One Month Later
One month later…
"Come on!" AJ yelled, standing in her bedroom trying to button up her jeans.
"You alright in there?" Punk called from the kitchen where he was making them breakfast.
"I can't button my jeans!" AJ whined, looking at herself in the mirror in the corner of the room, turning to face the mirror side-on as she looked at her stomach.
She was only thirteen weeks pregnant and yet she was starting to feel some of her clothes getting a little tight on her, particularly jeans and any other item with a button or zip.
"Can't you wear something else?" Punk asked, walking into the bedroom where he saw her standing in her bra and the unbuttoned jeans.
"I can't tell what it is that's causing the problem." AJ said, "Is it my ass? My hips? My stomach?" She turned three sixty degrees in the mirror to check herself out.
"It's pregnancy." Punk concluded, "Wear something comfy." He shrugged.
"I like these jeans." AJ said with frustration, pushing them down her legs and kicking them off angrily, "I can't live in sweats for nine months."
"Says who?" Punk asked.
"Says me." AJ snapped.
"Go shopping and get some new stuff." Punk suggested.
"New stuff that I'll only wear one time?" AJ questioned, "No, what a waste of money." She said as Punk looked at her, putting her hand on his hip as she looked over at him, "Am I being hormonal?" She asked, even though she knew she was.
"A little." Punk nodded as AJ huffed and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Sorry, I just feel all over the place." She said, placing her hands over her face.
The past month hadn't treated her kindly in regard to her pregnancy. She'd had awful morning sickness, and even more awful mood swings. Some days she felt like her head wasn't screwed on to her body.
"You can take a day off work, you know." Punk reminded her, crouching down in front of her as she took her hands away from her face and looked down at him.
"No, I'm not leaving Lyla and Becca on their own, on a Saturday." AJ shook her head.
"I can always check in on them if you want me to. Although I think they'd be more than fine." He said.
"No, I have to go to work." AJ shook her head stubbornly, "Do you think I need to wear a bra?"
"Probably." Punk nodded.
"My boobs hurt." She moaned, holding her boobs and pouting to him.
"Hey just think, your aunt Nico is coming tomorrow." Punk said, trying to cheer her up. He hated that she was having such a rough time with her pregnancy, "You've been looking forward to this for months. And I can't wait to meet her."
"I know. I can't wait either." AJ smiled, cupping his cheek sweetly, "I just hope I don't throw up on her at any point."
"I'm sure she'd roll with it." Punk said, standing back up and looking inside AJ's dresser.
"She would actually." AJ nodded with a smile, "What are you doing?"
"Finding you something to wear." Punk said, "You won't be wanting to wear a crop top, will you?" He turned to her as she folded her arms.
"It's freezing out and I look very bloated. So no, crop tops are definitely on hold until further notice." AJ said.
"I'll look through your sweaters then." Punk nodded.
"Mhm." AJ smiled, watching him browse through her knitted sweaters for something to wear.
Through every rough part of her pregnancy so far, he had always been right by her side, either assuring her with comfort or assuring her with bad jokes, which always made her smile and laugh. From holding her hair back when she was sick in the morning, to making her comfort food at night, he'd barely left her side.
"Jesus Christ, they're good." Daryl said enthusiastically whilst stuffing a mini pizza flatbread in his mouth, standing in the kitchen of Punk's shop with Finn and Punk himself.
"There's not too much sauce?" Finn asked.
"No, they're ace." Punk said, also trying one of the pizza flatbreads which Finn had made from scratch, dough included.
"How are you managing to do this?" Daryl asked with fascination.
"I go home and practise." Finn shrugged, "Got nothing else to do. And I thought they'd be a good little snack to add to the lunch time menu, along with the sandwiches."
"They're amazing, kid. You've been stepping up big time recently." Punk nodded to Finn, impressed with the young boy's talent.
Finn had recently been trying out more baking and cooking in the back of the kitchen, as well as practicing some recipes at home, and to Punk's delight, they were all turning out amazingly.
"Yeah, you're showing me up." Daryl scoffed at Finn.
"You're better with customers than I am." Finn reasoned.
"Yeah, because he never shuts up." Punk added.
"Hey, I'm the one with all the ideas." Daryl pointed at Punk, "Don't you forget that."
"Don't point. It's rude." Punk swatted Daryl's finger away, "Finn, they're amazing. Consider them added to the lunch menu."
"Sweet." Finn nodded happily, carrying on with his prep for lunch whilst Punk and Daryl headed back through to the front of the shop where they took charge of coffees and service.
"I hope it snows soon." Daryl nodded, "Nothing better than hot coffee when it's snowing outside."
"I'm sure it will snow soon. And then when it does, you'll be praying for it to melt and go away." Punk turned to him, "It's what everybody does."
"Not me." Daryl insisted.
"When is Shiv back from college? She coming home for a Christmas break?" Punk asked him whilst running some mugs through the dishwasher.
"Well, she didn't come back for Thanksgiving, so who knows." Daryl shrugged, "I think she'll come back in a couple weeks, just before Christmas." He nodded.
"I thought you two were texting?" Punk asked, "She not tell you her plans?"
"We haven't text in a while. Sometimes I just feel like I'm bothering her." Daryl admitted, "And when she didn't come back for Thanksgiving, I asked her why and she just said she didn't want to."
"Maybe it's something to do with her parents." Punk suggested, "They seem a little estranged. Even when Shiv was still living here."
"Yeah, they're pretty distant." Daryl nodded, "How is AJ this morning?" He asked.
AJ and Punk had officially told Daryl and Finn about the pregnancy, even though Daryl already knew. However, they hadn't told anyone that they were expecting twins. They figured they'd wait a little bit longer before revealing it.
"A little sick." Punk said, "But she got a good sleep last night."
"You found any houses you like yet?" Daryl asked, following on from their conversations about AJ and Punk moving house.
Punk had been looking around the area at different listings, but there wasn't exactly much to choose from given how small the town was.
"There's only like two houses on the market and one apartment." Punk scoffed, "I haven't even told AJ how miserable the real estate is here."
"You don't like the two houses or apartment that's listed?" Daryl asked.
"One of the houses is attached to a farm. The apartment is a little small, and its top floor with no elevator so… we're going to have to carry a stroller up and down three flights of stairs every day." He said, "The other house is really run down."
"Doesn't sound promising." Daryl cringed a little.
"Hoping something miraculously comes up." Punk said, "Or I might actually have to start building a house."
"Do you have experience? With building and stuff?" Daryl asked as Punk turned to him.
"Is that a serious question?" Punk asked.
"What? I don't know. Maybe you were a builder before you were a lawyer." Daryl shrugged.
"How many coffee mugs do I smash a day?" He asked.
"A lot." Daryl nodded.
"I'm no builder." Punk concluded, "But… I'm a fast learner." He compromised, "AJ's aunt is coming to town tomorrow to stay until Christmas. I might take a couple days off in between. You think you and Finn will be ok?" He asked.
"Yeah. As long as I don't get thrown through a window this time. We'll be fine." Daryl nodded as Punk groaned at the thought, "You nervous to meet her aunt?"
"Yeah, a little." Punk admitted, "I've met her on Skype a few times when AJ has video called her. But that's not really the same. I guess it's like I'm meeting her mom, honestly."
"I'm sure she'll like you. Or at least tolerate you." Daryl shrugged.
"Thank you for the confidence." Punk nodded to him.
"I've made Aunt Nico a little gift basket and sat it in my spare room for her." Lyla smiled happily, standing behind the counter at The Brewberry with AJ and Becca.
"Oh, that's sweet." AJ smiled.
"My goal is to make it so nice for her that she'll want to be my new roommate." Lyla admitted as AJ laughed a little.
"You guys are obsessed with her." AJ scoffed.
"I want to be her when I grow up." Becca inserted, "She's just the coolest. She's like… a chic hippy."
"When does she get here?" Lyla asked.
"Tomorrow evening." AJ said, "She's going to come over to our apartment for dinner. Phil is going to cook."
"Do you think they'll get along?" Lyla wondered.
"Yeah, I do. They're kinda similar. Same sense of humour." AJ nodded, "She knows I'm serious about him so hopefully she plays nice."
"How has your sickness been?" Becca asked.
"Not great." AJ said, "I did get a better sleep last night, though. And I wasn't as sick this morning."
"Lots of morning sickness means you're having a boy." Becca nodded, "I read that somewhere."
"Probably cause boys are the worst." Lyla nodded as AJ smiled a little.
She desperately wanted to tell her friends that she was actually going to have two babies, but her and Punk had agreed that they'd wait a little while longer before sharing that news yet. They just wanted to keep it their little secret for the time being.
"And what do they say you're having if you're really horny all the time?" AJ asked, "I genuinely feel like an animal. Going at it all night and then puking my guts out in the morning. I feel feral." She admitted as Lyla chuckled.
"Sounds like me without pregnancy." Becca shrugged, "I don't see the issue."
"That's because you should be studied in a lab." Lyla concluded.
"Shiv has been quiet on the group chat." AJ pointed out, "I hope she's ok."
"She'll have exams coming up. She'll be busy." Becca said.
"Yeah, busy worrying about that guy who attacked her, who they still haven't found." AJ pointed out, "I hope she's not suffering from some kind of PTSD. I mean… she didn't come home for Thanksgiving." AJ said.
Shiv had been on her mind constantly ever since she was attacked. Even though the young girl assured them she was fine in brief text messages, AJ knew the scars of being attacked all too well. She knew 'I'm fine' wasn't always the truth of it.
"Her parents have the personalities of wet mops. That's why she didn't come home." Lyla said, "She'll be home for Christmas in a couple weeks."
"She better be. We still need to do Secret Santa between us." Becca said, "I love buying gifts. I've already got Patrick two ugly sweaters and a mug with his face on it." She smiled as AJ and Lyla chuckled.
"Will you be spending Christmas at the Eckles Farm?" AJ smiled.
"I think so. Patrick said I should invite my mom but she's always working at the hospital on Christmas." Becca shrugged.
"It's nice he offered, though." Lyla said, "Maybe your mom could try and get it off work this year."
"Yeah, maybe." Becca nodded.
"I'm going to try doing a double chocolate yule log when I go home tonight." AJ told them, "Something to add to our festive menu. It has butter cream inside and raspberries on top."
"Sexy." Lyla nodded.
"Yeah, it'll be a good snack after I get pounded." AJ agreed, "And then I'll throw it all up in the morning."
"What a life you live." Lyla chuckled, wrapping her arm around AJ and squeezing her affectionally.
"Fuck, that feels good." AJ moaned, straddling Punk's hips and moving up and down on him whilst he gripped her hips and moved along with her.
"It looks good." Punk grumbled, looking down between them where she bounced up and down on him, taking him in deep with every up and down movement.
"You look good." AJ grumbled, leaning down and kissing him roughly as he chuckled against her lips, feeling her hips still moving up and down whilst they explored each other's mouths.
Punk rolled them over, so he was on top with AJ lying beneath him, managing to do so whilst keeping himself buried inside of her, beginning to thrust into her again as she opened her legs further to get him closer.
"You feel so good." Punk said, kissing her neck as she played with the hair at the back of his head, enjoying the feeling of his body pressed against hers whilst he moved inside of her.
"Slow and hard." AJ whispered desperately, "I want to feel every inch of you." She demanded as he lifted his head from her neck and smiled.
He began thrusting into her slowly but still with the same passion and desperation, making sure to bury himself as far as he could, to the point where their hip bones touched whilst she gripped his hips.
"Fuck, you're so beautiful." He moaned, looking down at her, her messy dark hair splayed out around her face and on the pillows, her breasts bouncing perkily with every thrust he made, her face filled with satisfaction and pleasure. Sometimes he couldn't believe he'd gotten this lucky.
"I want to come." She whispered pleadingly, placing her hand down between them and rubbing her clit with her fingers in a steady rhythm.
Punk leaned forward and used his mouth on one of her breasts, swirling his tongue around her nipple which he knew had become even more sensitive over the past few weeks.
One thing he loved about her pregnancy was how much she was sharing with him, from the unpleasant details to the fascinating ones. It was all pretty incredible, and all he could do was admire her even more than he already did.
"Fuck that's it." AJ moaned, adoring the feeling of his mouth on her breasts, the steady thrusts and the build-up she was creating through her clit.
She lost it and came undone underneath him, arching her back and moaning blissfully as Punk watched her, the sight of her coming enough to make him lose it too and spill himself inside of her, collapsing over her and leaning his head between her breasts.
"Fuck." He breathed heavily, feeling her run her fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp as they continued to breathe heavily.
"That was nice." AJ smiled dreamily, her head still in the clouds, her body pulsing and tingling with pleasure, "You ok down there?" She chuckled, looking down at him where his face was still pressed between her breasts.
"Mhm." He mumbled, "Just thinking if I had to pick a way to die, this would be it. This exact position."
"That's what you're thinking right now? How you're going to die?" She chuckled a little, "Think of the trauma that would leave me with."
"I know I'm sorry. It's just too good." He said as she chuckled, continuing to massage his scalp until her phone alarm began to go off, "It is not morning already." Punk's head shot up, looking over to the window where it was still completely dark out, "We haven't been fucking for that long, have we?"
"No, it's my alarm to take my cake out the oven." AJ laughed, shoving his head playfully as he rolled off of her body to the side.
"Makes more sense." Punk nodded, watching her leave the bedroom completely naked which made him smile.
A few minutes later, AJ came back into the bedroom, wearing nothing but oven gloves, holding a hot plate with the yule log she'd baked.
"Now that is a good look." Punk nodded, propping himself up on his elbows and grinning.
"I thought so too." AJ nodded, walking over to the bed and sitting down with the cake, placing the plate between them.
"Isn't this supposed to be decorated with cream?" He asked her.
"Yeah, but I wanted to try the cake first." AJ said, "And I'm too hungry to wait for it to cool."
"Go on then. Taste test." He said, breaking a piece of the cake off and putting it in her mouth before breaking a piece off for himself.
"That's pretty good, huh?" AJ nodded, "I mean… it's chocolate. It's obviously good."
"My gorgeous little baker strikes again." Punk said, leaning over and kissing her cheek as she smiled.