He watched her sleep. She was an angel while she slept. She smelled like Cyprus oil and Wacky Wild Strawberry lip-gloss. Her body laid against his. Her legs entwined with his. Her hair fell against his chest. He could feel her breathing against his skin. The little gold band she wore on her finger grazed against his hand.

She mumbled something and turned over in her sleep. She’d kicked the covers off of her again and the T-shirt she slept in was twisted up over her belly. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked at her.

Her round belly was bigger than ever. Her skin was taught and he could see the some of the thin blue veins that ran beneath it. She’d been complaining about stretch marks for months now, but there were none. He’d fixed all of them before she ever had a chance to see them. Her belly button poked out and she swore that she could not wear anything but cotton because everything else made her itch. She slept on her side now. She said that she was getting too big and if she slept on her back, she’d feel like she was being crushed. Her breasts were swollen and she worried about getting saggy. Her ankles swelled and it caused her to waddle when she walked. Lately, she was always in the bathroom, in the bed, yelling, laughing, crying, or emotionless. And he’s had to go to Taco Bell for a Chalupa and a Taco Supreme and go to the mini-mart for M&M’s and a V-8 Splash to make her midnight snack four times in the past two weeks.

She was beautiful.

They’d waited for so long. Now his angel, his pixie girl was having his child.

He’d never thought he could be this happy.

He ran his hand over her belly and felt his daughter kick. Her mother rolled over sleepily and smiled.

“Did you feel that, Michael?” She yawned.

He repositioned himself and looped his arms around her. “Yeah. I felt her, Maria.” he whispered into her hair.

She mumbled something else and fell asleep. He laid there with her in the morning light. He felt his wife’s breathing against his skin. He felt his daughter’s kicks beneath his fingertips.