Dina awoke suddenly to the empty feeling of Ellie's warm body no longer laying next to her. Typically, this wasn't too weird, but this time, something felt a little bit different. Not in a good way either...
Thankfully, now that Dina was nearing 13 weeks pregnant, her morning sickness and excessive tiredness weren't too terrible to deal with anymore. She was just now starting to show as well and the formation of her baby bump was starting to pop through her shirt ever so slightly.
Dina stood up, fixing the comforter on her side of the bed to complete perfection. It was Friday morning, however Dina had no school today due to some flooding issues throughout the city of Seattle. Of course, only Seattle would cancel school for something as silly as Mother Nature having a bad mental health day.
With that thought, Dina snapped back to reality when she overheard what sounded like Ellie blowing her nose. She was no nurse, but Dina always aspired to take care of people whenever they needed someone, but especially Ellie. Now, it was time to go from "Clingy Pregnant Girlfriend" to "Doctor Dina" within the matter of seconds.
Dina began her descent out to the living room in search of her beautiful 5'7 patient, ultimately finding Ellie laying on the couch. There were tons of wadded up tissues on the coffee table, with a half empty bottle of ginger ale and the thermometer hidden away within the mess of used tissues.
Dina dug through the pile of tissues to pick up the thermometer, silently reading it to herself, "102.6"...
If there was one thing that Dina knew from her two month long relationship with Ellie so far, it was that Ellie NEVER ended up sick, "Awww, poor baby"... She whispered, cleaning up the dirty tissues and placing a fresh trash bag in the living room trash can just in case Ellie wound up needing it.
Finally, she kneeled down in front of Ellie, running her fingers over the sleeping young woman's cheek. This caused Ellie's eyes to flutter open, smiling softly as she glanced up at Dina, "Hey, babe".
Dina giggled softly, leaning forward to kiss Ellie's warm forehead, "Hi. You're sick, baby. Wouldn't you rather sleep in our bed?" Dina asked, wiping the beads of sweat off of Ellie's pale forehead.
Ellie nodded, clearly not very comfortable laying on the couch with an inadequate amount of space to move around. Ellie rarely ever had to face the "constant chills while burning up at the same time" kind of sickness. This was new territory to her, although Dina knew this feeling all too well...
Thankfully, Dina knew exactly what to do. She placed one hand around Ellie's back and the other arm underneath her legs, carefully picking her up.
By the surprised gasp painted on Ellie's face, Dina knew right away what she was thinking without her saying anything, "No talking. My baby is sick and I'm here to make her feel better". Dina whispered, slowly carrying Ellie into their bedroom.
They hadn't moved in together yet, but for now, Dina came over almost every day after work and she spent every weekend at Ellie's house. Ellie's family were quickly becoming a second family to Dina by this point. She even had Joel and Anna's phone numbers saved in her phone. Life was looking up for them so far...
Dina gently placed Ellie on their bed, kissing the top of her head romantically, "Do you wanna wear regular clothes or pajamas? Your current outfit is covered in sweat"... Dina asked, frowning softly when she noticed the look of pain in Ellie's eyes.
Ellie rubbed her head, groaning softly because her sinuses were causing the most painful migraine ever to start, "P-Pajamas is fine. Can I borrow one of your hoodies, baby?" Ellie asked, her voice cracking more and more the longer she would speak.
Dina nodded, standing up to walk over to Ellie's closet. She absentmindedly fingered through the selection of matching pajama sets, selecting out Ellie's favorite pair of dinosaur pajamas. She also grabbed her dark brown sweatshirt, handing them to Ellie.
Ellie smiled softly, standing up and starting to walk to the bathroom to change.
Unsurprisingly, Dina stopped her, "No, my love. Let me help you. I'm not letting you out of my sight".
Ellie weakly nodded, seeming very dizzy, but Dina seemed to have a cure for every ailment. She sat down on their bed, patting her lap, "Come here. And don't worry. I'll spare extra cuddles afterwards".
Extra cuddles? Perfect. The soft mix of delicate kisses and back massages? Sounds like the perfect way for Ellie to spend a sick day...
Without a single word of protest, Ellie gently sat on Dina's lap, starting to lightly tug on the collar of her t-shirt.
Dina smiled, carefully driving her freezing cold hands beneath the fabric of the young woman's t-shirt and pulling it upwards.
Unforgettable sexiness aside, Dina lightly began to rub Ellie's pale back, using a cold rag to wipe the droplets of sweat from the entirety of her back, "Oh, honey... Put your shirt on and take off your jeans. I'll tuck you in and go make you some soup. Does that sound good to you?"
By the look on Ellie's face, she had pretty much no desire to eat, "No, baby. I'm not hungry"...
Despite Ellie's babyish voice fueled by complaints, the young pregnant woman placed her hand up against Ellie's cheek, "Honey, you've gotta eat. It's good for you. Remember what you told me when I had morning sickness?" Dina asked, pulling Ellie's chin upwards to meet eyes with her.
With that unstoppable question in mind, Ellie nodded, "That's my girl. What would you like? It doesn't have to be soup. I'll get you some yogurt, some fruit... What does my baby want to eat?"
As much as Ellie would cringe whenever Joel or Anna would baby her, with Dina she loved it. It was more tender, sweet and selfless.
Ellie's mind landed on exactly what she wanted, "Some vanilla yogurt with granola and honey in it. My mom used to feed me that all the time"...
Dina nodded, leaning forward to kiss Ellie's lips, "And before you say anything, I'm still gonna kiss you even though you're sick. And you're sick, so you can't stop me".
With that said, Dina stuck her tongue out playfully, receiving a punch to her shoulder by Ellie, "You're weird".
To this, Dina laughed lightly, rolling up her shirt to show off her new and improved baby bump, "I'm aware".
Ellie giggled quietly, leaning down to press her lips up against Dina's baby bump, "Alright, I'm gonna lay down before you make me lay down".
Dina nodded, helping Ellie tuck herself in comfortably underneath the covers, "That's my girl".
Ellie playfully pouted, reaching forward to pull Dina's hand closer to her chest. Understandably, this did catch Dina off guard, "What's wrong, babe?"
Ellie started cutely flashing the puppy dog eyes, with the added silliness of a little lip quiver, "No goodnight kiss?" She whispered just barely loud enough to warrant a little laugh from Dina in return, "Awww, you're so cute. Come here, babygirl"...
While Dina was giving Ellie a soft but loving kiss, her thoughts involving babying Ellie hadn't changed since the beginning of their relationship, "It's sweet. Hell, she babies me too. If anything, doing this will make raising my child just a little bit easier".
Once Dina had pulled away, she stroked Ellie's cheek lovingly, "Here, lay back down. I'll go start on making you some food and while you're eating, how does a back rub sound?"
Well, this was new. Something that Ellie had never experienced before. Not even with Riley, "You'd do that for me?" Ellie asked, furrowing her eyebrows as if she was confused.
Dina giggled, nodding softly as she cracked her knuckles, "Yeah! Do you not like them? Or has no one ever done that for you?"
The answer to this question shattered Ellie's heart into millions of tiny pieces. She glanced down at her twiddling thumbs, shaking her head no, "No one. Is this what being loved feels like?"
Dina smiled widely, wrapping both arms around Ellie's waist from behind. She lightly began to dig her fingers into each aching, sweat covered muscle across Ellie's back, "It's whatever makes you feel good, baby"... The younger woman whispered, pressing her lip gloss covered lips up against the crevice of Ellie's collarbone.
During the entirety of this back massage, Dina knew based off of Ellie's not so subtle body language that something was wrong. While she would normally avoid making the woman she cared about the most uncomfortable, she was going to figure out what was wrong anyway, "What's wrong, my sweet Ellie?"
Instead of lying at the expense of her own true feelings, Ellie sighed very deeply, closing her tear filled eyes tightly.
Seeing how close Ellie was getting to letting the thunderstorm of tears loose, Dina didn't even have to guess that if anything was actually wrong, it had nothing to do with her.
So, keeping that in mind, Dina moved her arms down from her back to her waist, "Oh, honey... Please don't cry".
So far, Dina had only met Riley a few times. They had become pretty close friends. Riley would often tell Dina exactly what to expect during those rare moments where Ellie's emotions had gotten the best of her. So in reality, having one of Ellie's exes to ask for advice from was a great tool to have and Dina utilized it whenever she felt the need to do so.
Ellie buried her face into the side of Dina's neck, starting to cry so hard that the sleeve of Dina's hoodie was soaked within a minute. Of course, she didn't mind though...
Dina started to slowly move back and forth, holding Ellie by her waist so hard that she couldn't get away even if she wanted to. Not when Ellie needed her the most, "It's okay, babygirl. Talk to me. That's what I'm here for".
Through her soft cries of pain, Ellie wiped her eyes on the sleeve of Dina's hoodie, knowing that she wouldn't mind, "I... I've been through so much in my past relationships that now, when I'm in a healthy relationship, it feels wrong. Does that make any sense?"
Dina may have only been in a relationship with Jesse before meeting Ellie, but they had also broken up more times than they could count over a two year time period. Sadly, she knew this feeling more than she cared to admit, "Yes it does, Ellie. I may not be as experienced as you are, but Jesse and I broke up so many times before I got pregnant. Trust me, you're worth it all. I'm not leaving. I'm here for a reason. We may not know that reason just yet, but believe me when I say there's a reason".
This only made Ellie cry harder, but by the looks of things, she wanted to be held. She didn't care if they spent this rainy Friday in bed. She just wanted to be all cuddled up in bed with the woman she loved. That was perfectly fine with Dina though, because she wanted exactly the same thing.
With that thought, Dina pulled her sick girlfriend into her arms, laying back gently on the neat arrangement of throw pillows. She allowed Ellie to lay her head on her chest with her hand on Dina's circular baby bump.
Dina's hands ran up and down Ellie's sweat soaked back, as she pondered whether or not what she was doing was enough.
Still though, Ellie's actions of wanting more cuddles proved otherwise. In Ellie's eyes, what her beautiful girlfriend was doing was much more than just enough.
Through the sweet feeling of Ellie cuddling closer for warmth, Dina placed a quilt blanket with a dinosaur on it around Ellie's shoulders, "I'll go make you some food. You lay down. I'll let Cooper outside and feed him too".
With a slow nod, Ellie started to lay down, struggling to get comfortable because it was too hot in the room. She pointed towards the air conditioner installed in the bedroom window, "Can you please turn the air conditioner on?"
Dina smiled softly, leaning forward to kiss Ellie's pale forehead and standing up. She was currently wearing a grey cropped tank top with matching workout shorts that showed off her baby bump in full view. Although she would change her clothes once she took care of Ellie.
Dina made her way to the opposite side of the room, kneeling down to turn on the air conditioner to Ellie's preferred temperature, "There. Too cold?"
Ellie shook her head, now laying comfortably on her left side, "No, it's perfect. Thank you, baby"...
Dina giggled softly, blowing that stray piece of hair out of Ellie's gorgeous green eyes, "Of course. I'll be back in a bit with your food. You better get ready for my back massage, because once you feel that, there's no going back".
Ellie laughed lightly, "I can't wait. I'll hold you to that". Ellie answered, giggling softly as she began to close her beautiful eyes.
Dina couldn't help the ridiculous grin on her face while she closed their bedroom door quietly. Ellie really had no idea who she was up against and it was honestly hysterical, yet sickeningly sweet at the same time...
As Dina made her slow descent into the kitchen, the lightning from the storm outside lit up her entire face, "Woah, gotta be quick taking Cooper out!"
At the quiet mention of his name, Cooper came running into the kitchen from the living room, holding his leash in his mouth. Dina giggled softly, "Hey, buddy! Wanna go outside?"
Cooper barked softly, as Dina attached the leash to his collar, "Alright, let's go!" Dina whispered, opening the door and walking outside with Cooper.
She sat on the top of the staircase, allowing Cooper get all of his energy out. Now that Dina had been dating Ellie for a few months, she had basically become like a second mom to him. Much like Ellie would become a second mom to her baby...
While Dina was pondering her future, a very familiar voice filled her ears, "Yo, Dina!"
To this, Dina's eyes jolted towards the parking lot near Ellie's car, spotting Jesse standing next to his black van, "Oh, hey, Jesse! What are you doing here?"
Jesse smiled, making his way up the stairs to sit beside Dina, "I was headed to work, but I had time, so I thought I'd come check on you, Ellie and our little man!"
Dina laughed lightly, "So, you think the baby's a boy? Well, I think she's a girl!"
Dina was only kidding, because as long as the baby was healthy, it didn't matter what the gender results were. She knew that Jesse and Ellie felt the same way.
Jesse smiled, leaning down to kiss Dina's stomach and rubbing it gently, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say. How are you and Ellie doing?" He asked, smiling as he watched Cooper run around in the distance.
Dina frowned at the mention of Ellie, only because she was in the house sicker than a dog right now, "The poor thing woke up sick this morning, but I'm taking care of her. And I'm alright. Morning sickness is gone now".
Jesse nodded, carefully removing his hand from Dina's slightly round stomach and kissing it again, "That's good to hear. Feel free to call me if you or Ellie need anything. Who's taking you to your next doctors appointment?"
Between Daniel, Ellie, Jesse and Dina, they collectively finalized a schedule for who took Dina to each of her appointments based off of schedule conflicts and appointment importance. This time, it was Jesse's turn to take her, "You! Depending on our decision, my appointment to find out the gender isn't until I'm 20 weeks along!"
Jesse smiled widely, "Alright, got it. See you next week!" He answered, pulling Dina into a loving, long hug. He was cut off during the hug by Cooper scratching at his pants, wanting to be pet.
Jesse laughed softly, scratching behind Cooper's ears, "Good boy!" He whispered, waving at Dina and heading back towards his car. Dina waved in return, leading Cooper upstairs and opening the door for him.
Dina smiled, placing Cooper's leash by the door and filling up his food and water bowls.
She headed back into the kitchen, struggling to figure out what she wanted to eat for breakfast. However, for now, she wanted to make Ellie's food first because it was much faster to make.
With that thought, Dina began to scavenge through the refrigerator, grabbing out an unopened container of vanilla Greek yogurt.
She pulled the lid open, attempting to remove the plastic cover on the top. Unfortunately, impatience quickly ensued, so Dina stuck a knife into the plastic cover instead, "Done. Stupid fucking containers"... She whispered, reaching above her head to grab out the smallest circular serving bowl she could find.
She placed the bowl on the counter, scooping out a good amount of yogurt into the bowl and grabbing some fresh honey out of the refrigerator door. She grabbed out a half empty bag of chocolate chip granola, pouring both items over the yogurt.
Dina loved to cook absolutely any creation, big or small, so she was enjoying this quite a lot. She quietly whistled to herself, stirring the ingredients together. She smiled at her work, picking up the bowl. She stuck a metal spoon into the top of the bowl and began her short lived walk to Ellie's bedroom.
The young Jewish woman quietly pushed the door open with her free arm, stepping inside. What she saw next was the sweetest thing ever...
There was Ellie, laying on her side as she was before, snoring so quietly that it was hardly audible. Obviously, Dina didn't want to wake up her sleeping queen, but Ellie had to eat at some point.
Dina ran her fingers gently over Ellie's forehead, leaning down to kiss it gently, "Babe, wake up. I've got your food!"
Ellie opened her pale green eyes, smiling at her own personal doctor. She sat up by holding Dina's knee for support, reaching forward to grab the bowl from Dina's hands.
Dina was eager to examine the facial expressions across her patients face, but judging by the toothy grin Ellie made after her first bite, she liked her food. It was hard to fuck up yogurt and granola though...
Ellie smiled, "This is good! I heard you talking to Jesse outside. What's he up too?" She asked, already over halfway done with her breakfast.
Dina plopped down beside Ellie on what was now considered "their" bed, placing an arm around Ellie's shoulders, "He wanted to come check on us. He's taking me to my appointment next Friday".
Ellie nodded in approval, a smile of appreciation making its presence known across her face, "Nice! He's a good guy, babe. Your baby is gonna have two amazing parents and three awesome grandparents!"
Dina nodded in return, running her fingers over her slowly growing stomach. While it did upset her that her mother would never meet her beloved grandchild, she was at least glad that the baby would have Daniel and Jesse's parents around for years to come.
As Ellie finished her food, she wiped her mouth on a napkin placed on her bedside table, "Thanks for the breakfast, baby. Have you eaten yet?"
Pregnant or not, this was a common occurrence for Dina whenever she took it upon herself to cook for other people. She would focus her attention on the other person, but completely forget about herself. So, Ellie's question was a complete "slap in the face" for Dina, "No, not yet. I was gonna make myself something while I made your food, but I was more worried about you since you're sick".
Trying her hardest to avoid one of Ellie's "but you've gotta eat" tangents, Dina continued speaking through the annoying sounds of her stomach growling, "Besides, I promised you a massage and cuddles. The last thing I want to do is leave your side for even one minute. I'll call my dad and ask him to grab me some food".
Thankfully, Ellie nodded instead of protesting because at least this meant that Dina was going to eat soon, "Okay, good". Ellie whispered, groaning softly because her voice had gone hoarse from talking too much.
Unsurprisingly, Dina took notice of this immediately, "Shhh, no talking. I'll call my dad while I give you your massage. Would you like anything for your throat, babygirl?"
Usually, Ellie wouldn't ask anyone for anything, but especially not Jesse or Daniel. Not even her own parents. However, she was craving something in particular, speaking in an adorable babyish voice, "Can I have an iced hot chocolate please?"
Although Dina would've expected her girlfriend of all people to ask for something hot on this rainy Seattle day, cold drinks probably sounded better for her throat, "Awww, of course, honey". Dina answered, helping Ellie remove her hoodie to begin the massage while she dialed her fathers phone number.
Ellie, on the other hand, still felt even worse than a trash can. Generally, with the combination of food and something cold for her throat, she would be better within the next 24 hours. The young Boston, Massachusetts native began to take her sweat soaked pajama shirt off, tossing it aside in preparation for the best massage ever...
As Dina pressed her phone up against her ear, she combined the mix of some good elbow grease and massage lotion to start off the massage the correct way. If her girlfriend was thinking that this was it, nothing could've prepared her for what was coming later.
Dina listened to the undoubtedly annoying sounds of the ringing coming through her phones speaker, until she finally heard the voice of her best friend, "Hey, my heavenly Dina. What do you need?"
This had been a lifelong nickname of Dina's. A fun loving, dad reserved combination of her first and middle names. She thought it was cheesy and a bit embarrassing at times, but a parents job was to embarrass their kids sometimes. Dina would never do that to her child though... Or would she?
Dina giggled softly, happy to hear from her dad again after a few days of not talking much, "Hi, dad! I hate to ask you this, but can you please pick me up some food and some iced hot chocolate for Ellie? She's sick and I'm taking care of her!"
Daniel absolutely loved how Ellie and Dina treated each other, so he was more than happy to do this for his favorite daughter and future daughter in law, "Of course! Do you want anything specific? Does Ellie want food too?"
Dina also loved how he considered her, Ellie and even the babies needs, "No, she already ate. Do you want me to pay, dad?"
As always, Daniel shook his head, "No, sweetheart. I'll get you anything you need. You just take care of your girlfriend. I'll be there in a half an hour. I love you!"
Dina answered, "I love you too" before placing her phone in her pants pocket and continuing to rub Ellie's back, "He'll be here in a half an hour, babe". She whispered, looking down at Ellie and receiving a smile from her in return.
It was moments like this that made Ellie and Dina fall more in love quicker. With Ellie, she loved the little things... Movie dates, cuddling, taking a bath together, coming home to her lover. With Dina, it was quite similar to her older girlfriend. Basic things, dinner, video games and cuddles.
Everyone always says that opposites attract, but Ellie and Dina were the living embodiment of proof that you don't have to be exact opposites to love each other. They hadn't said those magical words to each other quite yet, but that golden moment would come with time.
To Ellie, Dina was her own "dirty little secret". However, to Dina, Ellie may have been sick in this moment, but she was still her favorite everything. Her favorite woman, her favorite crime, her favorite little mix of sweet, savory and spicy...
Moral of the story was that when Ellie was sick and queasy, she became Dina's favorite queer as well... And Ellie would take that as a compliment any day.
"I don't want to hear what that bigot has to say."
"What are those?"
"Bigot sandwiches."
"Smells good."
"They're yours."
"Are you sure?"
"It's fine."