She falls asleep

Jess’s breathing slowed first.

The tension that had been living in her shoulders all evening finally drained away. Her hand stayed loosely over mine where it rested on the side of her belly, but the grip loosened. A few minutes later her head grew heavier against my shoulder. Then she was asleep—soft, warm, and completely unguarded against me.

I didn’t move.

The high, firm curve of her stomach rose and fell under my palm with every slow breath. The soft weight of her breast pressed against my forearm. My T-shirt had ridden up slightly in her sleep, leaving a strip of warm, taut skin against my fingers. Five and a half months. Nineteen years old. Asleep on my couch because her parents had thrown her out the same morning they found the scan photos.

My cock was fully hard now, trapped uncomfortably against the soft press of her lower back. I stayed completely still so I wouldn’t wake her.

I reached for my phone with my free hand and unlocked it carefully.

Ryan: You still up?

The reply came faster than I expected.

Sue: Yeah. Malc’s out cold. What’s wrong?

I looked down at Jess’s sleeping face, then at the rounded shape of her belly under my hand.

Ryan: Remember how I told you I needed another one?

Sue: …Ryan.

Ryan: There’s a nineteen-year-old girl asleep on my couch right now. Five and a half months pregnant. Parents kicked her out this morning when they found out. She had nowhere to go. I brought her up.

Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.

Sue: You’re serious.

Ryan: She’s wearing one of my T-shirts. Fell asleep against me ten minutes ago. My hand is on her belly right now. She’s warm and soft and she asked me to hold her because it’s been months since she could let anyone near it without hiding.

Sue: Fuck.

Ryan: I know.

Sue: How does she look?

I stared at the message for a second. Then I typed the truth.

Ryan: Young. Pretty. The belly is high and firm. Not as big as Lisa’s was last night but it’s already obvious. Soft tits under the T-shirt. She was so careful about not showing it for months and now she’s just… let me have it against me while she sleeps.

Sue: You’re hard, aren’t you.

It wasn’t a question.

Ryan: Yeah.

Sue: Of course you are.

A longer pause. Then:

Sue: Are you going to fuck her?

I looked down at Jess again. The slow rise and fall of her pregnant stomach under my palm. The way her body had melted into mine the second she felt safe enough to stop hiding.

Ryan: Not tonight. She’s exhausted and scared and she only just stopped crying a couple of hours ago. But I’m not sending her away in the morning either.

Sue: Jesus, Ryan. One night with Lisa and now you’ve got a second pregnant girl already asleep on you.

Ryan: I told you I was hooked.

Sue: You weren’t lying.

Another pause. I could almost picture her on Malc’s couch, phone in hand, thighs pressed together the way they’d been earlier.

Sue: Keep me updated. And be careful with her. She’s nineteen and just got thrown out. Don’t be a complete bastard about it.

Ryan: I won’t.

Sue: But you’re still going to keep her there, aren’t you.

I didn’t answer that one right away. My hand stayed where it was on the warm, firm curve of Jess’s belly. She made a small sound in her sleep and shifted closer, pressing the soft weight of her stomach more firmly against me.

Ryan: Yeah. I am.

I locked the phone and set it aside.

Jess slept on, completely trusting, her pregnant body warm and heavy against mine in the quiet apartment. The same dark, greedy thing that had woken up with Lisa the night before settled deeper into my chest.

I wasn’t going to move her.

And I already knew I wasn’t going to want her to leave.