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After everything that had passed between us, I was only too glad to watch the clouds under me. Those soft gray ships with orange edges were beautiful.
I had to bring home at least one baby. I failed to have one of my own. The woman sitting next to me was very fat. I assumed she had eaten all the ice cream I avoided for years. I never wanted to get fat. Her plump body was waving, liquid-like, to all sides. I felt her belly next to my elbow and imagined it very white under the tent she was wearing.
On her other side, a mousy little man was attentively watching the movie. His eyes bulged out each time Uma Thurman appeared on the screen. If he danced with her, his head would be leaning comfortably on her belly button. The woman next to me turned her round face to me and with a very delicate voice asked if I wanted a piece of gum. She said it eased the ear pressure. I refused and again took a deep dive into the clouds, feeling the last warmth of the daylight.
Not long afterwards she turned again to me and offered some kind of chocolate. Now, I found her so nice and friendly that I was willing to share the whole package with her. The mousy man, she called him Max, was still absorbed by the film.
The chocolate tasted as sweet as the smiling, soft woman. She broke it, and we were eating, thoughtfully, feeling every melting chocolate piece. "Good, huh?" she asked me again and again, and I, mouth full, nodded approvingly.
Feeling much sweeter by the middle of the chocolate bar, I was happily chatting with her. She seemed a living book. Her words came out in special order, captivating my attention. In her mellow way, she described their picturesque house by blue mountains, full of shouting kids. First sons, then grandsons.
In the mornings the kids all entered the dense forest behind the house. They took part in the wild atmosphere of the wood. She stayed home of course, cooking and baking, mixing and tasting all kinds of wonderful flavors.
"And you," she asked pleasantly, "wouldn't you like to have kids around?"
All the old sadness returned. She looked at me, knowingly. Ashamed, I found myself crying. She held me, humming and balancing me as if I were a child.
This warmth entered my soul, and soon I was sleeping peacefully. I woke up to a special sound. I looked around me. The couple was not there. The voices came from the front. I couldn't believe my ears. They were the unmistakable sounds of passionate lovemaking. The woman was calling the man nicknames, saying he was soooo good. She was moaning shamelessly and making happy pigeon noises. The man was calling her to come, to take him. He too was gladly making these love-sounds. They were having the time of their life, you could tell.
Laughter came involuntarily out my throat. It could only be my neighbors. I recognized the woman's voice. Yes, and the film was over.
They were incredible. The other passengers were sleeping now. Here and there, a light was turned on, but everything was calm and quiet. I sat there laughing to myself, imagining these two having adventurous relations on a plane.
A few excited screams were coming from the front. They surely were having an amazing, almost simultaneous climax. I was wondering if they would be embarrassed when they came back to their seats.
Some time later, they did show up. The woman beaming in all directions and the man with self-satisfied smile on his face.
"Here you are," said the woman. From somewhere in her tent-dress, she took out a moving blanket. I took it. By god!!! It was a baby. Looking at me with huge blue eyes. And smiling.
"And one more," she said. This one was sleeping. Curly, damp hair. A newborn, lovely baby.
I was so moved, I started crying again. "They are for you," assured the little man.
The couple looked at me and at each other, calm and warm. "Would you like some more?" she asked me generously.
"We can make them easily," he said, playfully smiling at her.
"Oh!" I was sobbing then. "Only one more. It will be wonderful!"
By the end of the flight I had my three little babies, sleeping deeply. My breasts seemed to blossom under the sunrise warmth, and they filled with milk for my sweethearts to drink. They were all healthy and beautiful.
My mission was complete. To me, to my man, and to any frustrated instinct I ever had.
The couple still calls sometimes. They ask me if I want any more kids. I always laugh and tell them they don't have to use this old excuse again. They find it really funny!