Chapter Text
The sound of laughter, animated talking and the clinking of fine silverware filled the air of the great dining hall of the imperial palace, all of the noise mixing together into an indistinguishable humdrum as it reached the ear of Marianne von Edmund, the Minister of Religion and, as of recent, Lady Regent of the Empire.
In truth, she was not used to the title yet, never mind all the new duties that came along with it. She was expected to attend meetings with the Emperor, to serve as one of her advisors, and generally to be one of the outward faces of the Empire itself. It was… a lot, but getting to be with El made it all worth it to Mari in the end.
They had attended many banquets, diplomatic lunches and various other food-related events in the month and a half since they had officially announced the Emperor’s pregnancy, but today… Today was a very special day indeed, and the banquet was only the last part of the festivities.
Marianne felt her heart nearly beating out of her chest as she gently placed her silver fork down to admire the brilliant yet simple ring that adorned her finger. A fine, almost ethereal bit of white lace led down from the symbol of her and El’s marriage down to the fine white sleeves of her marriage gown, which had been tailor-made for her not long before. She felt tears of happiness well up in her eyes briefly before feeling her wife’s hand on hers.
“Mari… Hey, are you alright?”
The Lady Regent blinked the tears out of her eyes quickly, nodding as she looked over at El.
“This is the best day of my life, El. I’m… I’m just a little emotional, that’s all.”
Edelgard smiled gently, sighing as she turned back to the grand slice of wedding cake that was on the plate before her.
“That is understandable… You just had me worried there, for a second.”
Marianne shook her head slightly, taking care not to ruffle the white veil that was placed over her hair. She tilted her head to the side, holding her own cheek as she admired the ring some more.
“It’s so… perfect.”
Edelgard gently put down her fork and knife, taking a second to swallow a bite of cake before turning towards her wife again.
“The ring?”
“Yes. Oh, but also the dress… and the banquet, and our wedding… And you, too.”
She turned to face Edelgard, grabbing her hand gently, their fingers intertwining after a second. El rolled her eyes but smiled widely.
“Oh, is that so? I would beg to disagree about that last part.”
Marianne blinked, her hand still intertwined with El’s.
“...What? I’m sorry, what about you is not perfect?”
“Maybe the fact that, if I move more than a few inches at a time, this entire dress will be ripped to shreds?”
Marianne groaned quietly as she turned slightly more towards El, tilting her head to the side.
“Come on… Is that really the time to think about this? It’s baby weight, El.”
Edelgard shot her wife a mildly unamused look.
“Baby weight, Mari?”
She carefully reached her hand down, making sure that it was hidden below the edge of the table before grabbing one of her rather generous love handles and jiggling it.
“I think I’ve gone a little beyond the reasonable pregnancy weight here.”
There… may have been something to that, perhaps. Ever since the greater public had discovered that the Emperor was pregnant, nearly all of their outings had involved a lot less walking and a lot more eating, with people from near and far trying to make sure that Edelgard had enough to eat.
Her cravings had not gotten weaker over time, either. She was five and a half months along - or maybe six, the healers weren’t entirely sure - and that meant that the babies were developing at a pretty fast pace now, her bump almost growing visibly larger day by day. She needed a lot of energy and food to make sure that everything went smoothly, and she had gotten progressively worse at restraining herself like she had been doing before.
Gentle insistence from those closest to her, from Marianne’s encouraging whispers and helpful belly rubs to Hubert surely but slowly increasing her meal sizes as time went on had also played a part, if Marianne had to guess.
All of it had led to Edelgard becoming rather… plump, to say the least. Her wedding dress did a good job of hiding most of it - Bernie had worked day and night to make it happen, and she had respectfully declined to appear at the wedding itself, requesting some time off to “Sleep for a week” after her work marathon. Edelgard had permitted it without question.
El’ chest had grown slowly but steadily, both due to the weight she was putting on and the fact that her milk was most likely about to come in, making her a fair bit larger than Marianne had been a while ago. Words like “well-endowed” and “dress-stretching” came to mind, with the wedding dress putting her cleavage on only partial display in order to keep some of her modesty.
The bulk of the dress’ work was around El’s midsection. The twins had been growing steadily and healthily over the past month and a half, giving Edelgard a proper baby bump that stood out wherever she went, forcing her to shift her stance considerably to carry the weight as comfortably as she could. In other words, she had started to waddle some time ago.
Other than that, the twins had begun to move recently, with faint bumps and shudders just barely visible when Mari got close to her wife’s bump at the right times. They had found out that the kids were quite energetic, with the only thing able to calm them being Marianne leaning her head against El’s belly and talking to their children gently. They had made a daily habit of it as of recent, usually in the evenings so that Edelgard could sleep soundly.
However, even with the twins stretching her belly out, it was clear that Edelgard’s midsection was more than a little impacted by her constant gorging.
The wedding dress was made in a way that hid the small, jiggly pouch of fat that hung off of the bottom of Edelgard’s round, taut belly, revealing just how soft it actually was to the touch. To her sides, El had also developed small, gentle folds of fat that were most visible when she sat down, but they were nothing compared to what had happened to her hips.
A few weeks before, Edelgard had begun to casually joke about getting stuck in chairs, and that, if she were to keep growing at the pace she was going, they would need to widen the doors in the Imperial Palace just for her. It was hyperbole, of course - a massive overexaggeration… But she had definitely grown, and by a lot.
Sometimes, when Marianne was wandering around the Palace to deliver a missive or to check on the progress of some menial but important task, she found herself stopping before a painting that they had been gifted years ago, when Edelgard had returned to the Imperial Palace after the war.
It was a giant thing, depicting the young Emperor standing triumphantly in what seemed to be the courtyard of Garreg Mach, raising her weapon to sky, with the sun shining upon her. It was a striking scene, and an extremely detailed painting to boot. Nobody knew who had created it - Ignatz had created an entirely separate painting after the war, and nobody had come forward to claim the artwork as their work either. It was one of the many mysteries of the war that would, as Marianne had come to first fear and then accept, go unanswered.
Regardless of the painting’s origins, it was a very accurate depiction of Edelgard, showing off the toned figure she had gained through years of constant fighting. Marianne would stand before the painting for minutes at times, admiring every curve of Edelgard’s depiction while mentally comparing her to the El she knew now.
She consistently found herself preferring the current El, as she realized.
Yes, Edelgard had once been the slender spearhead of a movement and the woman who could tear through the battlefield with ease, but Marianne knew now - or perhaps she had always known on some level - that El was much more comfortable and happy in the role she held now.
“Pssst… Are you listening to me, Mari?”
Marianne blinked, nodding instinctively as she looked at El.
“Yes, of course. We were talking about… baby weight.”
El nodded, stuffing another forkful of her cake into her mouth, swallowing before returning to the conversation.
“Yes, baby weight, let’s call it that for now. As I said, I doubt that my thighs rubbing together whenever I waddle and my hips nearly doubling in size is within normal bounds for baby weight.”
She paused briefly.
“Oh, and even if it were, then…”
Her hand snaked its way towards Marianne, landing on her hip.
“I doubt that you should be gaining baby weight too, hm?”
Marianne felt herself get a little red. She had to admit that, ever since they had revealed their relationship to the people, Marianne had been… indulging a little. It was only natural, as she accompanied Edelgard to many of the events that had led to the Emperor plumping up - of course, her own waistline wouldn’t get away unscathed.
Still… it was a little embarrassing to have it pointed out.
It had been subtle, at least from Mariann’s point of view. Every time she had been obligated to accompany Edelgard to any event involving food, the both of them would end up eating the majority of food prepared for them - out of politeness, of course. The first few times were horrible for Marianne, with her lumbering away, feeling so overfull and sluggish that she wasn’t sure if she would be able to make it back to the Palace without passing out.
Edelgard had done her best to aid her in those times, making Marianne feel guilty for having her pregnant wife taking care of her instead of the other way around. In return, whenever she woke up from her food coma, Marianne would zip around Edelgard incessantly, making sure that her every whim was taken care of for the remainder of the day.
She didn’t even realize how quickly it had gotten easier for her to stay on her feet after subsequent feasts, and how she slowly began to catch up with the amounts of food that Edelgard would pack away each time.
To her, it was all a simple cycle of events: She would wake up, get dressed, accompany Edelgard to whatever event was going on, do her duties, eat more food than any singular person should, lumber back to the palace, hand-in-hand with Edelgard, lie down for a while, wait for her belly to go down, then go about her usual duties as both Minister of Religion and the Emperor’s partner. It was always the same.
Well, until her belly didn’t quite disappear after sleeping her meals off.
It took her a while to notice, as her own gain began further up than Edelgard’s, in her chest. She had already handed over her old bras to Edelgard some time ago, as the Emperor had grown into them quite nicely due to her own gain and the pregnancy, while Marianne had found herself in need of larger cup sizes. She had grown before - her body seemed determined to develop in waves, and she had been told before that she could get even more buxom later in life. She didn’t think too much of it as a result, and Edelgard certainly didn’t complain either.
The rude awakening came during one of their almost routine stops at Bernie’s to have Edelgard’s clothes resized. All was going normally until, out of the blue, Bernie asked if Marianne would like her dress resized as well… To hide her potbelly.
Marianne wasn’t dumb - she knew she had begun to put on a few kilograms, but she had never realized that she had developed a full-on potbelly, mainly because she couldn’t see her midsection very well past her bosom. She had sheepishly agreed to the resizing, with neither Bernie nor El knowing why she seemed so bashful about it.
When Marianne had told Edelgard about it later, the Emperor gave her a confused look and said that she thought that Mari was putting on sympathy weight to make her feel better.
She hadn’t heard the end of it since then. Not that she minded.
“No, I mean, yes, it is… Simply, relationship weight, because I am so happy with you.”
Edelgard hummed off-handedly, licking the remains of her cake slice off her fork.
“Of course. I suppose it would look strange if you were a stick while I might end up making the earth tremble with every step.”
Marianne groaned a little bit, putting her hand on Edelgard’s hip gently.
“Come on El, you really are not that fat. A little on the soft side, yes… But it just makes you look all the better, if you ask me.”
Edelgard nodded slowly, motioning at the waiter to get her another slice before she turned back to Mari.
“Say, I have a proposal.”
Marianne leaned in slightly.
“Do tell me, my love.”
“I propose that, as a wedding gift, we give each other something.”
She paused briefly as the waiter arrived, giving him a short, kind smile and waiting for him to depart before carefully sizing the slice up and then turning to face Marianne again, her expression serious.
“I propose that we give each other the truth, as a gift.”
Marianne let her eyes wander from El’s face to the cake, then back.
“...The truth? But… Aren’t we truthful with each other normally?”
“Oh, of course we are. What I am talking about is a momentary dropping all pretenses and assumptions, and only saying the truth.”
Marianne was still confused, but nodded.
“Good, then. I will start.”
El gingerly lifted a finger, tapping Marianne on her nose - presumably to keep the appearance that the two of them were engaged in some newlywed flirting.
“I… Do not mind the weight, at all.”
She vaguely motioned downwards with her other hand, which was hidden below the table’s edge.
“It’s been… Rather pleasant, letting myself go as of late. I have thought about it, and… I have decided that I do not mind if I get chubby, or even fat. What I mind is something else.”
Marianne wanted to open her mouth, but Edelgard leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek. Before she pulled back, she whispered in Marianne’s ear.
“You’ve been plumping me up on purpose, haven’t you?”
As El pulled back, Mari immediately felt her face heat up in embarrassment, her ears feeling like they were on fire.
It had taken her a while to realize her… preference. She had no idea what she liked Edelgard this large before they had already begun feeding her more and more, and once she had thought about it and realized what she was doing, bringing it up could have had catastrophic consequences, as she thought.
Marianne cleared her throat slightly, shuffling in her seat as El sat beside her, looking at her wife expectantly.
“I… Um… Well…”
The Lady Regent sighed.
“...Yes, but I only realized that recently. Before that, I always told myself it was for the kids, but um… Well…”
“Alright.”
Edelgard turned away from Marianne, digging into the slice of cake before her, seemingly unbothered. Marianne sat there, baffled by the reaction for a few seconds. She tapped her own fork on her plate a few times before clearing her throat again.
“Are you… angry with me, El?”
Edelgard paused, chewing the bite of cake thoughtfully.
“I’m not sure.”
She cut off another chunk of the cake, eyeing it briefly. Marianne could see her tongue run along the inside of her cheek, digging the crumbs out of her teeth.
“I’m upset, yes. I do not like it when people do things without telling me. I trust you greatly, so when I started having a hunch, I presumed it was something akin to what you did all the way back during the war, when you fixed my arm - for my own good.”
“You still remember that…?”
El smiled absent-mindedly.
“Oh, of course. But either way, back to the topic at hand. After the healers started giving me strange looks, and the more I thought about it, the more I wondered why you would be doing this. I know Hubert was helping you to some extent, and I know he only wants what he believes is best for me, as incorrect as that may be at times…”
She looked over at Marianne for a second.
“But you? You mean the world to me, Mari. I wasn’t sure what to think, and that upset me.”
There was a brief pause before Edelgard sighed slightly.
“On the other hand… I’m glad you owned up to it, that you didn’t try to play it off as anything that it wasn’t.”
Another pause, filled with the chatter of their guests and the clinking of cutlery.
“So… Yes, I am upset with you, I suppose, but angry…? No, I’m not angry.”
Marianne gently grabbed Edelgard’s hand.
“I’m sorry, my love… I… I’ll help you lose it once the twins are born, I promise.”
El shot Marianne a puzzled look.
“...Why?”
They looked at each other, both seemingly confused.
“I already told you that I do not mind the weight, Mari. Truth be told… It’s been freeing.”
She motioned over towards the crowds of guests and the food that was laid out.
“Look at them - my people, enjoying their time with me. This is what I want my rule to be like. I’ve always dreamt of a time where I wouldn’t have to worry about anything; When I could lean back for a day, eat all the sweets I want, and nobody would think less of me for it.”
El paused to eat some of her cake, giving Marianne some time to speak.
“Yes, you told me that before…”
“Exactly. Now, did you think I wasn’t aware what lazing around and stuffing my face would do to my figure?”
Marianne shook her head.
“And when we talked about having children, did you think I didn’t know what that would do to my figure, either?”
Another shake of Marianne’s head.
“Good. I don’t want to go back to the early days of my reign, where I was expected to wear corsets and to always look like I had a stick shoved up my… where the sun doesn’t shine. I want… this. I want you.”
She placed a hand on her bump, pulling the top part of her dress closer to its curve.
“I want… us.”
Marianne placed her hand on her wife’s belly too, feeling a slight flutter in response.
“I want us too, El.”
They stayed there for a second before Edelgard sighed.
“I know… Just…”
She trailed off for a second before refocusing with a stifled burp.
“It’s alright if you want me to be this size, or even bigger. But… You need to tell me, and we need to talk about it like adults, alright?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Good.”
El Smiled.
“I love you, Mari.”
“I love you as well, El.”
The two of them turned to their respective foods. Just as Marianne was about to continue eating, she heard El click her tongue.
“Oh, actually.”
The Emperor leaned over and onto the armrest of the large seat that had been prepared for her, a little smile on her lips.
“I have a punishment for you.”
She shuffled around in her seat, the fabric of her skirt creaking dangerously as she did so. Marianne raised her eyebrows.
“A… punishment?”
“Oh yes, a punishment. I need to get rid of this lingering bad taste in my mouth, and what better way then to show you what it feels like to be in my shoes?”
Marianne felt a single bead of sweat roll down the side of her neck.
“I… El, I mean-”
El leaned over even more, with her seat letting out a low, pained creak in response.
“No, no, no talking back now. If you enjoyed watching me pile on the kilos, the least you can do is let me enjoy a similar show today.”
Marianne hesitated briefly.
“What are you proposing…?”
Edelgard giddily shifted her weight back, really testing the patience and tensile strength of her clothes.
“Oh, it’s rather simple. I want you to finish the rest of the wedding cake by yourself.”
Marianne felt herself go a little pale. Even with half the cake already gone - mostly thanks to Edelgard - it was larger than any meal Marianne had ever had before.
“E-El, come on… I-I have already had two courses, surely…”
Edelgard shook her head vehemently, leaning back over to Marianne.
“Don’t even try to get out of this now. It would take a miracle to-”
She was interrupted by a strange sound that immediately shut her up. It was high-pitched and quick, barely half a second long. Marianne turned her head, trying to guess where it had come from and what it was.
Suddenly, she felt Edelgard’s hand grip her forearm tightly, making her turn her head around. Her wife was sitting on her seat as if she was frozen in time, her eyes unfocused as she stared into nothingness.
“Mari.”
Her voice was low and calm, but Marianne knew this tone - Something bad had happened, and only Edelgard knew what. It reminded her of the war, when bad news had been in surplus, and it often fell to Edelgard to announce them to their troops. Marianne swallowed hard.
“Y-Yes, El? What happened? Are you alright?”
“Mari.”
“Yes?”
Finally, El’s eyes moved, shooting up to look straight into Marianne’s.
“Mari, that was my skirt.”
“Eh?”
Marianne needed a second to understand what Edelgard meant, watching her wife’s cheek light up with a bright blush before her brain finally made the right conclusions.
“Oh- that sound, it- that was your skirt?”
She lowered her voice to a quiet hiss, and Edelgard nodded imperceivably. Marianne glanced around, but nobody seemed to have noticed the sound of fabric ripping under immense pressure.
“Shuffle forward in your seat a little - It can’t be that bad.”
The Emperor slowly sat up perfectly straight, flashing their guests a smile as she carefully shuffled around, pushing her seat back slowly. Marianne leaned back in her own seat, pretending to look past El as she went to check out the situation.
Red lace buried deeply between the pale, creamy halves of Edelgard’s thick posterior shone towards her like a beacon in the night, making her immediately look away in sheer embarrassment.
“Red lace?!”
She choked the words out, nearly falling into a cough as she quickly looked back at her food to try and calm down.
“You can see my underwear? Oh, rotten onions…”
“Why are you wearing red lace under your wedding dress?”
“What? Did you not think we’d consummate our marriage tonight? I wanted to feel confident, alright?”
They didn’t speak for a second as Marianne took a sip of her wine and waved some air at her face.
“...What are you wearing under your dress, then?”
She shot El a pointed glance for asking the question, but then immediately relented. They both needed to loosen the atmosphere a little.
“...White lace.”
“White? I thought you’d go for blue for sure…”
“I thought about it, but that felt too cliche for me. Besides, I think the white suits me quite nicely.”
“After you fattened me up for the last month and a half? Isn’t white meant to convey innocence?”
They both chuckled briefly before the tone shifted.
“What are we going to do?”
Marianne leaned back again, this time properly assessing the damage. The tear was going straight down Edelgard’s backside, but Marianne couldn’t see the spot where the fabric was still together from her point of view.
“I don’t know… It’s not ripped all the way down to your legs, right?”
She heard Edelgard shuffle a bit before she shook her head.
“No, it must have stopped somewhere underneath me…”
They exchanged a glance.
“I have an idea.”
Marianne motioned downwards, reaching out and placing her hand on the ripped piece of the skirt. With a little effort, she managed to pinch the two parts together with two of her fingers while leaving the rest of her hand flat.
“There we are… This might work. We can walk out with my hand on your lower back - that way, I can keep the ripped halves together without anyone suspecting anything.”
Edelgard blew some air out of her nose.
“Right… Well, I suppose we should get out of here as soon as we can, then. Let me just…”
Marianne watched as El leaned forward and finished the slice of cake in a few bites, groaning as she leaned back slightly.
“Ugh… There we are, it’s gone.”
She reached out and tapped her fork against her empty wine glass, putting on her warmest, most joyful fake smile as she waited for the whole room to quiet down. It took a few seconds, but finally, only the occasional shuffling of someone adjusting their posture could be heard. Edelgard put her hands on the table.
“Thank you. I hate to interrupt the air of joy, so I will try to keep myself brief.”
She paused to look over the gathered people.
“I wanted to thank all of you again, for coming here today to celebrate our happiest day. As you know well, I… have no family left to celebrate such important occasions with.”
Another pause was added to give the statement weight.
“However, I have found my family… In you, my people. And of course…”
She leaned over, putting a hand on Marianne’s shoulder.
“In my dearest Lady Regent…”
Her other hand landed on her bump, gently running down its curve.
“And, of course, in the future that I carry within me now. I believe… We have come so, so very far since the days of strife.”
Marianne put her free hand on Edelgard’s bump, feeling the twins gently shift for a second before calming down. El breathed in deeply, her jaw flexing for the briefest second before she breathed out.
“It is my sincere hope that, under my rule… The happiness we feel in this moment may last for many, many years. We have seen enough horrors; We have fought enough battles; We have suffered enough. Peace and prosperity are the future of the Empire.”
She leaned forward just the slightest bit.
“More than anything else… I wish for everyone to feel the same happiness I feel on this day. Not a fraction of it - all of it. That is my goal henceforth.”
The crowd erupted in applause, with Edelgard closing her eyes as she visibly let the atmosphere wash over her, if only for a moment. Marianne ran her hand down her wife’s belly calmly as the two of them waited for the cheers and other sounds to die down. Slowly, she moved her hand around in circular patterns, with no sign on Edelgard’s face to tell her how comfortable or uncomfortable the Emperor was.
El looked majestic when she got like this - light made her hair shine like that of a finely-crafted marble statue, her gaze determined yet soft… It was not a side of Edelgard that Marianne usually saw, but it had an air of untouchable perfection that was perfect for an Emperor.
When the chatter finally died down, Edelgard nodded.
“Thank you - it is reassuring to know that my people - my family - stand with me.”
She gently placed down her silverware on her plate, with the fork and the knife lying parallel to each other.
“Now, I hate to disappoint… But I must say that the feast, the festivities and the emotional exhilaration have left me tired, and my children require rest as well, I’m afraid. It is for this reason that, with a heavy heart, I have decided to retreat to my chambers for today with my enchanting Regent in tow. I hate leaving festivities early, but I must look out for myself - for the sake of the future.”
Marianne could see multiple understanding nods - most from women, many of whom she knew had children of their own - as the Emperor and the Regent got ready to get up. Mari reached her other hand out for Edelgard to grab, planning to help her up. El graciously took the offered hand, leaning forward with some strain as she readied herself to stand up.
The sound of seams snapping made Mari’s blood run cold, and Edelgard let out a short, partially stifled yelp, masking it by huffing in an overly animated matter before suddenly putting her arm around Marianne, pressing her against her left side with surprising urgency.
“Top snapped?”
“Be quiet and smile, Mari…”
The happy couple gave the crowd smiles and waves as they turned to leave, Marianne making sure that she was the one closer to the people, hiding Edelgard’s multiple wardrobe malfunctions efficiently. As they walked towards the exit slowly, Marianne could hear pops and tears - barely audible, but Marianne was close enough that she could hear them.
“What’s going on? Why is your dress giving up the ghost now?!”
She whispered, moving only one half of her mouth to not let anyone know. Edelgard grunted in response.
“I may have been-”
She was interrupted by another thread snapping.
“-May have been sucking my belly in slightly.”
“For the past five hours of this banquet?”
“Yes, for the past five hours of this banquet. Now PLEASE can we walk FASTER?”
Marianne turned her head to smile at the people as she tried to help El waddle faster, feeling the skirt she was pinching together rip further and further with each step. The door to the back hallway of the dining hall was not far away, but it felt like the carpet before them stretched out to infinity as they walked onwards, each step seemingly dragging on longer than the one before it.
“Just a little more now.”
Marianne’s comment only got a subdued hum as a response - Edelgard was too focused on moving at a consistent pace without her clothes falling apart, it seemed. Her hand shot out a little too fast as they finally reached the door, her fingers wrapping around the door handle with the sound of more seams popping.
As Edelgard pulled the door open, a ripping sound - louder than the snaps and tears before - came from the opposite side of her body, and Marianne saw the front of her wife’s top begin to slip away.
In an instant, she turned her body around to face the crowd, letting go of Edelgard’s hand and the skirt she had been keeping up. She heard her wife yelp slightly and take a few shaky steps forward accompanied by the sound of fabric falling to the ground.
Marianne waved at the masses a few times, smiling brightly before slowly grabbing the handle of the door. She continued to wave happily as she slowly retreated backwards into the hallway, slowly pulling the door closed behind her until it finally clicked shut. Marianne sighed in relief.
“We did it.”
“Yes… Unlike my poor wedding outfit.”
Marianne turned around to face her wife, finding her entirely bereft of her skirt. Tasteful red lace underwear, complete with matching stockings that dug into her thighs slightly. Her top had ripped on one side, but it had not actually fallen off entirely, hanging loosely off of a few threads, barely covering anything. Her chest rested on her twin bump, with the soft pouch of fat on full display. She sighed, both of her hands running calming circles across her belly.
“To be honest… I hoped it would at least survive the trip up to m- I mean, up to OUR bedchamber.”
The Regent shook her head slightly as she leaned down and picked the ripped remains of the fine skirt off the ground next to her.
“Oh, El… It is… WAS… just a dress.”
Edelgard nodded, sighing as she let her arms hang by her side.
“Yes, I know… I just went through all the trouble of getting dolled up for you, and now the whole surprise of the lingerie was blown early.”
Marianne stepped closer, pulling Edelgard in for a kiss. Her breath carried the faint smell of sweet icing, and Marianne felt a few crumbs stick to her lips as she pulled back.
“I think you look mind-blowing, El.”
“Is that so?”
Edelgard grabbed Marianne’s dress, pulling her downwards slightly.
“Then how about you carry your lovely wife to bed so she can… Blow your mind, hm?”
Marianne eyed El’s figure before quickly putting one hand under her legs and, with gusto she didn’t expect to have, picking her up in a bridal carry.
Oh, she was heavy . Very heavy, in fact. Marianne’s arms started to hurt after a few seconds, but she just breathed out deeply and smiled at her wife.
“Like… this?”
Edelgard’s face was beet red, her arms wrapped around Marianne’s neck tightly.
“I… I didn’t think you’d actually do that, Mari. Uhm… Wow.”
She giggled girlishly.
“I don’t know what to say here, apart from… Let’s go to bed, shall we? I want you to rip the remains of this top off of me before you put lotion on my stretch marks, my love.”
Marianne groaned quietly as she began carrying her wife towards the stairs up to their bedchamber, moving slowly to make sure her poor back wouldn’t snap under the sudden movement like Edelgard’s clothes had done before. Despite her arms aching, she smiled happily.
“I can hardly wait, El.”
Edelgard giggled again, her fingernails gently scratching the back of Marianne’s neck.
“Oh, and as for the cake…”
Marianne felt a shiver run up her spine at Edelgard’s tone - a mix of amused malice and barely contained excitement.
“...Well, let’s just say that we’ll both be growing in the future.”