“I’ve felt it more today than ever, it can’t keep still in there,” I tell him, feeling his excitement spread through me.

“It’s incredible.” He shuffles down the mattress, placing a hand on both sides of my bump and waiting to feel it again. A tiny ripple travels from one side of my belly to the other and he looks up at me with wide, amazed eyes.

“Does that hurt?” he asks.

“Not right now, but ask me again when I’ve got a full-term baby shifting around in there.” I laugh for the first time in so long.

“You see how happy you're making your mamma?” Nic talks to my tummy before he kisses it and warms my entire body.

Suddenly, I'm very aware of how close his mouth is to my center, and I feel my insides start to pulse when I imagine his tongue licking and teasing me. I’ve been far too consumed with trauma and grief to think about anything like that…up until now.

“Nic,” I whisper his name. He looks up at me and when he sees the look on my face, he nods his head as if he knows what I want to say.

“I got you, baby.” He lowers his body some more, lifting one of my legs so his head can slide between them. “You just tell me what you need, okay?” His fingers make slow swirls through the fabric covering me, and he places a trail of kisses across my lower stomach. I can feel myself getting wetter and he smiles up at me when I moan for more.

“You like that? Do you want to feel my tongue, pretty girl?” he whispers against my skin, before circling my, now popped-out, tummy button with the tip of it. I’ve missed him touching me, and as much as I’ve appreciated him giving me space, now I realize that space from him isn’t what I’ve needed at all.

Thisis what I've needed.

“Is your pussy getting wet for me?” He slides his hand into the front of my shorts to find out and smirks when his fingers slicken with pleasure. “Are you going to let me take care of you? Give you what you need?”

I nod as his words bring me comfort. I love the way it feels to have Nic taking care of me. He’s had to put up with me being so short, distant, and sad that I’m surprised he wants to be anywhere near me and yet, once again, here he is, proving I can rely on him.

“Good girl.” He hooks his fingers into the waistline of my shorts and drags them down, exposing my bare pussy and looking up at me as he drips saliva from his mouth onto my sensitive flesh. I gasp when I feel it trickle through my center and grip the bed sheets while I wait with anticipation to feel his tongue there too. “Such a needy, little pussy. Mmmmm. Do you have any idea how hot you look, right now?” His voice is so low and gravelly, just the sound of it makes my nipples tighten.

“Glistening pussy, legs spread open, nice and wide so I can see it.” He pulls back so he can admire what's laid out in front of him. “This sexy-as-fuck tummy.” His hands frame my belly, holding it firm. “Do you know how hard it’s been not to touch you?” He wets his lips with his tongue, making me crave it, even more.

“Please,” I beg him, already starting to rut my hips.

“Baby, you know I love it when you beg.” He strokes me with his finger, softly, gently, and in that way that never fails to make me buckle.

“That’s nice, pretty girl. Really, fucking nice. You are going to come for me before I eventouchyou with my tongue.” I rest back on my elbows and watch his fingers do their work. It feels so exposing, and intimate, that I think he might be right. “You like to watch? Watch these fingers, baby. Watch them fuck you.”

He slips two of them inside me and I close my eyes and sigh with relief. “Open your eyes, princess. Tell me how it feels.” He’s taking such focus and attention into slipping them in and out of me, I wish I could describe it for him.

“It feels…” I swallow thickly, trying to catch my breath. “I can feel them stretching me.” It’s getting harder to form words.

“Do you want another one?” he asks, looking down at them and watching me stretch.

“Yes… please.” I bite my lip and nod my head, and when I feel him stretch me a little wider with a third finger, I throw my head back and look at the ceiling. “Fuck!”

“Good girl, you’re getting this bedsheet really fucking wet,” he tells me, pulling back his fingers out and raising them to my mouth. “Suck them clean, taste how much you like it when I fuck you with my fingers.” He slips them between my lips and I do as he says, sucking them hard and feeling my walls ache painfully from his absence. “Keep watching,” he tells me, lowering his head and slowly sliding his tongue from my entrance, through my folds.

Every inch of my skin shivers, and when he places his hands on the inside of my thighs to open them wider, I look down and watch as he licks, kisses, and nips me in all of the right places.

“That’s so fucking good,” I tell him, gripping his hair and pressing myself against his face like a needy whore. “This is what I needed, Nic,” I whisper, giving up completely on trying not to sound desperate. I feel more movement come from inside me and, knowing how much he loved it before, I take his hand and move it back to rest on my belly so he can feel it too. He stops what he’s doing and smiles as his eyes focus on his hand. “Do you know how fucking incredible you are?” He shakes his head. “You really have no fucking idea.”

“We both did this,” I remind him, feeling the smile on my face getting wider. Suddenly, I’m starting to remember all the things I’ve got to be happy about.

“I did the easy part, you’re the one who’s–”

“I wouldn’t call taking care of me easy,” I cut him off, and remind him to get back to it when I push his head back down.

I moan as he continues to use his tongue on me, and after I come for a second time, he slowly climbs up my body and slips out of his slacks.

“Are we okay doing it like this? You're a lot bigger now and I don’t… you know.” He grips my hips while he positions himself between my legs.

“I think we can manage for a few more weeks.” I smile up at him and stroke circles over my big, round belly. The fact it’s grown clearly pleases Nic and I’m feeling proud of it, myself.