My eyes shot open and the only word that could summarize how I felt from the sheer uncomfortableness I was experiencing right now passed through my lips.
"Fuck."
A quiet, yet frustrated sigh escaped me before I managed to awkwardly roll from under Viktor's arm and sit myself up on the edge of our bed. Instinctively, I gently rubbed my growing stomach hoping that maybe the loving gesture would calm my excited child. As if the party inside of me didn't make me miserable enough, my heat flash was in full effect. My tank top, drenched in my sweat, stuck to me in the most uncomfortable of ways. I hoped that maybe if I wore less clothing to bed and tucked an "As seen on TV" cooling pillow between my legs, I wouldn't die from heat exhaustion. Of course, it wasn't that easy. There was only one solution I could think of: I needed to step outside. Even something as simple as that became an exhausting task. My growing stomach had begun to limit all of my movements to the point where it was a struggle just to bend over and grab my sweat pants. I was close to walking out in my underwear and potentially flashing someone. I'm pretty sure that early risers didn't want to see a semi-naked whale. Right now, that was the least of my concerns; I was hot as hell.
It was June, but luckily Michigan's summers weren't as brutal as ones in the southern states. However, with my new nightly heat flashes, I might as well live in Texas. After finally managing to pull my sweat pants under my round stomach, I waddled to the kitchen where the deck was. As soon as I slid the door open, a cool breeze touched my skin. This time, a swear of relief left my lips. My bare feet gently patted across the wood as I made my way to the rail. Each step I took cooled my sweat covered body, bringing me relief. This wasn't my first time escaping into the night to cool my burning skin. As my pregnancy progressed, the harder it became for me to sleep. I had about a good year of sleep; Viktor, and the occasional sleeping pill, seemed to calm my insomnia and weekly visits to a therapist kept my nightmares at bay. Now, my lack of sleep was because of the dangerous heat flashes I would get in the middle of the night. However, lately, it'd began to be caused by something else. Well, more like someone else.
"I can already tell you're going to be as hyper as your daddy," I chuckled as I ran my hand over my bump. This kid would barely move throughout the day, but the moment my head touched my pillow, he was ready for adventures. Very much like Vik, actually. Whenever I came home from an exhausting day at work, Viktor was ready to do something that required ridiculous amounts of energy. From evening walks to sex: Viktor was ready. I won't lie and say that I refused the latter especially after the abstinence my injury caused...It's kinda why I'm dealing with a miniature Viktor tumbling inside of me right now.
"Mama knows you're here, baby. Calm down just a bit, please," My hand followed his kicks thinking that maybe he just wanted my attention. Well, he had it. As much as I loved knowing that my son was alive, well, and ready to take on the world, I would never get used to this feeling. A smile spread across my face as I remembered Viktor and I begging him to do anything when I first began to show. Every day, we would lie in bed speaking words of encouragement to my belly button. It wasn't until Viktor, being the weirdo that he was, balanced Oreos on my stomach that Roman decided to show himself. Now, sleeping was a task because of the tumbling gremlin inside of me. I loved this baby so much already, but in all honesty, I was exhausted.
The wind blew hard and my bones began to chill. These heat flashes came as fast as they went. Now all I could think about was wrapping myself in a blanket and tucking myself back under Viktor's warm body. Words could not describe how much I loved this man. I often thought of our first encounter and wanted to snatch a knot in my past self. Who could be so rude to such a loving man? The excitement on that man's face when the pregnancy test read positive constantly popped up in my mind whenever I was having a not so good day. Just knowing that I had a husband who loved something we created knocked all anxieties and fears from my mind. We would be a completed family. One full of the love mine lacked.
