Father Christmas

six

Astrid

TheflutterysensationI felt last night, like a school of fish swimming in my stomach, is back this morning. My baby is happy. I don’t know how I know this; I just do. I rest my hand over Finn’s atop my belly.

“Can you feel him?” Finn whispers over my shoulder.

“I think so. I’m pretty sure he’s waving good morning.”

“Morning, baby.” He kisses my neck, drawing my back against his chest. “Morning, baby girl.

“Good morning, Daddy.” I nestle into the heat of his body. Last night, before Finn came to my room, I was wound so tightly I could barely breathe. I felt anxious about my future, about my baby’s future. I listened for the grumble of a truck speeding off into the night, convinced Finn would decide he didn’t want to be a father after all.

But then he came, and he looked me in the eye and said he was sorry. I didn’t want to forgive him right away, but the fact that he was almost naked made it impossible to stay angry. I’ve been telling myself that I can do this alone if I have to, when the truth is, I don’t want to do this alone.

I want my baby to grow up in a home with two parents who love each other. And even though I’m a big girl who’s only getting bigger, I still want my Daddy to take care of me.

“I wish every morning could be like this,” I tell him.

“This is how it should’ve been the morning after your first time.” There’s a sadness to his tone that makes me want to kiss him and make it all better.

I shift so I can see his face. “I forgive you for leaving, you know.”

Finn’s smile is strained. I touch his cheek and kiss his lips. He moves on top of me. We don’t have time for sex, at least not like the kind we had last night. That world-shifting, mind-bending, soul-bonding kind of sex. But his cock is hard against my belly, and I can’t resist wrapping my fingers around it.

His chest rumbles with a low growl. “You want to play with my cock, little girl?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

He lowers his lips to my ear. “Go on. Stroke it like I taught you.”

I run my fist up and down his hard length. He clutches the pillow as I stroke. I love the way his eyes close and his jaw goes slack when I grip him harder. Within seconds, my big, strong, formidable Daddy is thrusting into my fist like he’s chasing his own pleasure.

“Feels so fucking good when you jack me off, baby.” He captures my chin. His kiss is almost violent, but I welcome it. I welcome everything he wants give me—

But something isn’t right. My stomach’s fluttering in a way that’s neither cute, nor heart-warming.

Saliva begins to collect in my mouth.

“I’m going to be sick,” I blurt, pushing at him. He rolls off me. I barely have enough time to sprint into the attached bath between my room and Leena’s room before I’m hurling the contents of my stomach into the toilet bowl.

Finn rushes into the bathroom a moment later with his sweatpants halfway up his legs.

“No,” I groan, mortified. “Go away. I don’t want you to see me like this.”

“Baby girl, I saw you through swine flu. This ain’t my first rodeo.” He gathers my hair at the back of my neck as another wave of nausea hits me. “That’s it. Get it all out.”

There’s a knock on the door and then the soft whine as the door to Leena’s room opens.

“Bae,” Leena says. “You oka—oh, you’re naked!”

I moan into the toilet.

“Hand me that towel, would you?” Finn says.

Leena grabs a towel off the rack and tosses it to him. He drapes it over me.

“Is she okay?”