That day she went out and went a little crazy buying Christmas decorations for the house. She couldn’t do much outside but she would make sure the inside was amazing for him. She paused as she pushed the buggy through the store aisleways packed with last minute shoppers. Had he even celebrated Christmas recently? Lincoln had a few distant family members back east in New Hampshire where his dad’s family was from, and his mom still lived in Idaho. BB didn’t think she came down to California much though. How many Christmases had he been alone?
As she decorated the house, she took special care to not do too much. There had been no holiday decorations anywhere in the house, so she didn’t want to overwhelm him. She did want to remind him how amazing the season was, though. The tree she chose was small enough to sit on a small table, which served two purposes. It was less work and kept it away from destructive puppy teeth. She strung it with lights and a few small ornaments. At some point she would wrap the presents she had for him, but not that night. Her energy was beginning to wane. She packed things away and went to take a bath before going to bed.
The next day BB went to the Team Wives Christmas get-together. She dressed in a black dress with a frilly green skirt decorated with ugly Christmas sweater stuff. It was super-cute and appropriate for the group. As she walked into the house she recognized a few faces but knew that she needed to meet more. This entire group was Lincoln’s SEAL Team’s significant others.
Mary introduced her to a dozen women and they all seemed incredibly nice. BB tried to remember names, but it was incredibly hard. Thankfully, some bright soul had thought to bring name tags decorated with little Christmas stickers.
Finally, she felt like she wasn’t alone as she waited for her loved-one to come home. There were almost thirty women in attendance, and they all had a look in their eyes, like their world was a little off-kilter as they waited for their husbands or boyfriends to return home. There were also three obviously pregnant women in attendance, though BB hadn’t yet met them. They all looked further along in their pregnancy. One young woman, Abigail, was heavily pregnant, and stayed seated a good part of the time. BB introduced herself and sat with her while the rest of the women mingled and talked. Abbie hadn’t been with her husband Oren very long and the deployment wait was really wearing on her.
“I’m due at the beginning of January. My mom is coming down for Christmas just in case he doesn’t make it back in time,” she laughed. “She might be my coach anyway. She’s done the classes with me.”
BB grinned and nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me. And I’m sure she’d love to be a part of the baby’s birth.”
Abbie rolled her big green eyes. “Oh, you have no idea. If Oren doesn’t get back she’s just going to move in. Or make me move home, which would be even better to her.”
BB listened attentively as Abbie talked about all of the negative things that came with being so heavily pregnant; the incredible gas, the back aches, the Braxton Hicks spasms. Then she started to talk about all the wonderful things and her face took on a radiance. BB could tell that all of the aggravation faded away as she talked about feeling the baby move inside her and being able to identify the parts.
“Like this bump?” she said, pointing to a spot just below her right breast. “This is a foot. And when he wakes up he kicks me here. His head is down here, which is good,” she said, indicating a place on her lower left side. “He’s getting into position to be born. But he must have a bowling ball head because I have to pee every hour. It is no fun,” she laughed, but BB could see how much she actually enjoyed being pregnant.
“When are you due?” Abbie asked.
BB froze and her mouth fell open a little. “Um, I, uh…”
Abbie looked a little crestfallen. “You did know, right?”
BB nodded, glancing around. “I did, yes, but I was trying to keep it under wraps. I want Lincoln to be the first to know.”
Abbie’s expression softened, and she smiled. “Ah, I get it. Forget I said anything, then. But if you have questions, feel free to call me. Your body does some amazing things this first time and some of them are kind of crazy. And they could be scary. The first time I got Braxton Hicks I hightailed my butt to the hospital, only to be sent home again an hour later,” she laughed.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” BB said.
They swapped phone numbers. BB really liked Abbie and she hoped the teams returned in time for Oren to see his son born. Lincoln needed to return, too, because BB was starting to grow out of her clothes. It was a good thing she liked full-skirted dresses but even this one was beginning to pinch.
The gift exchange was cute and there was a lot of laughter. Women who had been without their men for a long time tended to think about sex a lot, so there were a lot of dirty gifts mixed in with the clean. BB could totally see using this in the comic strip. Unobtrusively she drew a little sketch pad out of her purse and sketched a few things out.
By the time she headed home she was relaxed and happy. There’d been a lot of laughter as well as some tears, and there was a feeling to the group… the men had their Teams, but the women had their own brand of solidarity as well. She went home feeling more solid. Seeing so many women in her own
