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Extremely odd.
The flow of people arriving, circling the carousel, was starting to thin out, and Emily felt the first clinging fear of panic start to take grip around her heart. What if he had missed his flight? Walking towards the carousel, she checked the tag on the bag and saw her hand was shaking as it slowly moved past…
Lieutenant John C. Masden, U.S.A.F.
She grasped the handles and started to tug it off the carousel, realizing just how exceedingly heavy it was… only to feel a set of hands immediately tickle her sides.
Emily dropped it, letting out a yelp choked with laughter at the sensation, ready to turn around and wallop whoever was… and saw John’s breathtaking smile as his eyes focused on her extended belly.
“Now that?…Thatis sexy,” he whispered appreciatively. “Hey Em…”
“John!” she hissed, throwing her arms around his neck as he picked her up off the ground in his arms, feeling her belly pressed between them as the baby swished around in shared excitement. She heard his easy chuckle as he set her down quickly, grinning.
“That is soo cool,” he began, laying a hand on her stomach. “I could feel something. You get to feel that all the time?”
“Oh yes – and sometimes she finds my bladder or likes to nest right along my lungs like something out of Aliens,” she muttered, trying to sound frustrated… but truthfully, it was an incredible sensation that would only be here for a short amount of time.
She might gripe, hate certain things like the horrific heartburn or chafing, but this was something she also wouldn’t change for anything. This was their beautiful baby making her presence known.
“She?” John smiled tenderly, laying a large hand on her stomach. “Are we having a little girl?”
“Yeah,” she smiled, feeling that familiar sting to her eyes as she knew she was getting weepy once again. Pregnancy made her a sobbing mess, and she could cry during commercials at the drop of a hat. Just hearing the song would set her off wildly, like she’d just lost everything…
“A baby girl?” John grinned, dropping to his knees right there in the middle of baggage claim beside his bag, as several people looked at them curiously and smiled.
“Hey sweet girl… your daddy’s home for good,” he said tenderly in a loud voice right against her belly. “I can’t wait to meet you, my little tadpole…”
Emily dragged in a breath and reached in her pocket for her tissues she always carried as she began to weep at how sweet and loving John was. He looked up at her from where he knelt, his eyes shiny as he smiled at her.
“Let’s go home, my love.”
She nodded… and began to laugh as he whispered loudly. “I wanna rub that sweet little belly.”
* * *
Less than an hour later,they were in the little apartment above her business… and sure enough, John was rubbing her stomach with cocoa butter in sheer pleasure and fascination that crossed his expression reverently, stunning to watch.
He was smoothing warm lotion over her stomach, tracing each stretch mark like it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen… talking to her and the baby, while feeling for any movement as much as possible.
She knew when he felt something, because his eyes would widen, that beautiful smile would grow, or he would chuckle, and then go back to stroking the mound once again.
“This is the best thing ever…” he admitted, smiling shyly at her. “I used to think it was us in bed, but man… this is a like, a very close second.”
“Only you would say that,” she laughed, crossing her arms behind her head and watching him say ‘hello’ to their baby.
“I guarantee Jace feels the same way – you should ask Karen.”
“I’m sure of it…”
“Yeah, there is something so visceral in seeing your wife’s body grow, knowing you were key in what was happening.”
“I’d like to think that I was key in making this happen.”
“You are… it takes both of us, and our little tadpole is a miracle.”
“A tadpole? You’ve said that twice…” she smiled.
“Yep,” John grinned, getting another smear of lotion on his hands and rubbing her belly once again. “Our little tadpole is safe in her egg where she’s growing loved and protected, just swimmin’ around… and when she’s ready to say hello? She’ll emerge, ready to grow, develop, change, and learn all about this big, beautiful world…”
