Prompt: Cravings
Rating: T

As her pregnancy progressed, Jess began to experience more of the side effects and symptoms shed read about online. Some of them, the nausea and the exhaustion and the hormonally charged emotional outburst at the most inopportune of moments, she would have happily gone without.

Others, she was quite happy to experience.

She was midway through her pregnancy when the first craving struck. Sitting at the ADD, counting down the minutes until she could clock off, she was suddenly hit by an intense desire for prawn crackers and plum sauce. It wasn't one of the unusual cravings with scary combinations that she'd been worried about having but she still managed to raise a few eyebrows when she asked – Becker would later say demanded – that they detour to their favourite Chinese takeaway on their way home so she could pick up her snack of choice.

And that had just been the beginning.

Toffee coated popcorn was something that had always appealed to her because of her natural sweet tooth; happily munching on it after coating it in a generous amount of onion and garlic dip was a little bit on the peculiar side.

Ice cream – vanilla flavoured, because for some reason the thought of ice cream of any other flavour caused her stomach to churn – also became a common staple in the Becker household. As long as it was accompanied by pickled onions – the little ones, not the large ones, as Becker learned to his peril when he returned home after a late night visit to the local shop with the wrong ones.

Whenever her husband or one of their friends or family complained about her new eating habits, Jess shrugged her shoulders and told them it could be worse – she'd read online about women who ended up eating chalk and plaster from the walls of their homes, after all.

She went through a phase of wanting French fries with mayonnaise, too – a normal combination of food but one that wasn't necessarily recommend for pregnant women. Although she tried the French fries with a number of different sauces and dips as accompaniments, none seemed to hit the spot quite like the mayonnaise that was only recommended in very small doses so Jess learned to go without.

Having never been one to enjoy really spicy food, Jess was surprised when, after deciding to try Indian food instead of their usual Chinese takeaway, she sampled some of Becker's hot and spicy chicken Jalfrezi and found she liked it. She liked it a lot. So much so, in fact, that she ended up trading half of her mild Korma for half of what was left of his with her very bemused husband.

Her cravings were what led her to be alone in the house on a Saturday night, pacing the hallway in front of the door as the clock struck nine thirty.

After watching an advert for fried chicken, she'd suddenly started craving the stuff. She wanted fried chicken and baked beans and Becker, ever obliging and feeling a little bit guilty that she'd spent most of the day struggling to get comfortable with a sore back and swollen feet, had offered to go and get her some.

He was good to her, Jess knew, and she wasn't about to start taking him for granted.

Anything he could do to make her comfortable and happy, he would. He always had, from the very beginning of their relationship. And since she'd found out she was pregnant and they'd gotten over the small stumbling block their anxieties had caused at the start, Becker was as doting and dependable as always.

He'd decorated the nursery, so she wouldn't have to worry about it.

He went out willingly for food runs no matter time, day or night, to keep her happy.

He massaged her feet, reassured her she was beautiful when she felt fat, constantly surprised her with flowers and little tokens of affection just to brighten up her day…

She was lucky, Jess thought, rubbing her stomach and smiling when she felt her baby move in response. They both were.

Becker would be just as a good a father as he was husband, she was sure. Kind and considerate, protective and strong… Handsome… with lovely hair…

Jess bit her lip and felt heat blossom inside her. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, thinking about her husband with a smile on her face. From that lovely hair of his to those eyes she could gaze into hours, lips she loved to kiss and arms she loved to feel wrapped around her… Hands that strip down and reassemble a gun without conscious thought but which were so gentle when they needed to be…

She heard the key turn in the lock – because of course he'd insisted on her locking the door behind him when he left – and pushed away from the wall, opening her eyes in time to watch him walk in, a bag of food clutched to his chest with one arm. He flashed her a quick grin before turning to lock the door behind him.

The scent of the food still appealed to her but it wasn't fried chicken she was craving right at that moment.

With a stealth that was uncommon, not to mention unusual for a woman of her condition, Jess moved to stand behind him so he was surprised when he turned back to her and found her so close. She stood up on the tiptoes of her bare feet and kissed him soundly, smiling when his free arm wrapped around her waist to pull her closer and a stifled groan escaped him.

His eyes were already dark when he pulled away. "Jess?"

"The chicken can wait," she told him quietly, taking the bag from him and setting it down on the side table without looking away from him. "I'm craving something else now."

It took him a few seconds to realise what she meant but when he did, Becker merely smirked and drew her closer, slanting his mouth over hers in a searing kiss that made her toes curl. "Whatever the lady wants…"

So there will be 24 chapters in total in this story, if I've worked it out right. I'm bargaining with myself - for every chapter of original fiction I finish, I'm allowed to indulge myself with a trip back to Jess and Becker. Here's hoping it works!