LIGHTNOVELSTORY “Corbin.”
“What’s up?”
“…What on earth is going on?”
“Umm… just in case?”
“…This is actually kind of uncomfortable.”
It’s been seven months since the second one began growing in my belly.
Unlike when I was with Charlotte, I was actually going through my days without a care.
I guess having already experienced giving birth to Charlotte made things a lot easier, so it wasn’t tough at all this time.
The boss and my mother often worried about me and mentioned visiting our home… but I had to dissuade them from coming.
Honestly, life was just perfectly normal.
“Hah…”
However, unlike me, Corbin was seriously overreacting with his worries.
He wasn’t exactly keeping me locked up or anything, but still… his concern was excessive.
He had even remodeled the bed?
Initially, there was just one pillow each for Corbin and me under our heads, plus a couple of regular pillows on each side.
And then a comfortably soft and fluffy blanket.
It was just your average bed situation, but before I knew it, Corbin started ordering all sorts of pillows and blankets.
Now the bed was piled high with pillows.
“…What is this? It’s not even a playground for babies.”
“Just in case you fall. I thought it would be better to prevent you from falling off the bed…?”
“…I’m not a one-year-old baby…”
“Just in case…?”
…Seriously, this is ridiculous.
I barely even toss and turn in bed, so why the fuss?
Thanks to Corbin’s excessive protection and worry… I really don’t think I would fall.
But then again, we usually fall asleep wrapped up in each other’s arms, so why is he going through all this trouble?
“Ugh…”
I didn’t dislike that he cared, but it was just so frustrating in many ways.
If someone saw me, they’d think I was some crazy pregnant lady.
“I’m glad the bed is big. If it were small, we wouldn’t even be able to do this.”
“Then I would just sleep under the bed, right?”
“…Ugh.”
But, well… it’s kind of cute.
Maybe it’s because he’s worried about me?
In a funny way, I found Corbin’s antics to be more adorable than I expected.
Of course, I might just be infatuated.
Anyway, quite some time had passed since I got pregnant with the second one.
My belly had popped out much more than before, and it was a bit more inconvenient to move around, but thinking about the upcoming second child made everything feel good.
“Whoo…”
“Lindaera, if you have any pains, you have to tell me, okay?”
“I keep saying I’m fine, so why are you worried? The hospital says I’m healthy, and I’ve said I’m fine every time.”
“Putting that aside, as the head of the family, I have to worry…”
“Corbin is the head of the family?”
“Eh.”
…No.
It’s not like I wanted to insult him; I’m just genuinely curious.
Is Corbin really the head of our household?
“…Hmm.”
“Aren’t I the head?”
“Well, you might make more money than I do, but… um…”
What even defines a head of the household?
The one with the most power or authority in the family?
In that case, I should have the upper hand, right…?
“…And anyway, the house we’re living in was given to me by the boss, and Corbin generally listens to everything I say anyway.”
“That’s…”
“So doesn’t that mean I’m actually the head?”
“Is that so…?”
I was lying cozily on the bed with Corbin while chatting about this.
Hmm… it seems hard to definitively say who the head of the household truly is.
Of course, I felt I’d make a better head of the family than Corbin?
“Of course, every weekend we play games, right?”
“Even the head of the household can play a game.”
“Hmm…”
“Isn’t that right?”
“How would I know?”
Well… honestly, it was a pretty trivial conversation.
Anyway, we’re both from the same workplace… and even now, I was taking a break from work because I was pregnant?
“Daddy… I washed my hands…”
“You can do it all by yourself now?”
“Yup…!”
“Wow, our Charlotte is amazing, huh?”
“Yup!”
Corbin welcomed Charlotte as she returned to the bedroom, picking her up for a hug.
The truth is, while we were talking earlier, Charlotte had been brushing her teeth and washing her hands all by herself.
We usually did it for her, but Corbin thought it was good training for her to do it once by herself…?
So we nudged her to try and do it herself, and she ended up doing it without a hitch.
Just like that, our Charlotte really pulled it off like a genius.
Yeah, she’s definitely a prodigy.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have succeeded on her first attempt at doing it alone.
She must be a genius after all.
Absolutely our daughter must have inherited my intelligence.
“Mom, I brushed my teeth by myself!”
“Really? Did you rinse your mouth well?”
“Yup! I rinsed it ten times!”
“Good job.”
“Hehe…”
Previously, we mentioned that rinsing for around six times would be good enough, but here she was, rinsing her mouth ten times all by herself.
I couldn’t help but feel proud of our daughter’s growth every single day.
“Mommy, when is the baby going to be born?”
“I think you’ll have to wait a little longer for that, okay?”
“Hiiii…”
Just like when I first told her about the pregnancy, Charlotte was really curious about the second one being born.
She asked me about it almost every day.
Of course, the whole process of pregnancy and giving birth isn’t something that happens overnight, making it impossible for me to give her a different answer.
The good news, though, was that my belly was growing bigger, and sometimes the baby kicked.
Although it hurt a little, if the timing was right, I could show Charlotte that the baby was doing well inside.
Because of that, Charlotte was asking me even more questions related to this lately.
I think she asked me like three times just today.
“Um… I think if you just wait for about sixty nights, it’ll happen?”
“Sixty nights…?”
“Just sleep a lot and play a lot, and then the baby will come eventually.”
“Got it…”
I was looking forward to how she would react after her sibling is born.
Would she chuckle and laugh, or would she worry about how small the baby was?
Thanks to my adorable daughter, I couldn’t help but be excited about the future.
“Corbin, when are you going to work tomorrow?”
“Um… I think it’ll be past nine? I guess Charlotte needs to wake up, so it won’t be good if it’s too early.”
“Is that so.”
“Hmph…”
Charlotte was already making cute noises between us, gradually falling asleep.
Considering the time, it seemed like it was time for the baby to sleep.
“Ugh…”
“Heh…”
“…I guess we should start getting to bed too.”
“Yeah, that’s probably better than accidentally waking Charlotte up.”
Even though it was time for the baby to sleep, it wasn’t quite time for adults to sleep yet, but we slowly covered ourselves with blankets and continued chatting.
In the fortress of pillows we had created.
Honestly, I was feeling tired from being pregnant, so going to bed early was no problem.
In fact, the more I could sleep, the better it felt.
“Corbin.”
“Yeah, what?”
“I’m going to go to the ship around lunchtime tomorrow.”
“Why? Is there something you need to do?”
“I’m just going to see your face. What else could it be?”
“You never know. You might have forgotten something in the private room.”
“I have nothing like that, so just wait quietly in the office during lunchtime.”
Anyway… Charlotte had already fallen asleep, and we really needed to go to bed now.
I personally wanted to chat a little more with Corbin, but waking Charlotte was the last thing I wanted to do.
Plus, Corbin had to go to work in the morning, too.
It was a bit disappointing, but it couldn’t be helped.
*
“Mom, mom.”
“Yes, Charlotte. What’s up? Did Daddy make you play some weird game again?”
“No? That’s not it!”
“Then why did you come find me, Charlotte?”
While I was lightly washing dishes in the kitchen, Charlotte suddenly came to me.
Usually, she wouldn’t come to me when I was doing the dishes, claiming my responses were boring.
What was going on today?
“Why does Mommy only call Daddy by his name?”
“Huh?”
“Over there, Mommy calls Daddy ‘dear’ on TV!”
“…Huh?”
…Oh.
“Charlotte, what are you talking about…?”
“I was watching that thing on TV with Daddy, and over there, Mommy calls Daddy ‘dear’!”
“So…?”
“But why does Mommy not call Daddy ‘dear’?”
“…….”
Hmm.
One thing’s for sure: children’s viewing media definitely need some level of censorship.
That drama was definitely not suitable for a four-year-old, being filled with my own thoughts and opinions.
It was clearly too early for our sweet Charlotte to see such things.
Charlotte was still sweetly smiling at me as she asked these questions.
Behind her stood Corbin, with a mischievous grin on his face, quite different from Charlotte.
It was clear that Corbin had brought this up first.
“…Um, Charlotte, do you know?”
“Yup?”
“People who really love each other don’t use those terms; they call each other by name.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Does Mommy seem like she hates Daddy?”
“No!!”
Well, I could tell what Corbin wanted.
I really understood; but that didn’t mean I was going to comply with everything he wanted.
In fact, I might just tease him instead.
There was no way I’d cater to Corbin’s wishes here.
“Right?”
“Yup!”
“Which is correct, Mommy’s words or those people on the show?”
“Mommy’s words!”
Honestly, Charlotte followed me far more than Corbin.
In this situation, it was easy to gloss over it.
“Heh.”
“…Hmm.”
I could see a slightly disappointed expression on Corbin’s face behind Charlotte, but it only made me chuckle.
Maybe next time, I might let her call me that.
Honestly, it wouldn’t mean much now, but the fact that Corbin tried to use Charlotte to see if I’d comply was just too amusing to me; so probably not anytime soon.