NOVEL NEXT “Oh….”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know… it feels like something’s moving inside my belly these days….”
The belly was already fully round like a typical pregnant woman, and now… there was even a sensation to feel.
Maybe the baby had settled in completely.
I wasn’t used to this feeling, but it seemed like that was the case.
“Really…?”
“Yeah, it really feels like something is moving inside!”
Of course, Kyle, who had never been pregnant, wouldn’t understand this feeling.
“Umm… then do you want to touch it?”
“Is that really okay…?”
“I mean, I’ve touched my own belly, so there’s no reason you can’t, right?”
“Uh….”
Kyle probably wasn’t aware of it, but Louise had said it was okay too when they talked about it before. There was no mention of not touching the belly.
Ah, did she say not to touch it with cold hands?
Well, that didn’t apply to Kyle anyway.
After all… his hands were super warm.
“Stop being so shy and just do it. Seriously, it feels amazing!”
“Okay then.”
Kyle said that and started placing his hand on my belly.
Sure enough, a warm sensation spread across my belly.
“How does it feel?”
“Oh….”
“You feel something! Right!?”
“Umm…. Yeah… it’s really amazing….”
He kept staring intently at my belly, continuing to touch it.
It must be fascinating to him.
Considering he had never met another pregnant woman or impregnated anyone, it was no surprise he’d find it so interesting.
Honestly, it was remarkable for me, the one who was experiencing pregnancy.
Kyle had every reason to be amazed.
“The baby inside….”
“Right, it’s because there’s a baby in there.”
Louise had mentioned feeling the baby kicking, and I could confirm that for sure.
I could genuinely feel the baby doing something inside.
“I can’t believe I’m already halfway through… I never expected to feel this so soon.”
“Isn’t there still about 20 weeks left?”
“Yep, about that.”
So, I had roughly made it to the halfway point.
I didn’t know the exact date of conception, but according to Louise, it seemed like I had been pregnant for about half the time now.
Since pregnancy typically lasts around 40 weeks… hmm… yeah, definitely about halfway.
I hadn’t thought it would come this soon; it felt like time was flying by.
“It’s amazing….”
“What’s so amazing about it?”
“Just… the fact that a baby is growing inside me is really astonishing.”
“Well, if your belly gets bigger, won’t that be even more incredible?”
“That would be amazing too.”
The belly had grown, but I wasn’t at full term yet.
When that time comes, this curious Kyle would definitely be even more impressed.
Just feeling the baby move was enough to leave him in awe.
“Kyle.”
“Yeah?”
“Now that you’ve touched my belly, how about you touch other places too?”
“Where?”
“…a little lower…?”
“….”
“…M, what!!!”
Since I hadn’t done anything after getting pregnant, it was honestly building up a lot.
But jumping Kyle in my dreams felt… well, just not right.
On top of that, Louise had just mentioned it before… and I didn’t think it would be a problem.
As long as I didn’t get too carried away…?
*
“Ugh… my back hurts….”
My back was starting to ache.
I had only felt back pain once before, during my first day as an adventurer or when I was correcting my posture at exchange school.
Ah, maybe I felt it when working with Louise too?
“It’s almost time for the birth….”
“Yeah….”
Kyle said as he hugged me from behind, but to be honest, my back really hurt.
Two months ago, the baby was constantly kicking, making things really tough, but now my belly was just too big, and it was becoming difficult.
It was a good thing that the baby was growing inside, but it didn’t change my back pain.
Seriously.
“I never expected I would give birth….”
Of course, after marrying Kyle, things changed a little, but before that, I never saw it coming.
After all, back then, I didn’t think I’d ever get married to a guy?
Honestly, I thought I would roam around alone until I died, never imagining I would end up living in a castle like this.
I thought I’d work for a few years, then drop everything and go help my dad with his farm back home.
“I can’t believe this….”
“Haha….”
“I didn’t think I’d be pregnant less than a year after the wedding.”
“That’s… Sophia’s fault too, right?”
“That’s true.”
I had to admit that.
After all, I did plead for him to fill me up inside.
Well… it was nice doing it that way… um… Anyway, it was like that.
In the end, we were going to have a beautiful baby, so it was a good thing, right?
“But you liked it too!”
“Haha.”
“Hehe.”
Honestly, even though my body was getting tired in many ways these days, I felt so good.
So good, it was almost a problem.
“Hah… I want to see our baby soon.”
“Me too.”
I didn’t think I was someone who loved babies, to be honest.
Well… in my past life, I didn’t have that many opportunities to be around babies; usually, babies… they were loud, right?
So I never really thought about it, but these days my thoughts had changed a lot.
Could it be because I’m pregnant?
I’m not sure, but probably.
“Everything’s great, but it’s a bummer we don’t know the gender.”
“Well… once the baby is born, we’ll definitely find out.”
“Still a shame….”
In my past life, you could know the baby’s gender before birth.
Unfortunately, with magic, that information was impossible to obtain.
What a pity.
“Kyle, can you massage my back…?”
“Still hurt?”
“Yeah….”
Even though I was lying down, the pain just wouldn’t go away.
No, maybe it was because I had been lying down so much lately.
But even so, moving around while standing was also a problem.
With my belly out, my body was getting heavy and super tiring.
It was true…
“Alright, let me help you. Lying on your stomach… is….”
“Yeah, I know that much.”
“Why suddenly ‘older sister’?”
“I just wanted to say it.”
As I said that, I got up from the bed.
It was seriously exhausting.
It was a different kind of pain from muscle aches, which made it even more uncomfortable.
“Ugh…. there….”
“Here?”
“Yeah, there… a little harder… please….”
I began receiving a massage from Kyle’s warm hands.
It was such a relief; it was something I couldn’t do myself.
It felt amazing considering my back was constantly hurting, so this massage was just heavenly.
Really, it felt great.
“Ugh…. Hah… that’s refreshing….”
“After you give birth, I think you’ll need to manage your body a bit.”
“Yeah, I should… I feel like my nonexistent muscles have completely disappeared….”
“Well, that’s because you’ve been lying down all day.”
“Still…. if my body’s uncomfortable and I walk around, what if the baby gets hurt…?”
That’s why I was lying down so much.
Louise had definitely said it was okay to walk around, but I just didn’t want to.
Seriously, what if something happened to the baby inside me?
We only had to hold on a little longer, just a tiny bit more until the birth.
But better to not risk wandering around and causing problems.
“I’m really going to eat all the unhealthy stuff and not sleep properly after giving birth… I’ll be wandering around unnecessarily….”
“Go ahead. I’ll take care of the baby.”
“….”
I was just venting a bit, and that’s how he responded? What was he expecting me to do?
Didn’t it make me sound like a terrible person?
“It’s okay. We’ll do everything when the baby is a bit older. We can all do it then.”
“Haha, but after giving birth, I can relax a little, can’t I?”
“Is that so…?”
“Yeah, I’ve been struggling during the pregnancy, so now it’s my turn to struggle, right?”
“….”
Well… for someone younger, that was quite mature.
Yeah.
“And…. we’ll have sex too….”
“Right now…?”
“No, that’d be a bit tough…. After my body recovers.”
It definitely had built up.
I hadn’t done anything for months, so I really felt like I wanted it badly.
Sure, Kyle sometimes pleased me with his hands or mouth, but I hadn’t wanted anything like that.
In the past, we would have, but nowadays, my growing belly made it feel too daunting.
Seriously.
“After giving birth, there won’t be a baby, so it won’t be a problem at all… right?”
“That makes sense, right?”
“So, when that time comes, I’m really going to indulge for a few days….”
They say usually the most sexually active women are married women.
And here I was, definitely married.
Plus, I was the kind of wife who was going to have a baby too.
“It’s the honeymoon phase, and I haven’t even done it five times since I got pregnant… do you know how hard this is?”
“Haha….”
“I really want to do it so badly….”
Ventilating my frustrations while receiving Kyle’s massage felt great as it was the soon-to-be birth time; I figured this little bit of venting would be understood by Kyle.
After all, I usually didn’t complain or whine like this.
He’d understand.
“Though Louise said it was fine, it feels scary that I can feel the baby moving inside me…. How could we even do it!?”
“I’m not Sophia, so I wouldn’t know how that feels, but… it is kind of scary.”
“Exactly…. That’s why I’ve been holding back all this time….”
In the past, Kyle usually had stronger urges than me.
After all, he was in that prime age for passion.
But… was it because he was a succubus?
After a few times with Kyle, I’d sometimes be the one to request it myself.
My cravings had risen without any solid buildup, which was never the case before.
Ah, of course, when we did have sex, I often ended up under Kyle… um….
“…Anyway, after giving birth, I’ll totally let loose on everything… aside from taking care of the baby.”
“I got it. Got it, so keep quiet and just enjoy the massage.”
“Okay.”
Yeah, there wasn’t much time left until the birth.
No need to complain or vent unnecessarily.
Just… I’d relax and prepare for the birth comfortably with Kyle, and that would be that.
It’s much more beneficial to talk about how wonderful things will be ahead rather than recalling how tough it’s been until now.
*
“Sophia, are you okay…?”
“Ugh…. It hurts like hell…!!!”
Crap, I think I might die.
I’m not exaggerating; it feels like I’m dying.
Seriously, this hurts like hell.
I wanted to yell some curses, but I was too out of it to do so.
“Ugh….”
They said having a wider pelvis would help with an easier delivery.
Shit, that doctor seems like a jerk….
Damn…
“Damn…!”
“Ugh!!!”
All that came out was screams and moans from my mouth.
Kyle was trying to say something beside me, but I couldn’t hear anything.
I swear I’d never want to have sex again….
Damn….