The Merits of Belly Dance

Ian entered the hallway and from a pair of women’s shoes standing under the hanger he realized, that Barbara had already come from work.
“Hello, Barbara, I’m home!“ he called in, while taking off his coat and shoes, and then he noticed that there was some kind of noise coming from inside the flat.
Ian stopped to listen to realize that it was exotically sounding, rhythmical music and it was coming from an extra room that was rarely used and rather empty now.
The door was shut so Barbara didn’t hear that he was already home. Ian moved towards the room.
What is she doing in there? He thought when he took the door handle.
“Hi, Barbara, I’m home,“ he spoke, opening the door, and then stopped in surprise when he saw the view that opened to him.
Barbara, dressed in old leggings and a short shirt, with a light cotton scarf tied around her hips, was dancing to the music, that appeared to be oriental.
At the moment she was turned back to the door and didn’t hear it opening because of the music, so she wasn’t aware of Ian’s arrival yet. And he wasn’t able to do anything else but speechlessly stare until Barbara with a smooth turn stood facing the door and finally saw him standing there with his jaw dropped.
She stopped dancing and smiled widely. “Hello, Ian,“ she greeted and moved to him. “You forgot to close your mouth, darling,“ she noted cheekily and tapped his chin playfully.
Ian tried to pull himself together. “What… You…“
Barbara walked to the cassette player. “I was dancing of course,“ she replied, stopping the music. “I told you I was going to take belly dance lessons, didn’t I? We started at the beginning of the school year and it’s almost November now…“ She looked at him with a bit of a reproof in her voice.
“Well, yes…“ Ian hovered. “I guess I must have…“
“Forgotten about it,“ Barbara finished the sentence for him with a little sigh.
Ian finally left the threshold and walked to her. “Well, you have never mentioned it again, I thought you might have stopped going there or something,“ he said, trying to find an excuse.
“You mean I should have told you every time what kind of a new component we’ve learnt during the lesson?“ she asked, tongue-in-cheek with a little smile.
“Maybe not,“ admitted Ian. “But you might have shown me something sometime.“
Barbara folded her arms. “Let me guess, you think belly dance was made to be performed by hareem dancers to amuse a sultan, their master,“ she said with contempt.
“And… it wasn’t?“ asked Ian, raising eyebrows.
“No.“ Barbara frowned. “Originally it was to be seen only by other women not to amuse men. Or to amuse anyone when it comes down to it.“
“No? Oh,“ said Ian slowly. “If it wasn’t meant to show to any men… or to amuse just anyone… what about showing a little sample to your loving husband?“ asked Ian persuasively.
Barbara smiled kindly. “The loving husband just saw a little sample and almost turned into a stone. I could hardly put him in danger with a longer presentation, could I?“
“What a caring wife I have,“ noted Ian with a short laugh and gave her a little kiss on the forehead. “Would you care for some tea or do you want to go on with your dancing practice?“
“I’ll have some tea, please. I’m done with dancing for today,“ she replied and moved out of the room to change into homewear.

A while later they sat in the living room with their afternoon tea.
“So how was your day?“ asked Barbara as usual and Ian said a thing or two about his day at school, but soon his thoughts were drawn back to Barbara’s belly dance.
“I have never thought that I would get to see you dancing anything other than ballroom dancing,“ he said thoughtfully and then grinned. “You could have learnt belly dance from natives in person if we have stayed with Marco Polo.“
“Ian, that was China,“ she replied seriously. “There is a different kind of dance there. The oriental dance that we learn, and the bit you’ve just seen, has its origin in Egypt and other countries nearby,“ she explained in a voice of a precise historian.
“And India, Mrs. Teacher?“ Ian asked, imitating the voice of a curious student.
Barbara shook her head. “Marco Polo has never been to India; he just sailed around in the ship on his way home. And there is another style of oriental dance too, if you meant this,“ she closed her little lecture with the solemn expression of a teacher and Ian couldn’t help himself but smile.
“I apologize, Mrs. Teacher, I’ll do my homework better next time,“ he said jokingly and made a guilty face.
“Good, I’ll keep an eye on it,“ replied Barbara, laughing at Ian’s antics.
A moment of silence followed when they just sat on a sofa relaxed, drinking their tea. But Barbara’s new hobby was still making Ian wonder.
“How did you even get the idea to start learning belly dance?“ He broke the silence with interest. “Did someone in your school come up with the idea?“
Barbara averted her eyes and waved her hand indifferently. “Yes, they said it was relaxing and fun.“
Ian frowned a bit. Fun? “That doesn’t sound much like you…“ he said slowly.
“What?“ Barbara looked almost alarmed and Ian thought that it certainly wasn’t anything as simple as she had tried to make it look.
“Well…“ Ian shrugged. “You were always more interested in museums and libraries, concerts, books, teaching, history, all for school and students… And time for your family of course. And now you go to learn some new dancing just because someone said it was fun?“
“It is not a new dance, Ian,“ objected Barbara quickly. “It’s older than…“
“I know,“ Ian interrupted her firmly. “And you’re trying to gloss over my question. Is something wrong?“
Barbara just looked away and didn’t reply.
Ian watched her searchingly, frowning in confusion. What’s wrong with her? “Barbara?“ he spoke to her, feeling like if he was in class, trying to get some information out of one of his students.
She sighed heavily and then finally looked at him. “It’s… they said it helps… with conception,“ she said a bit abashed.
“Oh,“ said Ian quietly in surprise. Then chuckled a bit. “Well… when I saw you shaking and moving your hips the way you did, it looked certainly helpful for…“
Barbara swatted him with a short embarrassed laugh. “Ian! I didn’t mean like that!“
Ian made a disappointed face and Barbara shook her head with a light smile. “I told you it wasn’t meant to amuse men, let alone for seduction. No such thing as public performances… unless you would like me to cut your head off at the end of the dance like in the story of Salome,“ she added a bit spitefully.
“I rather keep my head on my shoulders, thank you very much.“ Ian laughed. “But I still would like to see more of it one day,“ he added more seriously then.
“Maybe,“ admitted Barbara with a little smile and Ian kissed her on the cheek.
“And how does it help then?“ he asked curiously, reaching for the teapot to pour them another cup of tea.
Barbara looked at him. “Well, it’s matter of an overall relaxation and better feeling and also a strengthening of… certain muscles and some… places…“ her voice faded under Ian’s fixed gaze and she folded her arms. “It just helps,“ she ended sharply, looking a bit embarrassed.
Ian watched her silently for a moment. “And you think you need… help with that?“ he asked then, now being completely serious again.
Barbara sighed. “Well… We have been together for some time now and…“ she didn’t finish, just shrugged, but it was pretty obvious what she had had on her mind.
Ian put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her soothingly for a while. “There is no rush, don’t worry…“
“But… I’m not getting any younger, you know…“ Barbara pointed out, concerned. “Having a baby at a late age…“
“Shhh…“ Ian put a finger on her lips softly. “You are far away from a late age.“
Barbara said nothing, just sighed again.
“What?“ asked Ian quietly and gently stroked her face.
“Well…“ Barbara shuffled around uncomfortably. “We had been through lots of things during our travels… Radiation, illnesses, alien things… What if… What if we can’t have a baby at all?“
Ian kindly stroked her face again. “Don’t worry about it, Barbara.“
“You… you don’t want a baby?“ She looked at him, troubled.
“Of course I do, we talked about it, didn’t we?“ Ian smiled. “But if it shouldn’t happen… for any reason… I’m happy only with you as well… Just try not to worry about it too much, that doesn’t help either.“
Barbara gave a slight sigh and buried her face in his shirt. “Stay with me,“ she murmured in the fabric tiredly.
“Always,“ breathed Ian in her hair and embraced her protectively. “Always and forever.“


Ian still had the new year’s speech of the headmaster in his head, when he came home.
Barbara was already there and judging by the music that was coming from the extra room, she was practicing belly dance again.
Ian smiled and moved to say hello to his wife.
They kissed and greeted each other and Barbara took a breath to say something, but Ian was faster. “You were early at home today,“ he noted, while she went to stop the music.
“Yes.“ Barbara nodded. “I was at the doctor’s and when…“
“At the doctor’s? Are you sick?“ Ian asked, alarmed, and Barbara shook her head slowly. “No, but…“
“Good!“ said Ian in relief and smiled at her widely.
Barbara paused for a while and then made another attempt to talk to him. “I was waiting for you, because I want to talk to you, and so I went for a bit of belly dance…“
“But you were dancing slowly today,“ Ian broke in again.
“Ian, I’m trying to tell you something,“ said Barbara more empathically. Sometimes it was pretty hard to make Ian focus immediately after his arrival from school.
“Yes.“ Ian nodded absentmindedly and went on pleadingly. “Show me the quick one again, please… how did you call it…? You know, the thing you were doing on Christmas Eve… with your hips…“ He tried to demonstrate the moves himself and Barbara smiled.
“It’s called shimmy,“ she said, amused by his attempts. “And yes, I can still do it now, but…“
“Please do,“ asked Ian like a little boy begging for a candy and Barbara sighed, giving up the attempt to make Ian pay attention properly to what she was about to say.
“I can still do it now,“ she started again, her eyes fixed on him, “but I’ll have to stop later, because sharp moves aren’t good for a baby,“ she pronounced carefully, watching Ian for his reaction.
He didn’t get it at first, just knitted his forehead confused. “For a baby?“ he asked and Barbara nodded slowly.
“Our baby, Ian,“ she added gently.
“Our baby…?“ repeated Ian slowly and then his face lit up with joy.
“Barbara!“ He whooped delightfully and then squeezed Barbara in a hug so tight she had to get him into line again.
“Careful, Ian!“ she said, laughing. “You’ll have to stop doing this or you will hurt the baby...“
Ian released her at once and recoiled from her, almost frightened, but then he beamed again and jumped up excitedly. “Show me the belly! Can I touch it? I want to feel the baby!“ he chattered helter-skelter like a little child by attractions at the fair.
“Ian! It’s only been a short while now, it’s too early to feel anything yet!“ Barbara laughed at his enthusiasm, but hitched up the old shirt and Ian eagerly put his ear on her belly.
“I can feel it!“ he reported zealously. “I can hear the heartbeat!“
“No, you can’t, it’s too soon for that!“ Barbara laughed and ruffled Ian’s hair lovingly. “Now stop it, Chesterton,“ added Barbara with a smile and wanted to step aside from him, but Ian just dropped down to his knees and embraced her around her waist, still holding his head on her belly.
“No. I won’t ever stop loving you,“ he said fondly and looked up at her adoringly.
Barbara let out a happy sigh and bent down a bit to kiss him on the forehead. “Get up, my brave knight, you are not to kneel before your lady.“
Ian stood up, but didn’t let Barbara go and held her hands in his. “You must take extra care of yourself now,“ he said with a seriousness that usually wasn’t to hear from him at home. “You must stop doing anything hard and exhausting and sleep enough and eat enough… Did you have a snack?“
Barbara couldn’t stand his serious speech anymore and burst into a short laughter. “Ian, dear, it’s only the beginning, I can pretty much do anything I could before so far,“ she said when she calmed down a bit, while Ian made a slightly offended face.
“I just care about you and the baby…“ he said sulkily.
“I know,“ Barbara replied softly, putting her hands on his face for a moment. „And I’m happy you’re with me, taking care of me. You just don’t need to exaggerate, yes?“
“You’re right,“ Ian sighed. “I think I got too overexcited about the news…“ He paused for a while and then added slowly: “But you must promise me not to overstretch yourself now, will you?“
“Of course, I promise.“ She smiled, kissed him gently and laid the head on his chest happily.
Ian embraced her, kissing top of her head ligthly. “I love you, Barbara,“ he whispered into her hair.
“I love you,“ she replied. “Stay with me.“
“Always,“ said Ian lovingly. “Always and forever.“