Chapter 5
By the time Julie was beginning her second trimester, all she could think about was new clothes, food…and more clothes. It was on a Monday
morning, her first day back to work in three and a half months and she just couldn’t find anything to wear. She looked into the mirror as she held a maxi dress against her body. It had been almost two hours since she took a
shower and she was still not dressed. She looked at her phone and rolled her eyes. She was going to be late. Steven could not help but smile as he looked at her. He had decided to take an extra week off just in case Julie needed help and from what he could see, she needed all the help she could get. He had tried getting her to go shopping but she wouldn’t hear of it. For Julie, the hardest part of her pregnancy was losing that perfect supple waist. She was in denial that her tummy was actually growing and that soon, she
would look like a teletubby. But what Julie didn’t know was that Steven went shopping without her. He had taken Meg and Dana who helped him pick out sexy maternity wear. He had been keeping the clothes a secret because Meg and Dana had advised him to.
“The last thing you want to do is bring up maternity wear with her,” Meg had said.
“Yeah she will just accuse you of calling her fat,” Dana had interjected.
“I don’t understand. She is growing bigger every single day,” Steven had said in his defense. Meg and Dana exchanged knowing glances.
“Oh honey, she is fully aware of the changes going on in her body but the truth is that if you point it out, she will not take it as a compliment. She
already feels like she is losing her sex appeal so telling her to put on some loose clothing will just fuel an already raging inferno,” Dana explained.
Steven was confused.
“An already raging inferno? Have I already done something that I don’t know about?” he asked. He had a worried look on his face.
“Right now, everything you do is wrong,” Meg said. .
“Seriously? Should I maybe take some time and leave her be?” he asked.
“That is the worst thing you could possibly do. The last thing she needs right now is to be alone,” Meg shook her head.
“So, what do I do?” Steven asked.
“Stay on her good side. Agree with everything she does and wants. That
way she will never have any ammunition to go after you,” Dana explained.
He was still looking at Julie when she turned around and looked at him.
“What?” she asked as she picked another dress from the bed and held it against her body.
“Nothing. I’m just looking at my beautiful wife, that’s all,” he said as he walked towards her.
“Well, I don’t feel very beautiful right now. Nothing fits and I have to be at work in…” Julie was talking so fast that she didn’t realize he had already gotten to where she was. He took her hand and pulled her close to him before he kissed her, silencing her. When he pulled away, she had her eyes closed. “Maybe I should just stay home today,” she said in a low voice.
Steven smiled and shook his head.
“Whatever you want to do, you know I am one hundred per cent in your corner, right?” he asked. She opened her eyes and nodded. “Come with me,” he said as he led her out of the bedroom.
“Where are we going?”
“Be patient. I want to show you something,” he said as he opened the door to the guest room.
“What are we doing here?” she asked when Steven made her sit on the bed. He looked at her and smiled.
“Like I said, I want to show you something,” he said, walking to the closet. She looked at him and shrugged. “Now, I know how much you hate maternity wear but I figured that by the time you went back to work, you would need a closet makeover,” he said. She looked at him and raised an
eyebrow. She opened her mouth to speak but Steven put his finger up.
“Don’t worry. I made sure it’s not the baggy bed sheet kind of clothes,” he said using the very words Julie had once used to describe maternity wear.
She looked at him as he opened the closet revealing a completely new
wardrobe. Julie stood up and walked towards the closet, not sure whether she was more surprised or simply happy. She picked out a sleeveless black
and white asymmetrical knee length dress and a smile played on her lips. It was perfect. Not too tight, not too loose and most of all sexy. She pulled out another dress and then another. Each one was more impressive than the last.
“When did you do all this?” she asked as she looked through the closet.
“About a month ago,” Steven said crossing his arms over his chest. “Dana and Meg helped.”
Julie looked at him and laughed. “Well, clearly you had some help.”
“Hey, are you trying to tell me that I’ve got no taste?” he frowned. She was smiling as she walked towards him. “Because if that’s what you think, then you must not know what you look like,” he added in a soft voice as he
slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. He lowered his head and kissed her softly.
Julie pulled away and looked at her husband.
“I really should get going,” she said in a low voice.
“And here I was thinking that you were reconsidering going to the office today,” he said. There was a naughty smile on his face. She looked into his adorably loving eyes and sighed.
“If I don’t go in today…you know the strings Dana had to pull just so I could have the meeting with the new clients in the office,” she said
frowning. “It would be really disrespectful if I didn’t show up,” she added as she put her hand on his chest.
“I know,” Steven said as they walked out of the guest room. Julie suddenly stopped and turned around. “What? Changed your mind already?” he asked. She smiled and stood on tiptoe to brush his lips with hers.
“Just giving you a taste of what I have planned for you when I am done
with this meeting,” she said. A smile played on Steven’s lips as he raised an eyebrow.
“So, you are not working till the evening?” he asked. She smiled and shook her head. “Isn’t that going to cause some issues with Dana?” he asked as they walked back to the master bedroom. She turned around and looked at him over her shoulder.
“I’m a hormonal pregnant woman who needs to take it easy on her first day back at work,” she said before she walked into the bathroom.
Steven smiled and sat on the bed.
“Don’t you think you are having a little too much fun with this pregnancy hormone thing?” he called out. Julie poked her head through the bathroom door and shook her head.
“Hey, all I’m doing is simply making hay while the sun is still shining. I won’t have this bulge every single day, you know,” she said as she went back into the bathroom. Steven was trying as much as he could to hold
himself back because all he wanted was to walk into that bathroom and look
at his wife as she got dressed. Julie had become a little too self-conscious
ever since her bump started showing. She never wanted to shower with him anymore or even dress in front of him. Even without Meg and Dana’s
advice, he knew that it was probably best to let her be. When she finally decided to show herself to him, whenever that would be, he was going to be ready for her.
“What do you think?” Julie asked as she walked out of the bathroom. Steven looked at her and smiled proudly. The round necked dress flattered her figure almost too perfectly. She had her straightened hair held back in a loose bun showing off her silver dangling earrings. Her smoky eye and red lipstick was almost too perfect. She looked like some kind of model. She
slowly took a step forward and shrugged. “Well?” she asked impatiently. “Beautiful. Perfect,” Steven said in a low voice.
“You really think so?” she smiled.
“Oh yeah,” he said in a whisper as his eyes traveled up and down her body.
It took everything in him not to strip her. She smiled and walked to the closet and she slipped on a pair of shiny pointy toed heels before she grabbed a green wet look handbag. “Are you sure you are up to driving
yourself because I don’t mind dropping you off,” Steven said as he slowly followed her to the living room.
“Honestly I have never felt better. I’m fine,” she said as she grabbed her keys. Steven slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to kiss her softly on the lips.
“Call me if you need anything,” he said. She looked at him and touched the side of his face.
“Okay but you will hardly notice I’m gone,” she said with a smile before she opened the door and walked out. She was ecstatic as she walked to her
car. The feeling she had could only be compared to a man walking free after a long period of incarceration. Of course, there was no way for her to know this but she was sure that the feeling she had was almost similar. She got
into the driver’s seat and pulled the seat belt around her. She looked up at Steven and smiled as she revved her engine and backed out of the driveway.
When she got to the office building, she suddenly realized that in her excitement, she had forgotten to get breakfast.
“Damn it,” she thought as she parked her car. Lately, she had been having really strange cravings. Just a few days earlier, Steven had walked in on her eating a breakfast burrito and a kesar badam pista milkshake. “I really don’t want to eat like a freak in the office…Oh God please don’t make me pig out at work,” she prayed silently as she rode in the elevator. She took a long deep breath when the elevator doors opened. A smile played on her lips
when she saw Andy and Dana standing there. She was not sure how long they had been waiting but by the looks of things, they had been there for quite a while. “Hi guys,” she said in a low voice as she stepped out of the elevator.
“Welcome back, honey. We have…I have the day fully planned out for you,” Andy said as he threw his arms around her.
“Yeah and I was just stepping out, but I wanted to say hello before I left,” Dana said stepping in after Andy pulled away. Julie smiled and shook her head.
“Why don’t you guys just say it and get it over and done with, huh?” she said as she began walking down the hallway.
“Wha…what are you talking about?” Andy asked as he and Dana walked after her.
“The party…small thing you have planned?” Julie asked as she stopped in her tracks and looked at Dana and Andy who were now looking at each other nervously. “You are both terrible with secrets,” she added with a smile before she went on walking down the hall. The minute she turned the corner to go to her office, she came face to face with the entire company cheering and clapping. She smiled and then turned to look at Dana and Andy.
“You saw right through us, didn’t you?” Dana said with a smile. Julie shrugged and nodded.
“Now, let’s get on with it. I’m starved. I hope you got a red velvet cake,” she said in a whisper as she walked towards the crowd. “Hey guys,” she
said with a smile as she shook hands and hugged almost every person there.
She looked at the beautiful white cake with strawberry and grape garnish and felt her tummy grumble.
“Well, go ahead,” Rory, one of Julie’s workmates said excitedly. Julie smiled and stepped forward. She grabbed the knife and slowly began cutting the cake.