The Great Boppy Debate
Lexa stood in the middle of the aisle holding up two brightly patterned packages. “I think I like this one.” She wiggled the package in her left hand. “Organic cotton and the little peas in the pod are just too cute!”
Clarke huffed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t think we need either one.”
“But we do,” Lexa furrowed her eyebrows and peered into their increasingly stuffed cart. “It says right here that covers are not included. Actually, we should probably get both. We’re getting both. That way we can wash one while using the other.”
Lexa looked up at her wife of two years with a pleasantly proud smile on her face, but Clarke kept her impassive glare and placed a gentle hand to her stomach. “I just don’t see the point of it. It’s a waste of money.”
“It’s forty dollars. We have throw pillows on our bed that cost more than this.”
“Exactly my point! We already have pillows in the house. Pillows galore! Why do we need to buy another pillow just for nursing? That seems so pointless.”
Lexa reached into their cart and pulled out the offending item. She turned it over in her hands and gave a sympathetic smile to Clarke. “You’re absolutely right about having lots of pillows around,” Lexa soothed calmly. “But this one is special. It’s shaped to lift the baby into a more ergonomic position. And just think about when that little one will fall asleep after eating, right on this pillow, and you can comfortably snuggle with them and keep them close.”
Lexa tossed the pillow back in the cart before she walked behind her wife, resting her chin on Clarke’s shoulder, and caressing her swollen belly tenderly. Clarke leaned into Lexa’s embrace, sighing quietly. “Your little fantasies are very cute, Woods. But those can happen with a regular pillow. We don’t need a nursing pillow.”
“What if we buy it now, keep it in the packaging, and if you decide you want it after the baby comes, we’ll have it ready to go? How does that sound?”
“Wasteful,” Clarke stepped out of Lexa’s embrace and forcefully pulled the boppy from the cart and tossed it back on the shelf. “Because I know I’m not going to use it.”
Lexa bit her lip, quelling the desire to bite back with something snarky. She took a deep breath through her nose and blew it out slowly. Clarke was pregnant with her child; Clarke was a little irrational due to all the insane hormonal and physical changes in her body, she reminded herself.
“Clarke,” Lexa tried one final time, but when she was met with that death glare, she just smiled and leaned in for a quick peck. “I was just going to say that I love you.”
Clarke’s face suddenly scrunched up in discomfort, and Lexa quickly placed a protective hand over her belly. “What is it? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Clarke whined. “But this kid of yours just decided to practice their mad tap dancing skills on my bladder.”
Lexa relaxed instantly and gestured just behind them. “Restrooms are right there, love.”
Lexa watched with a fond smile as Clarke waddled quickly towards the bathroom. When Clarke was out of sight, Lexa turned her gaze back to the display of boppy pillows. She picked up the one Clarke had carelessly shoved on the shelf and hovered it over their cart.
Lexa was pretty confident Clarke would want a proper nursing pillow once the baby came. She could stuff it in the bottom of the basket, obscure it from sight and be sure to distract Clarke at the checkout. Or she could just follow her wife’s wishes and deal with the fallout once the baby was born in a couple of short months.
