Eternally Bound Pt. 04

Mother's stomach proudly swelled as the weeks went by. She had the occasional mood swings, but nothing we couldn't handle. Often I would stop what I was doing to just look at my mother's womanly shape, taking a mental picture of her luminous beauty to remind myself that I did that to her. It was because of me that her belly was carrying a child. I had dedicated my life to returning to the bastion of my birth in order to reclaim it with a child. What greater triumph could a man like me hope for?

It was the stuff that really made a person think. I pondered the meaning of my life, not to mention the fact that my fantasy was more than likely shared by countless males throughout the ages-and here I was, actually living it.

Mom had spent the first few weeks redecorating the house and setting up the baby's nursery, wanting to make the house cozier by putting up pictures of us throughout the house. She wanted guests to see a lovely vista of our framed wedding photographs splashed against the foyer's walls as they entered the house. The center photo was a close-up of our left hands together with our wedding rings in focus. The surrounding images had what she called the "greatest hits" from the ceremony: Saying our vows, our first kiss as man and wife, and staring into each other's eyes. The further one would venture into our home, the further back in time the pictures would show, creating a photographic journey that traced the path that brought our lives together.

Our absolute favorite image was strategically placed on the nightstand in our bedroom. It was of Mother holding me in her arms for the first time after giving birth to me. I had seen this picture many times throughout my young life, often wondering what Mom was thinking at the exact moment when she first looked upon me. Throughout the next few years of our marriage, I would often ask her if she had ever thought that the man she gave birth to could ever assume the rightful mantle of the love of her life. She would always pause to reflect on that question. And her answer would be that despite our eventually becoming parents to three healthy children, we were husband and wife first. At the core of our lives was our inherent forbidden love.

We would always be: mother and son.

THE END