Soon-to-be-mom Naomi Davis, 34, pauses for a moment, breathing deeply as she feels her little girl move in response to Naomi’s touch. A first-time mom-to-be, Naomi and her husband Collin, 35, are in the final days of preparing for their little girl’s arrival.
Naomi and Collin remained shy admirers of each other through college, eventually graduating and moving on with life. But for years, the connection between them was only a flicker, with chance encounters bringing them together for just a few moments, until, one day as Naomi was sitting on a flight awaiting takeoff, she received a Facebook message from Collin. “Hey, do you remember me from college? I just wanted to see what life's been like for you.” Collin says, “I was at work and something just told me to message her. So I did.”
“Now we're married, we've been together almost a decade, and we're having a baby,” Collin says.
In the early years of their relationship, Naomi and Collin had dreams of living the wanderlust life. Working any and all jobs they could find to fastidiously save money to buy a travel trailer, they delighted in the daydreaming of where their soon-to-be-adventures would take them. Collin, an enthusiastic outdoorsman, was excited to explore. “We thought we would just travel around for a few years, maybe start in the Pacific Northwest and see where we ended up from there.” Their plans changed when Naomi received a call in 2020 from her childhood dance school teacher, who was calling to ask if she would be interested in taking ownership of The Dance Centre.
“It was a completely unexpected call. We took a leap of faith and said yes,” she says. Naomi and Collin became the new owners of The Dance Centre at the height of the pandemic. “The first year we had 25 students – I looked at Collin and we asked ourselves, can we make this work?” Naomi, an award-winning dancer and choreographer, had started her dance career at age 13 at The Dance Centre – she was determined to not let her childhood love fail. With Collin’s support, they both got to work, successfully bouncing back to a now-full roster of talented dance students.
“Watching her with her students, seeing her pass on what she learned – I love seeing her in her element,” Collin says. The strong partnership of the couple has made The Dance Centre more than just a business; the studio has become a hub of creativity and community where art, family, and love converge in the dance of life itself.
Naomi and Collin banter as Collin excitedly does his “homework” in preparation for the birth.
Amidst the static of the fetal doppler, Naomi lights up as she hears her daughter’s heartbeat coming through loud, healthy and clear.
While Naomi prepares to leave to teach dance class, Collin has a list of things he feels he must do in the short amount of time they have left before the baby arrives. From installing baby gates to maintaining their home, Collin works daily to check off his baby arrival to-do list.
"Where should we hang this?" Collin asks Naomi as they try to decide the best location to place it in their daughter's room.
Competitive dance student, Chloe Temple, 15, works with Naomi at The Dance Centre to add the finishing touches to her solo.
Awaiting the doctor, Naomi places her hands over her little girl.
"I feel good, but we are getting to that time - I wouldn't be upset if she decides to arrive next week." One of the everyday activities that Naomi finds harder to do is buckling her seat belt.
"Toe heel, toe heel, toe heel - good job!" Naomi cheerfully taps her way forward, encouraging her young tap class students to toe-heel with her.
Naomi holds up one of her favorite baby onesies. "I just love this one, I can't wait for when she will be able to wear it."
Naomi and Collin talk through the day’s events in a moment of quiet solitude at home.