3 Whisper These Words to Me

3

whisper these words to me

2011

Alexander

We’re in bed. Dani rolls over to face me and has to lift her belly with her hands to shift her body to the other side. Today is her due date. Our first child. Dani is beautiful, glowing, truly gorgeous, but her stomach is so huge, it has to be painful.

“Alex?” she whispers. It’s early and she’s still groggy. She’s wearing just a tank top that only covers half her belly and a pair of tattered floral underwear. It’s adorable. I run my hand over her stomach and feel our baby kick. It’s one of the best and oddest feelings in the world. Dani is all belly. It almost seems like the rest of her body is actually thinner, like the baby is taking everything she’s got. If she didn’t still have such a vibrant energy, I might actually be concerned. The baby moves and turns dramatically, it’s hard not think there is at least a three-year-old in there.

“Yes, my love.”

“I want to ask you something.” Her eyes are still half-closed. She maneuvers to get closer to my ear. I can feel her breath. Now my mind is on other things. I think she’s going to kiss my neck when she very quietly says, “I think we should insulate the attic today.”

My eyes shoot open. “What?”

Taking a deep breath, she sits up. “This house is cold and the insulation sucks. We should go rent one of those machines that shoots insulation into the attic.”

“How do you know about that?”

“I saw it on an episode of This Old House . We can get it all at Home Depot.”

Dani is nesting at the moment…quite literally. She wants to blow tons of insulation material into our attic, like an actual nest, and I can’t tell her no.

“I think it’s like a two- or three-man job,” I say.

“ Man? ” she snaps.

“Person,” I reply, a little exasperated. “You know what I mean.”

“You and I can do it,” she argues.

“No, Dani! No way. You’re not going up in the attic right now.”

She takes a deep breath and calms down. “You go in the attic and I will put the insulation into the machine outside. It runs through a big hose and you’ll just shoot it all around up there.”

—

It’s now the afternoon and I cannot believe I agreed to do this, but I knew Dani wouldn’t take no for an answer—and honestly, how could I refuse her? She is smiling as she stands in the side yard preparing to dump giant bales of insulation into the hopper machine down below. I’m watching her from the attic opening and through the kitchen window. She has the radio blaring “Eye of the Tiger,” and she’s bobbing her head to the beat. She’s ready. “Go ahead,” I yell and then prepare myself for the onslaught. The insultation comes shooting out with the force of a fire hose.

It’s not slowing down and now I’m about knee high in the stuff. I wonder if Dani will ever stop throwing the bales in. “Stop,” I yell, but she keeps going. The music and sound of the machine are drowning me out.

I finally set the hose down and go over to the opening. The hose is flailing around wildly, but I need to get her attention. She’s covered in sweat and insulation particles and she’s frantically cutting the bales open and tossing them in. I pause for a moment to take it all in. It’s hilarious. She’s so determined.

Finally, I have to scream, “Stop, Dani!”

She looks up, still smiling. “Oh, sorry!” she yells.

When I get down from the attic, I check my phone and see there is a message from our neighbor, Carl. It says:

Monica and I are very concerned, Alex. We see your wife across the street frantically throwing stuff around. Isn’t she very pregnant?

I laugh to myself and reply:

Yes. Today is her due date and she decided she wanted to insulate the attic. I love her so much.