Chapter 21

Can't Get To Sleep Tonight

It's eleven pm. Charlotte can't sleep so she sits up in bed and turns on the bedside lamp. She clicks it on to dim and opens her book, shifting the lamp so it shines on the page she left off on about seven minutes ago before she tried to go to sleep. It only takes a minute for Cooper to hear her stirring. He turns over and asks, "Can't sleep again?"

"Baby's kicking too much again tonight," she informs him.

Cooper places his hand on her six month old baby bump and holds it there waiting. He feels the movement going on below. "That's truly amazing. You're so lucky." He sighs.

Charlotte's eyes peek over her book at him. "You care to tell me how I'm lucky to be kept up all night by a tiny monkey doing somersaults in my belly?"

He looks up at her. "I'm jealous, it's amazing that you're able to grow a life in your body. It's mind blowing, there's a real live human growing inside of you." Cooper pulls up her t-shirt, well really his t-shirt cuz none of hers fit anymore and he kisses her belly.

She jokes, "I could refer you for a sex change if you want."

"That's okay I'll stick with the parts my momma gave me." He smiles.

Charlotte puts her book down and joins him rubbing her belly. Her hand maneuvers around his. "All day long she's pretty quiet but as soon as I get in bed the gymanstics begin."

Cooper explains, "When you're walking around all day it must rock her to sleep. When you're in bed and quiet she wakes up."

"We better change her schedule or she's going to be nocturnal and keep us both up all night after she's born." Their hands collide as they rub her belly.

Cooper raises up his eyebrows, "I know a way we can rock her back to sleep." It's been amonth since his heart attack and they haven't been intimate since. The evening of his heart attack in the medical records department was the first time they had sex since Charlotte's coma. Yhey've had sex once in four and a half months and Cooper's starving for it now.

"Not tonight." Charlotte pats his hand with hers over her swollen belly. Truth be told, she's starved for it as much as he is. She's still in the second trimester and her libido is running high. She's aware in the third trimester she'll probably be too tired and uncomfortable to enjoy sex.

"Why not?" Cooper makes a boo boo face to gain sympathy.

Charlotte brushes his hand off her belly and pulls her shirt back down. "Not tonight." She tells him again.

"What did I do?" Cooper asks rolling on to his back.

"Nothing Cooper, I'm just not in the mood." She lies to him.

"Oh," Cooper rolls onto his side with his back to her now.

She looks over at him as he gathers up some of his own belly fat and squeezes.

She grimaces, "What in the world are you doing over there?"

"Seeing how much more weight I need to lose." Cooper's lost five pounds since his heart attack last month in addition to losing all the weight he gained eating fast food for the two months Charlotte was in the hospital. He's been eating right and started going back to the gym. "You won't have sex with me because you think I'm fat." He tells her rolling back over to the other side so he's facing her again.

"You sound like a woman Cooper! I'm the one who should be thinking like that, not you."

"You're a hot pregnant woman and I'm a blob of fat."

"Cooper, you look awesome. You've lost weight and gained muscle." She reaches across and squeezes his bicep. "You are hot!"

"Then why don't you want to be with me?" He asks softly and he's breaking her down. She scoots down in bed next to him so she's lying face to face with him.

"I do want to be with you, real bad" She kisses his lips and runs her hand across his abdomen.

"Yeah?" He quirks ans eyebrow.

"Yeah." She smiles pulling up his shirt and running her hand back and forth over his abdomen, just above the wasitband of his boxer briefs.

His lips brush against her skin as they make their way down her collar bone. He pulls her shirt off and then his. She's not wearing a bra and she can feel his breath on her breasts.

She reaches into his boxer briefs. He purrs in approval and moves his lips back up to hers. His tongue finds hers and they kiss deep. Her pulse is racing now and she gets a tingling sensation over her body.

He pulls her in as tight as he can pressing up against her.

She pumps him and feels his heart racing through his chest pounding against her chest the more she pumps. He's purring loud now and sucking on her neck but all she can focus on is his heartbeat.

Lub... dup... lub... dup... pounding through his chest against hers. She feels his heart rate getting faster and faster as she pumps his hard muscle. Her heart sinks into her stomach and she stops.

She lets go of him and rolls onto her back. "We can't do this." She breathes out.

He's damn near shocked. "Are you okay? Did I do something to hurt you?" He asks concerned.

"It's your heart. It's beating fast." She tells him while lying on her back staring at the ceiling.

He rolls onto his back now. "I hope so. It means I'm alive."

She rests her hands on her belly, still looking at the ceiling. "I thought you migh have another heart attack."

Cooper sighs, "Charlotte, I'm fine."

"I swear Cooper, if you croak on me and leave me alone to raise this child, I'll..."

He laughs, "What will you do to me if I'm already dead?"

"It's not funny, I'm serious, Cooper."

"Charlotte, I'm fine, I'm not going anywhere." He grasps her hand.

"You better not." She settles back in next to him. He drapes his arm across her swollen belly and she nuzzles her nose into his neck."

He can feel the baby move against his arm draped over her belly. "Someone's doing somersaults again."

"I can feel it." She whispers back to him.

"Char?" He asks just above a whisper.

"Hmmm?" She's tired now.

"What will it take to convince you I'm okay?" He waits for an answer.

She thinks for a minute. "I don't know." The truth is she has flashbacks of his heart attack everytime she even thinks about having sex with him.

He groans quietly to himself worrying they may never have sex again at this rate.

A/N- Thanks for all the name suggestions. I already have a name chosen. It isn't any of the names you guys have suggested, sorry! The name will be revealed in chapter 23 and the special nickname it will be shortened to will be revealed in Chapter 24! Not too far to go!

Thanks for reading/reviewing! =)