"Kuu! Help!"

Kuu set his spatula down and turned off the burner in the kitchen where he was hard at work making breakfast. He made his way to the bedroom where Julie was struggling with her belly trying to put her socks on. It had been about four weeks since the wrap party, and in that small amount of time, her belly had grown exponentially. He chuckled at her and she narrowed her eyes on him.

"It isn't funny, Kuu!"

He knelt on the floor before her and took her foot in his hands. "You're right. It's not funny. It's adorable." He put her sock on, and then put the other one on and helped her to her feet. He ran his hands over her ever-expanding belly. "The bigger it gets, the cuter you look, my love."

She pouted. "Kuu, I look like a freaking whale."

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Shall I harpoon you?"

She rolled her eyes at him and waddled out into the hallway. He covered his mouth to stifle his fit of laughter. He had meant it when he said she was cute. Her big belly and the waddle she had developed lately reminded him of a little penguin. He followed her into the kitchen, where he plated the omelet he had made for her and handed it to her. She nodded her thanks and went to sit at the dining table.

Julie sighed and pushed the egg, peppers, onion and ham around on her plate. Kuu sat down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"You really don't look like a whale, my love." You look like a fluffy little penguin, he thought, but he kept that to himself; he wanted to live to meet his son.

Julie shook her head. "I'm huge. You know, before this happened, I was a size 2? 2, Kuu!" She looked down at the plate. "I'll never look like that again."

Kuu squeezed her hand. "Even if you can't get down to a size 2 again, it's not a bad change. It's just something different. I, for one, think the new you is quite sexy."

She eyed him. "What, you have a Free Willy fetish?"

He laughed. "Free Willy doesn't have huge boobs and a grabbable ass, Julie."

She frowned at her plate. "You're just saying that to be nice." She begrudgingly stuffed a piece of egg into her mouth. "I'll never model again," she muttered.

Kuu stopped trying to comfort her as an idea began to percolate in his head. I'll prove to her that she's still sexy, he thought. Just you wait, Julie. He started putting away his own food. "We need to hurry up, or we're going to be late."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Don't want to be late to go sit on the floor and breathe weird for an hour."

Kuu chuckled. "This class is very important, my little grumpy pe–tunia." He caught himself. He was determined that the word 'penguin' would never pass his lips. "It's going to help you when you're hard at work bringing our son into the world."

Julie didn't even want to think about childbirth. She wanted to remain blissfully ignorant of it until she absolutely could not remain blissfully ignorant of it any longer, so the idea of going to Lamaze class made her feel anxious. Kuu saw the look of worry on her face and took her hand. "It's going to be okay, my love. This class will help so you can feel relaxed and labor will be easier." Or at least, thought Kuu, that's what the pamphlet said.

They drove to the birthing class, which was being held in the instructor's apartment. When they walked in, several of the women and their partner's jaws dropped, but none of them approached. Kuu and Julie took their places on a mat toward the back of the living room. The instructor greeted everyone from the front of the room.

"Welcome to your first Lamaze class! It's so wonderful to see everyone. I'm Kaede Yoshida, and I'll be your instructor for the next few weeks." She turned on the TV. "We're going to begin by showing a video of a natural childbirth so you can all see what you're going to experience in just a few more weeks!"

Kuu saw Julie's back stiffen as the instructor pushed the video tape into the VCR. He took her hand. A short introduction with playful piano music came on the screen, announcing The Miracle of Childbirth. The scenes that followed were, in Kuu's opinion, anything but miraculous. The woman on the screen spent several minutes walking up and down the halls, bouncing on a ball, and then laying in bed. And then the camera moved South. He and Julie stared dumbstruck at the screen as the full reality set in that in just a few weeks, that would be their lives. When the tape ended, the instructor pressed the rewind button and addressed the class. "Does anyone have any questions?"

One of the other women raised her hand. "Um… did that lady need stitches?"

The instructor nodded. "Many women require stitches after the birth of their babies. But, never fear, they numb you before they start."

Kuu grimaced. I'd rather be numb before the tear…

Another lady raised her hand. "How will we know if we need a c-section?"

Julie started to sweat. C-section? She rubbed her belly, uncertain about that. What if they had to cut her baby out of her? Would she be okay? Would Kuon be okay?

The instructor smiled. "Your doctor will be on top of that. They will be monitoring your and baby's condition during labor. If there's any sign of distress to either of you, then you will likely need a c-section. But again, with proper anesthetic there will be no pain. The recovery time is a bit longer with a c-section versus a vaginal birth, however, so we're aiming for all of you ladies to have as natural a birth as possible."

Kuu could see Julie turning a pale shade of green. He took her hand and whispered in her ear. "You're going to be okay, my love. I promise."

She squeezed his hand, but said nothing.

The instructor turned their attention to learning breathing techniques for relaxation and pain management. She had all of the women lay back against their partners for the exercise. She directed them to inhale twice through their nose and exhale once through their mouth. Kuu rubbed Julie's shoulders.

"Are you feeling relaxed?"

She sighed. "Not really. I feel like in two months I'm going to be pushing a bowling ball out of something that thinks your penis is almost too big."

He kissed the top of her head. "I'm going to do my best to make sure that you're as comfortable as possible. Whatever you need me to do, I will be there to do it. Do you trust me?"

Julie gave him a worried smile. "I do."

He hugged her from behind. "All right. Then let's get back to breathing."

As they did some light stretching, the instructor went over things to look out for over the next few weeks. "You might notice a little bit of fluid leaking from your nipples over the coming weeks. This is normal, it just means your breasts are doing what they're supposed to do so baby will have plenty to eat when they get here. You might also notice some small contractions. These are called Braxton-Hicks contractions, and they're just a warm-up for the main event. If, however, your contractions are coming at regular intervals and appear to be getting stronger, please contact your doctor."

By the end of the class, Julie was feeling a little better about her impending labor. Though she was still nervous about the actual physical act of bringing their baby into the world, she felt more secure because of Kuu. He had been there to reassure her, and that meant a lot… even if he couldn't guarantee anything would go smoothly.

When they got back to the Jag, Kuu pulled out of the garage and onto the street… away from the direction of home. Julie raised an eyebrow. "Where are we going?"

Kuu smiled. "What? I can't surprise my cute, pregnant wife?"

She narrowed her eyes on him. "Kuu. What are you up to?"

He laughed. "So suspicious. You'll see."

A few minutes later, he parked in another garage and led her to the elevator. They walked down the street and Kuu pointed at a store ahead. "We're here."

Julie looked into the front windows and squealed. "Baby clothes! Oh, Kuu!" She pulled him along into the store by his hand and fawned over the various colorful racks. She picked up a tiny hanger, upon which hung a tiny pink frilly dress.

"Look at how tiny and precious this is!"

Kuu ran his fingertips over the frills. "It's very cute, but I don't know if this is very… Kuon."

"You mentioned we can make Baby number two on our honeymoon…"

He smirked. "What if it's another boy?"

Julie hmphed. "Then we'll have to adopt a little girl. I need a daughter to put cute dresses on and go shopping with, Kuu!"

Kuu shook his head with a smile. Adopting a daughter, huh? I wonder what that would be like…

Julie put the little dress back on the rack and moved on to a little sailor outfit. "Oh my god. I need this." She thrust it at Kuu, who took it and put it over his arm. She picked up a Dayjowey themed onesie set, a couple of soft blue footie pajamas, and cooed over a tiny pair of jeans. "Kuu, they're all so tiny and cuuute!"

By the time they reached the register, Kuu was laden with no less than 20 outfits, ranging in size from newborn to 12 months. They checked out, after the clerk had a nervous fit over who they were, and then went to get lunch. They sat down at a cafe, and Kuu set their shopping bags in the booth next to him. They ordered tea and sandwiches, and then Kuu took Julie's hands over the table.

"So, are you feeling better?"

She was glowing. "Kuu, all I could do was picture him in all those cute little clothes! I can't wait to see him in his soft little pajamas."

Kuu squeezed her hands. "What do you think he'll look like?"

Julie shook her head with a smile. "I think he'll probably have dark hair like you. And eyes like yours. And he'll probably just look like you, Kuu."

Kuu laughed. "I don't know about that. I happen to think that he's going to look quite a bit like his mother."

She looked down at her belly. "You think?" She smiled. "I don't care who he looks like so long as he's healthy."

He nodded. "Agreed."

When they got home, Kuu waited until Julie was napping before picking up his phone. He made a few phone calls, speaking in hushed tones in their bedroom, and anxiously checking that Julie's position on the couch had not changed between calls. If his plan were to succeed, it had to remain a total secret from her.

The following week, Kuu led Julie to an office building in Shibuya. She raised her eyebrow. "I thought you said we were going shopping?"

He shrugged. "I might have lied a little."

"Oh? So what are we really doing?"

"You'll see."

He held the front door open for her and they stepped into a darkened lobby. There was no one at the front desk. Their footsteps echoed on the outdated tile floor.

"Ah, you're here!"

Julie looked up to see Lory coming down the hall. "Lory? Kuu, where are we?"

Lory waved his hand around. "What you see before you, Julie, is the future headquarters of my company!"

"You bought a whole building!?"

He nodded excitedly. "Yes! Now I just need a name for the business!"

Julie stared at him. "You bought a building without having a name for the business? Isn't that putting the cart before the horse, Lory?"

He waved his hand at her. "It'll come to me. In any event, you two are my first customers, so…"

She turned to Kuu and tilted her head to the side. "Customers? What does he mean?"

Kuu simply smiled, and Lory waved them down the hallway. "Come with me! Kuu has a surprise."

They followed him down the hall, and they stopped at a set of double doors. When he opened them, Julie's eyes widened. There was a modeling set with backdrop and lights. A photographer was sitting in a chair, affixing a lens to his camera. A clothing rack stood off to the side with several different outfits on it. Julie blinked and wandered over to it. "These…are my clothes that Yumiko and I designed. Kuu, what's going on?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you were really sad about having a big belly, and you said you wouldn't model again… so I wanted to prove you wrong." He took her hands. "I still think you're the most gorgeous woman in the world, Julie. Worthy of being in any magazine you want to be in. So, I hired Lory's company to do a photoshoot with you to promote your line."

Julie looked down at her feet so he couldn't see her face.

"Julie, are you okay? Shit. I didn't mean to upset you! We can leave–"

"No, Kuu." She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, but her smile was radiant. "This was a beautiful idea. Thank you."

A woman peeked her head out from a curtained corner of the room. "Ah! Julie-san is here. I'm Kasumi. If you come over here, I'll do your hair and makeup."

Julie went behind the curtain and sat in a chair before a vanity table. Kasumi put her hair up out of her face and started on her makeup. She smiled as she worked. "My daughter is going to flip out when I tell her who I was working with today."

Julie smiled. "Is your daughter a fan?"

The makeup artist nodded. "She has one of your posters up in her room. She's obsessed with your makeup. She's obsessed with makeup in general."

"How old is she?"

"She's 13, going on 30." The older woman chuckled and pointed at Julie's belly. "Enjoy him while he's little. They hit 12 and start going off the rails."

Julie rested her hand on her belly. Not my Kuon, she thought. Kuon will always be my sweet boy. The woman finished with Julie's hair and makeup and gave her a nervous smile. "Could I ask for your autograph for my kid? She would love it."

Julie giggled. "Of course. What's your daughter's name?"

"Ten."

Julie scrawled a quick note to Ten on a piece of paper that Kasumi provided, and then changed into a pale blue cap sleeve top with white capris.

She went out to the set, and her demeanor changed. Everything else faded out of her focus except for the job at hand.

Kuu, who had never actually been in the room while she was working, was mesmerized. The way she posed, the way she tossed her hair just so, the way her eyes sparkled in the lights made him appreciate her even more than he had before, if that were possible.

Lory sat down beside him on the cold tile floor and chuckled at the look on his face. "You look like you've never seen your wife before in your life."

Kuu smiled, not taking his eyes off of her. "I've never seen my wife work. She's in her element, and she's impressive as hell."

Lory smirked. "Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for using my services to do this. I appreciate it."

Kuu rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. It's what friends do. You're going to need the money to fix this place up, anyway. It looks super majestic," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Lory blinked. "Majestic?" He jumped to his feet. "Jesus Christ, Kuu, that's a great idea!" He rushed out of the room.

Kuu raised his eyebrow. Well, it happened. He's finally lost it.

Julie modeled eight different outfits over the span of about three hours. When she finished, she changed back into her clothes and met Kuu outside.

"So, did you like it?," he asked.

She beamed at him. "I loved it! I asked the photographer to send the pictures to me so I could pick out the ones that I wanted. He's also going to do Kuon's newborn pictures for us."

Kuu chuckled. "Wonderful."

He drove her home, and when they got there, he went right to the kitchen to make lunch.

"Are you hungry, my love? You worked hard today."

Julie nodded from her spot on the couch. "Can you make me some yaki udon?"

"Of course."

He made the food and brought it to her on the couch. He sat down next to her as they ate. He finished his three bowls first, and after washing his bowl and putting it in the drying rack on the counter, came back to the couch and began rubbing her feet.

"I'm sorry I had you on your feet all day. I didn't think that through when I was planning this."

Julie shook her head as she finished her meal. "No, that was the most fun I've had in a while. Not that we haven't been having fun these last few months, but it felt good to work again." She smiled sweetly at him. "It also made me realize that I can and will model again after the baby comes. Thank you for doing this for me, Kuu."

He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "You were amazing, by the way. I couldn't take my eyes off of you. Lory was making fun of me."

She blushed. "It's not that amazing."

He shook his head. "It was like I was seeing you in that bikini again at the hotel. You're stunning, my love."

She set her bowl on the coffee table and took his face in her hands to kiss him. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

She kissed him again… and again… and then her tongue entered his mouth. Kuu's hands roamed over her back and drew the zipper down on the back of her dress.

Julie broke their kiss and looked into his eyes with a coy smirk. "On the couch? So naughty."

He pulled her dress down her shoulders and arms. "We've had this couch for three months and haven't had sex on it yet, and it's a personal goal of mine to fuck you on every surface in this apartment."

She stood and slipped the dress off, leaving her in her bra and panties. "Couch now, kitchen counter after the belly's gone. Deal?"

He chuckled and kissed her belly. "Deal."

When she sat back down, he threw her legs over his shoulders. She couldn't see him over her belly anymore, but when she felt his tongue on her sex, she gasped. Her hand knotted in his hair as he pleasured her.