The Dreams That You Wish

Chapter 21

"Ilgaz," she calls out to him one morning as she's standing in front of the bedroom mirror.

"Sevgilim," he responds, using the same tone she does. It makes her laugh when he's silly like this.

"I need you to look at something."

She waits until he comes over and then turns around so that he can see her problem.

"You promised I wasn't showing yet. So how do you explain these?"

She looks down and waves her hands at the overflow from her bra cups.

His eyes actually brighten with delight.

"I'm not sure how you want me to answer. I see no problem from where I'm standing. In fact," he starts, reaching out and pulling her to him. He presses a kiss to the base of her neck where it meets her shoulder. "I can show you exactly how much I appreciate your new ... assets."

"Ilgaz," she half groans, half moans. But she doesn't push him away. She even tilts her head a little to give him more room to work.

In the past month since she got out of the hospital, she's been reading all the books and blogs telling her what to expect. But aside from being a bit more tired, and constantly having to use the bathroom, she didn't suffer from too many of the pregnancy symptoms at first. She didn't really feel pregnant. But suddenly, she wakes up one morning and everything just looks ... swollen. Yes. Swollen is the best word she can come up with why she suddenly can't fit into her bras anymore. And why her pants won't fasten.

"Everything is too tight," she sighs. "Nothing fits anymore."

"It's fine," he quickly says, patting her back. "Just don't start crying, okay?"

She gives him a side eye glance. She doesn't cry ... that much.

"I don't cry," she repeats out loud for his benefit.

He opens his mouth, about to say something to the contrary, but she beats him to it.

"Last night doesn't count. You put on that dizi that always makes me cry."

"You cried during the commercials, Ceylin," he reminds her.

She scowls. Okay. Maybe she did cry. But it was that coffee commercial when the older brother came home from being away at college to find his little sister all grown up and wondering where the time went. Everyone cries watching that commercial.

"And you cried the other day when we took Asen out for a walk around the neighborhood," he adds.

"The puppy, Ilgaz! He couldn't hop up on the curb because his little legs were too short and his owner was leaving him behind. Only someone cold and heartless wouldn't have felt sad for that poor thing."

"And then ..."

She raises a hand to stop him from saying anything else.

"I get it, okay? Maybe I have been a little emotional."

Ilgaz just smiles and gives her a kiss on the cheek.

"The doctor says it's normal," he says. "Hormones. Your body is changing, Sweetheart."

She just scowls again. He's so annoyingly sensible sometimes. He annoys her even more when he walks to the closet and pulls out a dress that she had always complained about being a little too big. But pair it with a blazer - those thankfully still fit - and she'll look just as crisp as professional as she always does.

So. Annoyingly. Sensible. But she thanks him anyway. This solves her problem until she can buy some more comfortable clothes. She steps into the dress and turns for him to zip up the back for her. Perfect fit. But it makes her break out into a cold sweat anyway. Because now, she has no more excuses.