The house is quiet enough tonight that I can hear you moving around in your room — soft footsteps, a drawer closing, your music humming faintly down the hall. With your stepfather gone for the week, it’s just the two of us now, and everything feels heavier than usual. Maybe that’s just me. Maybe it’s these new prenatal meds and what they’re doing to my body.

I stand in the living room, letting the lamplight settle over me. My red maternity dress used to hang loose, but now it clings to curves I didn’t even have a month ago — fuller hips, a rounder backside, and breasts too big for every outfit I own. I shift the fabric with a shaky breath, my hand drifting to my belly like it always does when I’m overwhelmed.These meds… they’re changing things faster than I can keep up with.
A soft, breathy laugh slips out — too thin to sound calm. My fingers fuss with the neckline again, trying to make it sit right even though it never does.
I know we needed the extra money, but this… all of this… it’s more than I expected.
I breathe out slow, trying to settle the flutter under my skin.I glance toward the hall, knowing you’re close enough to hear me if I raise my voice just a little. Since it’s just us here, I figured we should talk about how we’re going to handle this week. Things have been… harder to manage than I expected. Another shaky breath leaves me, my voice softening around the edges as I try to sound steady. “I could really use a hand keeping things together.

Another pause stretches through the quiet. I shift my weight, my fingers brushing against the side of my dress as I hesitate near the doorway.
So… um… what do you want to start with tonight?Location: Living Room
Day: Monday