Guest Comments
Guest: Lol, I love Andie's little teasing, too. I will definitely have the idea on the list! Thank you so much for reading and enjoying!
Title: Mirror
Summary: She wants it to be noticeable.
Note: I don't think this one was actually based on a prompt, but I was working on 2 other RH fics and this one slipped out instead. Just a quick little thing, and then hopefully finishing up the other two!
Emma dropped her keys on the table as she came through the door, sighing loudly. The apartment was dim, so she didn't call out into the emptiness. The rolling hum of the heater was the only sound to be heard. She twisted the lock and then pulled her hands through her hair, tugging slightly.
She was exhausted. The first sign of pregnancy had been that, but after the storm that was her hyperemesis, it had waned a bit. Now it seemed back with a vengeance, weighing down on her since mid-morning. She had just barely scrapped together the last reports from the Dolman payment before giving in to temptation and leaving her upper Manhattan office.
She shed her coat and left it in a heap on the couch, then bent awkwardly over the bulge of her stomach to plunk her boots by the door. In socked feet, she padded to the bedroom, intent on falling into the sheets and maybe having an old sitcom in the background just for the noise.
Emma frowned when she caught sight of herself in the mirror as she passed, then paused. She was a bit wind-blown but still professional-looking; her white blouse was wrinkled in parts but still crisp in the right areas, her pants dark and slim. The shirt, though, was boxy and a little fashionably oversized, hiding the distention. She twisted, trying to see if that made the bump more prominent, and then frowned deeply.
Carefully, she pulled apart the buttons and let the material fall to the ground. For good measure, she flicked open the clasp of her trousers and left those in a pool at her feet as well, stepping out of them and then kicking them to the side. She examined herself closely, hands framing either side of her stomach.
She was sure the baby could feel her anxiousness as he immediately began moving, twisting beneath skin. She smiled, then examined herself again, straightening her posture to check the progress and then arching her back to enhance it. She released a low huff of a breath and then placed her hands on her hips, brow furrowed.
She jumped suddenly when a hand appeared in the side of the mirror and came to her shoulder. She whiplashed to face her husband. "Where did you come from?" she exclaimed.
He chuckled slightly at her surprise and jerked his head toward the bed. "You didn't see me when you came in. I was trying to nap."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Sorry. Preoccupied."
"Looking at the twins?"
She shot him a look and then rolled her hands over her stomach. "I keep thinking I'm huge and then I can't even notice when I'm in clothes," she said, pouting.
He pressed his chest against her back and then melded into her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. His eyes met hers in the mirror and he grinned, then ducked his head. "You are stunning," he said into her skin before placing an open mouth kiss into the juncture of her neck. "And I can tell when you're in clothes."
"Just because you're always trying to," she shot back, and felt a bit of annoyance as she realized she was almost teary with it.
He shrugged. "I don't know. I just really love seeing you like this."
She leaned back into him, letting him sway them gently. "I just wanna be sure he's healthy."
"Dr. Swanson said he is," he countered matter-of-factly.
She shrugged up one shoulder. "Doesn't mean I trust him. He can't even see enough on the screen to tell me if he's a boy or a girl."
He sighed and kissed her cheek, then met her gaze in the mirror. "You were sick so long, Em, and you lost so much weight. You've gotten bigger, it's just you can't see it as much now that you're healthy again," he soothed, and ran his hands across her stomach. "Believe me. I'm checking every day."
She smirked at the playfulness in his tone as her skin sparked with heat. "You sure you're not just enjoying the other side effect of pregnancy when you do that?" she asked. His touch stirred her exceptionally quickly now, and she couldn't exactly deny that when she took to jumping him just as quick.
"Hmm, maybe," he said, then swept her hair to the side. He pressed kisses across the back of her neck until he straightened behind her. His hands were not idle, moving slow and steady across her middle until they drifted back and snapped the hook of her bra. It fell and she grinned up at him. His eyebrows raised as he made his best innocent expression. "What? I can see better without it."
She raised a brow and let the bra fall to the floor. "Of course. Your intentions are always purely so innocent."
"Always," he echoed, and grasped her hips, rolling his thumbs under the waistband of her panties. "See, though? They've gotten bigger, too. It's just a matter of proportion."
She rolled her eyes. "You've been checking those, too?"
"I have you memorized, Emma," he said into her ear, voice rumbly and deep. "And I like mapping the changes."
Her eyes fluttered shut and she collapsed back against him. She loved when he was like this, all cuddly and warm and comforting but also slowly building to something more. She didn't need such a work at seduction, especially now, but she couldn't say she didn't appreciate it. "You're home early," she murmured in question. She tried calculating the time before Henry was due to come home.
He nodded, a small smile on his lips as he spread his hands over her stomach. "Miller sent me and Simmons home for an extended lunch. We're doing interviews tonight."
She stiffened and her eyes snapped open. She couldn't keep the worry out of her expression as she placed her palms over his. "Interviews?"
He let out a soft exhale. "Yeah. Still part of the job," he reminded, and then resumed massaging her skin. "It's an old case, Emma. Everyone we're seeing is elderly. The youngest was a kid when it happened, and now is in their late fifties at least."
She rolled her eyes up to keep them from watering. "So are you," she spit back teasingly, trying hard not to let it get to her. She hated this part of his job. She always had, after what happened with Fell. It had only grown from there, in every missed call and late night text. Every time she went to the precinct and saw the small red scar on Garcia's neck … she couldn't help the worry and fear that piqued. Her body tremored.
"Hey, now, I'm not even thirty yet," he quipped back, though his tone was careful. He grasped her hands and set them in front of her. Cautiously, he released her, taking a miniscule step back. "Let go."
She turned her head slightly, angry that she still couldn't find another way to release the tension. She blew out a low breath along with a bit of the tingling nervous energy that had been coursing through her. The lights flared on and then faded out, the only visible sign of her magic. She watched as goosebumps covered his skin, and her nose and eyes stung. "I'm sorry," she said softly.
He shook his head and kissed the underside of her jaw. "Not needed," he insisted, even as she felt him work to relax back into the easy seduction he had been in before. "It's keeping you both healthy."
She looked down and gave a half-hearted shrug. She knew it did, but she still felt guilty ever since she found that link. It was both because she had been the one making herself so sick, and also because every time she released it she was triggering memories deep within him. She cursed Regina once again, that pit of bile deeper than the fear. As good as their lives were, for as happy as they were, it couldn't erase the past. No matter how much she wished it could.
He dragged his lips up the side of her head and chuckled into her hair. "This little pomegranate is going to be something."
She smiled despite herself. "Yeah, he really is," she agreed, and rolled her hands over her stomach one more time. Tiny though he might be, he was at least still on track. And definitely adding to these little magical and emotional outbursts of hers. She sniffed and swiped her eyes, trying to get back to something resembling herself. "You'll be careful, right?"
"I always am," he said, and hugged her close to him.
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to let that fully comfort her. She inhaled him deeply, then hummed. She took his hands and dragged them over her skin. "So … how much time do you have?"
He grinned and moved back slightly to tug the shirt over his head. "Enough," he said cheekily, and walked backwards toward the bed.
She lazily dragged her gaze over his chest through the reflection, and then bit down on her lip as she peeked over her shoulder. "Then why are you so overdressed?"
He sprung forward to grab her by the waist and dragged her down into the sheets. She bounced on the mattress and let out a giggle as he settled over her. "I thought we'd focus on finding some more changes first," he said, and tugged down the last of her clothing.
She guessed it'd be okay to let him have his way.