Month 3
"Feeling fat lasts nine months, but the joy of being a mother lasts forever."
~Nikki Dalton
The whole house filled with the aroma of steamed vegetables, mashed potato, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and turkey. Mal could feel himself getting hungrier and hungrier by the second, but he forced himself not to pick at the food until Natara was ready. So, he patiently waited in the living room until he heard a bloody scream coming from upstairs.
"Mal…MAL! COME HERE!" It was Natara.
For a second, he thought that something was wrong, or that Natara had fallen, or something had happened to the baby, but when he got upstairs, panting heavily, he felt relief when Natara walked out of the bathroom, looking safe and sound.
"Natara, you're alright!" he gasped and flopped down onto their bed. "Why the heck did you scream so loudly?"
Natara had tears in her eyes. "Mal, all of my clothes are tight on me… I just… Ughhhhhh!" She sat down in the recliner, sobbing.
"Is that a bad thing?" Mal wondered aloud as his thoughts drifted back to the delicious Thanksgiving food waiting downstairs.
Natara gasped. "Of course it is! This blouse I've wanted to wear for the longest time is really tight on me! I…I must be getting fatter!"
Mal could see what was upsetting her. "Er, here's the thing, Natara…when you get pregnant, you're kind of supposed to gain wait. You're sort of carrying a baby, you know?" He tried to help her feel better.
Suddenly, Natara threw the tight blouse at him. "No need to get sarcastic, Mal…" she groaned. "I'm depressed enough as is." She cried. Mal walked over to her and placed his arm around her shoulders.
"Don't you have another shirt you can wear?" he asked her. "Ken, Amy, and Kai are probably almost here…"
Natara walked into her closet and pulled out a white blouse. "Thank goodness my mom sends too-big clothes for me every Christmas."
Mal sighed with relief, and then cracked a joke. "Hey, that means the clothes that she sends this year are gonna fit you just right!"
This time, Natara threw a pillow at him.