I put the appetizer plate on my knee and was talking to Mr. Avadhanam and Mr. Kamat about the latest developments on the visa regulations. It was getting tough for us to live in a foreign country. The recent shooting victim was a friend and it had us shook. I looked at my wife walking towards me and took my plate that I was balancing on my knee. It was getting difficult for her to get around. She was almost full-term and had difficulty sleeping. We were not supposed to come to this get-together but I wanted her to get out of the house and stop nesting for a bit. She brought me back some salsa that I asked for.
Mr. Avadhanam was now talking about his recent project that I was part of.
I looked at her. She was looking at the other women in the party. She noticed Mrs. Avadhanam and Mrs. Singh’s clothes. They must have bought their clothes from some fancy store. I saw my wife running her hand on her big belly and looking at everyone absent-mindedly. She looked glorious in her Doctor Strange t-shirt that she loved so much. She bought that t-shirt a few months ago and it was her favorite. She pushed away most of the food that Mrs. Kamat put in front of her. I got worried as she hadn’t been eating at all. I laughed at one of the bad jokes of Mr. Jain and saw her gazing at me with love. I winked at her and I saw her smile slyly. She looked back at the rest of the women and I returned to my conversation.
I couldn’t concentrate on what the other men were saying, but suddenly I was bored too. I looked back at my wife and she was now on the floor playing with the Kamat’s family dog. That dog loved my wife and snuggled up to her whenever we were visiting. The kids came over running and gathered around my wife. With my heart in my mouth, I looked over to make sure no one jumped on her. The kids dragged the dog away disappointing my wife. She slowly picked herself up, stood up and blew a raspberry. All the women looked at her weirdly, with the exception of Mrs. Kamat, her best friend, who was laughing. She carefully got out of the bar stool and strolled away from everyone. She’d had a difficult and hard pregnancy. She had been trying to act normal with me, but I knew how much in pain she was with her Braxton Hicks. She never complained, and still continued to cook, clean and take care of the house and me. That’s why I thought she deserved a break. I saw her walk towards me very carefully with wild excitement in her eyes.
“We need to get out of here,” my wife yelled at me pointing at her belly.
*****
