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She woke up feeling "not right" on the date
that happened to be circled in red,
it wasn't pain, more of a tightness of expectancy.
She shrugged her shoulders and cooked eggs over easy,
"It couldn't be today."

She did the dishes, threw the towels in to wash
and showered just like any other day, even as
the muscles in her stomach kept tightening
and the eggs rumbled their complaints.
"It couldn't be today."

At her Saturday massage, meant to prepare her
for "the day", she had them rub the pressure points,
just in case. She fell asleep on the table
and dreamed of little toes and squinchy eyes,
but "it couldn't be today."

Then in the one dress left that still stretched
enough to cover her body's expansion, with beach towel
under her arm for the car seat--just in case--
she went to her second cousin's wedding just as if
it couldn't be today.

Home again, she rolls her eyes, throwing unused towel
back in to the closet and settles down into the blankets,
shoving pillows all around her, she listens to her body--
belly tightening, releasing, as if it were grasping the baby within.
"It really couldn't be today."

Eyes bolt open as pain grips her body from the middle,
red numbers glare at her in the dark bedroom as she counts--
hands holding her belly...one...two....three...oh!
The numbers change just as the pain deepens, she grabs his arm,
Honey it's time.

The empty streets usher them to the revolving doors that lead
them to smiling faces and capable hands that give her a pink gown
and settle her onto a bed, whose foot will breakaway to reveal stirrups.
She breaths, breaths, breaths through contractions that grow to leave no doubt
"it will be today."

Monitors beep out of time with her pushes, compete with her cries,
she curses at him as he holds her hand and wipes her brow
until she pushes one more time through a tsunami of pain, pressure---
then relief and a cry then their daughter rests on her chest and she smiles
"Happy Father's day honey."





Kendra