Ruffled ~ H.S

Forty-Five

A/N: I'm sorry in advance if you think that this feels like a rushed chapter. But I still tried to make it cute, so I hope that makes up for it :)

"Fuck!" I exclaimed in exasperation as the zipper of my jeans refused to budge once again, "Damn it!"

"What's wrong, Deids?" Harry made his way over to me from where he'd been doing up his necktie in the mirror.

"My fucking pants aren't zipping up," I grumbled, "I can't believe it! I'm only six weeks pregnant and I'm already fucking fat!"

"You're not fat, darling," Harry objected immediately.

"I've already outgrown so many of my jeans, Harry!" I cried, "How can you say I'm not fat?"

"You're not fat, because you're pregnant," he reminded me with a smile, "there's a difference, love."

I gave him a small smile back. "Yeah. I guess you're right," I then looked at him, "but you can't deny it – I am starting to get a bit curvy, aren't I?" I sighed.

"So what? I'm loving it," he smirked at me and took me by the waist to pull me closer to him, "it's making my favourite parts of you all plump – which only means that there's now a lot more of you for me to grab. And how on earth could I complain about that?"

At his words, I had to break out a small smile and a quiet giggle. "Only you would know how to make me feel better about all this weight gain."

Harry smiled back at me warmly before pressing his lips to mine and kissing me sweetly.

"No matter what happens to your body," he murmured against my lips, "you'll still always be the most beautiful woman in the world to me, Deidre."

I smiled at him once more as we pulled away – wrapping my arms around him and hugging his waist as I rested my head against his chest with a soft sigh.

"I'm sorry," I chuckled softly, "don't mind me. I think the mood swings are starting to kick in a bit."

Harry chuckled as well. "I can handle it. Don't worry," he then held me at an arm's length and tilted my chin up a little so that I could meet his eyes, "you're still feeling OK, though? Like, no morning sickness or anything?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Nothing. That's kinda weird though...because isn't morning sickness supposed to be peaking by this week..?" I then bit my lip, "Is it...a bad thing that I'm not feeling sick?"

"Oh Deids, morning sickness doesn't happen to every pregnant woman, you know," he told me with a smile, "if nausea really isn't going to affect you during this pregnancy, I'll actually be relieved – because even before we ever thought about planning for a baby, I've secretly dreaded the time when I'd have to watch you suffer through that."

"Aww..." I was touched, "really?"

Harry nodded. "I wanted a child so much, but at the same time I hated the thought of having to watch the woman I love throwing up every morning, possibly even crying because you just want it all to stop, and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it except try to console you," he touched his forehead to mine and sighed, "because if I had to watch you going through morning sickness, Deidre...consoling you would be nowhere near enough for me. All I would want to do is make it all stop instantly, but I know I wouldn't be able to do that. That's why I've been constantly asking you if you're OK, in case you haven't noticed."

I giggled. "How could I not notice? You've asked me if I've been feeling sick every day this past week."

"Well, at least now you know why," he said with a chuckle, "I've been trying to prepare myself."