They hit us hard, sometimes.

Really fantastic commission from  Royalty I picked up at TFF! I had to write a little thing for it, so here it is!

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Holly took morning showers while Daph took them a night. This was the first thing that told her the two were perfect for one another.
The tall lemur stepped out of the shower, just long enough to wake her up but not so long for the heat to make her sleepy again, and shook herself dry on the bathmat before using a towel to finish the job. Her long, striped tail was still wet, flopped heavily over the edge of the tub like a snake. She picked it up between two fingers like something dead and dried it off as best she could with the towel. When she was finished, it still looked spiky and unkempt, but was at least dry enough for her to lift without help from her hands. Holly smirked as she remembered the first time she caught Daph showering with her tail stuck outside the curtain to keep it dry. She made fun of her for it constantly, but Holly couldn’t really blame her; the squirrel had far more tail to deal with than she did.

“Hey Daph?” Holly called out as she opened the bathroom door just wide enough to poke her nose through. “Are you going out today?” There wasn’t any answer, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t listening. “You don’t have to, but if you do, you should go pick out a crib.” Holly moved the towel to her head and began drying off her ears. Still, there was no answer “You can take my card. I mean, we can go together this weekend, but I figure it’s better to get it sooner than later at this point, y’know?”
Once Holly finished had drying off her head and still didn’t hear an answer, she felt a flutter of anxiety in her chest.
“Well, you don’t have to go out if…if you weren’t going to. If you weren’t planning on it, I mean. We can do it later or…” Holly opened the door a little wider and poked her head from the bathroom, only to find the bedroom empty, the sheets on the bed tossed aside.

“Oh.”

Stepping out into the bedroom, Holly tip-toed to the bedroom door and pushed it shut. She was still shy about being naked around Daph (when they weren’t doing something that required them to be naked, of course), but figured it was good practice for when Hazel finally came. They couldn’t exactly walk around the house in nothing but fur with a toddler running around (though she wouldn’t put it past Daph to make some close-calls).
Once dressed, Holly padded into the kitchen in bare paws, her tail gripped in her fist as she shook it dry in the air. She turned at the corner and made a straight-line for the coffee maker, took her time getting a fresh pot started, and didn’t notice Daph sitting on the other end of the living room until she turned to get milk from the refrigerator.

“Oh! There you are,” she said, blinking for a moment before realizing she didn’t have her glasses on. Only when she retrieved them from the bedroom and put them on could she clearly see the look of abject misery on the squirrel’s face. She sat on a raised portion of the wall that served as a makeshift bench in front of the window, her huge tail blocking out most of the light. She was still in her pajamas, the baggy shirt no longer covering her pregnant belly, and clutched a steaming mug in both hands. Daph stared into space for a few minutes before slowly turning to meet eyes with Holly. It looked like she was ready to fall asleep every time she blinked.

“You okay?” Holly asked, though the answer was obvious. “…How’d you sleep?”
“Like shit,” Daph said, her voice rough and coming from the back of her throat. She paused to take a sip of her mug and smacked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “If I even did thleep.”

“Sorry,” Holly sighed, smiling apologetically at her pregnant wife. Ever since she’d hit the third trimester, she seemed to have at least one sleepless night week, and the cause was usually different every time. Most days, Daph was a bundle of energy from the moment the sun rose, but after nights like these, she was usually out of commission for the whole day. What pained Holly the most was how little she could do to help.
“Can I sit down?” she asked. Daph passed the mug into one hand and set it down on the bench before shifting her heavy body aside to make room, at feat that was probably much harder than it looked. Holly took the spot to Daph’s right, folding her hands in her lap and waiting to judge just how much space the squirrel wanted that morning. Daph took another sip from her mug, groaned, then sighed and leaned against Holly’s shoulder.
“What did it this time?” Holly asked while stroking a finger behind Daph’s ear.

“Just…all kindth of shit,” Daph sighed as she put her hands to her belly. “Hazel wouldn’t calm the fuck down and go to thleep, kept throwin’ herself around for like three hourth. Got heartburn real bad and thought I wath gonna puke but just had to burp. Then just…” She trailed off and sighed again. “I dunno. Couldn’t thleep.”

Holly didn’t answer, but wrapped her arm around Daph’s shoulder and squeezed. The squirrel sighed deeply through her nose and closed her eyes. She seemed almost ready to fall asleep again before the coffee maker across the room started beeping, snapping them both out of the moment of calm.
“Be right back,” Holly said, reaching down to stroke a hand across Daph’s belly before standing up. Holly liked her coffee doctored with milk, sugar, and flavoring, but after so many, she’d broken it down to a science and could make herself a perfect cup in hardly any time at all. After taking a few sips from the too-full mug to reduce risk of spilling, she turned and carried it back to the windowsill, holding it in both hands while trailing her tail across the ground to keep her balance steady.

Daph held her own cup in her right hand, her left braced against the bench to keep herself upright. Grumbling, she sniffed and stared off into the corner of the room with a scowl on her face. As Holly approached, she winced just as the perfect, furry sphere of her belly warped into a lopsided oval for just a moment, a shape pushing out from inside her, before settling back to normal.
“There she goeth again…” Daph sighed, rubbing the sore spot on her stomach as Holly sat cross-legged on the floor below her. Her wife’s belly took up much of her vision and seemed to radiate heat from a few inches away. Holly had to crane her neck and lean back to look Daph in the eye.

“You said it didn’t hurt before,” Holly said, moving her coffee to her other hand to gently Daph’s taut middle.
“Not ‘til now,” Daph sighed, shifting in her seat and wincing. “Now, Hazel’th so goddamn big I feel everything she doeth.”
“So now all those little kicks are big kicks,” Holly nodded, looking up at Daph as she petted the spot just below her bellybutton.
“And when she wants to flip over, it’th like…” Daph sighed and sipped from her mug. “Well, you thaw that.”
“I’m sorry,” Holly said, unsure of what else she could do. As much as she hated it, this was something Daph would have to suffer alone. “At least it means she’s almost ready to come out, right? Not much longer.”
“Yeah, but thith last stretch fucking thucks.” Daph put her mug on the bench beside her and leaned back, grunting as she spread her legs apart slightly to give her belly more room in her lap. Holly took a sip of coffee, found it still too hot, and set it back down again before shuffling across the floor to lean her head against Daph’s tummy.

“Hey,” Holly said as she reached up to take Daph’s hand, “you’re fucking awesome.”
“Duh,” Daph sniffed, but Holly caught the hint of a smirk.
“Okay, I’ll narrow it down.” Holly patted her wife’s pregnant belly. “You’re fucking awesome because you went through nine shitty months of pregnancy and this is maybe the third time I’ve heard you complain about it. There is no way I could do this.”
“Nah, it’th not all that bad,” Daph shrugged. “It just really thucks every once in a while. You gotta get used to feelin’ like shit for a little while.”
“Well, you’re a trooper either way.”

“Not like I can do anything but deal with it, y’know?” Daph picked up her mug to drink, but winced before it touched her lips. The soft belly under Holly’s ear wobbled as their baby underneath shifted, pushing both her legs straight up toward Daph’s ribs. The squirrel gritted her teeth and leaned back on her hands, her breathing shallow until Hazel finally stopped struggling in the cramped space of her mother’s womb.
“You okay?” Holly asked, sitting up on her knees.
“Yeah…yeah…Jutht…” Daph traced an oval over her belly with a finger. “She’th head-down now, so when she stretches her legth, out they alwayth go right the fuck up into my lungs.” She illustrated by jabbing two fingers straight up. “Damn, why is my baby the one that kicks my ass the most? Georgia’s kidth were cake.”

“Nothing worth having is easy,” Holly said, putting her hand back on Daph’s belly. “That’s what they say, at least.”
“Well fuck them,” Daph huffed. “…They’re right, but fuck ‘em.”
“I’ll pass that along for you,” Holly giggled. She sank back down to her knees and rubbed Daph’s knee. “Is there anything I can do? Can I help?”
“Nothing. There’th nothing you can do. Absolutely nothing at all.”
“Alright, alright, alright,” Holly sighed as she stretched her fingers. “Which one? Back, Belly, or Paws?”

“Belly,” Daph grunted as she sat back and spread her legs apart slightly, pushing her middle forward. “Feelth like I ate a jackhammer while it was thtill running.”
Holly retrieved a pillow from a nearby chair and sat on it, bringing her eye-level to Daph’s bellybutton. She turned and cupped one of her ears to her wife’s belly and gently rapped on it with the back of her knuckles.
“Hellooooo?”
“Oh God, not you, too,” Daph grumbled from somewhere above. “Don’t beat me up from the outthide, too.”

“I’m not, I’m not.” Holly sat back on the cushion and touched her fingertips to the squirrel’s belly, noting how firm it had gotten in the past month. She spread her hands wide apart, bent her fingers into claws, then began vigorously scratching Daph’s bump with her nails.
“Ooohhhhh ffuuuuuhhhhck,” Daph sighed, tilting her head back and whipping her tail behind her like a fluffy metronome. “Mmmmff…That feelth really good…” She stopped talking entirely after that, the only sound in the room coming from the rhythmic scritch scritch scritch from the lemur’s nails.

Holly bit her tongue in concentration as she scratched underneath Daph’s white belly fur, relieving her of the near-constant itch she complained about after reaching the final month of pregnancy. Daph wiggled her paws in the air and breathed a long sigh as Holly worked, paying special attention to the curve beneath the squirrel’s navel. The attention seemed to have riled up the baby, making her bounce and squirm underneath Holly’s hands. The lemur smiled, imagining herself playing some kind of patty-cake game with her daughter from either side of Daph’s womb.
“Whoa,” Holly gasped as Hazel made a sudden jump, making Daph’s belly wobble and nearly warp into an oval shape. “That was like a jumping jack.”
“Felt like one,” Daph said through gritted teeth. “I’m done with the thcratches, just thee if you can calm her down.”

Relaxing her fingers, Holly instead rubbed her palms across her wife’s round belly, at times feeling like she were holding onto a furry exercise ball. Daph’s skin was taut and firm beneath her soft fur, but Holly could feel it soften a little while massaging her fingers into it. Whenever Hazel kicked again, Holly moved a hand to the spot and pushed back, feeling the little paw pulled back in response. She had no idea if this actually worked or not, but Hazel seemed to be moving around a little less. Daph sighed again, but with a satisfied groan in the back of her throat. After picking up her mug of tea and taking another sip, she let out another irritable grumble.

“Now I gotta pee again,” Daph growled. “This suckth.”
“Let me move first,” Holly protested.
“What do- I’m not gonna pee on you.” Daph huffed and leaned back against the wall. “Fuck it, I’ll hold it. I don’t wanna get up.”
“Good, I’m not done.” Holly touched the tip of her nose to Daph’s belly, smelling the scent of their clean sheets and the soft and dusty smell of her fur, feeling the warmth radiating out from her middle, less of an oven and more of a furnace. She could feel the squirrel’s heartbeat thumping through her belly and wondered if she could feel Hazel’s, too, if she concentrated.
“Hey,” Daph said gently.
“Yeah?” Holly asked, glancing up at her.

For an answer, Daph took a deep breath, sucked in her belly a few inches, then rocked forward and bumped the side of Holly’s face with her stomach.
“Pffth!” Holly nearly fell off the cushion, but caught herself with an outstretched arm while Daph cackled devilishly and kicked her legs. “Hey! I was having a moment!”

“Feel my pain,” Daph said, shifting in place again. “Ugh. Butt’th asleep again.”
“Well, I don’t feel bad for you anymore,” Holly huffed, but she still returned to the cushion and continued massaging her wife’s stomach. Only a moment after she put her fingers on it, Daph’s entire belly twitched, making Holly jump. “Was that Hazel?”
“No…ngh…jutht a cramp,” Daph said, wincing slightly. “It happenth, don’t worry about it.”
Holly watched Daph breathe through the pain with her eyes closed, the hand still on her belly feeling the muscles tighten beneath it. When they relaxed, Daph’s grimace did as well. She opened her eyes a moment later.

“I’m not really helping much, am I?” Holly sighed.
“A little bit,” Daph said, touching her bump. “Hazel’th not moving around so much anymore.”
“I wish I could do more, though. It’s hard not being able to help you through something you hate so much.”

Daph cocked her head to the side.
“I don’t hate it,” she said. “I love it.”
It was Holly’s turn to frown, adding a raised eyebrow.
“Are you being sarcastic? I can’t tell.”
“No, I love thith,” Daph said, rubbing her hands across her full belly. “I mean it.”
“You just said that it sucked.”
“Well yeah, it doeth suck, but I love it.”
“I’m confused,” Holly said, tilting her head almost ninety degrees to the side.

“Well,” Daph scratched her head as she leaned back against the wall, “because it’th all for her, y’know?” She patted her belly, which shifted in response as Hazel turned over again. “I want her to do whatever she wants to do. If Hazel wantth to do fuckin’ backflipth and keep me up all night, I want her to do it. Cause…she’th mine.” She clicked her tongue against her teeth and shrugged. “Like I thaid. It sucks, but I love it.”
Holly glanced aside, her tail swishing on the floor behind her. She put a hand on her wife’s nearly ripe middle, resting it there for a moment, before looking her in the eye.
“You’re going to be a good mom,” Holly told her, smiling gently while stroking Daph’s stomach.

“Obviously,” the squirrel sniffed, but her tail swished excitedly and Holly still saw her blush as she picked up her mug of tea for an excuse to break eye contact. She sipped it, then made a grimace and stuck out her tongue. “What I do hate is thith shitty-ass tea.”
Taking the cup from Daph’s hand, Holly moved to drink some herself, but glanced down into it first. She paused, then bit her tongue to stifle a fit of laughter. Holly stood and sat on the bench next to Daph and gave her a peck on the cheek.
“You forgot to but the bag in,” she said. “This is just hot water.”

Daph’s mouth parted open slightly as she stared blank-faced at the floor. With a deep groan that started in her chest, the squirrel buried her face in her hands and made a sound like an old door creaking shut.
“I’ll make you a real cup,” Holly said with another kiss before touching her belly. “Be good in there, okay?”
“Let her work the energy out,” Daph said. “Then at least one of us can get some thleep…”

As Holly stood, Daph suddenly grabbed her by the wrist, pulled her down to her level, and kissed her deeply on the mouth, her fingers sliding up the back of her neck and into her hair. Holly was stunned for just a moment, but leaned into the kiss a heartbeat later. When she pulled away to take a breath, Daph guided Holly’s free hand across her pregnant stomach.

“She’s ours,” Daph said quietly, “but you’re mine.”

Holly sighed and touched her nose to Daph’s, her green eyes taking up the entire scope of her vision. With a parting kiss, she stood and left Daph sitting on the bench by the window.

Hazel was finally calm, but now her heart was the one left racing.