When You Love a Wolf: Dream

“Dream”

"I was a little girl alone in my little world who dreamed of a little home for me." - Priscilla Ahn

“Did you get enough to eat?” Liam asked me as we began to clear away our plates from the table. I smiled to myself as I began to put the leftovers away in a Tupperware dish. There wasn’t much left like there would have been six months ago. I touched my belly before snapping on the lid.
         “Violet? Seriously, you have to eat.”
         “Yes, for the hundredth time,” I laughed. “I ate plenty. I think two bowls of pasta, three pieces of bread, and a huge salad is enough… Don’t you?” I looked at him over my shoulder, smirking.
         He faltered a second, as if his thought process went through the possibilities of it not being enough. I laughed again. I turned back to the counter, placing the dirty dishes on one side to load into the dishwasher in a few minutes. I began to wrap up the leftover bread. Liam’s arms came around me, hugging me from behind. I stopped and leaned back into him, sighing in relief.
         “I just want you and the baby to be healthy,” he murmured in my ear.
         I touched his hand gently, stroking. “We are, promise,” I answered. I turned my head slightly to give him a kiss on the cheek. “C’mon, let’s go watch that movie.” He turned away to head across the room to the couch. I remained to begin to put the dishes in the washer. As soon as the door dropped down, he was back across the room.
         “I’ll do that. You shouldn’t bend over.”
         I looked up at him. I should be used to this constant, gentle reprimanding of what I could and couldn’t do. He and David were always on my case about lifting things over ten pounds, bending over frequently—apparently, it cuts off air supply to the baby—standing in front of microwaves when they’re in use, getting too close to a gas grill, et cetera. The list went on of things I wasn’t allowed to do.
         Liam swooped in, putting the dishes away as quick as possible. I stood and watched him, my arms crossed over my stomach. I giggled when he stood up with a huff. “I could’ve saved you the trouble and did it myself,” I said, grinning.
         He glared at me. “Nope. Not for you to do. That’s my job. C’mon.” He took my hand and drug me out of the kitchen and into the living room. I laughed, playfully fighting him. “Violet, cut it out. You’re gonna hurt yourself.”
         I yanked my hand away. “I was gonna go change first,” I said, grinning. I was in a playful mood. I wasn’t ready to just flop down and do nothing for the next two hours. A movie had become his way of making me rest. I don’t think he knew I was on to his plan. Liam rolled his eyes and threw his hands up, giving in. I laughed again. “Cue it up. I’ll be back in just a second.”
         I rounded back through the apartment, a bounce in my step. I kinda wanted to go run tonight on the other side of the river, but I knew he wouldn’t want me to go. I could hear him now telling me that I needed my rest. I scoffed to myself. I opened the bedroom door and trotted into our closet. I tugged off my pink maternity shirt-tunic. They were followed by my leggings and flip flops. I pulled Liam’s old Batman t-shirt from our college years down from a shelf and slipped into it. It fit a little tighter across my midsection nowadays. I walked over to our huge standalone mirror in the corner of our bedroom, looking at myself in it in the dim light. Was I gaining weight too fast?  This was only the fifth month, almost my sixth, and I thought I looked a little bigger than I was supposed to. Or maybe your baby is just huge, my mind soothed. That led to the fast track of thoughts about how painful a bigger baby’s head would be to deliver. A shudder coursed its way through me. I had plenty of time to even consider that. I shouldn’t be doing it now.
         When I came back into the living room, Liam was sitting on the far end of the couch, a pillow on his lap. I knew what this meant, too; he wanted me to lie down. Boys, I thought with a roll of my eyes. I glanced at the television to see what he had put in. The Prestige, one of my favorites. He had turned off all the lights, leaving only the hall light on, the glow of the television, and the few flickering lights from the candles on the dinner table. I waltzed around in front of him, grinning at his once-over, admiring my bare legs. I sat down carefully next to him, unable to flop down as I would have in the past.
         Liam patted the pillow on his thigh. “Lay down, baby.” I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek before placing my head where he indicated. I stretched my legs out with a sigh. Oh, it felt good to be off my feet entirely. They were so swollen. I stretched out my whole body, moaning in relief. Liam chuckled. His hand ran up and down my side, using just the fingertips. My mother had done the same on my back when I was a baby. I had dubbed it ‘the tickly way’ at age three. I melted into the warmth of our couch, despite the fact it was 80-something degrees outside and I should be complaining about being too hot. But tonight, I was surprisingly comfortable.
         I reached out to rub Liam’s knee, drawing heart shapes into his jeans. Another soft sigh escaped me when his fingers brushed my ribs and my bra strap. He ran his hand back over it. Without any words or warning, he reached down beneath the shirt and ran his fingers up to the bra clasp. With a gentle twist of his fingers, it unhooked. He pushed the straps away from one another and then began to rub again, this time on my skin. I sighed again, pushing my nose into the pillow to keep myself from crying. It felt so good and he did it all out of caring and comfort for me. No lust. No sex. Just love.
         “You okay, baby?” he asked.
         “Yeah,” I murmured, eyes closing to enjoy the feelings of his fingers.


Halfway through the movie, I had switched to lie from my side to my back. I wasn’t really paying attention to Hugh Jackman and Michael Caine anymore, but instead found myself staring at my belly. I ran my hands over it repeatedly, measuring it to the best of my lacking mathematical abilities. I chewed my lip absently as my mind ran through all the pictures in my head of pregnant women. How big were they at this stage in the game? I couldn’t really remember, much less have many to compare myself to.
         “You think I’m gaining too much weight?” I asked quietly.
         Liam snapped out of movie-mode. “Huh?”
         “Do you think I’ve gained too much weight too fast?” I repeated myself, tipping my head up to look at him. I blinked slowly.
         Liam laughed. “Baby, you’re pregnant. It’s okay. You’re supposed to.” He ran his fingers through my hair gently, and then reached down to cup against my belly.
         A bubbled up feeling came up and popped on the surface of my skin. I gasped, sitting up, almost hitting Liam’s hand when it jerked away. “What was that?” I asked, feeling it again. “Oh my god,” I answered myself almost immediately. “It kicked. Ha-ha! It kicked!”
         I turned to look at Liam, grinning. He smiled back at me. I grabbed his hand and brought it back, placing it near my bellybutton. “Feel! Oh my god, it’s kicking.” I couldn’t stop laughing.
         “Yeah, I feel it,” he laughed, holding my belly. I held the other side next to his fingers. He kissed my head, holding me in a backward hug with his other hand.
         “I’ve gotta call Mary, or somebody,” I said, pulling myself up off the couch. I rushed into the kitchen, searching for the phone. Warm air from the open window blew in, unsettling my bangs and dropping them into my eyes. I finger-combed them back. I found the phone and began to dial.
         Liam’s hands touched my shoulders. He turned me around and took the phone from me. He sat it down back on its base. His mouth came to mine in a deep kiss. I sighed, grasping his shirt sleeves at the biceps in my fingers. It lasted for what seemed like forever. His fingers ran through my hair and then down my body. I pressed my body as close to his as I could without upsetting the bulge of my belly. I moaned softly when he gripped the muscles in my butt gently and his lips found my neck.
                Liam lifted me onto the counter and pushed my legs apart to stand between them. I ran my hands through his thick, dark hair, holding his face to my neck as he continued to kiss and nibble my ear down to my collarbone and back up again. He pulled my panties down, his fingers coming back to stroke gently.
         I sighed again, my breath hitching when he hit the right spot. I reached down and grasped his belt buckle, undoing it as quick as I could. Then went the button and zipper. He let go of me to push his jeans down. My fingers wrapped around him, causing him to gasp. I let my hand drift up and down, making him groan. He exhaled hot air into my ear, turning me on all the more. “Make love to me,” I whispered breathlessly.