Serena arrived at the bus station, too far into her pregnancy to have flown in. My wife, Danielle, and I were there an hour early: she was beyond excited to see her best friend for the first time in nearly a year. Serena's train finally arrived; we met her as she got off and I quickly took her bags with a "Let me take those" as Danielle went in for a hug. Or, what passed for a hug given Serena's current condition: her belly kept Danielle back by well over a foot. She wore a loose black maternity jumpsuit that wasn't nearly loose enough to hide the enormity of her belly. Quite the sight. Danielle disengaged from the hug to marvel at it herself, quickly becoming too eager to help herself and grabbing Serena's midsection in both hands.
"You're huge!" she finally told her friend, the first words they'd exchanged. "Well, thanks," Serena replied with a chuckle. Danielle finally released her grip. "Hi! So nice to see all of you!" They both laughed and hugged again. The size of Serena's belly really was something; I had trouble not staring. The only other time I'd met her I thought she was pretty but did not struggle to keep my eyes off her. I hadn't been around many pregnant women in my life, and the bump really was becoming, functioning as a genuine stare-magnet. Even a touch-magnet as far as Danielle went, as her hands were quickly back on her friend's belly. "Okay, I'm super exhausted," Serena finally interrupted the reverie around her form. "Can we go home now?"
Back at the house, Serena collapsed onto the middle of our soft couch with an exaggerated sigh of relief, Danielle taking the cushion next to her; I sat in the recliner next to them. "I don't think I can do anything for a while," Serena was apologetic. "Even a damned train ride wears me out at this point. Can we just sit and talk or whatever?" Grinning from ear to ear, Danielle nodded enthusiastically as she started touching the bump again. "Oh my God, yes! I want to know absolutely everything!" She didn't mention it to Serena just yet, but Danielle and I had recently starting trying to conceive ourselves. Danielle was rather pregnancy-obsessed, naturally, and had really been looking forward to Serena's visit in order to get the inside scoop. "How's it going so far? I'm sorry, my memory is total shit: how far along are you even?"
Smiling and with one hand on the part of her belly not currently occupied by Danielle's hands, Serena filled us in. "Well, I'm 35 weeks along, about 8 months. Let's see...I was really sick at first, before I even knew I was pregnant. I barfed for like six mornings in a row before Fernando finally told me to take a damn test, it hadn't even occurred to me. Morning sickness kept going for about 2 months; it sucked a bunch, really takes up most of your time and energy. It was at about 13 weeks that I started showing, I think, just about the same time the morning sickness finally stopped. That was super exciting and surreal." Danielle was hanging on her every word, alternating entranced stares between Danielle's bump and eyes. "How fast did you grow? Is it insane?"
Serena nodded, eyes wide. "Yeah, it's definitely fast and insane, totally. We take pictures every night in the same place and pose in our bedroom, and I can see the difference between consecutive days, even. You absolutely get bigger on a daily basis. How could that not be crazy? If you think you can't keep your hands off my belly, you should see me. It's like I'm trying to feel it grow right under my hands, as if I can literally detect it happening. It grows fast, but not that fast..." Danielle was shaking her head in wonder, still rubbing all over Serena's belly with both hands. "Amazing. Just...wow. How...do you feel, like, about all of it...besides the belly growing and everything?"
Looking into the distance thoughtfully, Serena took a minute to consider, idly rubbing the top of her bump as Danielle gently pushed in on its sides. "Well," she finally began, "I mean, it'll probably all sound pretentious or hippie-ish, 'Mother Nature' bullshit I could never stand, but...I really feel like some goddess with these magical, feminine fertility powers. Life is growing right in here, inside me. It's mind-blowing and constantly fascinating what my body is doing, and I'm straight-up in awe of it." Danielle nodded, eyes wider than I'd ever seen them. "That doesn't sound like bullshit at all; it's totally magical." All three of us were silently staring at her bump, Serena and Danielle both gripping it with all four of their collective hands.
"It looks so fucking good on you, Serena!" Danielle exclaimed. Serena blushed a bit, a sign of modesty I would've figured we were beyond by this point, but I could hardly blame her what with my wife's intense attention. "Yeah...I kind of love it, to be honest. I thought it'd make me feel fat and gross, which is weird because I've always thought it looked so cute on other girls. But, yeah, it might make it a bit cumbersome to get around for a couple of months, but I definitely think it looks good on me. Maybe even...sexy? Is that too much of a stretch?" Shaking her head with as much certainty as it could possibly express, Danielle definitively replied, "No, that's not a stretch at all. It's super sexy. Right, Dominic?!"
Now I was on the spot, and it was my turn to blush. Serena laughed as she swooped in to save me: "Jesus, Danielle! Don't ask your husband if I'm sexy! He hasn't even given it a touch yet, for Christ's sake! Oh, I didn't mention all the attention I get, all the stares and touches. It's slightly embarrassing to say, but...I fucking love it. I can't get enough of the attention. I arch my back and stick my belly out as far as it'll go when I notice someone looking, I lift my shirt up the moment it seems like someone's coming in for a sudden touch. I'm all about sharing the experience, you know? It's way too amazing for just me and Fernando to get to experience it. The magic belongs to the world!" She and Danielle laughed; I forced out a giggle. Serena was really selling the whole pregnancy thing to a degree I hadn't imagined I'd buy so fully into.
"What about the shitty stuff?" Danielle asked. "It's all been rainbows and candy you've told us about so far, but I know it's not all such a blast." Serena laughed and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, it has its downsides, absolutely. I mean, the belly is cool, and I'm not complaining about my boobs swelling." She laughed nervously for a second. "The hips and ass curves are okay, too, but the feet and ankles? Not even a little bit sexy, and pretty damned painful, what with footwear being a requirement when I'm in public. And the stomach issues. Once the morning sickness stops, it's just a few short months until the constipation and reflux. Sorry, Dominic, if this is too much information."
Danielle dismissively waved this concern away, never looking away from Serena's face. "Yeah, my stomach's a mess, I'm constantly exhausted, achy all over the place, peeing every 20 minutes. But honestly, the good really does outweigh the bad. These are minor annoyances in the face of the amazingness of it all, really."
I noticed a smile creeping across Danielle's face as she seemed to work up the courage for her next request. "Okay, Serena...I think we're going to need to see that belly of yours, if that's okay? And probably rub it, too, just so you know." Serena laughed and nodded as she promptly stood up and removed her jumpsuit in one smooth motion, revealing a white tank top and blue maternity shorts underneath. "It's no problem! I told you, I love the random stares and rubs: why wouldn't I want the same from you guys?!" Astoundingly enough, Danielle's eyes were able to get even wider in amazement. I could feel my own face's demonstration of awe, too, in my staring eyes and blushing cheeks. Serena seemed to note my simultaneous interest and trepidation.
"It's okay, Dominic; come on over," she said. Danielle's hands were already all over Serena's newly-bared bump; no need to reassure her, apparently. "Dominic, get your ass over here and feel this, it's amazing!" my wife shouted at me. I obeyed the ladies, approaching and sitting on the other side of our pregnant guest. She grabbed both of my hands, avoiding Danielle's roaming hands as she placed one of mine on the top of her bump and one on the left side. "The baby's right here," she told me, pushing the hand on the left side firmly into her belly. "Up here is just empty space, which I think feels pretty neat, too." Danielle nodded her enthusiastic agreement with this as I gently pushed both of my hands into the bump. The firmness of the part with the baby was remarkable, as was the firm-yet-soft, more liquid-y nature of the emptier section.