Sasha Fonseca smiled at the crowd of happy, flushed, and visibly sweaty faces of the students she'd just guided - and occasionally prodded - through a very vigorous ninety minute yoga class. Her Sunday morning class had gained itself a reputation as being one of the most hardcore, kick-ass classes in the entire city of San Francisco, and the room was always filled to capacity with practitioners who wanted a challenge, and a teacher who would inspire them to attain the next level in their yoga practice.
She made her way over to the petite, tawny-haired woman in the front row, squatting down easily in front of a three-months pregnant Julia Atwood. Sasha placed a hand on her longtime student's - and friend's - arm.
"You doing okay there?" she asked in concern. "You need to make sure you're staying hydrated more than ever, Julia. And I see your water bottle is only half-empty."
Somewhat guiltily, a rosy-cheeked Julia gulped down the rest of the water in a few swallows. "Sorry," she offered with a sunny smile. "I get so caught up in the poses and the flow that I forget to drink as much as I should. But I'll do better in the future. I promise."
Sasha gave her friend a look of mock severity. "You'd better," she cautioned with a twinkle in her green-gold eyes. "Otherwise, no more heated classes for you. You'll be restricted to the pre-natal or restorative classes only."
Julia scowled as she finished rolling up her mat. "You wouldn't do that to me, would you?" she begged. "I mean, given that I'm carrying twins I'm going to get huge sooner than later, so I won't have a choice at some point. But not yet, please? Yoga is one of the very few things that seems to help with my morning sickness. Which, by the way, is also noon and night sickness."
"Ginger tea," reminded Sasha. "Or raspberry leaf. And I know you're a coffee person, but that's not going to help with your nausea."
Julia made a rather horrible face but then gave a resigned shrug. "You're right. I'll give up my cappuccinos and café au laits for the time being and switch to tea. As long as you don't ban me from your class."
Sasha laughed, and gave her friend a quick hug. "As long as you work harder at staying hydrated during class," she replied firmly. "It's tough enough on the average person to sweat through ninety minutes of strenuous yoga in ninety-five degree heat. But for a pregnant woman - especially one who's pregnant with twins - the risks are that much higher. So be warned, Julia. I'll be keeping a very close eye on you and make sure you're drinking a ton of water. And if you look the least bit overheated or winded, I'll make you take a rest or even leave class. You need to take very good care of yourself and these two little ones inside of you."
She gave Julia's gently rounded tummy a gentle pat. "Now, go home, have a warm bath, a nice cup of ginger tea, and something nourishing to eat. Not one of those disgusting breakfast pastries you're so fond of. Boil a couple of eggs or make some oatmeal."
Julia sighed in surrender. "Fine. First my coffee goes, now my chocolate croissants. These girls better appreciate the sacrifices their mommy is already making for them."
Sasha eyed Julia's barely visible baby bump quizzically. "Don't be so sure you're having girls," she cautioned. "It's a little too soon for me to tell for sure, but I'm sensing a very masculine aura around these babies right now."
Julia's green eyes widened in horror. "Oh, God, don't say that, please! I really, really want the twins to be girls. Or at least one of them. You've been wrong before about your hunches, haven't you?"
Sasha tapped a finger against her lips as she studied Julia a little more intently. "Hardly ever," she replied calmly. "I actually have an excellent track record when it comes to predicting the gender of a baby. Though I usually don't try to sense that sort of thing until the pregnancy is further along. I'll re-assess in another couple of months."
"Well, until then, I'm going to wear nothing but pink every single day," declared Julia. "That way I can trick my aura into thinking I'm going to have girls."
Sasha laughed in delight. "It doesn't work that way, Julia, and you know it."
"What doesn't work what way?" chimed in Tessa Gregson as she sidled up beside the two women.
The tall, beautiful blonde was a newlywed of less than two months - both Sasha and Julia had been bridesmaids at her fairytale wedding - and the glow on her face probably had less to do with the rigorous yoga class she'd just finished than it did the lusty sex she'd undoubtedly engaged in with her hunky husband earlier this morning. Sasha tried not to feel envious, given that it had been a seriously long time since she'd had sex at all - much less really good sex.