"...heart, wake up. Sweetheart?"
Tsubaki lazily opened her eyes. Her view was blurry due to her sleepiness. Coupled with the fact that her surrounding was quite dim, she could only see the outline of the man gently persuading her to wake up.
"...Darling," Tsubaki mumbled in a daze.
Ren let out a chuckle. He carefully propped his wife up and let her leaned on him.
"Dinner is ready," Ren lightly brushed her bangs away, looking at her rubbing her own eyes, "Let's eat while it's still warm."
"En... Okay," Tsubaki nodded despite still feeling sleepy.
She let out a yawn then nestled on her husband's chest. Tsubaki faintly heard his laughter from above her head. She took a few minutes to sober herself yet her eyelids still felt so heavy.
Tsubaki felt her body was carried by him as Ren brought her to the bathroom. He placed her on the countertop before he wet a towel to wipe her face. Little by little, Tsubaki's sleepiness got chased away.
Ren diligently wiped her face a few times. By the time he was done, she had fully woken up.
"What did you cook?" Tsubaki grinned as she once again clung to him.
"En, you have to see it for yourself," Ren pecked her lips a few times.
He scooped her in his arms and lowered her feet down to the floor. Tsubaki obediently wore the bunny slippers he placed in front of her.
"Ah, I wonder if it's a feast or not," answered Tsubaki cleverly which earned a helpless laugh from her husband.
As the husband and wife descended the stairs to go downstairs, Tsubaki smelled a delicious scent floating in the air. Her eyes twinkled in anticipation as she smiled at her husband.
"We'll have dinner in the sunroom," Ren patted her head.
Bright neon lights twinkled all over the city. Although the view was beautiful, Tsubaki was more excited to taste the dinner her husband cooked. She squealed in delight once she saw the spread of feast on the table.
"Darling~ You're the best! Mua~"
Tsubaki giggled as she smooched on Ren's cheek. He too was affected by his wife's lively mood.
"You are satisfied with just these?" Ren felt his heart melted all over again because of her sweet antics.
"You cooked everything I said before, hehe~" Tsubaki urged Ren to quickly sit on the carpeted floor.
On the low table, different plates of dishes were laid on the surface. He did prepare all the dishes she mentioned before going to sleep. Even though they sounded too many for dinner, Ren deliberately cut down the portion for each dish.
The omurice appeared half of its usual size while the chicken tempura drizzled with her favorite mayonnaise was placed in a small bowl. The cucumber salad was still as usual considering it was high in vitamins and minerals. Two small pieces of grilled salmon laid side by side on a rectangular plate. Her favorite strawberry pancakes were even smaller than her palms. The cute stacks of pancakes were decorated with slices of strawberries.
"En~ Smells good," Tsubaki remarked after taking in another scent of the delicious feast.
Ren propped an elbow on the table and rested his head on the back of his hand. With a coy smile, he said, "I've worked hard to prepare this feast for my wife. Where's my reward?"
Tsubaki gave him a side-long glance, "I've kissed your cheek. What else do you want?"
Ren was unabashed as he tapped on his lips. Tsubaki knew how shameless her husband could be but she just followed his cute request.
After rewarding him with a few soft pecks, she began to focus back on the meal in front of her. Ren laughed when he saw how excited she was to wipe out all of the dishes.
Aye, since his wife got pregnant, her love for food grown to another level.
Once dinner was finished, Tsubaki comfortably leaned her back against the couch. Ren suppressed his laughter from bursting out at the sight of her cradling her bulging tummy. He wondered if it was because of their baby or because of her food-baby.
"You can be lazy here," Ren put a throw pillow on Tsubaki's lap before draping her with a throw blanket, "I, your diligent husband, would wash the dishes first."
"Ah, I want to help you but..." The feeling of lazying around after having dinner was too much to resist.
Ren helplessly shook his head. He began to put the dirty plates on the tray one by one. Even though he had spent quite a longer time cooking tonight because of her request, it was simple to handle the dirty dishes alone.
Maybe because he was too soft on his wife, he didn't want her to work more than necessary especially during her pregnancy.
Thus, the wife fool brought the tray to the kitchen and began to wash them.
Tsubaki laughed by herself as she watched her husband leaving to the kitchen. She really felt too lazy right now. To be honest, Tsubaki was still shocked by how much food she could devour easily in one sitting.
If I continued eating like this, won't I be fat?
Horrified by her own thought, Tsubaki felt like slapping her face to avoid frightening herself.
Huhu... Baby, come out quickly... If not Mommy might turn into a balloon by the time you come out... Your Daddy has a good figure, Mommy can't lose to him... Huhu...
Tsubaki's mind drifted to the parenting forum she often browsed during her free time. Sometimes, she would meet some pitiful women whose bodies turned out of shape after giving birth. Although their husbands didn't mind, the changes still affected their confidence.
Some were positive while some sounded negative.
'My husband grows fond of my flabby stomach. He said I look cute but, how could I accept that? QAQ What if someday he would change his mind and focus on those beauties?'
'We are the same! XoX I want to get rid of my flabby stomach but I have no time to exercise T__T'
'I cried when I saw my husband looking through the magazine with beautiful models. He would often coax me but I'm still scared TwT The interns at his office are all beauties'
Tsubaki remembered she was frightened by their confessions. Even though she knew Ren wouldn't turn into an ungrateful husband, she still couldn't help but feel uneasy.
I have to lose weight huhu QAQ
As Tsubaki was lamenting on her fate and made a useless vow to control her intake of food, Ren had done with his washing. He quietly entered the sunroom.
What did his wife was doing now?
Ren raised up his brows and looked at his wife strangely. It was weird. Why did she look like she wanted to cry but the sight of her pitiful face made him wanted to laugh instead?
Did she was thinking of something outrageous?
"Are you overthinking of something?" Ren couldn't help but ask while he walked to the couch.
"Darling!" Tsubaki wailed. She quickly sat up and stretched out her hands and grabbed Ren's sweater, "I always eat so much now. What if I become fat? Would you despise me?"
"Ha?" Catching off guard by her questions, Ren was dumbfounded.
What was she thinking?!
Ren had always known a pregnant woman was such a mystery but, he was really at a loss when he started coaxing her that no matter how she looked like, he would always love her but... She cried harder.
"Are you saying I would really become fat?" Tsubaki punched his chest in agitation.
In her ears, his words were interpreted as even though she would become chubbier, his love for her would never change but... She was more focused on the chubby part!
"No, sweetheart! I didn't mean that!" Ren was quick to defend himself, "I'm just saying, you're as lovable as you always are. Our baby thanks you for eating well to supplement him as well. You have done..."
"Right. You're saying I eat too much now," Tsubaki accused while looking aggrieved, "I must have been a bother. Even just now, you have to spend so much time cooking the food I listed..."
Ren was stunned. How did it turn out like this? Didn't she herself confess that she ate more because of their baby? Why did it sound like he would turn into one of the scum husbands who loathed their own pregnant wives?
"Sweetheart, listen, sweetheart," Ren gently patted her shoulders. He looked into her teary eyes, "Err... For you to suddenly think like this, were you incited by people saying this... baseless matter?"
His wife was a sensible woman. Although she reacted a bit differently due to her mood swings nowadays, this was the first time she acted in this way.
He could only deduce someone was saying bad things to his wife to hear. Was it the young ladies at the banquet? Did they intentionally want to lead his wife astray?
Tsubaki pouted yet she still answered obediently, "The women at the forum said so... Their husbands kind of disliked them after giving birth because... their bodies got out of shape..."
Ren felt an urge to find those useless husbands and ground them to dust.
Now, whose fault was this???