My eyes fly open to the sound of my man’s voice singing in my ear.
"Maria…" I turn to look into his smiling face. I can’t help but smile back.
"¿Qué quieres, loco?" I tease.
"Oh, I’m loco, all right," he teases back, "loco pa’ ti."
He rolls me from my side onto my back and puts his hand on my belly.
"And what do I want?" he teases some more. "Well, that’s easy, I want you, mi amor." He leans over to kiss me, and bolt upright in bed with my hand covering my mouth.
"Maria, are you okay?" he asks, with genuine concern.
I make it into the bathroom just in time. The contents of my stomach are emptied and the morning sickness ritual has begun. After I brush my teeth and gargle with mouthwash, I go climb back into bed. Howie puts his hand back on my belly.
Ever since I’ve started to show, about two weeks ago, Howie’s had this fascination with my belly.
He moves in for the kiss again and I’m ready.
"Mmm, you taste good," he says, "minty fresh." I giggle. It’s a lame joke, but it’s cute when it’s coming from him. "Come on honey," he says, trying to pull down my shorts, "let’s get busy."
"I don’t know how you can stand to even look at me when I’m getting so fat and ugly," I tell him as I move his hand. I’m finding it hard to believe that he still finds me attractive.
He looks me in the eyes with intensity.
"Maria, I know how you got fat and it’s not ugly, it’s beautiful," he kisses me deeply and runs his hand under my tank top. My breasts are bigger now and I know he likes that.
I slide my boxers off and throw them on the floor. Then I lift my arms above me head and Howie takes off my tank top and throws it across the room. I hook my fingers in the waistband of his boxers and slide them off. I ball them up and throw them at him. He catches them and laughs, then he throws them on the floor.
Before I can warn him, he starts to climb on top of me.
"Howie don’t get on…ow!"
"Oh God, baby, I forgot," he says, rolling over onto his back. I get up and straddle him.
He gently rubs my clit with his thumb and forefinger. I throw my head back and moan. I feel myself get wet all over his fingers. I sit down on him and he grabs my hips.
I’m moving up and down gently.
"Baby, open your eyes and look at me," he whispers.
I open my eyes and look down at him. His big brown eyes stare up at me. His mouth is slightly open and his breathing is heavy. He closes his mouth and swallows.
"Does it feel good, Maria?" he whispers. He should know by my response that it does. It’s always good with him. I manage to nod my head as I moan softly.
I increase my speed a little. He’s bucking his hips under me.
I’ve stopped worrying about sex being bad for the baby. The doctor gave me a pamphlet saying that sex wouldn’t hurt the baby. When I brought it home, I made Howie read it with me.
We both thought the part where it said that the baby actually liked the rocking motion was cute.
So now, we make love as often as we did before I started to show, which is pretty often.
We’re staring into each other’s eyes as we continue to make love slowly. We have all the time in the world.
"On your side," whispers Howie. I get off of him and lay on my right side. Howie spoons me and then enters me. We rock back and forth together until we both climax.
I close my eyes again and he kisses my cheek.
"Eres mi vida," he says in my ear. I open my eyes and stare straight ahead.
I stretch out and go back to sleep. I think I hear him whisper ‘sweet dreams’ to me, but I’m not sure. He puts his arms around me and I feel safe.