Gabriella awoke to a tightening in her abdomen. It wasn't too painful, but there was a strengthening measure of discomfort. "Mmf.." she moaned softly, trying to kneed out the cramp in her belly with the palm of her hand. At 35 weeks pregnant with twins, Gabriella was the epitome of uncomfortable. Aside from the never-ending nausea that her OBGYN attributed to being pregnant with multiple babies, Gabriella had glided pretty smoothly into her third trimester. However, once month seven rolled in, pregnancy reared its ugly head. Gabriella's ankles and feet swelled up painfully, and her backaches were near constant. Her belly measured in the top 10 percentile for twins, and she was carrying it all in front of her, which put even more strain on her sensitive back.

Troy was the constant massage giver, rubbing her gingerly every chance he could. Rarely did he see her now-a-days without one or both hands bracing the small of her lower back, trying to relieve the pressure. He couldn't blame her. While head on it was difficult to tell, Gabriella's side profile told a different story. She was huge, and he couldn't deny it. Her belly stuck out near to a point she could barely wrap her arms around.

Palming the bare skin of her lower belly with pressure, Gabriella breathed out slowly; the pain was subsiding. Braxton-Hicks contractions had been riddling her body for the past couple of weeks, and while she knew they were just for "practice," each pang made her more anxious for the actual labor. She felt a huge shift beneath her hand – a baby rolling over – and sighed. It was 1am – witching hour. Like clockwork, Baby A had begun its shifting and kicking. As she struggled to raise her heavy body up by her elbows, Troy sharply inhaled from his sleep. Gabriella pursed her lips; she didn't like disturbing her husband's sleep. There was little he could do to ease her discomfort, and with his rigorous work-out schedule she knew he needed sleep almost as much as she did.

"Mmm," Troy grumbled, furrowing his brow and opening his eyes onto the darkness of his bedroom. He slightly shifted and turned to the body laying next to him. "Wha-times-it?" He voice was still heavy with sleep.

Gabriella was still working on perching her back up against her lumbar pillow. "Late," she responded breathlessly. "Go back to sleep."

Troy rubbed his eyes as his brain woke up. "You okay, baby?" He asked, now aware of the situation. It was one he was all too familiar with. His heavily pregnant wife had lost all ability to sleep more than a few hours at a time and it was affecting him, too. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he found her, and he quickly helped pull her up onto her pillows for support. Despite the lack of light, he could see the bags underneath her eyes and sighed. "How long have you been awake, Gab?"

Too tired to lie, Gabriella shrugged and rubbed the skin that was exposed from her too-small night shirt. "I don't even know. I've been on and off all night. I think I might have just gotten 15 minutes, but your little one just began her nightly tumbling class."

Troy sighed, and scooted closer to her, placing a hand on her belly so he could feel the movement. Like the nights before, he was met with the familiar rolling and poking into his palm. He rubbed his thumb over the spot a foot had just protruded. "Do you need the bucket?"

Gabriella often got sick during these hyper-movement spells. She nodded silently. Troy hopped out of bed and walked swiftly to the bathroom, retrieving the pail, which he placed on her nightstand. He bent down and kissed her forehead while she breathed deeply through her nose, and hurried to the kitchen to fetch her a glass of water.

"Thank you," Gabriella whispered when he returned with her drink. Troy rubbed her hair softly. "Can you try going back to sleep?" He asked.

Gabriella shrugged and took a refreshing gulp. "I'm too tired to do anything else."

Troy sighed and resumed his position on the bed. "Just try to relax, baby." He scooted closer to her and massaged her thigh underneath the blanket. "Can I do anything?"

Gabriella shook her head and took another deep breath, fighting back the nausea. She closed her eyes and rubbed her belly, reveling in her husband's scent and calming presence. "I think I'm having contractions," she said softly into the darkness. She felt Troy's body tense up.

"What? Really?" He gasped. His hand flew back to her belly and slid underneath the material of her shirt, as if he was trying to look for clarification.

She nodded again. "Nothing worth timing. They're not consistent or anything. But I'm definitely feeling things..I don't know how to describe it..like squeezing?"

"Well, should we be timing them?" Troy asked. "Are they just Braxton-Hicks? You've been having those for weeks."

"First of all, don't refer to them as just Braxton-Hicks, ever again," Gabi responded, rolling her eyes. She shifted in the bed, trying to get comfortable again. "And no, these feel different. It's not so painful, at least not yet, its more like pressure and tightening. But no, I wouldn't even know how to start timing them. I felt a couple just minutes apart after dinner; but then nothing until just a few minutes ago. Too sporadic."

Troy nodded and gulped. He palmed her bare belly. "Well, Dr. Ludaks said 'any day now,' after all."

"Hmpf..hopefully they know that," Gabriella replied, placing her hands in either side of her belly.

Troy chuckled quietly. "I'll cancel with Chad in the morning and stick around the house. This could be the beginning." He was referring to his daily training session with his best friend since childhood, Chad Danforth. Since Troy had been signed with the Lakers four years ago, he had hired his old teammate has his personal trainer during NBA off-season. Gabriella didn't like causing Troy to miss his work-outs, as they were vital for his continued on-court success; but she didn't rebut his offer. Her nerves were high regarding the impending birth of her first babies – especially since there were two. She wanted Troy to stay close by until then.

Her babies continued rolling around, but as Gabi felt the sick feeling slowly fade, she was able to find sleep again until morning.

–

The following day, Gabriella heaved her body out of bed and made her way to the master bathroom to shower. Few things eased her back pain like the hot water from her shower head and she was eager for that relief. She had felt Troy rise almost an hour prior and assumed he was making himself busy in the kitchen or nursery. She stripped her clothing and underwear and stepped in front her her full length mirror to inspect her changing form.

Gabriella's petite frame carried her two babies straight in front her her. Her tan orb of a belly was stretched to its max, and she had several marks to show for it. Her belly button stuck out to a point, as if to say, "all done!" Her aching breasts were swollen and getting bigger, as they sat properly atop her baby mound. Gabriella took note of the color and size of her nipples – once rosey-colored and small, they were now very dark and had doubled in size. She hadn't allowed Troy near her breasts in weeks. His fondling had become too painful. In fact, she'd had to cut off their physical relationship entirely. She was experiencing a lot of what her doctor referred to as "lightning pain" in her crotch. Sudden movements, sitting down, and physical contact sent sharp pains starting in her crotch all the way up her pelvis. Gabriella's eyes wandered down her body and she turned to her side to look at her profile. Her belly looked lower – she had definitely "dropped" over the last day or two. The pressure was causing her vagina to swell and change color, too. Everything south of her neck looked red, puffy, and angry. She sighed and tried to shake the self-deprecating thoughts out of her head and she waddled towards the shower.

With the water now running down her, Gabriella didn't notice the bathroom door open as Troy quietly sneaked in. He ogled his wife's naked form and quickly discarded his sweaty clothing, eager to join her in the steam. Their master bathroom shower was "open air," with only a wall of glass protecting the rest of the room from splashes. Troy swiftly walked into the shower area and slipped his arms around the back of Gabriella's body.

"How about a rub down?" He breathed into her ear, moving his arms up and down her sides in rough kneed.

Gabriella jumped a little at the intrusion, but she laughed and turned around. Water streamed down their bodies. "What are you doing?"

Troy grinned down at her. "Sorry. I didn't want to scare you. I just got a ride in on the Peloton. Thought I'd join you for a shower." He leaned into the cascading water and nipped Gabriella's nose playfully with his own. "Okay?"

Gabriella smirked at her husband and reached over to the shelf, grabbing the shampoo. She pressed the bottle onto Troy's sculpted chest. "Fine, then. Make yourself useful." She took a step closer, pressing her body as closely as she could into his torso. She rested her hands on the small of her back, relieving some of the discomfort and closed her eyes. Troy quickly obliged by shampooing and massaging Gabriella's scalp. When he was done, she leaned her head back into the water and gave a relaxed sigh.

Troy maintained the contact with his wife, pulling her body into his and she rinsed her hair.

"How are you feeling this morning? Any more contractions?"

Gabriella shook her head. "Nothing. Just lots of back pain..the usual."

Troy frowned. "Turn around."

She obliged. Troy began his routine back massage, hoping to grant her some comfort.

"Mmm, lower, Troy," Gabi breathed, as Troy's hands pressed firmly into her back. He moved lower.

"Lower," she requested, "hmf..lower"

"Baby, I'm on your ass."

Gabriella braced herself against the shower wall. "Well that's where the pain is now," she grunted. "Yeah, right there. Harder, please."

Troy continued kneeding into her tailbone. "That's pretty low," he said with a concerned tone. Gabriella only nodded in agreement. "I'm serious, Gabi. You're carrying really low now. If they're that far down, this is gonna happen soon. Don't you think?" She shrugged in response.

The water continued running down softly as the couple shared a few moments of silence. Troy maintained applying pressure onto his wife's lower body as she peacefully leaned into the wall, enjoying his hands.

Troy tabled his concern as they finished showering and toweling down; but, he stopped Gabriella before she began dressing.

"Hold on, Gab," he said softly. "I want to look at you." His eyes trailed down to her protruding abdomen.

Gabriella shot him a questioning look, but she dropped her bra and beckoned him over with her eyes. She watched him place his hands on her belly and press gently. Gabriella was grateful that they had been together for so long – she was completely comfortable with him inspecting her naked body, even in its current shape. They shared an intimacy that only came with time and trust. And the two of them had been together for nearly ten years, and had been physical for eight of them. Plus, they were each other's first and only sexual relationships.

"Does it hurt?" Troy asked, pressing into the soft portion of her upper belly.

"Mmm, not really." She responded.

His hands trailed down to her lower belly. He pressed. "It's so hard," he lamented.

Gabriella nodded and rubbed the lower region. "They're definitely lower. It's kind of crazy isn't it? How 'empty' is is up top now? And hard as a rock down below. They're really burrowing."

"No wonder your back is hurting," Troy responded. "All this weight...you've been so amazing Gabriella." He rubbed her belly in wonder for a few more moments before her breasts caught his eye and he took a step away from her. "God damn. You're really killing me."

Gabriella chuckled and raised a brow.

"You've never looked sexier," he explained, reaching for his clothes. "Like, seriously. Those things turn me on so much. It's killing me not to touch them. Or you."

"Ah," Gabriella laughed. "The definition of evil irony, I suppose. I finally get boobs and curves, but everything hurts to much for you to ravage." She paused. "It's hard for me, too." She soothed. "Pregnancy hormones are real – they don't care that my vagina has been on fire for a week, or that my breasts are so sensitive that I can barely wear a bra, let alone let my husband fondle them."

She tossed Troy her underwear. "Help?" She asked. She was unable to bend over to pull anything up.

Troy began sliding the black cotton panties up her legs. "I still want to try those perineum massages," he requested.

Gabriella sighed. Troy had been bringing up this "treatment" since her last doctor appointment. A recommendation from Dr. Ludaks as a way to prevent tearing during birth, Gabriella remained skeptical. She was fine with the idea, in theory. And she was definitely concerned with tearing. But she worried that if Troy spent too much time "down there," they would start something that she couldn't help finish. And if it wasn't pleasurable, would it be painful? She was already gearing up for enough of that during the birth.

Troy sensed her tension as he finished pulling up her panties. "I'm serious, Gab. Dr. Ludaks said it was an important part of childbirth prep. I'll keep it clean, no funny business. But if I can do anything to help you get through this birth naturally, I want to do it – cover all the bases, so to speak."

Naturally. That word had been a source of contention between the two throughout Gabriella's pregnancy. From the day they found out, Gabriella had been adamant that she would give birth naturally, even originally hoping to do it at home or a doula center, as all the female's in her family lineage had done prior. When they got the news that she was expecting twins, she conceded to birthing at Cedar Sinai, where additional emergency care could be accessed, if needed – God forbid. But, still, sans pain medication. Troy had been incredibly uncomfortable with this idea – his wife in incredible pain, for potentially days as it was her first childbirth, was not something he was interested in living though. He spent the first two trimesters trying to convince her to create a more conventional birth plan, but when she entered her third, and most difficult trimester, Troy backed down. She convinced him that if she could get that far, she could make the decision of the birth plan, herself.

Deep down, she knew Troy was right about her perineum. She sighed. "Fine, Troy. Ludaks said we should do it after showering though, when the tissue is softest. If we're going to try it, let's do it now."

Caught off-guard at his wife's concession, Troy smiled and nodded eagerly. "Let's do it now," he echoed, pulling her underwear back down. He was hungry for any type of activity with Gabriella's naked body, even if it was business-only, nothing sexual.

He led them back into their bedroom and sat naked Gabriella onto her unmade sheets. "Hang here for a second baby, and get comfortable. I want to find that email from Dr. Ludaks with the instructions."

Gabriella leaned back and rolled her eyes. She spread her legs towards Troy and placed her hands on her belly. "You don't need a manual, Troy. You know what you're doing down there. Just loosen me up – gently," she emphasized.

Troy looked up from his phone and did a double take. It had been nearly a month since he'd been allowed access inside his wife, and seeing her laying there, spread eagle and asking for him to touch her, nearly knocked him over.

Gabriella recognized the glimmer in Troy's eyes as he laid them on her. "Watch it, babe. Don't get too excited or you'll have to jump back in the shower."

Troy smirked, and he quickly removed the space between them. He cupped her puffy crotch gently.

"Mmm," he whispered gruffly, "I miss you."

Gabriella winced, fearing more 'lightning crotch'. "Careful, Troy."

He nodded in understanding. He carefully rubbed his thumb in a circular motion around her opening, noting the heat coming off of her. She was hot to the touch; her body was preparing and he could feel it.

"Should I be stretching this?" He wondered out loud, as he continued shallowly fingering his wife.

She nodded, "I think so – ah!" Lightning pain. Her thighs tightened around Troy's arm.

He removed his hand immediately. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Gabi. Are you okay?"

Gabriella exhaled as the pain dissipated. "It's fine." She said reassuringly. She dropped her knees back down, beckoning Troy to return to her nether region. "It's not you. The babies are moving around again. Keep going."

Troy nodded. "Remember what Ludaks said. It might get uncomfortable but its a great time to practice your breathing. Now let me know if I do something that's too much." He resumed his ministration, stretching the hole from which his babies would soon emerge, and finding the delicate skin just south of it, massaging that tissue, as well. Several minutes later, Troy was uncomfortably hard.

"How does that feel, Gab? Stretched enough?"

"I suppose so," Gabriella responded, propping herself up on her elbows. "How do you feel?" She questioned, raising her eyebrows at her husband's growing bulge.

Troy sighed as he felt heat rush to his face. "I'll be fine." He removed his fingers from his wife and slowly backed away, feeling satisfied with his work; but Gabriella pulled him back onto the bed.

"What are you doing, sweetheart?" Troy whispered gruffly, as Gabriella struggled to position herself differently. She responded with a lustful look and tugged at his waistband.

"Gab, whoa, stop. You know I can't go there. Even the doctor recommended abstaining for now."

"You're not going there," she whispered back as she lowered her head to her husband's erection.

"Ahh..." Troy struggled to find a rebuttal as Gabriella slowly glided her tongue up and down his shaft.

"Relax, baby," she said softly. "I'm not doing anything I don't want to do. Now no arguing with the pregnant woman."

Troy chuckled under his breath and he rubbed a hand through her hair as she began her 'job.' "How in the world did I get so lucky?" He wondered to himself, as he allowed himself to slowly relax under his wife's oral touch.