I was hoping today wasn’t going to end as badly as it did on the fourteenth of last month.

Like that day, I had woken up in a very sweet and playful mood despite the slight inconvenience of the occasional cramp. Like that day, as soon as I could, I teased Abby, turning her attempt of making me blush against her. Like that day, I’d give her a kiss when she least expected and would tease her about giving her one without going through with it. Like that day, I was on library duty, and she kept me company since it was a special day.

Unlike that day, however, we weren’t alone in the library.

A boy sat at a table in my general peripheral vision and like me, he was glancing at us while pretending to read. I had gotten the impression that he was waiting for Abby to step out even if for a second, irking me because I was waiting for him to leave so I could play a trick on her.

“Do you need something?” I asked with a professional smile, dropping the pretence of not noticing his stare.

He said it was nothing before seemingly focusing on his book, but then, he got up and I thought he was finally going to leave. Instead, he stopped in front of my desk and asked me out on a date that I politely, but still flatly, refused by thanking him for showing interest and explaining that the girl sitting right next to me was not only my friend, but in fact my wife.

Then did he finally leave, my eyes tracking him as he walked out, wondering if there was ever a time when asking someone out without even knowing their first name ever worked.

“Having seconds thoughts?” Abby asked, having set aside her book and placed her elbows on the table to support her smiling face as she leaned over to see my face. It’s been months and she still got all giddy whenever I referred to her as my wife to anyone. “He does have a nice butt for a guy.”

“Does he now?” I dully said as I got back to my book. “Honestly, what I have at home is so unbelievably nice that it’s impossible for me to notice others as nice as they might be.”

“Pfft, hehe! Is that so?”

Her fluffy attitude... yeah, now was a nice time to prank her.

I caressed her face gently with the back of my fingers before setting my hand just under her ear, Abby looking very excited about what was coming for her. As I leaned closer, she slowly shut her eyes and prepared her lips to be lovingly kissed.

Only...

“I can’t wait to kiss you when we get home,” I whispered with our lips very slightly brushing on one another.

The pout she made as her face turned bright red was priceless. She even was moaning a supposed growl of frustration as she clutched her skirt.

“I can’t believe I fell for that again!” she barked as she looked away from me. “You’re such a jerk! Why are you being this mean?!”

I laughed, but I was also feeling a bit bad for her. Still, I wouldn’t be this cruel if I wasn’t going to somehow compensate for it at least ten-fold.

I got up and told her I was going to finish up my tasks so we could go home. Taking advantage of that, she asked if I could bring her the third volume of the book series she was reading.

I was surprised she was already done with the second one, but apparently, not only did Abby really like it, but she also liked it better than the first one. That was an interesting statement, because out of the three, the second was the one I liked the least.

I invited her to give me a hand putting back the books on the trolley in their respective shelves so we could continue the conversation, but she was still mad at me.

“Why should I?” she grumbled, her mad face looking awfully cute.

“Hmm? Are you sure?” I hummed as I leaned over the table as close as I could get to her while she leaned away. “I have to go to the section with the table.”

“...You better not be playing any more tricks on me,” she grumbled as she got up to tag along.

I had already organised the books by section and alphabetically in relation to the author’s name, so Abby pushed the squeaky trolley—like a little kid, she loved doing that—while I led the way and placed them on the shelves until we reached our hidden corner. Once there, we placed our talk on hold and I picked Abby up to sit her on the table. After crossing her legs around my hips and setting her arms around my neck, I finally gave her the sweet kisses she had been yearning for.

“Fufu, you’re making too much noise,” I giggled as I pressed my index on her lips. “We are in the library, remember?”

“But babe, you’re kissing me so nicely,” she whined, grabbing my hand to kiss the back of it and nibble my fingers, making me giggle again. “Can I... do that thing?”

“Fufu, ok.”

That thing was loosening my tie, unbutton my shirt until mid-chest and then hide her face as best as she could under the collar while I held her tightly.

The door creaked when open because the wood floor had swollen during winter and was yet to be fixed, so we had a good alarm if someone was coming in. That meant we could stay there, quietly enjoying our little rules breaking.

“Babe?” she softly called, her breath tickling my skin.

“Hmm?”

“Have you ever thought about us making love at school?”

Think about it? I couldn’t lie and say no because I did have dreamt about it a couple of times and she’d surely catch the lie, but I told her we shouldn’t. Not even on the last day of classes as she asked next, even though I agreed that it’d be quite the way to finish our high school life.

“I guess that’ll remain a fantasy for me,” Abby lamented as she rubbed her nose on my collarbone.

“Wait, you were serious about it?” I asked, having thought that Abby was just trying to get me flustered.

“Haah, it is what it is... Hehe, you smell nice.”

“...Abby, I’m going to french-kiss you next.”

She showed her face to me and asked why I was telling her that. Simply put, it was so that I wouldn’t surprise Abby and she could keep her voice down.

“You’re moaning too,” she protested as she pulled her face away.

“Fufu! Because you’re so nice to kiss,” I told her.

She pouted with an embarrassed face while finally letting me kiss her a final time before we finished up and left to go home.

We had a very similar interaction on her birthday, but on that day, she left before me, and I started to have pangs coming from my belly that weren’t cramps. Today, I was happy to tell her as we walked, that I was doing fine. Unlike on her birthday, I wouldn’t have to shut myself in the toilet and experience a long agonising moment of pain and cold sweats as my body is physically afraid of dying.

“Don’t joke about dying,” Abby said angrily, slapping my shoulder as we walked down the hallway.

“No, I, erm... sorry, but you know what I mean, right?”

She did, but she still didn’t like—hated, in fact—hearing me say that kind of stuff.

I wasn’t getting why Abby still had that kind of reservations when it’s been months since I started joining in her runs and was at peak physical health.

“...Sorry babe, it’s just... I know you don’t have it—your family condition I mean, but I still worry sometimes that something might happen to your heart.”

I couldn’t really argue against her worry because while I didn’t have the heart condition that haunted my family on my mother’s side, maybe the gene that triggered it could be activated by something? Something else could also come out of the blue without being related to that too.

It was easy to sometimes forget due to how she jokes about anything and everything all the time, but Abby was a very sensitive girl.

“Abby?” I called.

She looked up, and I gave her a very nice, big kiss just as we were stepping out of the school gate.

“Babe, we are in public,” she giggled in a hushed tone after pulling her head away, looking around, red as a tomato and bobbing side to side, noticing the people around us staring.

“I’ll never go away and leave you alone, you hear me?” I hushed at her before pulling her head and kissing her again.

Although I was fine then, a few step later I was just as red as Abby, but while she kept bobbing side to side giggling and happy as a cloud, I was wishing I could dig a hole to hide in.

“And what happened to you two?” Sophie asked while sat on the couch. She had Oliver with her, our cat kneading her now protruding belly and purring.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

We dodged the question the best we could, and I dropped my body besides her, tired from the awkwardness I put myself through and happy to be back inside my sanctuary.

Then, I felt Sophie’s hand brushing my hair as she wished me a happy birthday. I really think she knew I had started to enjoy having her do that to me whenever I came home and slumped on the couch like that.

“T-thanks,” I stuttered, not used to having more people besides my dad and Abby telling me that.

“You know, I really like seeing you with your hair done like this,” she said next with a giggle, still combing my hair.

The “sexy librarian look” as Abby called was the visual Sophie was complementing. I liked it a lot too, but maybe it was a bit too popular.

Case and point...

“Ah! Hear me out sis!” Abby shouted from the kitchen. “A guy asked Violet on a date right in front of me!”

As always, Abby spoke out what’s on my mind like telepathy.

“Again?”

“Yup, yup! Again! Was this the second or third time?”

“Hmm, you must be going through a popular phase.”

“Urgh! Give me a break.”

Counting with Stephen, it was the third time I was asked out by a guy. I guess some haven’t heard about me and Abby or refused to believe in that story.

Maybe the guys going to the library aren’t that popular with girls and end up crushing over me? Since I’m always serious but then smile at them and treat them nicely, I might be making them feel like I might have some interest in them. If that was the case, I was sorry for them, but I also couldn’t really do anything about how I treated them other than put a sign over my head when at the desk saying, “this girl is already taken and happily married.”

Well, after the show we put up in front of the school, maybe I could finally be free of guys asking me out on dates.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never seen someone asking you out,” I said, suddenly coming to that realisation.

“I mean, I’m always attached to you at school, so I guess that’s why,” she said. “I’m quite sure I make it pretty obvious that I already have an owner.”

I wished she wouldn’t refer to herself as a pet, even though I do compare her a lot to small animals.

And speaking of pets, Oliver came to use my lap as a bed and Sophie retracted her hand from my head to rest it with her other on her belly. She looked very happy as she caressed it, her smile looking very charming.

I asked Sophie how she was doing after Abby came back with three puddings and spoons in hand, me moving Oliver into Abby’s lap after she sat between my legs.

“Hmph! I love your dad, but he can be a bit overbearing at times. I’m not even that pregnant yet, but he still fusses about every little thing and when he sees me doing some chores around the house. Then again, knowing what I know about your mother, I can’t blame him for worrying... Sorry, I really shouldn’t complain about your dad when he’s so caring.”

“I-It’s ok,” I told her, remembering that I was guilty of doing the same to her more than once just this past week alone, but unlike dad, I had no—reasonable—excuse. “Sorry for doing the same to you.”

“It’s fine, dear. Anyway, I’m more or less getting used to how I need to lay down in bed, but your little sister is starting to get heavy to carry around. I also need to pee more often, but that’s normal, the doctor says. My breasts, though... urgh.”

I did notice that they were getting bigger but never commented on that, not even with Abby.

“I really envy you two. I wish it more than ever before that I had the same chest size as you or Abby.”

“Huh!?”

“Babe, you’d be surprised how many big-chested women wish they had the same chest size as either of us,” Abby casually told me while suckling the spoon having already eaten all her pudding.

“Yeah, mine were already heavy, and they hurt if I went on a run and the sports bra didn’t support them enough. I always feel slutty if I wear something that shows a bit of cleavage. I really that I can’t dress certain clothes and tops because of that. Thankfully, I’m not as big as Claire, but she actually loves having big boobs unlike me.”

I never thought that was a thing, but after hearing her, I grew a lot more appreciative of my modest chest. I had always loved it because it was well-shaped, the right size for Abby’s hands, and made me look even more like mum. Now that I heard Sophie complaining about stuff I never had to worry, I felt even luckier and happier about it. The issues I sometimes have to content when having my period would also be a lot worse were that the case too.

Still, hearing such a beautiful woman and one of the two whom I’ve always considered the pinnacle of the feminine form telling me she’d like to have the same chest size as me was very, very flattering to say the least.

I’m sure some girls would still prefer having those issues than being flat or small-chested like me too, but to each their own.

“Anyway, have you talked to your father?”

“With dad? Not since this morning. Why?”

“He’s got something important to talk about with you.”

I wanted to know what it was, but she wouldn’t say anything other than “it’s between you two”.

Luckily, dad wasn’t the type of person to stay at work for long since it was my birthday and he had a five-month pregnant girlfriend at home, so he—and Will—was back soon enough, us five—us three girls, Oliver and my yet-to-be-born sister—still sitting and talking on the couch.

First thing he did after greeting us was kissing Sophie. She had gotten somewhat used to being kissed in front of us, but her cheeks still turned a bit red.

“How does it feel to return home to four women?” Abby asked him.

“Quite good, actually,” he laughed as he sat on his spot besides Sophie with a hand on her belly. “But since this feels a bit skewed, maybe next time we should try for a boy?”

“I haven’t even birthed our first child and you’re already planning on getting me pregnant with our second?” Sophie asked with a laugh. “Dad! Say something?”

“Good luck with that,” William said with a brief laugh.

“Dad!?”

“What? You don’t seem opposed to the idea of having another one,” William laughed again.

I certainly wouldn’t mind having another sibling. It would be funny if it turned out to be a boy, but if it were another girl, that’d be even funnier after this conversation. Thinking about it, I think I’d prefer it to be a boy though. It’d add a bit more variety and dad could have someone to have more masculine activities with. Then again, if I had two sisters and one was a tomboy, the effect would pretty much be the same, wouldn’t it?

Meh, ultimately, that wouldn’t really matter.

Whether they are born boys or girls, dad will love them all the same. Me too, for that matter.

I was just sad that I wouldn’t be around to help and bond with them.

“Violet? Are you ready to receive your birthday present?” my dad asked as he held an envelope he pulled out from his briefcase.

“Dad, you didn’t go ahead and buy me a trip or something, did you?” I asked, worried that he had spent money on me when there were far more important things now that Sophie was expecting a child.

“Don't worry, I haven’t done anything you’d consider throwing money out of the window,” he laughed as he handed me the envelope.

I was still suspicious of him. The way he was acting like his skin didn’t fit him was leaving me uncomfortable.

Inside the envelope was a bank statement of an account in my name that I had never seen before.

“Dad? What’s...”

I paused as I saw the value in the bank account.

It was a lot. I think it was enough for me to offer as the downpayment for a house of the same value as mine.

“When I first heard that your mother was pregnant with you, I immediately opened that account. Ever since then, I’ve been adding a little bit of cash on top of the interests added by the bank so that you could start your adult life on a better footing than me and your mother. Happy eighteenth birthday, Violet.”

“Dad, no... this... it’s too much!”

“It’s not just from him,” Sophie interrupted. “Since you’ll most likely share it with Abby, dad and I pinched in some too as a wedding gift.”

I stared at the paper again while showing it to Abby. It was now that I noticed that my wife didn’t look all that surprised by it.

“Sorry Violet, your dad told me about this long ago, back when we were still friends, and made me promise not to tell you about it,” she explained to me.

I looked again at the paper finding it hard to believe.

I was feeling very overwhelmed, so I thanked them all before excusing myself.

I left them in the living room and went to my bedroom to sit on my bed, staring blankly at the piece of paper. Just how much had dad sacrificed for me? Was he doing the same now for my future sister? Would he do that for any other future child he’d have with Sophie?

I guess I don’t have to worry about my sister and possible future brother...

Dad now had a good paying job after all. He wouldn’t have to sacrifice as much, if at all. Who was I to spit on his past sacrifices and refuse this gift?

“Violet? Are you ok?” Abby asked, having opened the door just enough to make her voice heard.

“Yeah... please, come in,” I asked her.

She came inside carrying a small bottle of a drink I had come up with for her birthday and two glasses. Right now, getting a bit intoxicated with her sounded good. Just not as much as last time. It almost resulted in a huge mess for our bed if I hadn’t stopped her from taking my panties off.

“Gee, will you bring up that every time we share drinks?” she grumbled from my lap. “And in case you forgot, you were the one who started it by stripping me and kiss me all over.”

Yeah, Abby and I turned out to be a huge pain when drunk. Clingy, noise and... “clingy.” We had no idea how much was too much, and it had rushed to our heads once we got up from the couch, catching us completely by surprise when we decided to go to bed. In our drunken stupor, we forgot it was that time of the month. We didn’t vomit, thankfully, but had a mighty hangover that made us wish death even when Sophie wasn’t giving us a very deserved earful next morning. That was why Abby only prepared a bit more than a third and less than half of the amount we had on her birthday. As the second time we were drinking anything alcoholic, we’d be seeing if that was still too much for us lightweights.

“...What are we even supposed to do with this?” I wondered out loud after taking a sip. I was looking down and to the side where I had placed the statement as I spoke those words.

“Why not keep it in the account generating interest for now?” Abby offered as a suggestion. “I don’t know if it generates all that much interest, but it’s better than letting it stay put.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then, what was it?”

“...I want to add your name to it.”

“No. This account was made for—”

“We are married, what’s yours is mine and vice-versa. I’m also going to be a housewife, so we’ll most likely share an account since I won’t be earning us much money. Some of the money is also meant for the two of us as a wedding gift too. Why not go ahead and use this one as our joint account anyway considering all of that?”

Abby shifted her body and grabbed the paper to look at it while she thought. After a few sips, she reached a decision.

“...Fine, but... you’re the one in charge of it, even when I’m the breadwinner. Deal?”

Sounded fair. She worked and earned us money, and I’d worry about paying bills and such to spare Abby from that stress. I’d be far more aware of what needed to be done and paid for since I was the housewife anyway. I’m pretty sure that was how my parents worked too, when mum was still alive, not to mention, how dad and I operated once grandma taught me how to deal with that.

I still added the caveat of getting Abby her own card, so she didn’t have to ask me every time she wanted to buy something. For someone who had never had to manage money, she was very financially responsible, so there was no need for me to manage her, and it felt a lot more balanced since at least most of the money would be earned by her.

“How’s the drink?” she asked, looking up with rosy cheeks to change the subject since we were done with serious talks. She was looking super cute and irresistible, even more than normal, making me aware that I was a bit drunk now. “I didn’t put too much sugar, did I?”

It was ok for me.

When I did it the first time, I made them separate. For me, it had a bit of whiskey, coffee and cream, hers having a bit of sugar added. This time, she did for both of us, so she added some sugar, but not enough to make me twist my nose. In fact, I was worrying about it not being sweet enough for her.

“Nope, I’m enjoying the light sweetness it has this time,” she said with a fluffy smile, the alcohol clearly starting to get to her head too. Luckily, she had just finished her share. “I enjoyed yours, but this one is also good, is what I mean. Hehe, reminds me a lot of you, you know?”

“How so?” I asked, finishing up my share too.

“Well, like the drink, you might come off as a bit bitter and unapproachable at first, but once we get to know it, there’s this lingering creamy sweetness and something fizzy that brightens the mood.”

When she put it like that, I couldn’t help but feel flattered and laugh.

“Mmh... so warm,” I singsonged as I wrapped my arms around her and rubbed my face on her hair.

“Hehe! Me or the drink?”

“You. Always you,” I said as I fell back and pulled her with me.

Before going back to our family, I’d play with my wife. I was the anniversary girl, so I was allowed to do that, right?

Oh, who cares?

I sure didn’t, and the girl making cackling noises similar to a fox being tickled, didn’t either.