Mother's New Clothes

Ty had always known Amy wasn't one to love shopping. If she needed new clothes, she just went to the same shop in town and got a new plaid shirt (or lately one of those one-colored button-ups she had come to love) and the same style of American Eagle jeans and was done with it. On rare occasion, she got a dress from Lou, who had no need for the many dresses she had forgotten all about after using them for one summer.

But when Amy had found out she was pregnant and her belly had begun to grow, she'd had to face the fact that she was forced to go shopping. There was a big moment of realization when she could no longer button up her favorite pair of jeans but instead had to lie down on the bed to jiggle her belly up so she could get her fly up.

"Come on, Amy. How long are you gonna do that? You do know you're only buying yourself a week, max. Just go to town and buy new clothes already," Ty said while getting Amy her non-caffeinated morning tea. They'd had this talk before, but Amy had always found a way out of it. "I'll even drive you if that's the problem."

"It's not that," Amy replied, pushing herself back up from the bed and adjusting her belly back around the waist of her jeans, "Lou keeps sending me these links about these cute maternity clothes, and they're just so not my style. I don't wanna change any more than I already have just because I'm pregnant," she said crankily.

"Well, I'm not a fashion expert, but there has to be more than those clothes out there," Ty said, handing Amy her cup. "Maybe Lou just doesn't know what's your style-I mean, you don't dress alike-so she's probably just choosing the ones she'd prefer. Why don't you just go and take a look? You don't even have to buy anything," he added quickly before any arguments from Amy. "I'm just saying that you'd probably feel more comfortable in bigger clothes."

Amy sighed. Ty was right; she did feel very uncomfortable now, squeezed into these jeans. It was strange for her to realize she could no longer fit into the same size she'd worn since she was fourteen. "Fine. But if I don't find anything, I'll just start wearing my pajamas, and I don't even care if anyone looks at me weird!"

Later that afternoon, Amy came home from the town, and much to Ty's surprise, she even carried few bags from clothing stores to the loft. Ty was doing some paperwork on the table, but when he saw Amy, he had to put down his pen and grin when Amy placed the bags on the couch.

"You did find something," he noted.

"Yeah, eventually . . . " Amy replied, but she didn't seem overjoyed about it. "But what I don't get is, why do people think that just because I'm pregnant and I'm showing, they have some kind of right to touch my belly!?"

Ty chuckled a little and got up from his chair. "They're just happy for you," he guessed. He loved touching and talking to the belly too, so he understood them.

"Maybe so, but I don't like strangers touching me without my consent," Amy said.

Ty realized this wasn't a matter of a joke, so he dropped it. Instead, he distracted himself with something else. "Do I get a fashion show . . . ?"

"You do realize I didn't buy myself new underwear, right? Just shirts and jeans," Amy pointed out when she saw the twinkle in Ty's eyes when he was catching a glimpse of what was in the bags.

"Who said I couldn't find them sexy?"

Amy raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

"Yeah," Ty said, walking behind Amy and cupping her belly gently. "I could even help you get these jeans off. I mean, I know it's a struggle."

"The button is about to pop anyway," Amy murmured, liking it when Ty was close to her. "So hurry up."

Ty hummed and kissed her cheek. "Perfect."