During my pregnant state, I kind of forgot to reprimand Kia. You can't really blame me though. The hormones and constant puking sort of pre-occupied me. Oh, and the amazing sex Rob and I were having didn't do much for the scolding either. But it did a lot to me. Boy, did it ever.

It was probably about four months later when I came across something weird again.

Rob, Kia, and I were out at dinner. We picked this nice little fancy restaurant in our area. It was a family-owned restaurant, so I was familiar with the doings and crap. It was no TGI Fridays, I assure you.

Well, Rob and I were sitting there, next to each other. Kia was on the opposite side. She said she wanted to be "imdeperdant." I assume she meant "independent." So we let her sit on the other side. Rob had his hand on my thigh and - uh, I know this is probably really inappropriate, but my hand happened to be . . . in his pants.

I know. I know.

Bad, Jess.

But, well, I couldn't help it.

We've been trying to keep away from the sex for a bit because I was in my later stages. I had two months left. And I could seriously damage the baby if we were too rough, which we happened to be.

But touching . . . well, that we haven't stopped. That we couldn't stop.

Anywho . . .

Well, Rob seemed to be enjoying this. I mean, its not like I was giving him a hand job or anything. My hand wasn't in his boxers. They were just merely in his pants - on top of his boxers. So, yeah, I knew he was feeling a bit happy.

Heh, the only reason I didn't stick my hands in his pants was because I didn't want him walking out of the place with a frigging hard-on. That would suck for him. I didn't want to cause him any embarrassment.

I saw the waiter approaching, so I quickly and subtly removed my hand from my boyfriend's pants.

The waiter was a handsome-looking man in his early twenties. "What can I get you folks?" he asked in a heavily accented voice.

I looked up and could tell he was eyeing me. I let Rob order for us, since he knew what Kia and I liked. He ordered some pasta dish for me (carbs all the way!), a steak for him, and a (kid's meal) pizza and mac n' cheese. After the waiter disappeared, Rob leaned over and said, "You can have some of my steak, baby. I just didn't want to waste food." Then he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me full on the lips. Unfortunately, there was no tongue. But then I realized that we were in a public place and in front of our daughter. Not so much of a good example.

After he let go of me, he whispered so only I could hear, "If that guy eyes you again, I'm gonna knock him out."

"Rob," I giggled and punched his arm playfully. But when he rubbed his arm, I realized I had forgotten how hard I punch. "Don't make a scene."

"I won't," he assured me, "if he doesn't check you out again." Then he kissed me cheek. "You're mine."

Okay, not such a good thing to say to a hormonal pregnant woman.

I mean, if I'm supposedly 'his', then why hasn't he proposed to me yet? Why aren't we engaged? Seriously, though. We have one kid - and not to mention another on the way. Can't I just have a freakin' ring?

It's the hormones, I swear.

However, I chose not to say anything. I didn't want to end up yelling at him in the middle of a restaurant. Can you say 'embarrassing'?

I ignored his last comment and snuggled into him. "I love you," I whispered.

He grinned and kissed my forehead. "I love you too, baby."

Right at that moment, the waiter came back with our food. I felt the waiter's eyes on me again.

I grabbed Rob's arm. "Rob," I said sternly.

He turned to me. "Yes?" he said, barely letting the anger seep into his voice. But I heard it.

I gestured my hand to make the waiter vamoose. He did so and I scolded Rob. "I know, Rob. I saw it, too. But can we just make it through the night without you doing that?"

He sighed. "If you wish," he replied. "I'm sorry, baby."

I smiled. "It's okay. Now eat."

We both shared our meals. Kia took one look at our food and wrinkled her nose. "Ick," she commented and dug into her food.

A few minutes later, as we were eating, something caught the corner of my eye. A napkin.

Okay, I know. A napkin isn't all that exciting. Even those soft cotton ones. But its pretty unnerving when you happen to see a napkin floating in thin air. Right when I looked at it, though, it dropped.

I looked at Rob with a shocked expression on my face. He looked at me. "I saw it too," he told me.

Then we both looked at Kia. She was eating contentedly.

That was when I got a weird thought in my head: Could she have inherited some kind of psychic power . . . ?

No, not possible.

I immediately dismissed that thought from my head.

We finished up our meals and paid and tipped the waiter. Rob did so grudgingly (tipping the waiter), but I made him. We left the restaurant with a weird tension between us.

I fell asleep during the car ride back. I faintly remembered being carried into the house and lain carefully on the bed. I guess being pregnant really tuckers you out.

I woke up later. I was in the bed, snuggled up next to Rob, my head on his chest. I heard the TV on - a sitcom or something. I groaned slightly. I guess that alerted Rob that I was awake. "Hey," he said.

I lifted my head up and smiled at him. "Hey," I said back. Then I noticed the window behind our bed (don't worry, it's not low so everyone can see our bedroom activities. It's one of those semicircle ones). It was dark out. "What time is it?"

He looked at his watch. "Eight," he replied. Then he lifted me closer to him so he could kiss me. Quite difficult, considering my bulging belly, but he managed nonetheless. Then he kissed me. "You still tired?"

"Not anymore," I replied, dazed.

He chuckled. "Good," he said.

And, well, I guess you can tell what happened. We weren't really supposed to be doing that in my later stages, but I was so horny, we had to. And, between you and me, I think Rob likes it better when I'm like this. He gets more out of it, I think.

- § -

Rob and I were lying side by side, breathing pretty heavily. We had just finished another round of . . . you know. I should get pregnant more often. Personally, I think the sex is awesome - even better than normal.

Five minutes later, with our breathing still a little ragged, Rob got off the bed. He slipped his boxers on and walked over to his dresser and pulled something out and hid it behind his back. Then came over to me and moved me so I was sitting on the edge of the bed. Then he knelt down in front of me.

Could this be . . . ?

"Jess," he said, "I know you wanted this for a while, but I didn't have enough money at the time." He showed me what was behind his back - a little velvet box - oh, my god. He opened it to reveal a stunningly beautiful ring. Then he took a deep breath. "Will you marry me, Jess?"

I looked at him in shock. Soon enough, though, the shock turned into happiness, and I had a huge grin plastered to my face. "YES!" I yelled, and jumped on him before he could even slip the ring on my finger. Oh, and I was very pregnant, so I think I may have knocked him over. Who knows?

"Oof." He recovered from shock soon enough and hugged and kissed me. He picked me up (must have been pretty hard considering I put on quite a bit of weight - I could tell already that this baby would be big) and laid me on the bed. He lay down next me. Then he sat up and pulled me onto his lap. I turned around to face him and he slipped the ring on my finger. It was gorgeous. "I love you, baby," he whispered.

I still had that huge grin on my face. "I love you, too," I whispered back.

He took his boxers off again and we - uhhh . . . had another round. After that, we were laying down. My head was on his chest, as per usual, and his arms were around me protectively and possessively.

"Jess," he said. I could feel his voice reverberating through his chest. "You still awake?"

"Uh huh," I murmured.

"Good," he said. "I was wondering . . . would you take my name after we get married?" he asked.

The way he said that made me believe that he thought I wouldn't. As confusing as that sounds. So I decided to play with him a little.

"I dunno . . ." I said, trailing off. "I'd have to think about it." Then I looked up at his face and saw that he was very disappointed and put out. I slapped his chest. "Of course I will, honey. I was just playing."

He grinned happily. Then he said, "Excellent." He said it like one of those evil people that drag out the first 'e', except he couldn't rub his hands together since they were wrapped around me.

"Speaking of getting married," I said, "when should we have the wedding?" When I looked at him, he seemed to be deep in thought. I kissed his lips and he came back to reality.

"Hmm . . ." he murmured. "Well, after you have the baby, of course. Maybe in May?"

I thought about this. I had always wanted a spring wedding. I'd be having the baby in December, so five months after that sounded good.

I fell asleep pondering this. I knew that, soon enough, I'd have to tell my mother. And that would be . . . hell.

- § -

When I awoke, I saw that Rob was still sleeping. So I carefully and quietly removed his arms from around me and got out of the bed. I put one of his shirts on and walked to the kitchen.

The clock on the kitchen stove read: 7:42. Wow, I haven't been up this early in a long time. That was when I realized that Rob had to work that day. He'd be waking up at 8:00 and going in at 9:00. So, well, I decided to make him breakfast. I nice home-made breakfast. Being the daughter of a 'gourmet chef' I managed to pick up a few things. I made some bacon and eggs. I poured a glass of orange juice for both of us and set it on the table. And by the time he came down after his shower, I was finished.

"Hey," he greeted me. Then he saw all of the food set up. "Wow," he said, looking shocked. "You did this for me?"

I nodded. "Of course," I said. "After last night . . ." I trailed off. "Well, I just had to."

"No, you didn't," he said, "but I'm grateful for it. By the way, how is my fianceé doing on this fine morning?" he asked.

I sat down across from him on the table. "Your fianceé is doing wonderfully," I replied. I leaned across the table as much as I could and planted a kiss on his lips.

He smiled. "If only it could be this way every morning . . ." he commented.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He looked at me and grinned. "You know, wake up in the morning to a wonderful breakfast. Then have the girl of your dreams in just a shirt, sitting across from you. A sexy, pregnany, horny woman."

I kicked him under the table. "Hey! I'm not horny," I replied. Then I thought that statement over. "Well, okay, I am, but you don't have to rub it in."

He laughed. He got up and came over to me. "I love you," he said and kissed me. "And now I have to go to work," he said, glancing at the clock.

"No you don't," I said. "You could call in sick today, couldn't you? And I can get my mom to watch Kia."

He laughed. "I wish, baby, but with all of the sick days I've taken, I'm afraid I don't have any left." He smirked, then said, "But your mom could watch Kia after I get home from work, couldn't she?"

I giggled. Yes, giggled. "Of course. Go to work, Rob. I'll see you when you get home." I kissed him one more time and walked him to the door. "I love you."

"And I love you," he said. "On second thought . . ." Then he glanced at his bike. "Maybe I will call in sick."

"Rob," I said sternly. "Just go to work."

"Okay, okay," he said. He got on his bike and rode off.