Keefe curled a strand of Sophie's hair between his fingers, occasionally threading his hands through her hair. She lay next to him in their bed in the dark, the moonlight streaming in through the window as their only source of light.

She watched him with unwavering, tired brown eyes as he ran a thumb down her cheek. "What are you thinking?" she asked quietly, adjusting her body position and tucking the small pillow more under her baby bump.

Keefe had noticed how Sophie had started to prefer placing a small pillow against orbit underneath it whenever she slept in her side in bed, because it supported her. She said that it helped straighten her back and put less strain on it. Come to think of it, poor Sophie had been complaining about lower back pain for awhile.

"Hmm," Keefe hummed, "funny question, coming from someone who has full access to my thoughts. But, since you so very clearly want to know from me directly. . . A lot of things."

They didn't necessarily know why, but they both spoke in low, wispy soft volumes. It just seemed right in the blissful silence and the dark of the night.

"That's not very specific," she drawled out, tugging on the collar of his pajama shirt and tugging his face closer. He laughed when her red lips went into a smirk and he kissed her, relishing the butterflies he felt waving in her stomach.

It was weird how he could sense the source of her emotions, knowing that when she was sad her chest would tighten and he could feel it. Knowing when she was embarrassed her cheeks and body would either flame shamefully—or it would be the good kind of embarrassment where she'd be caught acting cute, get teased, and then light heat would rise in her cheeks and her stomach would do a flip or two.

He chuckled as he pulled away. "You never willingly kiss me, or initiate a kiss. What is this?"

She rolled her eyes, shoving him back lightly by placing a hand on the planes of his stomach. "Oh yeah, sure. Make it like I never kiss you. You do realize we kiss way more than the average couple?"

He felt the heat bloom on her face, neck, and a little down to her chest after she realized what had really come out of her mouth. It sounded especially different since they were speaking in hushed, velvety whispers.

She placed a hand to her baby bump, avoiding eye contact as she rode out the waves of her embarrassment.

Keefe smirked at her. "C'mon, now, Foster. Don't get all closed off on me, now. We were starting to have a little moment there, don't you—"

"No, we were not," she cut off, but not in a rude or snappy way. Her voice was a little thick, her words a little shaky as she tried to fight off the blush that darkened her cheeks even in the dim light. "Anyway, we were talking about what you were thinking about. Pray tell? A penny for your thoughts?"

He contemplated letting the subject go and giving in to her attempt to distract him from their conversation about their kisses and large amount of affectionate gestures they tended to give one another. He wanted to tease her more, watch her crumble to her little nervous, babbling self that took over whenever he talked to her about lovey-dovey things, complimented her, or talked about doing some random romantic act just for her.

Begrudgingly, he decided to let it go and give her some peace from his teasing. He loved doing it, loved watching her melt and stumble for words or some new topic to change the subject, but over the years he had learned when Sophie liked for it to stop. He knew when to give the right amount of jokes, and when to give the right amount of his true, raw, unedited feelings straight-forward to his wife.

"I started reading some articles, magazines, and books on pregnancy and parenting and babies in the womb—stuff like that," he answered honestly, some sort of husk in his voice as he brushed his knuckles against her small, plump belly.

Her blush returned, not to any surprise of his. "Wait, really?" she questioned.

"Mhm," he replied, a little bit of pride swelling somewhere inside him. He always felt good doing something he knew Foster would like or appreciate. "I actually found out some interesting stuff."

"Like what?" she asked, jumping to the question on cue. She didn't miss a beat, asking it in full curiosity right as he finished his sentence.

He smiled, a little more than excited to share with her. Some of the stuff was actually pretty cool to find out. He'd thought pregnancy was basically just like a little seed in a pod—it just sits there and, well, grows. But it turned out that was pretty wrong.

"I'm sure you know some of this, since you're a little genius and all—and I'm just the clueless male—but, babies do a lot while in the womb. An article was saying that the amniotic fluid inside the womb, which cushions the baby and helps them practice their sucking and swallowing movements, can. . . Like, be altered by what you eat. The baby can actually relatively taste what you've eaten if they suck in the amniotic fluid. Apparently a few doctors ran some tests and found that whenever the mother ate sweeter foods, the baby sucked in more fluid, but vise-versa when the mother had bitter or sour foods."

Sophie was definitely amused at the information, but she was also finding it odd that Keefe didn't find what he was saying it reading to be weird. She didn't want to put it past him—Keefe could be very mature if he tried—but she had figured that he would turn back to his boyish, kiddish ways when he brought up the fluid.

It was a weird concept to think about at first, but it actually made very much sense. It would be extremely weird if it were dry in the womb. And unnatural. And. . It actually sounded painful, the more Sophie thought about it.

She repressed the thoughts and finally answered, "That's. . . Actually kind of interesting. You took the time to read about that? . . .You?"

She hadn't meant it in a bad way, but. . . Keefe wasn't the sit-down-and-read sort of guy.

He grinned. "Wow, try to hold back the enthusiasm, and shock, geez. I have the capability of reading, you know. Yeah, it's not something I would deliberately choose to do, but, I'll do it once in awhile to tests the waters and see if I'll finally come around and enjoy reading. Or, I'll read if it's for something important." He said the last part referring entirely to her, and she knew it.

"Anything else?"

"Mmm, uh, oh! Babies make lots of facial expressions and react to sound outside the womb and their mother's voice," he said, reciting the facts he'd learned. "They found that babies will grimace, frown, and even smile. They'll cry while in the womb, too."

He felt Sophie's stomach plummet. "Oh," he laughed, " don't worry. It's only if they hear a loud sound and get startled, Foster. And that's what I was saying about them reacting to sounds, as well. Their heart rate will increase at a sudden, loud sound or they'll smile when they hear their mom or dad's voice. They've even been known to react to music in different ways. Some music can calm them, other music will make them anxious or scared."

"Huh," Sophie said. "That's. . Wow. When can an unborn baby begin to hear?"

Keefe sighed. "I'm just gonna recite the whole article to you, will that make you happy?" he teased. She rolled her eyes, but then he started.

"According to an online website," he cleared his throat dramatically, " 'Your baby's ears begin to grow when you're about eight weeks pregnant and are completely formed by about 24 weeks. But your baby can start hearing their first sounds—like your heartbeat or blood whooshing through the umbilical cord—around 18 weeks, when the bones of the inner ear and the nerve endings from the brain are developed enough. They may even be startled by loud noises. By week 25, your baby can start to hear your voice and your partner's, and will soon start to recognize them—so this is a great time to chat your baby up and read to them. Another interesting fact: Research shows that a baby's heart rate often slows down when their mom is speaking, a sign that they not only hear and recognize the sound, but are calmed by it. Your voices will sound a bit muffled to your baby—about as well as you hear under water—because the ears are still covered with vernix: the thick, sticky coating that protects the skin from becoming chapped by the amniotic fluid. You may notice your baby's movements change in response to sounds—like a sudden kick after a door slams, for example. In fact, some doctors suggest getting your baby accustomed to sounds they're likely to hear as a newborn (like the vacuum cleaner or dishwasher) now, so they won't be as likely to wake them up or make them cry once she's born.'"

Sophie blinked from shock and surprise at the new information, but also at the fact that Keefe just effortlessly recruited the entire thing. Yes, he had his photographic memory to help him, but as they had learned the other day, sometimes he had to read/remind himself of it twice, just to make sure he could easily recall. "You took the time to memorize that article?"

"Well, I wanted to share it with you." He shrugged, but the corners of his lips twitched when Sophie's heart switched to hummingbird mode.

She smiled and whispered, "Thank you."

Keefe grinned. "Anytime, Foster."


a/n: guyssss i need some ideas for some more fluffy chapters, oof. request or give me ideas? pretty please?