Beautiful

"I look ugly."

"You do not."

"Yes I do."

"Kara, you are ... " He never gets to finish the thought.

"Lee, just look at me!"

"I believe I am." He smiles, his reflection in the mirror just as charming as he is.

"I'm fat. I've got no waist. I've got huge breasts. See these? These are stretch marks! They'll never go away!"

"Kara, you are not fat and ugly."

"You're a lying bastard Lee," she says, frowning at the smile facing her.

The smile just widens.

"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

"Definitely a lying bastard." There's a hint of a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. Just a hint - barely visible but he knows where to look for it.

"I may be a bastard but this child growing inside you certainly isn't," he says, slipping his arms around her her swollen waist. "And while you refuse to believe it, this new life inside you - this life we created together, has made you even more beautiful than you already were."

"A blind, demented, lying bastard," she says, a smile now definitely pulling the sides of her mouth wider.

"Maybe," he says, leaning over to nuzzle her neck. "But a blind, demented, lying bastard who loves you more than anything. Anything except my child you're carrying that is."

She smiles in spite of herself, even as she slaps his arm. "Full of bullshit as well."

He slides his hands up her body to cup her cheeks and looks with her into the mirror.

"You are the most beautiful woman ever. You know why? Because I love you. And even though you see your body as fat and ugly, I think it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. This rounded tummy here," he reaches a hand down to stroke it lovingly. "Holds something more precious than anything in the universe. The loss of your waistline and the rock hard abs you hold so dear? Just on loan from someone who needs a place to grow. These beautiful, full breasts?" He strokes them, feeling the nipples rubbing roughly against his palms. "Not only something gorgeous for me to worship, but the place our new baby will spend much of it's time, being fed and loved by the most important person in it's life."

He leans forward and kisses her cheek.

"No matter how you see yourself, you are beautiful Kara. The most beautiful thing in all the universe."

fin