Being 6 months pregnant had its perks.

For one, you were large enough to show off to everyone what you had sporting between your hips, yet not large enough to be considered near your due date just yet. A bump accessorising your waist, hidden beneath thick jumpers and hoodies and t-shirts stolen from Kyungsoo’s wardrobe because they were much comfier to slide on in the mornings. His clothes seemed to clothe your body more perfectly than not, and they gave more to the imagination of the wandering eyes, hiding the stretchmarks painting your skin and the home your baby was ‘renting’ for nine months of it’s pre-life.

For seconds, you and Kyungsoo were both fully able to finally feel your baby move more frequently than not under your stretching skin, together and at the same time rather than him being unable to detect the soft and gentle movements that your baby would give with his flattened palm against the skin that curved around. The soft fluttering feeling you were so familiar with, that would nestle at your core, was now replaced by football kicks and boxing punches from the long arms and legs forming upon your baby. Feet kicking, more than not, against your ribs and causing visible movements and bulges behind your belly and from your womb – an action that Kyungsoo found beautiful and breathtaking and he was never short of reminding you that that was a healthy baby inside of you, made with a mixture of the two of you.

And the perk of all perks that you loved more than anything was that Kyungsoo wasn’t shy to crack out his singing voice and belt notes out when you found comfort upon the bed, laying upon your side, his figure curled into a ball with his face level with your bump. Fingers raking through his hair as he hummed soft tunes and sung lyrics that you were no stranger to hearing, your body melting into the sound and your ears alert to the change of notes he’d make, an occasional voice break when he got too tired and the odd rasp from his dry throat.

However, being 6 months pregnant had its downfalls.

People were prone to wanting to touch and rub your bump, trying to coax the little one into kicking against their hands and trying to elicit a reaction with the sounds of their voices, their palms cupping protruding asset to your body without a care that you found it uncomfortable. You didn’t mind Kyungsoo’s family having a heartfelt feel of their newest addition because they were family and you were comfortable with being around them, listening as some gloated about having felt kicks to their palms and the disheartened grumbles of how some of them hadn’t, with their actions coming paired with a comfortable conversation with you as they wondered just how you were feeling and how well Kyungsoo was looking after you and just how you were finding your first pregnancy to be going.

However, you minded when fans of Kyungsoo and yourself – both the elders and youngsters – would find it upon themselves to congratulate you sweetly and absentmindedly roll a hand and a palm over your prominent curve, without even an inch of thought to how you’d feel towards their action.

You were a victim to hormone changes; blowing up on Kyungsoo and yelling at him about anything and everything when you felt the need to explode, and, pouncing on his body and peppering his exposed skin with kisses when you felt the need to relieve the growing in your veins.

The biggest downside was the two seasons you were going to be heavily pregnant throughout the entire time; the Spring and the Summer months. With your due-date set for the middle of September and the date of conception dating back to January, you were set to endure a pregnancy through the allegedly warmest days of the year.

By the time June rolled around and your hormones were in full swing, it was more necessary than not to settle beneath a thinner blanket to make sure you slept through the night without waking up to a sheen of sweat making it difficult for you to move without the sheets sticking to you as a second coating. Through the days, you’d be fine with going about your daily routine of cleaning the house or focusing on a home project that you and Kyungsoo had spoken about, without an ounce of sweat rolling off your forehead, without a desperate need for a drink and without the requirement of sitting down to catch your breath.

Yet it was the nights you found the most difficult to comprehend with.

Settling down in bed, in a comfortable position was easy; it was the same position every night. Your back was the most comfortable to lay upon, a hand laced with Kyungsoo’s as he curled up on his side to face you – having a bump growing at the mid of your hips made a barrier between you and Kyungsoo that made it disagreeable to cuddle together like you’d done before the pregnancy had gotten to the ample size that was average for a 6-month pregnancy.

Yet, as the hours passed, heat would swallow you and turning into a huffing mess was your best bet to get your mind wracking for a way to get rid of the feeling.

However, the breathes leaving your mouths had a tendency to wake and rouse Kyungsoo from his slumber, earning a disgruntled yawn and a hum of what the matter was; he was no foreigner to the elbow to the shoulder or a kick to his thigh or a grunt to his ears as you shuffled around to get comfy.

This night, in the middle week of June on a warm evening, was no different. You’d fallen asleep together, breathes synchronised and hands laced together to signify that the other was still right beside them and sleeping soundly as ever, ankles somehow interlocked and calves pressed against one another as the hours passed through the night.

By 3 that morning, you were hot. Kicking the sheets away from your body and catching his ankles with your toes in the process, a subtle grunt leaving his lips as he shuffled around beside you and remained in his constant snooze, wheezing softly from his throat, his breath escaping between his parted lips. Your arms tensed as you tugged at the sheet and tried to adjust yourself,

“S’the matter?”

You heard him wonder in the darkness, and without even catching a glimpse across to him in the darkened room, you could sense the sleep and the confusion lacing his features, matching the tone of his words as he spoke de