Aletheia walked through the doors in next to nothing. A hand cupping her oversized and stretched stomach. The look of it hurt but the warmth was a killer. Jaren was in all available layers and yet Aletheia still had a sweat on.

"You look really pregnant. Like, I know you are due any day but you look ready to go." Little did Jaren know that the supposed and intended compliment hadn't been taken to mean that.

"All right. I know I am fat. I have marks in all sorts of places and this morning when I had to pick something up I swore I tore some type of muscle. Not just that but even my big and oversized maternity clothes are far too small. I know I am hideous but you don't have to tell me." Jaren stood up with both of his eyebrows brought together.

"No. You look beautiful and when we are a happy family, I say that because the baby is going to add to it, I will love you just as I did when I kissed you for the first time." Jaren had saved it somewhat but still, she felt like a walking ball.

"Jaren. You know how you love me and I am carrying your baby?" She didn't even get all the words out when he interrupted her in the middle of her sentence.

"I will get you some dried mango and pick you up a smoothy." Jaren picked up his black wallet and Aletheia mouthed how much she loved him. His lips met her lips and then his met her forehead.

We need you in. I know it is Saturday but you don't finish technically until Monday. It is a short one but Mark is off with pneumonia and you are the next best. If you weren't pregnant, you would be first.

I'll be half an hour. No high expectations.

You are a star. My wife will love you for not making me stand in and you have saved me from her bitching about it for a week.

Aletheia changed and called Jaren up. As he asked what was up, he then heard her answer and he seemed to be worried but also supportive of her choice of working. She wasn't due for three weeks and felt fine. No twinges.

Aletheia chucked on the only pair of smart but not smart trousers and a top that could just cover her up. She shrugged and felt the heat get to her. The shoes were slipped on and off she went. Driving to the courtroom with the case being read to her by Mark. He had a few spare minutes to remind her of what was happening.

When the room was entered Aletheia heard a barrage of comments being made loudly by Will, he has only just discovered that she was pregnant. As soon as he saw her, he had hesitated for a moment until he then began to rant about her improper outfit and how she barely looked ready to work.

"I am sorry your honour. I am due to give birth to my first child in three weeks. I am late because I was supposed to be on dedicated maternity leave but my colleague has been told he has pneumonia and I am the next best thing. I may not look as well dressed and professional as Mr Greene but I am sweating like a whore in church and unless I am mistaken, my current outfit looks the same as most female lawyers. It just so happens that I don't usually wear clothing of this style." The judge had to keep a laugh back as she spoke but he could also sympathise with her. His wife had two kids and he knew how bad she was at the end. Never mind with the first child.

Aletheia sat and felt a few twinges but they slipped from her mind as the case started and Will tried to put her off. Nothing he was doing worked though and he ended up giving his own side a disadvantage as the judge and jury grew tired of his antics. That was twice as bad for the closing statements but Will didn't seem to know that.

"Hello, Mr Street. Can you tell me how well you know the victim?" Will objected but it was overruled. It was obvious to anyone around that she had a point and every individual knew that in the large courtroom.

"I grew up with her. She was kind and all I cared about." Aletheia smiled and Will had grown nervous when she smiled like that. In an instant, the nerves shocked him as she had brought a piece of evidence Will had been using into question.

'Mr Street was always talking to Mrs Street. She was quiet and timid.' Only Will had then stopped there. Aletheia carried it on.

"It says that she had bruises regularly. The type consistent with falling down the steps. Do you know what the floating or false ribs are? No? Well, I will tell you. The floating ribs, also known as false ribs are the ribs at the bottom. The ribs she broke. Often the true ribs also had to be mended and yet she never could quite explain it to anyone. Do you know where the Ulna is? No? Well, it is the smaller or the thinner bone on the forearm. The base of it had been broken multiple times and the big bruises on her skin were consistent with her being manhandled. Can you explain that?" The man mumbled and spluttered out all of the preplanned answers and yet they had seemed so faked and with that, the jury was all sat and shaking their heads. "Your wife died after falling down the steps and you want us to believe that you, a man who was witnessed, evidence J6, hurting the woman. Yet she stayed quiet. Not a soul had been told. Then she died." When she said this her stomach cramped but it was easily forgotten. It wasn't until after that that she found out that it was labour. Jaren didn't keep his disapproval for working through the pains to himself.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The door slammed to the office and Jaren found himself jumping about a mile high. A game was visible on the screen. He was spectating so he could stop for a while.

"Jaren Daniel Smith. Why are there 268 open and ripped apart tampons littering my living room floor?" He stayed quiet and then a laugh could be heard. John began to shout about something. He was finding joy in the situation. "Our baby's bedtime was four and a half long hours ago and yet he is sat in your arms with a dummy hanging out. What the fuck Jaren?" As she said this Jaren turned and handed her the baby.

"I thought we weren't allowed to swear in front of him." Jaren tried to quip and the far off voices were heard telling him how badly he had fucked up.

"And I thought we were raising him. Here we are, both of us have broken our rules." Aletheia walked out and placed the small bean into bed. Jaren walked in and let his arms wrap around her waist from behind. Her head fell onto his shoulder and then she sighed.

The pair cleaned up the tampons and then they walked into the study. Aletheia sat on his lap as they played the game for a short while longer. The laughs and jokes made it all okay for Aletheia as she saw how happy he was.

"My initials are literally 'ASS' Lilly text me and I told her, years ago, that I could never marry a man with the last name begging with 'S' because of my initials. Not just that but so are our son's. Perhaps we shouldn't have used my dad's name as his middle name. Poor Apollo Simon Smith." Aletheia had the epitome in bed at almost midnight. Jaren just held her close and kissed the top of her head. They loved each other.

The end.