Amanda had awoken with a terrible headache. Emi’s voice brought pain, carrying Angelo was difficult, and everything was fuzzy. “I’m calling the doctor,” Niels declared. He’d carried her back to bed and within minutes, she was told to come to the hospital straightaway. Many thoughts ran through Amanda’s head: was it something serious?
In the cab, she cradled her belly protectively. “It’s going to be alright,” Niels assured her. It better be, she thought. She tried to take a mental inventory of what she’d done wrong. But if she wasn’t taking the best care of herself, Niels sure was taking care of her. Getting out of the cab was difficult. Her head swam, making her feel as though she’d swoon at any moment, but Niels was there beside her the whole time. With her head continuously pounding, and her sight blurry as a result, the world just seemed to zoom past her. “My baby..?” she asked about a dozen times before the nursing staff confirmed that the baby was fine. She vaguely heard the doctor explain that both her blood pressure and blood sugar was low. She’d been told that she had to stay in the hospital for the day for observation. It was the last thing she wanted, but she knew her kids were okay with Rico and Ceci. Later that night, as she lay in her own bed with Niels, she counted her blessings. Her health wasn’t as bad as she’d feared. She felt awful but she felt a lot worse than it actually was. She had reliable family close by to look after her children when needed. She had a caring husband who remained by her side the entire time. A soft smile touched her lips as she felt Niels’ hand slide over her belly. “You gave me quite a scare today,” he admitted. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “You didn’t do anything.” He kissed her shoulder. “This only reminded me of how lucky we are.”
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He’s such a good boy, Amanda thought as she watched her family, playing in the park. It didn’t take a lot to make Angelo happy. All he’d wanted was to go to the playground, and some cake of course. Last minute, they’d decided on a picnic in the park, followed by lots of running around, of course. Amanda mostly sat on the bench, admiring her family.
Had it really been three years ago today that she’d given birth to the little boy? Three years since she’d been wrought with worry over the future of her little boy. But he was fine—overall he was fine. He was a happy, sweet, healthy toddler with a love for life. That’s all she could ever ask for. Niels turned his attention to Amanda, blowing her a kiss from where he stood at the slide. Amanda blew a kiss back and then watched as her children came down the slide, Emi holding on to Angelo who sat in front of her, between her legs. A few words from Niels, and Emi nodded and ran off with Angelo, holding his hand. Niels approached Amanda and slid onto the bench beside her. “We’ve done well huh?” he asked her. Amanda chuckled and nodded her head. “We have.” She smiled and leaned against her husband’s shoulder. “Mama ‘ook!” Angelo shouted from the top of the slide. Amanda sat upright, looking at him. He was getting braver. He slid down the slide all on his own and then came running over to Amanda. “I di’ it! Awone! I be big!” "I hope she'll remain modest," Amanda said while Emi ran off to say goodbye to her coach.
"She will," Niels assured. Amanda's eyes followed their little girl, watching her find her coach. It took a moment but when Emi saw her coach, she got the biggest smile on on her face. She hugged her teacher and made her way back across the gym to her family. "She's been good at everything she's tried so far. Ballet, gymnastics, jazz, even contemporary already," said Amanda. "There's just so much that one child can do before she gets a bloated head about it." "Relax," said Niels. "We haven't forced her to do a thing. She likes learning new things; she wants to learn. She's a modest child. She just loves what she's doing. It's not for the purpose of showing off." "Mummy! Daddy!" Emi called as she came closer to them. She jumped right into Niels' arms, making Angelo giggle and want to do the same. "You did a good job, princess," said Niels. Angelo squirmed in Amanda's lap before getting down to hug Niels around his legs. "I messed up a little on one part," Emi told Niels. "Did you see it? I almost fell!" she giggled. "No way!" Niels exclaimed dramatically. "Yes way!" said Emi. She pointed to the floor where she'd performed. "Right over there. I landed bad. But Miss Mel says that's oki because it was my first wi-ri-- Uhm... you know!" Niels chuckled. "Rhythmic gymnastics?" "Yeah!" Emi turned to Amanda. "Can we go get breakfast now mummy? Please?" Amanda smiled proudly and nodded. "Yes, you definitely deserve it," she said. A big smile spread across Amanda's lips and it took her a moment to realise why. Emi wasn't stressing over her mistake and she wasn't denying it. She didn't think she was perfect and she didn't think she had to be perfect. She was just having fun. She hoped it stayed that way. "Love, can you take over from here?" Amanda asked. She didn't have the energy to help Angelo maintain the small hula hoop in his arms, especially when he hated this exercise. He was pouting, lowering the hoop now.
Niels willingly took over. "Come on, Angelo, up above your head." Amanda sat aside on the mat beside Emi who was playing a game on her LeapPad. She seemed occupied, focusing on whatever she was seeing and on the audio coming through her headphones. Amanda smiled at Emi and turned her attention back to Niels and Angelo. The group Physical Therapy motion classes didn't seem as effective as the one-on-one sessions with that therapist that Angelo liked. But it was claimed that being with other children helped boost their performance... that was not the case for Angelo. "Okay, let's do something else," she heard Niels say after a while. "Want to go over there on the ladder? I bet you can reach all the way to the top." He winked at Angelo. Angelo giggled and ran off, happy that he could be free. He soon found the ladder and immediately began reaching and pulling himself up. Amanda sat up a little straighter, watching how well he gripped. He caught the attention of one of the physical therapy interns who began cheering him on. "You're doing so well," she said. Angelo beamed and pulled himself up a little higher. Soon, even Emi got distracted from her game and joined in cheering for him. All Angelo had left to do was reach up to ring the little bell at the top. And that he did. Amanda forgot all about her exhaustion. She got up and rushed over to her little boy, hugging him tightly. "Good job, sweetie!" she exclaimed. With another giggle, Angelo said, "No mo'e hu'a hoops?" Niels and Amanda laughed. "Not today," said Niels. Today he'd done well enough. Amanda smiled, gazing at the pictures she'd taken of Angelo sporting his new T-shirt. He'd taken the news rather well, but both Niels and Amanda knew that he didn't quite get the concept fully. Amanda wondered how he'd really handle big-brotherhood. He was a toddler who demanded a lot of attention. His parents attributed that trait to his condition; his arm still needing attention--physical therapy continuing even as he approached three years old. There were times when he couldn't quite keep up with Emi as he wanted to. He didn't like reaching over his head to grab things and often grew fussy over such tasks. Amanda tried to imagine what it would be like having to deal with those moments and with a newborn demanding even more of her attention. Would Angelo like the baby? Would he grow hungrier for attention, or would he take this new responsibility as an opportunity to overcome his limitations? "Tha' me," said Angelo, beaming as he pointed to the pictures on Amanda's phone. "Yup," Amanda said proudly. "Mum's here," said Niels suddenly. Amanda smiled, standing up from the couch to greet Rosa as she walked into the living room. Angelo beat her to the greeting however, running to Rosa and wrapping his arms around her legs. Rosa chuckled and bent to Angelo's level. "What do we have here?" she asked. She read Angelo's T-shirt and immediately her face lit up. "I knew it!" she said. She glanced at Teun. "We're gonna be grandparents again!" she said. Aubrey and Angelo ran off to play together while Rosa hugged Amanda. Meanwhile, Emi ran into the room. "Grandma! Guess what! Mummy's having another baby!" she exclaimed. "Wow! That's amazing," Rosa said with a wink. Angelo returned, hearing the word baby. "I be bi' brotho," he said proudly. "Yes you will be," Rosa said encouragingly. Maybe he did understand... Amanda smiled. Comments
It had been a wonderful few days. From celebrating Amanda’s birthday at Rockefeller Center, ice skating with the kids, to their anniversary spent in the comfort of their home. There wasn’t much needed for the occasion; just themselves, their children, and a home cooked dinner together. Much of the evening had been spent on the couch. The kids had gone to bed and Amanda lay against Niels’ chest as they watched a romantic movie. She hadn’t been feeling her greatest lately—lacking her usual energy, not having much of an appetite, but she thought nothing of it.
It wasn’t until later that week that Amanda began to actually feel queasy. Still, she didn’t think much about it. Thursday afternoon, while Niels and Amanda looked after their niece, Lucie, Amanda certainly felt ill. She wanted nothing more than to just curl up in bed and sleep, but the constant churning of her stomach made it impossible. Instead, she remained in the living room with the kids, watching them play happily, “chatting” with little Lucie and delighting in her adorable babbles. She admired her family. Angel was almost 3 years old, Emilia was 6… the kids were growing up fast. She tried to imagine what they would be like as older children, as teenagers, adults, but she wasn’t yet ready for those thoughts. They were her babies. Moments later, as she stared at her own reflection in the bathroom mirror, she had a thought. Babies… Could it be? “Babe?” she called as she returned to Niels. “I have a theory…” |
Amanda at a GlanceNames: Amanda Pontremoli, Amanda van Loon Archives
August 2017
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