Your Beauty Never, Ever Scared Me - Wintumn Stories

Perfect

As her due date grew closer, Autumn had taken to spending nearly all her time at home. She would run errands when he absolutely had to but she would much rather stay in. Since she didn't have to leave for work anymore she had taken to barely ever changing out of a pair of shorts and one of Winter's hoodies. But she was growing more and more restless as her maternity leave continued. There were really only so many times that she could reorganize the nursery and she didn't know if she'd ever seen her place this tidy. The worst part of all, though, was that she missed Winter.

Winter didn't get as long a leave as she did so he was saving his for after Rose had arrived. That way he would be there to help get her settled and help with the adjustment as much as possible. It would also give them all time to bond as a family.

Autumn wanted to tell him just to start his time off early. She was the boss, who was going to yell at him? Reece? Autumn knew that if she asked Winter to stay with her, he would without question. But she also knew how important his job was to him. He truly did care about all the kids he looked after. And no one could deny that he was one of the best teachers that they had in the nursery. She couldn't ask him to just sit at home with her when so many people relied on him.

To combat her boredom, she spent a lot of time talking to Rose. Her and Winter always made sure to include her in their conversations. She was her own little person and her movements absolutely convinced them that she could hear and respond to exactly what they were saying. So when Autumn was reading, she'd read out loud so Rose wasn't left out. When she sat outside to draw, she'd tell her daughter exactly what she was drawing and how she was doing it, promising to someday teach her to draw just like her mummy. If she was watching a horror movie, she would warn her when to look away.

Any time she would feel Rose move after she said something the realization hit her again that it was only a matter of days before she would get to hold her daughter. Every kick, every wiggle, reminded her that Rose was safe, that she was strong, and that she was healthy. She couldn't wait for her daughter to be here so their conversations could happen in person, so that she could start to form the bond with her daughter that she never had with her own mum. From the way Rose already seemed to communicate with her she knew they were off to a great start.

Coming home to hear his wife talking to his daughter was Winter's favorite part of the day. He'd always try to close the door as quietly as possible and hang back to hear what they were talking about. He didn't believe it was possible to fall more in love with his wife, but everytime he walked through the door, he did.

Autumn always knew he was listening, so she made sure to talk a little louder when he got home. She would use the time to talk about things she wanted to say to Winter, but knew she wouldn't be able to say to his face without crying so hard she couldn't form words.

"You're so lucky, my little one. You are going to grow up with the best daddy in the entire world. He's smart, he's handsome, and he takes such good care of us. He's the most amazing teacher and the best man I have ever known."

Her words were more needed today than she even knew. Some days at work were much harder than others and this had been one of those days. Every parent seemed to have a complaint about something incredibly minor and three parents were late to collect. And Winter found it incredibly hard to be away from Autumn all day. He really relied on their daily lunch catch ups to make it through the day just as much as Autumn always had so not being able to have those was starting to take its toll. Coming home to hear his wife, the woman he loved more than anything, talking about him like that to their baby was the best part of his day. His dreams started coming true the day he met Autumn and each day a new one was realized. He didn't want to wait at the door and listen anymore, he wanted to be with his family. So he quickly made his way into the lounge.

"Oh, hello, my sweet. I didn't even hear you come in."

Winter didn't respond, he just sat next to her and pulled her into a passionate kiss. His arms wrapped around her, holding her as close as he could. Neither of them wanted to pull away, the love they felt between them was so strong they wanted to live in that moment forever. Eventually Winter did pull back.

"Hello, my love." He leaned down to place a kiss on her bump. As he sat back up he placed his hand over the spot he had kissed and felt a few gentle kicks, he couldn't help but smile as his little girl let him know she was listening. "And, my little love. Did you have a nice day, my darlings?"

"Yes, we did. Rose helped me with some painting and we listened to some music together. She really did seem to love Madonna. She didn't stop moving the entire album."

"That's my girl!" Winter rubbed his hands over her belly, feeling his daughter wiggling around.

"Although our day is much better now that you're home, my love."

It seemed like Autumn was in better spirits today than she had been recently. Most days she would be in bed by the time Winter got home. She had a lot less energy and would spend most of it during the day. Moving around had also become harder as she finally developed a pregnancy walk over the last week. Most nights they spent together in bed watching movies and eating takeout. So he took the fact that she found her on the couch this evening as a sign that they should do something more with their evening.

"My love, how would you feel about me taking you out tonight?"

Although she had been greatly enjoying her time at home, Autumn quickly agreed to the date. They didn't know how many more nights they would get just the two of them. At their last appointment they were told that Rose had dropped into position meaning that Autumn could go into labor any day now. So she wasn't going to turn down what could be their last date night for a few months.

They made their way upstairs together to get ready, Autumn was leaning on Winter for a little extra support as they made their way through the house. When they finally reached the bedroom, Autumn found her current favorite dress. It was a very comfortable, flowy dress that still accentuated her bump but was incredibly easy to wear. As she pulled off Winter's hoodie she paused as she saw herself in the mirror, her mind started racing. She loved her bump, it meant that her baby was growing exactly how she should be and that she would be here soon. But at the same time, she worried about the changes her body had gone through. Winter was never shy about calling her "perfect." She knew it was irrational to think that he only meant her body was perfect but she couldn't help but worry that he would feel differently now that she looked different. Now that she was no longer "perfect."

Winter recognized the look on her face immediately. He watched as she tentatively rubbed her stomach, and saw her eyes on the verge of tears.

"My love, don't move."

He pulled out his phone and quickly took a few pictures of her holding her bump. She posed as she had every week, her smile growing brighter with each shot as she saw the sheer love reflected in Winter's eyes as he kept changing angles, looking to capture the beauty he saw before him. He looked through the pictures for a minute before his eyes locked with hers again, the adoration he had for her apparent in his expression.

"Absolutely stunning as always, my love." He knelt down and started placing kisses on each mark that had appeared on her skin these past few months. "Rose, did you know that your mother might possibly be the most beautiful woman who has ever lived?"

Autumn pulled him up off the ground, laughing as he jokingly struggled against her grasp and placed kisses wherever he could reach. He finally relented and instead starting trailing kisses up her arm and around her face smiling into them as he heard her start to laugh. He would never tire of hearing that sound.

Finally he placed his forehead against hers, looking deep into her eyes as his arms traveled around her waist. They stood together for a while, enjoying the closeness, until Winter finally broke their silence.

"My love, you are absolutely perfect."