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*
We really need to bring some of the kitchen supplies and food over here, Greta thinks to herself as she drives back to their nearly empty condo with their Panera sandwiches and salads. As much as they both love pizza, she and Carson agreed they couldn’t live on that alone as they were getting the place ready ahead of their move. If it were just her, Greta might not care as much (can you really have too much pizza?), but she finds she is becoming more and more protective of Carson as her pregnancy progresses, which is really saying something.
Not for the first time, Greta marvels at how quickly and completely everything changed. Carson had told her that she changed Carson’s whole life, but the truth was that Carson had done the same for her. Carson had opened Greta up to the possibility of a love and a life that she had given up on long ago. If someone had told Greta a year ago that she would fall in love, buy a condo, and be having a baby all with the beautiful girl she’d meet at Joey’s wedding? Well, crazy doesn’t even begin to cover it. But somehow, impossibly, this is her life now.
Pulling her Subaru Outback into her assigned parking space next to Carson’s Crosstrek, Greta makes her way up the short flight of stairs to their place. Their place. They had brought over their inflatable mattress the day before and she’s hoping Carson got some rest while she was gone. With Carson just over into her third trimester now, Greta doesn’t want her to overdo it.
But as Greta opens the door, she hears a drill. “What the—” Greta drops the food on the counter on her way past and turns to see Carson midway through taking down the poorly installed built-in shelves they both hated.
“Carson. Carson! What are you doing?”
“Taking down the shelves. We agreed we wanted to get rid of them, right?” Carson asks, completely missing Greta’s point.
“Yeah, but Carson you were going to rest before lunch! And then I was going to help with this!”
Carson shrugs, “I wasn’t that tired and was looking at these shelves and got inspired. They are a bit heavier than I was expecting though.”
“Carson, you need to pace yourself!”
“I’m fine, Greta! The doctor said I could keep exercising. In fact, she said it was good if I do!”
“Yes but Carson, she meant the exercise you normally do! Not suddenly starting heavy lifting!”
Carson sighs, “It’s really not that bad, I promise. I’m being careful.” After a pause she continues, “You know I’d never intentionally put the baby at risk, right?”
Greta pulls Carson into a hug, placing a kiss on her hairline, “I know, darling. Really, I do. I just worry about you both.”
“And you take such good care of us,” Carson smiles up at her. “Speaking of, did you get the food? Because we could definitely go for something to eat!”
**
Stepping back from the wall of their half-painted bedroom, Greta admires her handiwork. They’re on track to get everything except the nursery painted before they move in so they don’t have to move the furniture multiple times. Seeing as Greta is too superstitious to buy too much for the baby too soon, the nursery can wait a bit longer. Things are finally starting to come together, Greta muses. Even though the purchase of the condo was actually incredibly fast (as with most things in their relationship), thanks to the fact that Greta had been getting organized to buy a place before they’d even met, it still felt like the wait between their offer being accepted and closing had dragged on forever. They’d both been anxious to get their projects in the new place underway and get settled in before the baby comes. But today, it’s starting to feel like this place can really be theirs.
Carefully laying her paint roller on the ground with the paint-covered fluff resting in the tray, Greta goes to get some water but finds her way into the kitchen blocked by her girlfriend on her hands and knees with her head in a cupboard and her ass in the air.
“Carse, wha—“ Greta begins before Carson’s head appears from the depths of the cupboard she had been leaning into. With a grin, Carson holds up a white roll and a pair of scissors, “Shelf liner!”
Greta smiles at the look of pride on Carson’s face, “That’s great, thanks babe!”
Greta pauses for a moment, choosing her words carefully, “Not that I’m complaining about being forced to look at my girlfriend’s angelic ass, but… are you going to be able to get up from down there?”
Carson scoffs, “‘Course I am! Watch!” With this, Carson begins maneuvering, adjusting her legs and feet, and pulling herself up on the counter, which clearly takes more effort than she anticipated. “See?” Carson retorts, attempting to hide how even this small exertion has her needing to catch her breath.
Greta chuckles and raises her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, you win!” Greta moves into Carson’s space and leans down close to her ear, making Carson’s breath catch for an entirely different reason. “But don’t even think about climbing on the step-stool to do the higher shelves,” Greta whispers before placing a kiss on Carson’s cheek and straightening to sashay past a stunned Carson and retrieve her water bottle from the fridge.
***
Arriving home after a long day, Greta’s eyes land on Carson moving a box of books in the living room. Immediately dropping her keys in the bowl and her bag at her feet Greta rushes over, “Carson what are you doing?! Why are you moving the books?? I told you I’d do that!”
Carson rolls her eyes, “It’s fine, Greta. I’m not lifting, I’m sliding,” she gestures with both hands to the box still firmly on the ground.
“Well since it apparently needs to be said, no lifting and no sliding the heavy boxes! I swear, I will tie you to a chair during this move if I have to!”
Carson just smirks at Greta.
“NOT like that, Carson!”
“Greta, I’m fine. I don’t need you to do everything for me! I’m pregnant, not helpless!”
Greta’s face softens. “I know, Carse. But what if I want to do these things? You don’t have to do it all yourself, okay? I just don’t want to risk anything happening to you or our little peach when I can easily take care of it.” Greta’s hand lightly caresses the swell of Carson’s stomach as she kisses the brunette on the forehead.
“I know,” Carson smiles and places her hand over Greta’s on her stomach. “We’ll be careful, I promise.” She stretches up to place a kiss on Greta’s nose. “But if you insist on not letting me do it myself, can you please help me pack these books tonight? We’ve got a lot to do before the movers come next week!”
****
Greta is folding laundry on their bed when her phone dings. Picking it up, she’s surprised to see a text from Carson given that they’re both at home.
can you come help me? I’m in the nursery
Dropping her phone on the bed, Greta runs into the nursery and her alarm only increases when she spots Carson sprawled on the floor. “Oh my god, Carse! What happened?! Are you okay??”
“I’m fine, just stuck. Can you help me up?”
“Why are you on the floor?!” Greta asks as she pulls Carson to her feet.
“I was cleaning the baseboards.”
“Cleaning the baseb— why?!”
“Greta,” Carson says with the tone of someone explaining that one plus one equals two, “the baby will be here soon and before you know it, they’ll be crawling and getting into everything. I swear the previous owners never once cleaned these!”
“Did you clean the baseboards in your old apartment? Because I definitely didn’t…” Greta trails off.
“That’s not the point!” Greta notes with amusement that Carson avoids the question. But Carson is also becoming increasingly agitated. “We’re having a baby, Greta!! We can’t have dirty baseboards!!”
“Okay, Carse, it’s okay,” Greta says, enveloping her girlfriend in her arms. “I promise, I’ll help you make sure all the baseboards are clean. We have time.”
*****
Walking into the in-progress nursery, Greta’s eyes immediately land on Carson. Her love is wearing a pair of oversized blue jean overalls over a tight white tank top. Her belly, which is growing noticeably rounder with each passing day, pushes the tank top up to her rib cage, exposing a gap between it and the overalls and allowing the bare skin of Carson’s hips to peek through from the side. She has a dark green baseball cap backwards over her messy hair and is wearing her rattiest pair of Converse. God, she’s beautiful. After half a second Greta’s brain catches up with her eyes and she realizes that Carson is holding a paintbrush and tray of paint in one hand and clearly contemplating stepping up onto the ladder.
“Carson Shaw, I swear to God, you better not set so much as one toe onto that ladder,” Greta threatens before Carson can take another step.
Carson spins around. “I’m not!” she protests reflexively, despite having been caught red-handed.
“You were about to, and we both know it, Carson!!” Greta exclaims, realizing that she’s angry now that she’s sure Carson is not in any immediate danger.
Carson seems to realize it shortly after Greta does. She awkwardly bends sideways to put the paint tray and brush on the floor and then faces Greta with her hands up in surrender.
Starting towards Greta she says, “You’re right. I was. And I’m sorry.”
“A ladder?! Really, Carson?? What if something happened to you? To the baby? Don’t you get it?” With a strangled sob Greta's anger gives way to tears. “I can’t. I just can’t go through that, Carson!”
Carson reaches Greta and pulls her into as tight a hug as possible with the baby between them. Greta’s head falls to Carson’s shoulder as Carson’s right hand cards into her hair. “I know. I know Greta, I’m sorry,” Carson murmurs, placing a kiss on Greta’s temple, “I’m sorry, love.”
Eventually, Greta pulls back to look at Carson. Brushing Carson’s forehead and cheek with the back of her hand Greta says, “I’m sorry. I just… the thought of something happening… it’s too much.”
“I know,” Carson holds both of Greta’s hands in hers. “I’m sorry, Greta. Really. I’m not trying to take risks or do dangerous things or scare you. I just… I’ve always just done things around the house. I want to take care of you and the baby and do these things but it’s more than that. Greta, I’ve never felt this way before. Like I need to get everything just right before the baby comes.”
“I know, Carse,” Greta whispers. “You’re nesting.”
“Yeah, I guess I am,” Carson agrees. “But you’re right, I can’t do all the things I usually can and I need to be more careful. I’ll try, I promise.”
Greta takes a deep breath. “Thank you. And you know I really do want to help, right? I want to take care of you and the baby too.”
Carson smiles, “I know.”
“Plus, I can’t have you only wearing adorable and sexy outfits like this when I’m not around,” Greta flashes a mischievous smile.
Carson looks down, momentarily confused. “Wait, this? The overalls with the paint? I probably even have paint on my face.”
“You do,” Greta confirms with a fond smile, “on your nose.” Carson starts trying to rub it off until Greta adds, “It’s very cute.” At that, Carson grins and blushes, her dimple appearing.
“Dimple,” Greta pokes her finger into Carson’s cheek which only makes Carson’s smile widen and her dimple deepen.
******
It may be Saturday, but Carson wakes up early because she has to go to the bathroom. Again. She tries to go back to sleep but can’t get comfortable (another common occurrence these days) and is afraid she’ll needlessly wake Greta if she keeps tossing and turning, so in the end, she decides she’s awake now.
After a big stretch, she finds her loose boxer shorts and baggy t-shirt that are her go-to sleepwear where they landed last night and pulls them on. She pads quietly to the kitchen in her bare feet, softly closing the bedroom door behind her. Fixing herself a cup of caffeine-free peach tea and buttered toast, she sits at the kitchen table and smiles at the memory of last night.
They had been halfway through changing for bed when Greta remarked, “I think once we put the pictures and art on the walls it will really start to feel like home.” Carson moved into Greta’s space, interrupting the latter’s movements to reach up and remove her bra. Resting her hands on Greta’s bare hips, Carson said, “I should pin you to the wall.” Greta raised an eyebrow and Carson answered the unspoken question with a smirk, “It’s like you said, art belongs on the walls.” Greta chuckled and shook her head. She leaned in, her mouth almost touching Carson’s ear, and whispered, “You know I like you confident, Shaw,” before she kissed along Carson’s jawline to her mouth and finally pulled her in for a deep kiss. From there, things had spiraled and they never did get around to putting their pajamas on. Instead falling asleep — exhausted, satisfied, and skin-to-skin — with Greta wrapped tightly around Carson from behind.
Carson hadn’t been able to resist flirting with her gorgeous, half-naked girlfriend even if she honestly can’t remember the last time she felt comfortable in her own body, much less sexy. But Greta has this amazing way of making her feel so desired. Carson had certainly shown her appreciation last night but she wants to do more.
Putting her dishes in the sink she wanders into the nursery. She and Greta had chosen a light green for the walls and (with one notable exception) done the painting together — Carson’s feet very firmly on the ground at all times and with plenty of rest and water breaks under Greta’s watchful eye. This weekend they were planning to build the furniture and get everything situated. But maybe she could surprise Greta and get a head start.
Carson gets as far as opening the box for the crib, pulling out the instructions, and collecting the necessary tools before pausing. She thinks about all the times in recent weeks that she had accidentally scared Greta by doing things that she felt very capable of doing but had to admit were on the slightly more physical side. She imagines how she might feel if Greta were the one doing these things while carrying their baby and gets irrationally agitated. And she thinks about what Greta had said, about how she wanted to protect and care for Carson and the baby. It wasn’t just that Greta would worry about Carson overexerting herself if she did this herself — although she absolutely would worry, regardless of whether or not her worry was justified. It’s that Greta wants to help and support Carson. And Carson wants Greta to feel like a truly equal partner in preparing for and raising their baby.
So Carson replaces the instructions in the box and goes out to the living room. Curling up on the couch under the blanket they keep there, Carson turns on A League Of Their Own at a low volume and waits for Greta to wake up.
After a while, the bedroom door opens and Greta appears, yawning, passing a hand through her hair, and wearing another of Carson’s baggy t-shirts. With nothing else underneath. Carson grins up at her, “Morning, love.”
“Morning,” Greta says, leaning down to kiss Carson before heading to the kitchen to fix her usual coffee. While she’s gone, Carson adjusts her position so that when Greta returns cradling her hot coffee in both hands, Carson raises the blanket and invites Greta into her arms. Greta immediately curls into Carson’s side, one hand on her coffee and one on Carson’s belly, and kisses Carson’s cheek. “Hi,” she says. “Hi,” Carson returns, kissing Greta on the temple in turn and cuddling her close, one hand wrapped around Greta’s lower back and resting on her bare thigh.
“How long have you been up?” Greta asks. Carson sighs, “A while. I had to pee, of course,” she rolls her eyes, “and couldn’t get comfortable after that.” “Hmm,” Greta acknowledges.
“How’d you sleep, love?” Carson queries. “Mmm, great. You wore me out last night.” As Greta probably intended, Carson is sure a blush is spreading across her cheeks. Greta just smiles into her coffee. “Yeah, uh, th-that was fun,” Carson manages. “It was,” Greta replies, moving her hand down to rub Carson’s thigh instead of her stomach.
For a while, they just cuddle together on the couch in silence, absentmindedly allowing the movie to continue, while Greta sips her coffee. When she’s done, she reaches forward to put her mug on the coffee table and then burrows back into Carson’s side once more. “So what’s the plan for today? Nursery, right?” Greta asks. “Nursery,” Carson answers. “I thought we could start with the crib. In fact, I opened the box this morning and started—” “Carson…” Greta says with a warning tone and sits up to more fully face Carson. “—Reading the instructions,” Carson finishes. Greta still looks a bit skeptical. “I thought about doing more,” Carson admits. “I wanted to surprise you. But then I realized I’d much rather do it together.” “Together?” Greta asks in a small voice. Carson stands up, holding out her hand to Greta and answers confidently.
“Together.”