Sotis, when Glades played with the baby, he saw with his own eyes how it kicked and created a bulge in Julia's belly. This frightened him imnsely; he thought the baby would kick a hole right through her stomach. He didn't dare play with the baby anymore, which left Julia not knowing whether to laugh or cry. She teased him, saying that even after reading so many baby care books and morizing their contents, he still had such absurd ideas. If word got out, people would laugh their heads off.
He was just too nervous. He didn't even dare to imagine what his reaction would be when Julia actually went into labor. He recalled the funniest movie scenes where an expectant father, overco with nerves, would rush to the hospital with two bags of essentials, get into the car, and drive off, completely forgetting his laboring wife. He wondered if he would beco that kind of frantic husband. True, he was usually calm, but when it ca to anything related to Julia, he just couldn't maintain his composure.
"Baby, be good, okay? You have to be gentle, don't kick so hard. Your mommy will be in pain," he whispered softly beside her belly, murmuring to himself like a fool.
"Daddy has played music for you again. If you're a girl, you'll be talented and versatile in the future; it's good for girls to be talented and versatile. Oh, your mommy ntioned naming just now. How should we choose your na? Baby, are you a boy or a girl?" Lying on the bed, Glades felt no trace of sleepiness and continued to murmur to Julia's belly.
Julia turned over, changing her sleeping position. But after only a few minutes, she seed uncomfortable again and turned over once more. Watching her toss and turn restlessly, Glades felt his heart ache. But in this, no matter how much he sympathized, he couldn't help her.
Only when Julia settled down again did he say tenderly, "Baby, you're really giving your mama a hard ti. Daddy feels so sorry for her. You know, Daddy loves your mama the most. Oh, Daddy thought of a na! What do you think about calling you Ria? Ria, because Daddy loves your mama so much. 'Xi,' a part of your mama Julia's na, is also in 'Ria.' Calling your na this way would express Daddy's love for your mama." He didn't even mind if the baby in her belly was laughing at him for being so whipped.
Whether the baby heard his monologue or not, it gave Julia a little kick. The force wasn't very strong, and Julia didn't wake up. However, her belly moved, and Glades, watching intently, naturally saw it.
He chuckled lowly. "You don't like it? Or... are you a boy?"
The baby gave no response.
Glades felt he had talked to himself quite a bit. Fearing he might wake the baby, which could then start kicking and disturb Julia's nap, he stopped his monologue. However, he still didn't sleep. Instead, he sat up in bed, watching Julia sleep, his gaze occasionally drifting to her prominently rounded belly.
After watching for a while, as if struck by a thought, he got out of bed and went to the wardrobe. Opening it, he took out many clothes—all baby clothes he himself had prepared, not those from his mother or grandmother. He found a large bag and packed all the baby clothes into it. Then, he added small blankets for wrapping the baby, diapers, and other essentials to the sa bag. Julia's clothes were packed into a separate large bag.
He was making preparations for the baby's arrival. He was worried that when Julia went into labor, he'd be too nervous to rember to bring anything. Actually, that shouldn't be a problem, and there was no need for him to be overly anxious about preparing in advance. Julia would undoubtedly stay in a deluxe maternity room, which would be well-equipped with everything imaginable; he really wouldn't have to bring a thing. He knew this from his reading. The books advised preparing hospital essentials towards the end of pregnancy, when labor was near. It wasn't that he was blindly following the books and ignoring their actual circumstances; it was simply that this was his first ti being a father. He knew nothing and had to learn everything from books. So, like other expectant fathers, he made his preparations in advance.
The baby's bottles were the best kind of glass bottles and had already been sterilized countless tis by him.
As for baby formula, he had already accumulated a dozen cans or more, all original, imported brands. His aunts, uncles, siblings, and cousins would bring baby formula each ti they visited, saying it was for the baby. They also said that with two pregnant won in the house, it was necessary to prepare extra.
These were all precautionary asures, of course. For instance, the hospital would provide clothes for the baby at birth; they would only change into their own clothes upon discharge.
But it had been too long since the Horne family had welcod a new life. Everyone was very nervous and placed imnse importance on the baby in Julia's belly, so they all prepared many essentials for it. Now, baby items were scattered everywhere in the Horne ho. As for baby toys, there was no need to even ntion them, since Julia's company manufactured toys.
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