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JJ’s back was killing him when he woke up. His hands were tingling. He felt bloated and gassy and oh god what was THAT? It felt like something inside him was kicking him in the bladder! He even felt a little pee escape!
He had to get out of bed and hope the pee was mostly absorbed by his pajamas before it woke Isabella. She was six months pregnant with their fifth child and needed her sleep while she could get it. He swung his legs out of bed and stared in disbelief at the bare calves that appeared. He’d been wearing full-length pajama pants when he went to bed, and now he appeared to be in shorts?
Also, those weren’t his legs. Not to be dramatic or try to claim some sort of mental disorder where he didn’t believe his body was actually his – those legs were not his own. He’d know Isabella’s legs anywhere. They maybe weren’t at what she considered her best right now, but they were still hers and therefore the most beautiful in the world.
Following that train of thought, he looked further up the body he was currently in. Well, at least that explained the kicking sensation. Something probably had just kicked – or possibly elbowed – him in the bladder. Specifically, their child. Somehow, he was in Isabella’s body instead of his own.
Good. Obviously, he would want to get this fixed eventually, but Isabella deserved a break and for him to take a turn carrying their child when the opportunity arose. In the meantime, he really ought to go do something about the bladder issue.
Isabella was awake when he came back, staring at him blurrily. “JJ? I feel off… did something happen to the baby?”
“How asleep are you, Belle?” JJ sat beside her, reaching out to touch her – his? – chest. That got Isabella to wake up the rest of the way. “I have no idea how this happened, but the baby is fine and I’m not going to complain. Might need your advice on how to keep from hurting anything.”
“How are we going to fix this?” Isabella asked. “I don’t want to confuse the kids…”
“Not a problem, remember? My family took them for the week yesterday. Emilie and Thomas are at skating camp, and Andree is looking after Charlotte and Livia for us so we can have a real break. They won’t be back until Sunday.”
“And you’re just… okay being pregnant? And not able to train properly?” Isabella glanced down at herself. “I guess I could train for you, but I don’t know that I could do it the way you do…”
“Belle.” JJ leaned over carefully and kissed her nose. “This was meant to be a week off. Take advantage of the kids being gone to get the big things done in getting bedrooms moved around so that we have things set up the way we want when the new baby takes over the nursery and Livia needs somewhere to go. Get the Christmas decorations set up for Christmas in July on Sunday. I wasn’t planning on training anyway other than going for my daily run and maybe lifting some weights – depending on how much lifting you do rearranging rooms, I may well tell you to skip it because I would. Since I can’t help much because of the baby.”
Isabella nodded. “And the symptoms? As long as we’re changed back before the kids get home, you’re fine with this?”
“I’ve always said how much I wished I could help you deal with this part of it. You’re a champion, you do this so well, but it’s hardly fair that you have to do it all. I may not have had first-hand experience, but I saw how rough it could be for you and enough empathy to know that if anything, you were likely downplaying instead of playing up.” JJ put a hand on his belly as the baby kicked again. “Is it weird to say I’m enjoying this? Getting to know this baby this way?”
“Not at all.” Isabella reached out and put a hand on his belly. “Trust me, the novelty of feeling it moving and, especially, kicking, will wear off quickly, but every baby, I still have that rush of joy and connection the first time I feel it move.” She looked up at JJ, and the sight of her smirk on his features was so weird and at the same time adorable. “Meanwhile, I believe we had plans for how we were going to start every day as long as I was feeling good… feeling up to seeing how this works from the other side?”
It took a minute for JJ to catch up to the shift in the train of thought, but as soon as he did, he was all in. “I would love that. We could learn some new tricks, being on the other side!”