PLEASE NOTE: The original chapter, in the uncensored version, focused on Hiei rediscovering his sexuality after the original "worst trimester." Therefore, the original chapter was almost all focused on "doing the deed," and a lot was cropped out. I hope you'll enjoy it anyway, and if you would like the chapter in full, it's in the full uncensored edition!

DECEMBER 4—THREE MONTHS PREGNANT

On Friday, when Kurama was at work, Hiei made a sneaky excursion to the bookstore. He still wasn't secure enough to wear one of his new maternity graphic tees, but he did wear a T-shirt that fit him well. It was just a tiny bit of pudge, anyway, not a true pregnant belly; even if he had been a woman, he didn't think anyone would look at him and think he was pregnant. He used his Jagan eye to find his destination, and then he got there very quickly. The second trimester was the perfect time for using superspeed again; he wasn't sick and dizzy anymore, but the baby wasn't big enough yet to restrict his movement.

Once he had picked out his reading material, he brought it to the counter so he could buy it. Kurama was the breadwinner in the family, so it was his responsibility to earn the money. But as the stay-at-home parent, it was Hiei's responsibility to spend it wisely. He didn't think this counted as wise spending, but it wasn't that expensive, and anyway, he was going to use cash, so what Kurama didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"I'd like to buy this, please," said Hiei, placing the book on the counter.

"Sure thing," said the cashier, but then she frowned. "Hmm…"

"What is it?"

"The bar code is kind of smeared," she explained. "I can't scan it."

"Does that mean I can't buy it?" Hiei asked anxiously.

"Of course you can buy it," she told him. "I just need to call an associate to give me the numbers so I can type it in manually."

"Oh," said Hiei. "Okay."

"Hey, who's working in erotic manga?" said the cashier into her walkie-talkie. Hiei felt his cheeks grow warm. "Yeah, I need numbers for one…Title? It's called 'Two Sausages, One Dream…' No, the one with the two half-naked men eating sausages on the cover…"

"It's not for me," Hiei lied, embarrassed. "It's for a friend."

"I didn't really ask who it was for, but thanks for sharing," said the cashier. Once her coworker gave her the numbers and she rung it up, Hiei had her put it in a bag, and then he sped home.

Hiei had been relieved of some classic first-trimester symptoms, but a new one had cropped up. These days, his main pregnancy craving was intimacy. Lots of it. Everything he saw reminded him of it; he was constantly in the mood, even when he was asleep. He'd even awoken once or twice to stains on the sheets, as if he was in puberty again. It was like this weird itch he just couldn't seem to properly scratch, and not even doing it with Kurama seemed to satisfy him anymore, hardly—not that he hungered for someone else. He just hungered for more. For something new to try.

Before the pregnancy, Hiei would engage in self-pleasure maybe once a day or every other day, but now he just did it whenever the mood struck him, which was quite often. Not only that, but the way he used to do it solo didn't satisfy him anymore. Despite all of his erogenous zones being about a million times more erogenous than before, they called out for more than Hiei felt he could currently provide. So that was why he bought this book. Women didn't do it for Hiei at all, so he got a male/male manga instead. This way, he would have double the parts he liked, and none of the parts he didn't. Hopefully, it would get him heated up enough that he could wait until Kurama got home.

Before he went upstairs, Hiei got himself a bag of pretzels (no use pouring them into a bowl; he'd just want a refill), some saltwater, and a huge carton of coffee ice cream, topped with salt. Salt was the thing he craved second-of-all. (It was the coffee thing that was weird; he had always hated the taste of that human beverage before, but now he loved it. The reason he tended to eat coffee-flavored ice cream instead of drinking actual coffee was because caffeine was bad for the baby.)

Chapter One wasn't dirty like Hiei expected it to be. It was just about how the two main characters met, sort of romantic, really. So he skimmed through it until he got to Chapter Two, where the real hentai would start, he hoped. Sure enough, he wasn't two pages into the second chapter when the real action began.

…

Kurama came home from work that day tired and hungry. Not that he was in a bad mood, but he did need to eat some dinner and recharge his batteries a bit. Before he had even set his briefcase down, though, Hiei bolted into the foyer, wearing nothing but pajamas. His face was pink and his hair was wet, signaling that he had just had a shower. But he was panting heavily, and there was something wild about his eyes.

"Um…good afternoon, Hiei," said Kurama warily. "Is that a can of lube in your hand?"

In response, Hiei grabbed Kurama's wrist with a surprising amount of force and dragged him over to the couch.

"You're going to be a nice plaything," he hissed, tugging on Kurama's hair.

Kurama was in shock. This was unlike Hiei, who had always been rather vanilla in the bedroom. Not unwilling, certainly, but he had never shown much interest in experimenting sexually. This show of dominance, while not unwelcome, was quite out of the ordinary for him. And yes, he was holding their favorite lube, making it very clear what he wanted to do.

"Hiei," said Kurama, "wait a minute—"

"I did wait!" Hiei shot back impatiently. "I waited for HOURS! I'm sick of waiting!"

"At least let me eat dinner first. I'm hungry."

"Well, I'm hungry too," Hiei growled, still keeping a strong grip on Kurama's forearm. "I'm hungry for you. And the pregnant one gets fed first, so get on your back."

"My back?" They had never done it this way before.

"NOW!" Hiei shouted, and before he knew it, Kurama was lying on the couch on his back, with the other demon easily climbing on top of him.

...

"I love you so much, Hiei," Kurama whispered, after they were done. "And you know what? I've never seen you so sexy."

"Really?" Hiei gave him a tired smile.

"You seemed so confident in yourself, and in your sexuality," Kurama told him, smiling back. "I loved that. I want you to be happy with your body, especially now."

"Thanks, Kurama." Hiei snuggled into the couch. "I could use a nap."

"Wouldn't you like a shower first?"

"Well…" Hiei shrugged. "I guess I could get a shower, and I could nap while you cook dinner."

"Yes, and I need to change out of my work clothes," Kurama agreed.

So they went upstairs. Hiei went into the bathroom to take a shower, while Kurama went to change out of his suit and tie, not to mention those ridiculously long black socks he had to wear. He put on old jeans, a white T-shirt, and pink fuzzy socks instead. Then he thought it would be nice if maybe Hiei already had his pajamas and socks laid out for him on the bed. The bedsheets were kind of…dirty, for want of a better word, but Kurama wasn't surprised until he opened Hiei's sock drawer and found the book hidden in there.

Woah! No wonder Hiei had gotten so adventurous all of a sudden. This book had certainly put some ideas in his head. Kurama wanted to read the manga himself, because it looked like there was actually a beautiful romantic plot and not just indulgent porn. But he seriously doubted Hiei had gotten it for the plot.

Kurama was reading the manga and he was on Chapter Three when Hiei got out of the shower, wearing his black bathrobe. As soon as he saw Kurama's reading material, his eyes got wide and his cheeks flushed.

"I didn't know you were into this kind of manga, Hiei," Kurama teased, waving the book at him. "Is this what you do all day when I'm working?"

"That's, uh, not mine." Hiei's face was so red, it looked like he had a fever.

"Relax, Hiei, I don't care," Kurama told him, laughing. "It's actually a nice story. What I'm really not pleased with is the stain you left on the sheets."

"Oh…sorry," said Hiei, flustered. "I-I guess I forgot to—"

"I'm still joking, Hiei," said Kurama with a smile. "It's not a big deal. Look, the more you do this, the better you'll know what you want me to do when I come home at night. As long as you haven't taken up with another man or something, what you do while I'm at work doesn't matter to me."

"Of course I would never want another guy, Kurama," said Hiei, walking over and hugging Kurama around his neck. He was warm, and still a little wet from his shower.

"I love you, Hiei," said Kurama, snuggling him.

"I love you too," Hiei said back as he returned the hug.

…

The next morning, Hiei awoke around noon to find, as usual on weekdays, that Kurama had gone to work and left him to sleep in. When he opened his eyes, he saw that it was the first snow of the year; the Tree of Life had lost its leaves, but the branches looked beautiful lined with the delicate white substance. Hiei was glad he didn't have to drive or go to work, and that he could just snuggle up in the warm sheets with Kurama's pillow, which smelled just like him.

It was winter; that meant the second trimester had officially started, and the second trimester was supposed to be the easiest one. It was turning out to be at least halfway true for Hiei. Some of his problems were ones he'd had before, unsavory things like burping, gas, constipation, and an annoyingly weak bladder. He had gotten up to pee no less than four times last night, maybe more, if he'd forgotten.

But those cooking pots that had once sat by the bedside were now gone; Hiei had enough energy that he could make it to the bathroom on time, every time, and he hadn't thrown up for weeks now. Sometimes seeing a food commercial or hearing about one of his aversions made him feel a little queasy, and plenty of smells could make him downright nauseous, but it had never been so bad that it got to the point of vomiting, at least not yet.

Again, not all of Hiei's problems had gone away, so this morning began with a trip to the bathroom, as usual. When he was washing his hands, Hiei chanced a glance at the bathroom mirror, marveling at how different he looked now. Of course he knew that his body was going to change, but that had been more in terms of getting a pregnant belly. What he didn't anticipate was the fact that his entire body had changed, not just his abdominal area.

One fairly new thing he noticed was that, in addition to his rounder (and, okay, cuter) face and fuller ass, his hair had gotten thicker and softer. When he ran his fingers through the spiky black locks, they felt almost silken. And his skin! It wasn't as if he'd had an acne problem before, but still, his skin had never looked so clear. For the first time in his entire pregnancy, he was able to look in the mirror and see what Kurama saw: someone who was attractive, and carrying the "glow" of life inside him. It was nice to feel sexy and not self-conscious in the least.