**Two Weeks Later**
*Cat*
I woke up and stretched, rubbing at the tightness in my hips. As my belly had grown bigger and bigger, it had beco almost impossible to find a comfortable position to sleep in.
Other won in my life who’d already had babies told that sleeping with a newborn was even more difficult than sleeping at the end of their pregnancies, but I had a hard ti believing that. At this point, I was already waking up every couple of hours to pee and shift positions.
Elio tried his best to keep comfortable, but other than the near-constant back rubs he gave , there wasn’t much we could do. I had found that my appetite for sex was absolutely insatiable, sotis to the point where Elio couldn’t even keep up. Luckily he had always loved to give even more than receive, so he had no problem with all the extra attention I was begging him for.
Considering we would soon have a lot less free ti to enjoy each other, I relished every mont that we spent tangled up in the sheets. Elio seed to have the sa idea.
Before I could roll over to look at him, he reached out and wrapped up in his arms, seeking out the places he knew would drive wild. I had slept naked, too exhausted to bother putting on pajamas after our lovemaking the night before, and now Elio took advantage of the easy access.
He slipped his hand between my thighs while his other hand found my breast. In many ways, he knew my body better than I knew it myself. It always amazed how easily he could drive to desire.
Too soon, we had both finished, gasping for air with our limbs wrapped around each other.
“Fuck, baby, you’re too good at that,” Elio murmured, pulling tight against him. “Shower with ?”
I nodded and he helped up so that we could shower together. Under the hot spray of water, Elio took his ti scrubbing with my favorite soap, making sure to stop and massage all the parts of my body that he knew had been especially sore lately.
The relaxing scent of lavender enveloped us, and I began to wonder if I should just go back to bed again, until my stomach growled and reminded that I was definitely eating for two these days.
After Elio toweled off and we both got dressed, we headed down to the kitchen. Our cook loved the fact that my increasing appetite gave her an excuse to cook more and more extravagant als. I had gone from asking for yogurt and coffee in the morning and salads for lunch to begging for multi-course als, and she was more than happy to oblige.
“Good morning!” she greeted us. “Today we have strawberry stuffed French toast, praline bacon, and so eggs scrambled with red peppers and spinach.”
The sll alone was enough to make moan. I sat down and began piling food high on my plate. “You know you’re an angel, right?”
The cook laughed and shook her head. “I’m just doing my job.”
“You are more than doing your job!” I declared as I dug in. I closed my eyes as the flavor of the French toast hit my tongue. It was ridiculously delicious, the tart strawberries and sweet cream cheese lting together with the toasted brioche.
“How are you feeling today?” Elio asked as he sat across from and put half the amount of food on his plate that I had on mine.
“I feel great!” I told him, surprising myself to find that it was true. “I didn’t sleep well, but I have a lot of energy.”
“That’s great to hear. I have so stuff I need to get done today but I should be finished by dinner. Do you want to eat here or go out?”
I glanced at the masterpiece that we were currently eating and looked back at him. “Here. Definitely.”
Elio chuckled. “I see the true way to your heart.”
The rest of the day passed quickly. I decided to use my random burst of energy to finish up everything for the baby. She would be sleeping in a bassinet in our room for the first few months, but we had an extravagant nursery for her to move into once she was ready. I organized all her clothes and put the finishing touches on her nursery. It was more beautiful than I had ever imagined and I couldn’t wait to see her in it.
Elio arrived back ho just when he said he would. As I went to greet him at the door, I suddenly had the feeling that I had just peed my pants. I looked down at the liquid that gushed out of in shock and confusion, trying to figure out what had just happened.
Elio ca through the door and saw the look on my face, then imdiately looked down and saw what I was looking at.
“Holy shit. Did your water just break?” he gasped.
I looked up at him. “I think so. Either that or I just lost control of my bladder.”
He laughed, his face filled with excitent. “Let’s go! The hospital said after last ti that we should go as soon as you show any signs of labor. I’ll get the bag!”
I couldn’t believe the mont was finally here. After so many months of waiting and preparing, it felt unimaginable that we were soon going to et our little girl. I felt almost fragile as I went to change into clean pajamas. I hadn’t had any contractions yet, but I could tell that my body was preparing and ready for our baby girl to arrive.
After a hectic drive to the hospital, I was being wheeled into the back entrance that Elio had insisted we get access to. I had discovered in my ti as Elio’s wife that money could get you absolutely anything you wanted, even private access to a public hospital. I was grateful that we didn’t have to worry about MS13 seeing us in the waiting room of the ER.
My contractions had co hard and fast almost the second we had gotten into the car, and I could tell that my body was almost ready to start pushing. I tried to breathe through each contraction, but Elio kept giving worried looks as he noticed my entire body tense up each ti.
“You’ve got this, baby. You are the strongest person I know,” Elio whispered as he rubbed my back through another contraction.
We arrived in the hospital room and Elio helped change into the dressing gown that I had bought for giving birth. I knew it was impractical and would probably get destroyed, but I didn’t care. I wanted to feel comfortable. The sweet nurse who brought us to the room told to lie back so she could check my dilation.
“Wow, you are already at eight centiters!” she said excitedly. “That’s great news! Your body is doing exactly what it needs to do.”
I nodded, another contraction blasting through . The nurse left us alone and Elio leaned over, pressing his forehead to mine. “You are amazing.”
“I love you so much,” I said. I was so grateful that he was here with .
“I love you! Now let’s et our daughter!”
The next few hours passed by in a blur of pain and dical discussions. I asked for an epidural and Elio held my hand while they put it in. The relief was instantaneous. Finally, I was able to breathe for a couple of minutes without having to get through a contraction. I was getting nervous as the contractions kept hitting every two minutes but I wasn’t dilating any further than a nine.
After another few hours, a doctor ca in. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Valentino. How are we feeling today?”
“I’ve been better,” I said, smiling weakly.
She laughed. “I bet so! Well, I have so good news and bad news. The good news is that we are going to get this baby out of you! The bad news is that it looks like we are going to have to go ahead and do a C-section. Your body has been stalled at nine centiters for several hours now, and since your water already broke, we are working with a limited amount of ti before things get dangerous for baby. Everything is looking fine right now and baby’s heart rate looks good, but I’d rather play on the cautious side and go ahead and prep for a C-section if that sounds okay to you.”
I looked at Elio, unable to keep the fear off my face. I didn’t want a C-section, but I was willing to do anything to keep our baby safe.
“Are you okay with that?” Elio asked . “You’re the captain of this ship.”
“I guess that will be okay.” I bit my lip, trying to wrap my mind around the sudden change in the plan.
The doctor patted my shoulder. “I know it’s not what you wanted to hear, but I promise this will be the best path forward.”
Elio reached out and grabbed my hand. “I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
With Elio’s support, I was able to get my emotions in check. This was going to be okay. We would be eting our daughter soon.
The C-section went off without a hitch, and before long, the operating room was filled with the loud cries of our baby girl. The second I heard her, I began to sob the happiest tears I’d ever cried in my life. As the doctors stitched back up, they handed our daughter to Elio so he could bring her to e.
“She’s perfect,” he whispered, holding her tight.
Back in the recovery room, I nursed our baby girl. She suckled greedily and made laugh as I rembered how hungry I had been in the last trister of pregnancy. She had Elio’s dark eyes and a fluffy little patch of dark hair. I thought her nose looked like mine, but it was too soon to tell who she would end up looking most like.
Everything about her enchanted . I felt like I could spend hours just staring at her, taking in every single detail of her tiny body.
Elio looked at us tenderly. His face showed how exhausted he was. I knew that being my support person had been hard on him. He hated seeing in any kind of pain. “After everything you’ve been through, you should choose her na,” he said.
I looked down at her and knew exactly what she should be called. “Her na is Elia.”
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