Things You Said When You Thought I Was Asleep
It was when she was awakened for the fifth time from her nap that she determined that Ein would never let her have any proper sleep. Once, fine. Twice, even. But after number five, she was convinced that her child was just rude, and it wasn't fair. She was too tired to even open her eyes, not finding it in her to move.
And then she heard it: the soft, tenor murmuring coming from her side. For a moment, she was confused, her sleep-deprived mind trying to connect who would be next to her.
Stein, of course. Who else? No other person on the planet would ever come to Patchwork Labs, and certainly not next to her while she was in bed,
Last she checked, most people enjoyed having their organs in their abdomen: they likely wouldn't take too kindly to Stein whipping out his scalpels. Partially, she knows it's because he's been in desperate want of a new test subject, but also that, as she rounded out to her sixth month of pregnancy, her bloated belly making her ankles swell and her shoulders hunch, he'd gotten more concerned with almost every other thing in regards to her and their baby.
She doesn't mind. Not really. It was nice to have a partner who put her first.
Though, she told him to stop reading all those pregnancy statistics: he had a calender of them, marking off each day. "87% of pregnant mothers experience… .on day…"
She almost groaned. He had everything written down: from when she had morning sickness to how often she wanted sex. The man was a scientist down to his very core.
But, what he was saying didn't sound very medical. In fact, she couldn't even make out the language for a good few moments.
Not until she strained her ears did she realize it wasn't German, and certainly not English.
Yiddish, she realized with a start. He was speaking Yiddish and the only reason she knew was because she had overheard him on the phone with his mother before she went to nap. There was nothing strange about that, save for the fact that, though he usually spoke to his mother in German, he had switched over to a different language Marie had to ask him about.
She couldn't really make out what he said, but it sounded comforting, almost like prayer, the foreign syllables hushed and tender as his fingers drummed on her bellybutton so gently, she could barely feel it.
It was more soothing than she thinks he knows. Because Ein seemed placated, eased by whatever it was Stein was saying.
His palm was warm and comforting on her stomach: she knew he would usually be hesitant to be so soft when she was awake. He must not have realized she had been taken from her slumber by their rambunctious child.
Though, rambunctious no more. Ein was calm for the first time in what felt like hours. And, with Stein settled next to her, his soul flared up as though protection, Marie found herself breathing deeper, lulled to sleep.
Sooooo, this drabble dump is about to get bumped up to being rated M. I've gotten a lot of more mature requests recently! Just wanted to give anyone reading a heads up!