Jazmine's stomach had been a comforting gesture for him; it was his way of saying 'hello' to his little sister and coping with some of the changes. Riley and Cindy walked over to us, we all proceeded to walk down the hall to the next room where the yoga classes were held.
"Don't get too excited, Riley. Or someone might think you actually enjoy these classes." Jazmine joked. Though Riley grumbled about being the only guy in the "Mommy yoga" class before I enrolled, it was clear that he did find some enjoyment in the classes.
"I don't know about you, but I'm here to get my stretch on," He nudged Cindy a bit. "And to see some booty." Cindy smacked his arm.
"Mine better be the only one you're looking at." Riley pinched her butt and she shot him a feigned glare but Jazmine shot him a real one.
"Seriously, Riley? There is a young impressionable mind here." She gestured down to our son.
"Psh, at least Huey knows what I'm talking about." He gave a goofy snicker and I shook my head but sent him a look that said I fully agreed with him. Jazmine stuck her tongue out at us and grabbed the door to the yoga studio. A few of the women who were in the labor classes also sat on mats in the yoga room doing a few preliminary stretches before the real work began. A pretty red head looked Riley over then met my gaze and smiled.
"Swear to God, she looks at you one more time—"
"Baby, I'm not even checking for her." Riley cut in before Cindy could finish her threat.
"I know you're not, but she acts like she doesn't see you here with a clearly pregnant female who clearly has a ring on her left hand. Bitches just be so disrespectful these days."
"What happened to your no cursing rule?" Jazmine rolled her eyes and seemed to give up on warning her in-laws of the 6-year-old in our presence.
"It clearly goes out the window when trifling bitches are about." Jazmine started laughing as she set up X's yoga mat next to hers; I grabbed 2 more mats from the back rack for Riley and I. We set up our mats behind our wives for a good view and to allow them time to socialize.
An hour and a half and a pool of sweat later and we were done with yoga. I tried to catch my breath as I wiped the sweat dripping from my forehead. Riley groaned and slowly walked himself up to a position where he could stand up on his own. X seemed completely fine as he bounced up and asked if he could come back next week. Jazmine smiled and said yes while she rolled up his yoga mat. Her face was dewy with sweat and chunks of her hair fell haphazardly from the quick bun she had tied her hair in at the beginning of the session, but she looked beautiful as always. Cindy squealed as Riley tried to hug her.
"Nope, keep your sweaty body off of me." She laughed as his arms encircled her thickened waist.
"That's not what you tell me when—"
"Don't finish that sentence, ya nasty." She laughed. "Boy, get off of me! It's too hot for all that." Riley laughed and let her go, then began to roll up her mat, and set the mat he had borrowed in the bin for dirty mats. On our way out, Cindy tossed one more glance at the redhead whose eyes followed Riley hungrily to the door.
"Geez let her live, Cindy. It's not like she was really going to say anything."
"I'm not taking any chance. Pregnancy hormones might have a bitch thinking real bold."
"Riley, how do you even deal with her possessiveness?" Jazmine laughed and shook her head.
"Well the sex is pretty damn good so…"
"Riley!" Jazmine playfully slapped his shoulder. I smirked and nodded my head; pregnancy sex was pretty damn good.
Once we got home I decided to work more on the nursery since going back to bed was clearly out of the question and I was already sweaty. I had to send Jazmine downstairs with X and Avenger to guard her since she couldn't be upstairs without constantly checking in on me and exposing herself to the smell of paint. I had the window open to combat some of the chemicals for me, but I wasn't taking a chance with Jazmine.
Since I had already painted the walls a light baby blue with white borders, I painted lilac butterflies flying around white daisies and white rabbits hopping around the room. I painted "Eleanor Rose Freeman" above the area where the crib would go; Jazmine wanted to continue naming our children after people who inspired us, and Eleanor Roosevelt was probably Jazmine's chief role model because of her humanitarian efforts and steel will and backbone, especially as a wife to a career politician. Eleanor Roosevelt had been the first name to pop into her head, but she wanted to cut Roosevelt into Rose. Seeing Jazmine's eyes light up when she told me the name, there was no way I could have said no; besides, Eleanor Roosevelt was an amazing woman who was tough as nails, and I hoped our daughter would embody some of her qualities.
I painted a butterfly on the edge of the "E" then closed the paint canisters and set the brushes aside. I left the window open to help with drying and walked downstairs and into the living room. Jazmine was curled up placing letters and checks into envelopes, then passing the envelopes to X, who placed a stamp in the corner then set the envelope in a pile. Avenger lay in his bed on the floor watching the two work. His head lifted and he came trotting over to me for a little attention. I rubbed his head then walked around the couch and lifted Jazmine's legs so I could sit down. I pulled her legs on top of mine and absent mindedly began to massage her feet.
"Are those for the scholarship winners?"
"Yup," She said quickly then moaned while I pressed a little harder at the insole of her foot. I ran my hands up to her calves and massaged the tightened muscles there. "I chose the girl, Kendall, who acted out the monologue where her husband was cheating as 2nd place."
"I thought you would have chosen her as first." I looked at her and she shook her head lightly. She handed the last envelope to X.
"I was going to, but one of the last submissions, from a high school senior in Colorado, was of a photo of wildflowers in the sunset. The photo was breathtaking and I'm definitely asking for permission to hang it up here at home. As the winning submission, it will already be hung in the gallery, but I wanted one for myself." I nodded then grabbed all the finished envelopes and went outside to place them in our mailbox. Once I locked the front door and went upstairs to close the window, we all watched the Ravens play.