Why does it always get so hot at night? I think it’s the satin sheets. I loved them at the beginning of my pregnancy but now I feel like they soak up the heat of the night air. And it doesn’t help that I can’t find a comfortable position to sleep in with this huge baby bump. I toss and turn all night, constantly rotating. I feel like a rotisserie chicken. I could really go for something refreshing, like some fruit juice, or pineapple.
God, I hate this pillow case. Yanking it from behind my head, I toss it across the room and try to settle back into bed comfortably.
“What’s going on over there?” I turn my head to see Shikamaru’s sleepy face, one eye open as if he’s trying to adjust to the dark.
“I’m sorry, honey. I’m just so hot.” He sighs softly before slumping back into his pillow. “Go back to sleep.”
“Do you want me to bring you a wet cloth with ice cubes again?”
“No, it didn’t help last time.” I grumble softly, rubbing my belly. “When the ice melted the water just got all over these stupid, satin sheets!” My voice progressively gets louder as I punch the bed and grip the covers. That seems to really wake him up as he sits up and hovers over me with concern, his hand caressing my stomach.
“Hey, hey. Alright, so what should I do?”
“Nothing, nothing I’m sorry.” I cover my hands with my face to hide my tears of frustration. I cannot get my emotions under control. I haven’t been sleeping well and I just feel like nothing is going right. “I’m just being dramatic. Go back to sleep, honey. I know you have a long day tomorrow.”
“And you’ve been having a long day every day since you started growing our baby angel. I know it’s been a strain and I’m not always here for you, so right now, whatever you need is yours. Whatever you want, sweetheart. Okay?” I sniffle a little, looking up at him. His hair’s down, falling over his face that expresses so much concern and determination to help me through this. His eyes are dark with the lack of sleep he’s been getting, from work and from my pregnancy. Even though he has a lot on his plate, he always stays loyal to everything he does.
I cup his face with my hands, caressing his cheeks with my thumbs. I love to admire him, he’s such a beautiful man. Especially when he’s laying right next to me in bed. He swoops down and gives me a lingering kiss.
His kisses never disappoint. They’re always full of passion, control, lust. He does this thing with his tongue that makes me feel as if he’s devouring me from the inside out. Always so attentive to my sounds and reactions.
“This is what got us into this situation in the first place, remember?” He mutters into my lips, not wanting to break away from me.
“Mmhmm. I remember the exact night I got pregnant. It was our second year anniversary.”
“You were teasing me all night. Taking your underwear off and sliding it into my pocket at the restaurant.” He kisses down my neck, reaching the tops of my breast. “Whispering in my ear how you went off the pill and wanted me to get you pregnant, how bad you wanted it. And you smirked when you pulled away from me because you knew I was desperate for you.” He pulls my nightie down so one of my breasts falls out. His lips never leave my skin, kissing his way to the peak of my nipple before his tongue tastes me. “You want this?”
“You know what I really want?”
“Tell me what you want, baby.”
“A rolled up pickle.” He rears his head back so fiercely that the bed shakes a little.
“Excuse me?”
“Hinata was telling me about this candy shop in the village that takes these big pickles and stuffs them with candy. And on the outside, they drench it in sticky hot syrup and wrap a fruity candy around it.” I sigh out in content, just imagining it. “I think it’d be so refreshing right now.” Shikamaru takes a moment to recover before chuckling softly, fixing my shirt back into place and cuddling next to me, nose to my cheek.
“Yeah, sweetheart, I can pick one up for you.” He replies softly. I wait for him to get up but when I turn to look at him, his eyes are closed and he looks like he’s drifting back to sleep.
“Shikamaru?” He opens one eye.
“What, now? It’s three in the morning. I doubt they’re open.”
“Come on, please? A lot of stores stay open 24/7 now. And you said you’d get me whatever I wanted.” I pointed out, giving him my sweetest smile. He huffs out but gives me a swift peck on the lips before he swings himself up from bed.
“I’ll be right back.”
-
He forgot how humid it gets this early in the morning. Shikamaru kicks a loose pebble on the ground as he makes his way to the candy shop. The last time he was out this late was when he was younger and had gone out drinking with his friends. They went to a new bar that had opened up. Choji kept raving about the wings, he wouldn’t shut up about it so they finally went to try it. The wings were heaven, hand delivered by an angel. Shikamaru’s wife.
He kept going every night, too shy to ask her out. He was just happy to be in her presence. It was about a month in when she slammed the wings on his table and asked, “Listen, were you ever gonna ask me out or do you come here every night to enjoy the view?” She motioned toward a guy passed out at the bar. He asked her out that night and the rest is history.
“Shikamaru?” He looks up to see who disrupted my train of thought.
“Naruto, what are you doing here?” Naruto sheepishly rubs the back of his neck, looking just as tired as Shikamaru. When they found out their women were pregnant, they really had no idea what all it would entail.
“Well, you know…” Shikamaru nods his head in understanding.
“Hinata craving the rolled up pickle thing?”
“She says it’s for the baby. She had it last week and hasn’t stopped drooling about it. She finally convinced me to get one, too.” Shikamaru looked at the shop’s ‘CLOSED’ sign.
“Well, it seems like we’re both out of luck.”
“The top floor is an apartment. I know if we can get up there and knock on their window, we can wake them up.”
“You want to wake up the shop owners at three in the morning to make some ridiculous pickle candy?”
“You want us to go back to our wives empty handed?” The lack of sleep and the helplessness he feels causes Shikamaru to snap at his best friend.
“We wouldn’t even be here if your wife hadn’t mentioned this diabetic pickle to my wife!” Naruto rears his head back in shock.
“Have you seen what your wife’s been eating these days? She would have sniffed out this candy pickle in a week’s time.”
“Oh, and your wife’s been sticking to a healthy diet? I saw her grabbing the double deep fried donuts a few days ago! She wouldn’t be eating those things if you didn’t put that spawn of satan inside of her!”
“And you think your kid’s gonna come out angelic? You’re lucky-“
“What the hell is going on out here?” The store’s door rips open to reveal an older lady and her granddaughter. Shikamaru and Naruto’s glare both quickly turn into diplomatic smiles.
“Sorry to disrupt you,” Naruto starts, “But we’ve just heard such great things about your famous pickles and we’re wondering if you’d be willing to make us a couple right now?” The grandmother keeps her glare firmly in place.
“Do you know what time it is?”
“Nana, that’s the Hokage!” Her granddaughter whispers, as if reprimanding her grandmother for speaking to him in such a manner.
“I don’t care if he’s the last man on Earth and was hoarding all the food! He woke me up!”
“And we’re terribly sorry about that.” Shikamaru chimes in. “But our wives, see they’re pregnant and they really need this pickle. We’d really appreciate it if you could do this for us. We’d be forever in your debt.” He puts his hands together in a pleading motion. The older lady just continues to glare at them before her granddaughter decides to speak up.
“The Hokage and his advisor are due to make a speech about their alliances coming up soon.” She says softly. The boys glance at each other, not sure what she’s getting at. “It would be great for our business if they both were to mention how they love our store.”
“Done deal.” Shikamaru says without hesitation, Naruto nodding his head enthusiastically. The grandmother reluctantly gives in and tells them to wait there. When she closes the door, the guys sigh in relief.
“Hey man, I’m sorry about what I said.” Naruto tells Shikamaru.
“I’m sorry, too. It’s been stressful for all of us these past few months. Let’s try to make it through these next few months as a team.” They both smile before giving each other a fist bump.
“The next time our wives mention something they like, we need to buy it in bulk.”