The Center of My Universe

::28::

   It was towards the end of Ellen's pregnancy, and it was hard on everyone. Alex hates having to go to work and leaving her alone, but he couldn't take many days off because of a substitute shortage.

   "I'll be fine Alex," Ellen said. He kissed her and left the house. Later on, Ellen called Elyse.

   "Hello," Elyse said.

   "Hey Elyse," she said. "Would you mind coming over here for a little while?"

   "Of course!" Elyse said. She walked over to the house, and let herself in, finding Ellen still sitting in her bed.

   "Hey. Sorry if I interrupted anything," Ellen said, hugging a pillow. Elyse shook her head.

   "Oh no you didn't interrupt anything. I have the day off," she said, moving to sit on the bed with her daughter-in-law. "Is everything okay?"

"I think so," Ellen said and explained what was going on.
Elyse nodded.

  "You're probably starting to contract, but it'll probably be a while until you need to act on it."

"Good to know," Ellen said. "It just gets a little lonely when Alex leaves."

"I know what you mean. The house is so quiet on days like this," Elyse said. "How about we go make some breakfast."

"Sounds great," Ellen replied. The two walked to the kitchen and grabbed a few things from the cabinet.

   "So are you nervous?" Elyse asked. The younger girl nodded.

   "Yeah. How'd you do this four times," she asked, and the two laughed.

"It gets easier. Well... not really, but you start getting more confident," she said, causing them to laugh again. Later, after Elyse had left, she felt another contraction. She just took a deep breath, and let it out, breathing through the pain. Easy enough. Alex got home and she hugged him.

"How was work?"

"Pretty good. Nothing really interesting happened. A student got his shoe stuck on the flagpole."

"How-," she started. "How does one get a shoe stuck on a flagpole."

"I don't know but he was very proud," Alex replied. Ellen just laughed. She sat down on one of their chairs and he started to cook dinner. He separated it onto the both of their plates, and poured himself some orange juice.

   "Your mom came over today," Ellen said. "We think I'm starting contractions."

   "Isn't it a little early?" Alex asked.

   "I'm due in a week and a half. That's not that early," she said with a shrug.

   "You seem calm?" Alex questioned.

   "Oh I'm freaking out," she said in a calm voice. Alex smiled and stood up, walking behind her and rubbing her shoulders, then kissing her head, still massaging.

"It's gonna be okay," he said, and she strained her neck back to look up at him.

   "So you're not worried at all?" She asked. He sat down next to her and turned to the side to look her in the eyes, setting his hands on her cheeks.

   "Sure I'm scared, but you're healthy, the doctors say there should be no complications, and I'll be there the whole time, holding your hand," he said calmly, and she hugged him. "And you're going to be an amazing mom."

"Thank you," she said, smiling and tucking her head into his shoulder.

"What are husbands for," he joked.

They went to bed that night, and the next day, Alex was preparing to go to work.

"Are you sure it's fine it I go to work?" He said. Ellen nodded and kissed him.

"For sure," she said. Alex unwillingly walked out the door, and Ellen kept busy. She had a few small contractions, but she tried to ignore them. Then, later in the day, they began to get bigger, and harder to ignore. She called Elyse to ask her what to do.

"Hello," the mother asked. Ellen held onto the phone tightly.

"Elyse we have a minor problem," she said. "My contractions are getting closer together, but Alex won't be back for another three hours."

"Okay Ellen. Take deep breaths. I'll be over in a few," she said. Ellen sat down and tried to calm herself down. She kept telling herself that she had time. Elyse and Mallory walked through the door and found Ellen sitting on the couch. They each sat on either side of her and took her hands. She smiled at them.

"Thank you guys so much. I don't know what I'd do without you," Ellen said, and Mallory squeezed her hand.

"It's no trouble at all Ellen," she replied. They sat and distracted her for a while, but she was soon hit with another contraction. She closed her eyes, and held her support systems' hands tightly. Elyse tucked her hair behind her ear.

   "Do you think we should go to the hospital?" Elyse asked Ellen. She shook her head.

   "I want to wait for Alex;" she said. Mallory and Elyse looked at each other and shrugged.

   "Whatever you say," Elyse replied.