Pregnancy, the process of a baby growing inside of someone. When two people patiently wait for the arrival of their child. A joy filled experience where a new human is brought into the world. It's amazing. It's beautiful. It's magical.
At least, that's what Steven told Connie when he said he wanted a baby. To Connie, pregnancy is one of the most miserable experiences she's been through.
Connie was more or less prepared for the expected side effects. Morning sickness, mood swings, cravings, the usual things you see on sitcoms and such. And she accepted the fact that she had to stop going on missions with Steven. It gave her time to catch up on her reading anyway. But as the months pasted by, her growing womb was becoming a bigger annoyance both figuratively and literally. The baby, a girl as Steven and Connie discovered, was turning out to be bigger than the norm. At thirty eight weeks, Connie's future daughter weighed nearly ten pounds. This resulted in a blimp-sized belly that practically looked comical on her small frame. Her protruding stomach caused a fair share of embarrassing problems. Just one example of this happened two days ago. Steven and Connie decided to go out to eat at a restaurant one last time before their daughter was born. The only table available was a booth. When Connie tried to sit down, she found out that she was too big to fit in the booth. Connie's cheeks burned red and Steven had to hold back his laughter if he didn't want to sleep on the couch that night.
Combine situations like that with a waddle that only got more awkward and uncomfortable the more she grew, being unable to pick up objects from the ground, not being able to get up from the bed or couch without Steven's help, and peeing every thirty minutes, and it all made Connie constantly question what made pregnancy so magical.
She was currently lying on her left side in the bed, wearing a grey T-shirt and sweatpants. She was rubbing her belly in circles, trying to calm her rather active child. When Connie first felt her daughter's movements, her heart practically melted. But now, with so little space left, nearly every kick felt genuinely painful. It didn't help that the skin around her belly already felt tight and stretched past her limit.
"Can you stop moving around for ten minutes, sweetie?" Connie said, trying to coax her daughter into Calming down for the night. "Mommy's very tired and your kicks are starting to hurt." What she got as a response was a strong kick to her kidney. Connie groaned in frustration and slowly rolled onto her back. Just then, she heard the door open.
"Hey Connie, I'm back." Steven said as he walked in. "Sorry If I woke you up"
"It's okay, our daughter's been making sure I stay awake until you came home" Connie said, not trying to hide how tired she was.
Steven got into bed after changing into his pajamas. "And how are my favorite ladies doing tonight?" Steven asked as he began patting Connie's taut stomach.
"Fine." Connie replied. "She's been exercising all day. I guess she thinks my organs are punching bags."
"Awww, don't talk like that. I bet she's just as uncomfortable as you are right now, being cramped up in a small space with no room. Plus, our baby kicking around means that she's healthy! Isn't that a good thing?"
Connie had to give it to Steven, both of those points were valid. The baby probably didn't enjoy being inside such a small space, and she'd be terrified if the baby just stopped moving one day.
"I know Steven, I know." Connie said. "It's just... my belly just so tight now. It feels like I'm gonna burst any minute."
Steven sighed heavily. "Connie, I'm not gonna act like I know what you're going through right now. But don't you... don't you understand how amazing this is?" Steven rolled up Connie's shirt, revealing the large brown orb as he began to rub it. "You're growing a new life inside of you. A new life that's gonna have new experiences and dreams. Pretty soon, you'll be able to hold our daughter in your arms. Isn't... Isn't that just amazing?"
Connie couldn't help but smile at that. If there was one thing that was making this pregnancy bearable, it was Steven. Whenever she complained about aches and pains, he would give her a much needed massage. Whenever she craved something unusual like bacon with whipped cream, he'd make it with no questions asked. Whenever she was unable to pick something up from the ground, he'd be right there with a helping hand.
"How did a a nobody like me end up with such a supportive husband like you?" Connie asked.
"You're not a nobody" Steven said. "You're my entire universe."
They both snugged up together and began to drift off to sleep... Until Connie felt the need to pee for the umpteenth time that day.
"Steven, can you help me out of bed?" Connie asked.
Steven couldn't help but chuckle. "We're both not gonna get that much sleep tonight, are we?"
"You try holding it in when there's a ten pound baby using your bladder as a beanbag chair!"