Story of a Motion
“He hasn’t kicked in hours. I’m worried; he may be sick,” said Celina.
“Oh, don’t worry, Celina; he’ll kick soon,” replied David, sipping the last drop of his tea.
“Are you sure, David?” asked Celina.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” said David, “you should probably rest now; take a nap.”
Celina walked towards the rocking chair by the window, picked the new blue jacket up and sat down, “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I just need some rest.”
A few minutes later, David stood up and left the room, leaving Celina alone. Celina felt a great feeling of sadness that seemed to overwhelm her. It felt like something in her life had been removed, and without it, she could hardly breathe. A tear trickled down her cheek as she stared at the blue jacket in her hands.
It was bright blue with a zipper straight up the middle. There were ripples all over the fabric and a knitted picture of a birthday cake in the very center. Celina stared at the jacket with grief and sadness in her eyes. She had recently bought the jacket for him, but now she didn’t care about it. She felt lonely, scared, and cheerless. Soon she was in tears, sobbing and shaking as if all her beloved ones had vanished into thin air.
She remembered the time when he kicked her gently for the first time. She didn’t feel hurt or mad. She felt happy. It felt like something in her body was alive, free, and happy. Indeed, something was alive. The kick didn’t feel like he was expressing his anger to her; instead, it felt like he was showing existence. Every time he kicked, Celina would whisper, “Kick again, my dear.”
And he would kick again as if he was responding to her whispers in kicks. And she would whisper again, and he would kick again. She was always waiting for the next kick, enjoying every one of them and getting more and more impatient for the next one.
But he hadn’t responded to her whispers since her visit to the hospital. It wasn’t her fault. She just slipped and fell on the kitchen floor. The doctors at the hospital assured her everything was fine, but she was sad and worried. She had started to talk to him loudly; at times she prodded him to get a response, but to no avail.
Suddenly, she was interrupted by something in her body hitting against her. It felt strong, powerful, and loving. She didn’t know what it was, but it came deep down from her womb. “Could it be?” thought Celina, “could he really be doing this?”
She jumped up and ran as fast as she could out the door. She now knew what it was, and she wanted to tell the whole world what a wonderful thing her baby was doing.
“He’s kicking; he’s kicking. After all this time, he’s finally started kicking!”
Her husband rushed up to her.
“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” asked David while anxiously looking around as if the house was on fire.
“David, he finally kicked. He finally kicked!” shouted Celina while tears flowed down her cheek.
“Oh, did he?” replied David excitedly.
“I feel so happy,” replied Celina, while looking up in prayer.
David embraced her and kissed her tears. Soon he was in tears, too. Suddenly he remembered his mom telling him of the times he wouldn’t kick in his mom’s womb and how sad she would feel for hours before the feeling of the next kick. It didn’t make sense to him when his mom once told him that she badly missed the feeling of his kicks. What seemed so weird and vague for years was beginning to make sense for David, who was about to be a father soon. He finally broke the silence, which was only occasionally disturbed by the sound of Celina’s sobs, and quietly whispered in her ear, “Who is there to embrace a kick with a smile except for a mother?”