Recently, Elisa started learning how to knit sweaters. She only knew how to knit scarves before, which was relatively easy. This was her first time learning to knit sweaters, with Mrs. White teaching her by her side.
The due date for the child was around mid-October, so by the time the child was born and winter rolled around in two to three months, the knitted sweaters would be ready to wear. Elisa had a fast learning ability, and her fingers were nimble. After Mrs. White taught her once, she knew the steps. Impressed by her quick learning, Mrs. White even taught her a few fancy stitching patterns.
The two women sat on the living room sofa, with the TV on in the background as they knitted sweaters.
Normally, Elisa knitted quickly, but today seemed different. Her fingers occasionally got tangled in the yarn, and she missed a few stitches, having to undo and reknit them.
When Louis came home, he saw Elisa sitting quietly on the sofa, earnestly knitting a sweater. The needles in her hand moved swiftly as the yarn wound around her fingertips.
It seemed like she had just washed her hair, with her long hair cascading down her back. A few loose strands fell from her temples, and the sunlight shone through the window, gently illuminating her, making her look unbelievably tender.
Walking over, Louis sat next to her without disturbing her. However, Elisa had already noticed his presence as he approached. When she lifted her head, her eyes met Louis’.
“Why did you come back so early today?” It wasn’t even four o’clock yet, usually he came back later.
“I wanted to come back early to accompany you,” Louis replied, sitting down beside her and looking at the half-finished sweater. He raised an eyebrow in surprise and asked, “You’ve already knitted this much?”
Elisa smiled proudly, taking out the half-knitted sweater to show Louis. “Isn’t it nice?”
“It’s beautiful, I feel a little jealous. You’ve never knitted a sweater for me,” Louis grumbled, glancing at Elisa’s belly.
Elisa almost laughed, “Jealous of two unborn babies? Aren’t you being a little silly?”
Louis’ resentful eyes told her that he wasn’t just joking.
Trying to lighten the mood, Elisa said, “Alright, once I finish these two sweaters, I’ll knit one for you. But, it won’t be as nice as store-bought ones.”
“The one you knit by hand is the most beautiful in the world, and I’ll wear it every day,” Louis assured.
Elisa teased, “Even in summer?”
“Even in summer,” Louis nodded decisively. If Elisa knit him a sweater, he would either be reluctant to wear it, or once he wore it, he wouldn’t want to take it off.
Elisa joked, “You’ll melt from the heat.”
Louis sat quietly, observing Elisa’s knitting technique. After watching her a few times, he felt like he might be able to do it himself.
There was a strange sense of confidence in him. Louis saw a ball of yarn and half a knitted sweater on the other end of the couch. He walked over and clumsily tried to imitate her.
His mind: I’ve got this.
His hands: I’m hopeless.
The once neat yarn in his hands turned into a mess. Mrs. White went to the bathroom, and upon returning to the living room, she saw that the sweater she had painstakingly knitted for Elisa had been unraveled by her wayward son. What was once three-quarters finished now only had a small edge left, unrecognizable from the original. Mrs. White was so angry she couldn’t hold back, walking over to Louis and smacking his head, “Why did you unravel the sweater I knitted for Elisa?”
Startled by the smack, Louis barely recovered his senses, seeing the fierce anger in his mother’s eyes. He instinctively put his hands down, “I just wanted to learn how to knit a sweater. Once I learn, I’ll knit one for Elisa.”
Struggling to find words to retort, Mrs. White didn’t expect Louis to have such thoughts, but couldn’t he just find a ball of yarn and knit on his own? Why unravel her work?
Louis explained, “I wanted to see the details and understand the process. Who knows if your stitches were secure. With a tug, it all came unraveled, and I didn’t get to see how the process unfolded.”
So, it was her fault in the end? Mrs. White grabbed his ear without mercy, causing Louis to howl in pain, calling out Elisa’s name to come to his rescue.
Watching from the sidelines, Elisa couldn’t help but laugh. However, as the laughter bubbled out of her, it started to hurt her stomach. Her expression changed, and Louis immediately noticed. He rushed over to her side, “What’s wrong? Is your stomach hurting?”
It felt like a bubble of air was moving around her side, in simpler terms, she had laughed so hard her side cramped.
“It’s nothing, I’m fine. I just laughed too much earlier,” Elisa reassured.
Louis hurried to get some warm water, watching as Elisa drank it and her face relaxed. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief. Even though Elisa always told him not to worry, that everything was fine, he still felt the need to be extra careful.
When she wasn’t pregnant, she was his precious treasure. Now that she was pregnant, she was even more delicate, like a fragile item. He always worried that one wrong move would shatter everything.
“Elisa, why do I feel like your belly is a bit bigger than yesterday?” Louis carefully examined Elisa’s stomach.
“Really?” Elisa looked down, “Maybe it’s from drinking that bottle of yogurt earlier.”
“Let me weigh you,” Louis suggested.
Not wanting to move, Elisa curled up on the couch, “I don’t feel like getting up.”
Louis brought a scale over, first weighing himself and then picking up Elisa to weigh her. She was two pounds heavier than yesterday. Louis took note of her weight in his personal memo, along with her heart rate and blood pressure.
Mrs. White didn’t stay to disturb the couple; she had to go back that evening without even eating dinner.
Elisa had recently developed a craving for sour and spicy foods. Eating too many boneless spicy chicken feet was not a good idea, so Louis made different dishes for Elisa every day.
Today’s dinner was sour and spicy boiled fish. After finishing the meal without any issues, Elisa let out a contented burp. They took a stroll outside, with Louis habitually holding Elisa’s hand and leading her.
At night, Elisa had trouble falling asleep. She had been having strange dreams lately, despite the doctor’s advice to relax during pregnancy and avoid stress. However, controlling stress wasn’t always easy.
Gazing at her slightly protruding belly, her nervous anticipation grew with each passing day. The stress gave rise to bad dreams that mostly revolved around the baby in her belly.
These nightmares included scenarios like complications during birth, miscarriage, or giving birth to conjoined twins.
One night, she was scared by a nightmare and cried, which terrified Louis too. He spent most of the night comforting her, assuring her that it was just a dream, and that dreams were the opposite of reality.
With poor sleep at night, her energy levels during the day suffered, leading to even worse sleep patterns. This cycle eventually disrupted her body’s natural clock.
“I can’t sleep, tell me a story,” Elisa whispered, lying on her side in Louis’ embrace, poking his chin with her finger.
With half-closed eyes, Louis suddenly woke up from his drowsiness. He squinted, continuing to tell a story while gently patting Elisa’s back to soothe her to sleep.
He began, “Once upon a time, an elephant finished using the bathroom but had forgotten to bring toilet paper. It looked at the nearby white rabbit and asked, ‘Are you afraid of losing fur?’ The rabbit replied, ‘I’m not afraid.’ So, the elephant grabbed the rabbit and wiped its backside. The next day, after finishing its meal, the elephant forgot the paper again and asked the nearby squirrel, ‘Hey, are you afraid of losing fur?’ The squirrel replied, ‘I’m not afraid,’ and the elephant wiped its mouth on the squirrel. After wiping its mouth, the squirrel said, ‘Brother, I’m the white rabbit from yesterday.'”
Elisa’s reaction was nonchalant. Louis, however, found himself laughing so hard that he snapped out of his drowsiness. He looked at Elisa, puzzled, “Don’t you find it funny?”
“Not at all,” Elisa replied.
Lowering his head, Louis gently pecked Elisa’s slightly pouted lips, like a dragonfly skimming the water’s surface.
Cautious not to hold her too tightly, fearing it would make her uncomfortable, Louis leaned in close to her ear. The two were so close, their breaths played along Elisa’s ear, tickling her.
“Elisa, I feel like I’m living an incredibly fortunate life. It’s so blissful that it almost feels unreal, do you know what I mean?”
“What do you mean by unreal?”
“To marry such a lovely wife, to have two unborn babies, it feels like heaven favors me too much,” Louis expressed.
What they had now was the result of their gradual progress, the sacrifices made along the way were not insignificant, but the rewards outweighed everything. They cherished what they had now, appreciating it all the more because of the effort put in.
Elisa leaned against Louis, listening to his heartbeat. She said, “We promised to always stand by each other, whether it’s this year, next year, or decades later, even when we’re old and unable to walk, we’ll face whatever comes together.”
Louis gently embraced her, “Of course, and even if we can’t walk, we can let our children take us around. By the way, I thought of two names for the children, Eli and Winnie. What do you think?”
They didn’t seek wealth and luxury, only peace and joy.
“Those names are lovely,” Elisa’s voice was soft and tender, carrying a hint of hoarseness. Louis looked down and realized that she had already closed her eyes, ready to drift off to sleep.
Smiling, Louis arranged Elisa into a comfortable sleeping position.
That night, Elisa didn’t have any nightmares. She dreamt that she safely gave birth to two healthy babies, who grew up slowly, learning to walk and running clumsily towards her, calling out “Mom” with each step.
At twenty weeks pregnant, Louis accompanied Elisa to the hospital for prenatal check-ups. During the ultrasound, Louis kept his eyes on the screen. The two little meatballs were already clearly visible, snuggled closely together.
Helping Elisa up, the doctor pointed at the screen and assured them, “Don’t worry, the babies are healthy, both developing normally. But it’s still important to be cautious, come in for regular check-ups, and maintain a nutritious diet.” Louis kept the ultrasound image on his phone, sharing it with his family and work group chats.
His ecstatic messages filled with triumph: “Look at my daughter.”
His agent, watching the flood of emojis from Louis, sighed, “Louis the Drama King strikes again. This is the eighth time this month.”
Before falling in love, Louis was confident. After getting married, he showed off his wife. Now, with children on the way, his chats were all about his wife. There had to be someone who replied to him in the chat; otherwise, he would fill the screen while persistently asking if his wife was amazing.
Without regard for the fact that the group was full of single people, every day they were forced to eat dog food! He showed no mercy to the “animals” in his care!
As they left the hospital, Elisa’s phone rang. She thought it was Louis’ phone ringing, but after listening for a while, she realized it was her own. When she saw the series of numbers on the screen, her pupils dilated.