Scientific Inquiry

To try to achieve a quick recovery from my so strange pneumonia, I put the girls in an all day camp for the first part of the week. It meant that Mihiretu and I had a couple of afternoons alone, something that is very rare for us. Coupled with my new resolve to be positive with him at all costs, they ended up being really delightful interludes. Maybe I should have been doing this all along. Oh, the gifts of pneumonia.

On Monday, we joined my sister-in-law, Tracy, and her boys at their local pool. This particular facility has an excellent wading pool. It's huge and has a shallow end (one foot) and a deeper end (three feet). It was ideal because it meant I didn't have to get in the pool with him - something my infected lungs would probably not appreciate.

Mihiretu was splashing happily with his cousins when he spotted a very pregnant lady cooling her legs at one end of the pool. I was happily couched in the shade at the other end, feet up on a recliner, chatting with Tracy. I watched as he circled cautiously for a moment, his hands trailing the surface of the water, before he finally approached her, his curiousity overwhelming his reserve.

"What iz zat?" he asked, gesturing to her giant belly.

She kindly explained that there was a baby in there.

"Nooo," he said, smirking and eyeing her sideway. He clearly thought she was having him on. It is a very weird idea.

She said that, yes, indeed, for real, there was a baby in there.

He put a tentative hand on her lycra-covered belly and said, "I wan see it." I sat up a little, waiting, watching, not quite yet ready to do her boundary-making for her.

She laughed and said, "You can't see it. It's in my belly."

Mihiretu moved closer and, with two careful fingers, pinched her swimsuit between her breasts, gingerly pulled the suit away from her body and peered into the abyss.

That's when, pneumonia or no, I leapt from my chaise and scampered to the scene of the crime. She was quite understanding, that nice lady, even if it was her due date. I remember being very crabby on my due dates - both of them.

I found a diving stick to distract Mihiretu and threw it to the other end of the pool for him to fetch. Before he dove under, he smiled at me a little wickedly. I had to smile back.