Bend It Like Beckham

Okay, it was one of those nights. I had a long week, full of sterile days at a sterile office job with sterile cubicles and people dressed in gray and black all around me. I needed to unwind. I needed to kick back and do nothing at all. For some reason, McDonald's and a new CD seemed like the most ideal combination.

I picked up the car from the shop and didn't entertain hanging around, not even for a nano second. I just wanted to be tucked in my fluffy pajamas, laying atop my fluffy pillowtop mattress, underneath warm layers of sheets and a blanket.

I hopped and skipped over to the CD collection. Sade and Roy Ayers was ideal. I smiled to myself thinking of my solo party. I grabbed a six piece chicken nuggets and fries, which in itself was funny considering my stance on fast food. I even forgot the name of the sauce. Was it sweet and sour?

When I started eating the nuggets at home, I had to shut my eye to the first ingredient on the sauce: High Fructose Corn Syrup. I completed the "meal" and wondered how did I ever like McDonald's. Unmoved I grabbed a candle and the stereo and washed away the stress from the week and welcomed the possibilities of the three-day weekend.

I was finally where I wanted to be from 10:00 A.M. that morning, underneath some coverings just relaxing. No agenda. No place to go. No phone calls. No guests. Just me.

Then, I felt a kick. I opened up my robe and looked and there it was. She kicked three times to remind me that I'm not alone.

I called my husband.

"You're baby just kicked. I saw it for myself."

"Really? That's good."

Knowing my husband, I knew he had a bunch of customers in front of him who didn't care about our baby and only cared about some teriyaki glazed chicken. He later told me that he was so upset he couldn't enjoy the moment with me. I reassured him there would be many more.

I tapped my stomach and hoped that she would kick, at last once for daddy. She reminded silent. She has a mind of her own.