Ready To Deliver

For the first time in her life, Lois Lane wished she knew more about pregnancy. Oh, she'd heard about trimesters and swollen ankles and all that, but the possibility of actually carrying a baby to term had been so distant from her day-to-day reality that she had blithely ignored all the finer details. She didn't know how big a woman got during pregnancy, not really. What it was like.

Now she was learning.

The pain as the abdominal muscles stretched to the breaking point. The livid red marks that appeared on her belly as the skin stretched, scarred, and stretched again. A dark line crept up from her crotch to her belly button. Skin grew taut, then almost translucent, the veins standing out big and bold. It became harder to breathe as the baby—was it really just one in there?—pushed on her lungs and diaphragm from within. She had to pee as her massively swollen womb pressed on her bladder. Back ached as her weight was suddenly redistributed, muscles and fat shrank as her body racing to provide resources for the hungry, rapidly growing fetus to supplement the dark magic that Blaze was pouring into her.

Lois Lane didn't know how many pounds a pregnant woman was supposed to gain, but it felt like a barbell sitting in her lap. She wanted to beg, to scream, for Blaze to stop, but she was frozen in place, watching her abdomen distend further and further. Her navel stretched and stretched grotesquely as the skin grew thinner, until it popped out silently and suddenly. The reporter stared down at herself, looking as though she had swallowed a basketball, and knew that she must be nearing the end. How much bigger could she get?

The stomach wobbled...and seemed to fall forward. Lois grunted softly as the belly shifted lower, the weight pressing more acutely on her bladder. Her breasts started to ache as well. They did not grow much bigger, but the nipples and areola darkened and thickened, becoming puffy, pale blue veins standing out on the skin, and a painful pressure began to build inside of them, right behind the nips.

The black lightning ceased from the demon's hands. She sat back, sweat streaming from her temples, panting gently. There were dark purple bags under her eyes, and the tiniest of tremors in her hands. Lois took note of all of that, eyes narrowing.

Blaze ran a scarlet hand over the taut stomach. Deep within, Lois felt something shift...and then winced as it thrashed, kicking against her uterus from within. The tired-looking demon smiled.

"Our child is strong!" The hand rubbed over the full pink dome of the pregnant belly with something like wonder. "I think they are eager to meet their parents. It won't be long now."

"How long?" Lois asked, voice hoarse. She could move now, back and breasts aching, trying to shift to a more comfortable position on the bed.