On Loan

Stephanie DeWitt laughed as her husband Jack tried making the various crib parts magically look like something other than oversized Tinker Toys. Like all men since the advent of time, he had refused to look at the directions. Like all women before her, Stephanie was reading the directions aloud after he had thrown his hands up in frustration.

At seven months along in her pregnancy, Stephanie was not one of those women who was gracefully expecting. At 5'8" and 130 pounds before her pregnancy, her weight had ballooned to numbers that were shocking to her every time she stepped on the scale. Her ankles were swollen to three times their normal size, making it impossible to wear anything on her feet other than flip-flops. Her light brown hair remained thick and wavy, but she found herself piling it on top of her head and securing it with a chopstick, as she couldn't bear to have it hanging down her back. She was frequently overheated and miserable. "If anyone had told you what it was really like to be pregnant, no one would ever do it." It's like her sisterhood of female friends and relations had let her down.

Jack DeWitt always went out of his way to never make his wife feel less than beautiful. He knew she was distressed about the weight gain, but they were both fit, active people. He was sure things would return to normal once the baby was born. He was more concerned about his wife's health. Her blood pressure had been creeping up. He had made plans to take a few hours off when she went to her next check-up. He had questions and his wife's pregnancy was making her delightfully spacy about remembering the finer details of what was said at each Dr.'s visit.

He finally had part of the baby bed up and was frustrated at the amount of time it was taking. "I swear to God, Steph, the Space Shuttle is probably easier to build."

Chortling, Stephanie stuck her tongue out at her husband. "No, it just has better assemblers who probably read the directions." She giggled at the glare Jack gave her, loving the teasing. They had always shared the same sense of humor. Stephanie was the flightier of the two. She had earned a worthless art degree and churned it into a blogging site for teaching people how to cook healthier food. She could work completely from home, a plus given that they were about to have a baby.

She had been advised that blogging would be next to impossible to do while recovering from childbirth and with a newborn around. Jack had recommended that Stephanie hire his sister's daughter. Amanda Morgan was studying graphic design; Steph had been slowly bringing her up to speed on how to make daily blog posts while she was recovering. Jack owned his own landscaping company and couldn't really afford to take much time off work. Amanda had proved to be something of a godsend.

Jack stood up and stretched. The baby bed was finally ready. "The baby isn't coming for another couple of months. Why did I have to do this today?" Jack's hazel eyes crinkled in the corners when he smiled. He had sandy blond hair and a boyish charm that still made her heart melt. At 5'10" tall and with a lean physique from running, he was her dream man. Her mother had always told her to find a man who could make her laugh, that it would make the tough times more bearable. Steph had listened to her mother and never regretted the man she had chosen.

The baby chose that moment to kick her in the ribs. She winced. "Your son is going to be a soccer player someday, I just know it." They were expecting a boy, but they had decided to wait to discuss names until he made his appearance in the world. It had the added benefit of driving their relatives crazy, which was so much the better. Older, wealthy relatives had promised huge amounts of money in the child's trust fund if their name was chosen. Sadly, the wealthiest one of the lot was named "Madge." Who names their son "Madge?" Great Aunt Madge was going to have to offer a lot of zeros before they entertained such a notion.

Going downstairs, Stephanie pulled the platter of steaks out of the fridge that she had setting in Jack's special spice rub. He grilled them outside while she made a quick salad with her own homemade dressing. She brought the salad and a pitcher of lemonade out to the backyard patio.

As Jack was in landscaping, their own yard had to be a showplace. While the front yard looked like it belonged in a magazine, the back was their own garden paradise. Jack had asked Stephanie what her dream yard would look like, and she gave him a wild suggestion of something that would resemble "The Secret Garden" in the story by Frances Hodgson Burnett. To her utter surprise, he designed and built it for her with leftover supplies from other job and bricks he salvaged wherever he could find them. The walls were rustic and mismatched looking, but it made their yard utterly private. Fruit-laden trees lined a walkway, with various benches and little nooks laid out creatively. There was a lovely corner with a hammock for relaxing and reading. In a creative bit of whimsy, Jack even fashioned a man looking over the garden wall as the gardener in the novel did when he suspected the children were playing inside.

There were more modern touches closer to the house, such a covered patio where they could eat outside. It was encased with a screen that could be opened fully or closed against insects. At the other end of the house near the wall sat a hot tub. The area was so private they often used it while nude. Now, it was Jack's domain, as her doctor had forbidden her to use it while she was expecting.

Sipping some cranberry juice, Steph put her feet up on the next chair while she speared a tomato in her salad. Jack soon joined her with the steaks. While she usually ate hers rare, she found her stomach turned over at the sight of red or even pink meat. "You really shouldn't have asked me to make yours well done, that cow already died once," her husband smirked.

Steph munched on her salad. She was addicted to vegetables, so they were eating a lot of salads. As a result, Jack was looking leaner and hotter than ever while she grew enormous. "You like to live dangerously, dude. Don't you know pregnant women are dangerous?"

Jack held his hands up in mock surrender. "Forgive me, m'lady. I am but a foolish knight come to sing sonnets to your absolutely enormous calves."

Shrieking with laughter, Stephanie stuck out her tongue again. They had both decided a long time ago that the only way to get through all the many discomforts was to laugh them away. They were constantly upping the ante to see who could come up with the more offensive jokes. "For a smartass comment like that, I'm not putting out tonight. Oh wait, I haven't put out in weeks. It wouldn't be much of a punishment, would it?"

Stephanie grinned, but the exaggeration was only a slight one. Along with everything else, sex had become increasingly uncomfortable. She knew friends who swore they continued to fuck their husbands right up until delivery, but she wasn't one of them. Ordinarily passionate, Stephanie just wasn't into it. Jack had been understanding and as a result, their guest bedroom had a lot of porn stashed in the closet.

As they finished eating, Jack suddenly asked, "Next doctor's appointment is tomorrow, right? What time?"

Consulting her phone, Steph replied, "8:30 AM. I like to have one of the earlier time slots, so that those inevitable emergencies haven't happened yet. I hate waiting."

Jack stood, grabbing their plates. He kissed his wife's cute nose. It was one of his favorite things about her, the way it turned up at the end. His own family had what they called an aquiline nose. On the women, it gave them a rather sexy, noble appearance. Jack considered his own rather too big for his face.

He looked over his shoulder at his wife. "I'm going for a run after I load the dishwasher, do you need anything before I go?"

Stephanie beamed at him. He was so thoughtful of all of her needs. "No, I'm good. I'm going to enjoy the evening air a bit longer, and then I'll come inside. Enjoy your run, babe!"

Jack loaded the dishwasher, and then went to their bedroom upstairs to change into his running gear. He grabbed his phone, which doubled as his music player. He cued up some classic Van Halen. David Lee Roth was soon advising him to run like the devil, so he did just that as soon as his feet hit the pavement outside.

Like his wife, Jack considered his wife's obsession with salads to have been of enormous benefit to his physique. They generally ate healthy anyway, but with salads accompanying their dinners instead of rolls or pasta, he had lost a couple of inches off his belt size. It made his nightly run more pleasant and felt like he was accomplishing more.

It also helped with his sexual frustration. While he wasn't some asshole who was annoyed that his wife's condition was severely limiting their sex life, he was missing it a great deal. It had been two weeks since he had last made love to his wife. "Thank god for porn," he grinned to himself. It was certainly giving him new ideas for when his wife's body returned to normal. He was really enjoying this one scene in which the couple was spooning, the man behind the woman as he slowly thrust into his partner. Jack found it to be very erotic and couldn't wait to give it a try. It had become his "go to" when he really needed to cum.

"In the meantime, buddy," he cautioned himself, "make sure you never let on how frustrated you're getting. She's going through so much more than you can imagine bringing your son into the world. Man up!" He found he needed to give himself this pep talk more and more lately.

That night, after he helped his wife into bed and had her nicely settled, he padded down the hall to the guest room. Sliding in the disk of his favorite movie, he skipped through the scenes until he found it. He didn't feel like edging tonight, he was tired and just wanted to explode.

The girl was pretty in a porn sort of way. She wore too much make up and her tits were fake, but she was still eager enough and quite vocal. Jack watched as the guy with the enormous cock pulled her face in for a kiss as his cock head found its way into her pussy lips, parting them. There was always this moment for Jack when he wasn't sure she would be able to take him. Her hips and pussy looked so small. She could not have been in porn long, but every time, she surprised him by being able to take it all in. "Fuck, take it," he murmured at the screen. His dick was hard, so he pulled it out of his sweatpants and rubbed at his shaft. He had an average length, but his hallmark had always been his girth. He could barely wrap his own hand around it. He was uncut, something his wife had found exciting. She loved the extra friction it gave her inside.

Imagining his cock disappearing into the hot young thing on the screen, he moaned. He squeezed his hand around his shaft, his hand disappearing over the head, then pulling back and forth. He loved to stroke the entire shaft, his hand especially caressing the head tightly, mimicking a pussy. If he had the time, he would edge as much as possible, slowing down to just stroke the shaft itself. He could keep this up awhile if he wanted, bringing himself close to cumming, and then backing off. Tonight, he just wanted to cum. As his mind fucked the woman on the screen, he slid his hand up and down, keeping a steady pace and groaning at the delicious build of pressure deep in his sack.

The lucky asshole on the screen who was fucking his porn dream girl reached around to finger her pussy. Jack liked that part. He hoped the guy thought to do it himself and it wasn't some director's idea. He liked to think the guy cared about the woman's pleasure, even if they were doing this for a porn film. The look on her face changed when he touched her there, making Jack think that she liked it. The intensity of their fucking increased, Jack's stroking increased right along with them.

Jack had seen this scene enough times to have it down to a science. He came right as the guy in the film pulled out and shot his load all over Dream Chick's stomach. "I would have stayed in and filled her cunt," he thought, groaning in pleasure at his release.

The fantasy of fucking a woman other than his wife was increasing in his head. Knowing he had no intention of acting on it didn't do much to assuage his guilt. It had only been a couple of months and she was pregnant. He had sworn to himself he would never be one of those assholes who stepped out on their wives when the going got tough. "Thank God Stephanie doesn't consider porn to be cheating."

He used the private bathroom in the guest room to shower off the sweat and cum from his body. Getting out, he looked at himself in the mirror. He had good arms from the constant lifting and physical work of landscaping. His hands were rough; there was nothing to do be done about that. Jack loved his work; he wasn't one of those owners who sat behind a desk while teenagers did the real work. Working with his hands to create something natural and beautiful was his passion.

Grabbing a pair of PJ bottoms out of the drawer in the guest room, he threw his own in the hamper. He kept his clothing in here, for the most part. His wife was a clotheshorse who used up every square inch of their walk-in. Jack didn't mind. The woman looked good in the clothing she wore and he loved to look at her. It was the perfect tradeoff.

He walked back down the hall to find his wife fast asleep. He pulled back the covers and slid in behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist. His hand rested on her stomach, only to have the baby kick it. "Too bad, buddy, I was here first," he whispered. He drifted off to sleep, the smell of his wife's hair soothing him as he rested.

The next morning, he emailed his secretary to remind her of his wife's appointment. They arrived 10 minutes early; his wife was right, it was smart to show up early. There were only a couple of women ahead of them. He looked over as his wife was texting away like mad on her phone. "What's up," he said.

"Amanda," she said with a smile. Texts and emails had been flying between them once Amanda had agreed to take over the website while his wife was recovering from childbirth. She would be making more money working for them than she would waitressing somewhere and it would look good on her resume. He smiled at the thought of his niece. His sister was several years older than he was. He had been a snotty ten-year-old when his sister gave birth. He hadn't paid much attention to her until recently. She had the palest blond hair Jack had ever seen. She was a little shorter than his wife at 5'5" tall, with beautifully tanned skin and pretty, pink lips. Her green eyes were like his own, but framed with long lashes. She had grown into a beauty, no question. Also, a runner, she had a slender, almost straight body with very small breasts.

His reverie was interrupted when his wife's doctor summoned them into the room. Checking his wife's blood pressure, the doctor scrunched up her nose. "You are at 140/90, you haven't always been that high, have you?" The doctor checked Stephanie's chart. "Ah yes, that's right, you've been slowly getting higher and higher." She sighed. "You need to rest more. If you notice you're urinating less or get a bad headache, you need to call the office. The service can get in touch with us after hours, if necessary." The doctor donned some gloves. "Feet in the stirrups, Mrs. DeWitt, I need to examine you."

Jack was sure he would never get comfortable with this woman shoving what looked like half her forearm up his wife's crotch. Steph made a face and wince. The doctor frowned, and then pulled her hand out. "You're dilated to 2cms."

Stephanie gasped. Jack grew alarmed. "What does that mean?"

The doctor looked over her glasses at him. "It means that the entrance to your wife's womb is starting to open. She's only 32 weeks along, so I'm not happy. This baby needs some more time in the womb." She stood up, removing her gloves. "I would be a lot happier if we could get you to at least 36 weeks, but the longer the better. You're to be at absolute bedrest. You may get up to use the bathroom and to shower; otherwise, you are to be in bed." She looked at Jack with a stern expression. "And no sex, none whatsoever."

Jack closed his eyes. They hadn't been doing it regularly anyway, but the idea of going several more months was a little hard to take. He opened his eyes, hoping no one noticed. He nodded, saying, "Absolutely, my wife's health is the most important thing."

As they drove home, Stephanie was sniffling in the passenger seat furiously texting on her phone. He glanced over, asking, "What's going on?"

Stephanie threw her head back in frustration. "I'm texting my mom to see if she can come and stay. I'm going to need help around the house while I'm laid up."

Jack grew alarmed. "No. Fucking. Way." He didn't want to upset his wife, but his mother-in-law hated him for reasons that never made sense. He didn't get it, he was a good man, he didn't smoke, do drugs, or keep mistresses. He was a good provider, he paid his taxes, he gave her daughter a comfortable home, but Majorie DeWitt made no secret of the fact that she had wanted something else for her daughter, whatever that might have been.

Growing snappish, Steph ground out in frustration, "I can't be out of bed, babe. That means no cooking, no taking care of things around the house. You work long days; someone has to keep the show running."

"No way, not your mother, Steph. I mean it. If she doesn't poison my food, she'll murder me in my sleep." He was only half kidding. "Let's try to hire someone. We can afford it." An idea formed in his head almost immediately. "Let's ask Amanda. She's a starving college student. She'll need the money and she was planning to work for us in a few weeks anyway. You can work even more closely with her on the website. It's all a win-win."

Stephanie nodded slowly. "That's a good idea." Swiping the screen closed, she opened Amanda's last text message and pecked away quickly. A couple of minutes went by, and then an excited reply came back. "She wants to do it. She said she can come over after class." Steph gave a sigh of relief, then texted her mother back to let them know they had it handled. Her mother would probably be ecstatic. After receiving a pithy reply full of opinions about the suitability of Amanda, she sighed again. "It's all handled. Let's just get home so I can do this whole best rest thing."

When they got home, Jack settled his wife in their bed, and then ran around collecting things to keep his wife occupied. Her laptop, Kindle, cell phone, various chargers, and other necessities of life were soon at hand. Then he hurried down to the guest room to shift some of his stuff around to make some room for his niece to be able to unpack. He pulled his toiletries out of the bathroom and checked to make sure there were enough clean towels. Returning to the master bedroom, he put his things in their bathroom. "I'm afraid you're going to have to share your domain, princess," he teased her.

Stephanie waved him away. She was already knee deep in drawing up lists for Amanda. His otherwise laid-back wife could turn into a demon when it came to keeping other people organized. Figuring this was the perfect time for an escape; he hurried from the room and took off for work.

Figuring she finally had things as organized as they could be, Stephanie laid back for a nap. She was always so tired in the afternoons. She awoke a couple of hours later to find a glass of iced lemonade on her bedside table, thoughtfully placed on a coaster. She figured this was Amanda's work, so she grabbed her phone to text her thanks.