Precious Moment
by Linda Schwartz

Oh, Kwai, my darling husband, Laura mused as she stood in the doorway of their bedroom, watching her husband sleep. You work so hard to provide for Peter and me, she thought. She held their son tightly against her.

He had just awakened. She fed him at her breast, no bottle for their son, only mother's milk. Peter's belly was full now, and she was walking the floor with him.

"Oh, Sweetheart, what is it?" she crooned, trying to quiet the fussing child. "I've fed you, and," she felt his diaper, "you're dry."

She looked over at her husband again. She felt so lucky to have found such a loving lifemate. She remembered the day that she told him she was pregnant.

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Flashback

She strolled out of the small cottage they were renting. The garden in the backyard was their favorite place to sit. Laura spotted him working in the soil around the herbal plants.

Kwai was trying to carry on the family tradition of being an apothecary. It was a hard way to make a living, so he had gotten a job at a construction site. The town was growing, and new buildings were going up. Kwai had seen an opportunity to work, and he had taken it.

"My sweet Laura," he said softly, as he rose and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

"Kwai, how do you do that?" Laura said, amazed.

"Do what, my love?" he asked innocently.

"Know I'm here even before I make a sound."

"I can sense your essence, my love. Your light fills the space around you. There is something you wish to tell me?" He could see that she was anxious.

"Yes, there is!" Her face lit up. "Kwai, I'm pregnant!" She began to giggle.

"Oh, Laura!" He pulled her into a tight embrace. He had sensed there was something different in her chi. At first, he'd thought it might be sickness. "My darling, I am so happy." He held her close. "A new life to share our home, a son."

"A son?" Laura pulled back from his embrace and led her husband to a bench in the garden. "Kwai, I only found out this morning; I had a appointment at the clinic. I think it's a little too early to know if it's a boy or a girl."

Kwai looked at her intently; his hand caressed her face. He then slid his hands to her belly, pausing there for a moment. Then he looked up again to stare into her hazel eyes.

She didn't know how, but she believed he did know without a doubt, the baby was a boy.

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She knew now never to question her beloved again on matters of the heart or spirit.

The bond between a mother and child was supposed to be the strongest one known, but since his first day of life, it was his father that Peter was drawn to.

Peter wiggled in Laura's arms. He looked like he was going to cry. She slowly crept to the bed and laid their infant son on his father's chest. Peter immediately quieted, and fell asleep. Kwai's hand came to rest on his son's back. A smile played on his face as he continued to sleep.

Laura left the room quickly and came back with a camera. She took a picture of the pair, then stood there watching them sleep so peacefully. She smiled, the love for both the men in her life showing clearly on her face.