“We have a few hours.”
He nods and gets up from the couch. He doesn’t say anything, but goes back upstairs. After a moment, I hear the hum of the treadmill start back up.
~ ~ ~
There are seven other couples in the class as we walk in. Of course, Luca’s presence is known and I think the guys in the room are shocked to see the Bucks captain sitting in a parenting class like a normal person.
Oh, if they only knew, I think.
Luca has been quiet since feeling little Valeria kick. He’s probably having a mild panic attack. Wait, this is Luca. He’s having a full-blown breakdown, but he’s keeping it inside and hidden.
The instructor introduces herself and hands out baby dolls and Luca looks like he’s about to pass out.
“They’re not real,” I whisper to him. “It’s not going to bite you.”
He glares at me. “I know that.”
“Well, stop being scared, Captain Zotov. This is just practice.”
Luca narrows his eyes at me, but I wave my hand at him to show him that look doesn’t work on me. I’m not some rookie and this isn’t a hockey game.
The instructor begins with the steps on how to swaddle the baby and the correct way to hold it, to support the head and neck. Luca’s hands are shaking as he tries to follow along with the instructions. I’m not sure if there are any encouraging words that would be able to help him at this point. However, the second time he does it, he seems a little more at ease.
The class continues on how to properly burp the baby and the correct feeding position. It seems easy because the baby I’m holding is plastic, but the instructor goes on about squirming babies and when I look over at Luca, he’s passed panic mode and in full-out scared mode. I take a note to yell at the instructor at the end of the class about that part. I finally had him calm after reassuring him that nothing is going to happen to me like he read in those books, and now she’s pushed him into thinking he’s going to drop our daughter.
I’m grateful when we move to the diaper changing session. This, I can do. Or so I thought until I put the diaper on backwards. On the other hand, Luca masters it on the first try.
“Okay, I guess that means you’ll be changing all the diapers, right?” I try to joke with him.
“It does look like I can do that, at least.”
“Luca, you’re doing great. I promise, you can do this. I know it.” I try to sound as hopeful as I can. I know he can do this.
He tries to sound calm, but there’s still a slight panic in his voice. “There’s still more time to learn, I guess.”
“It’ll come to us. People have been having babies for millions of years and a lot of them survived.” I wink at him, but he isn’t in a joking mood.
The class ends and of course, a couple guys ask for autographs and pictures. Like the captain he is, he does it without a second thought. He’s good to his fans. He always has been.
Luca always makes me proud.
~ ~ ~
I feel like everyone is staring at me and my massive basketball belly. Little Valeria has been rolling all day. I swear I think she has a hockey stick in there and she keeps poking my bladder. I don’t think I’ve peed this much my whole life.
I take my seat across from Mr. York and Mr. Russell.
“Sorry about that.” I smile.
“Baby sitting on your bladder?” Mr. York winks.
“Yes. I think she thinks it's a bongo drum.” I giggle.
“I don’t have children. I’ve always thought of them as an inconvenience,” Mr. Russell AKA Mr. Jerk-Face jumps in as he continues shoving food into his mouth.
I don’t even want this guy to sponsor THN, but Mr. York seems to think it’s a good thing. I’m not too sure.
“I’m sure it’s hard to have children when you've created such a vast empire.” Mr. Russell is in oil. It was his father who built the company up from nothing, but he’s reaping the reward.