“I swear, you add a minute to your shower for every day that you’re pregnant,” I told Kaley teasingly through the shower door.

“I kind of am,” she replied, her voice echoing in our cavernous bathroom. “This kid gets a little heavier every day. My back is killing me.”

She turned off the shower, then, and whipped a towel off of the door. A few minutes later, she stepped out, as pregnant as she was naked, with her hair twisted up in the towel. My heart melted at the sight of her, and I sidled over to her to drop kisses along her collar bone.

“Sounds like it’s time for maternity leave to start,” I murmured against her skin.

“No,” she said firmly. “If I leave now, Chase is going to put Annabelle on the Kick Crawler project, and she’s going to ruin it.”

I pulled back and gave her a mock-irritated look. “Annabelle is pretty good, you know. Don’t get me wrong, she’s no Kaley Marshall, but…”

“Exactly,” Kaley said smugly as she dropped a quick kiss on my lips. “And AllGood deserves nothing but the best.”

I sighed in acquiescence as she flashed her impish grin and turned away to brush her teeth. I brushed my own as I watched her, simply enjoying the view. Even after living together for nearly four months, I enjoyed watching her perform even the most mundane of activities.

“You’re so damn pretty,” I sighed at her.

She raised a brow at me and broke into her musical laughter. “Pretty round, pretty large, or pretty obnoxious?” she asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Just plain pretty,” I insisted, wrapping my arms around her girth and dropping kisses down her neck. “You’re a magnificent tribute to the super-human woman power of human gene splicing.”

“Well, when you put it like that, I guess I am pretty magical,” she said cockily, wriggling her shoulders against my bare chest.

I kissed the top of her head and spent a long moment just gazing at her in the mirror.

“We’re going to be late,” she told me quietly.

“You should stay home, anyway; you’re a whale,” I said, rubbing her belly with both hands.

“Hey!” She slapped me playfully. “You said I was pretty!”

“You are pretty! Whales are pretty!” I laughed, dodging her painless blows.

“Boy, you’re lucky I can’t run,” she said, her eyes glittering in amusement. “You don’t even want to know what I’d do to you if I caught you.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea,” I said suggestively, letting my eyes roam over her body in a slow, obvious trail.

She chuckled low in her throat and kissed me in the most terribly distracting way. I had just reached the threshold of pleasure where I had no more cares left in the world, when she pulled away sharply.

“We’re late,” she repeated firmly.

“I’m the CEO; I can’t be late,” I argued.

“Don’t you have an executive meeting this morning?” she asked innocently.

“No, I…oh, wait. It’s Thursday, isn’t it?”

“Yes, my dear, it is, and you know how cranky those people get when they have to sit around and do nothing in the conference room.”

“As opposed to sitting around doing nothing in their offices?” I asked wryly.

“Hey, you said it, not me,” she laughed. “But I was kind of thinking that, yeah.”

I shrugged. “Fair assessment.”

I helped her get dressed, then dressed myself. It took twice as long as it needed to; for some reason, I was more drawn to her mouth this morning than any other morning I could remember. There was a heightened glow to her, a sort of magnetic draw which softened and emboldened me all at once.

Even her eyes were glowing, and her natural scent was stronger and sweeter than the flowery soap scent which clung to her soft skin. I kissed her once more before we left the bedroom, allowing myself to get lost in her ocean eyes.

“You really are beautiful,” I told her.

“Thank you,” she said, her cheeks flushing red. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Cory began calling my phone, then, and we hurried out.

“Let’s take that one,” Kaley said, pointing at the low, sleek little sports car that we had used on our first date.

“Not in a million years,” I said, glancing pointedly from her belly to the small car. “I’d have to pry you out; then, we would really be late.”

Kaley pouted, but didn’t argue as she followed me to the more sensible (but still mighty powerful, and more than a little sexy) sedan. She slid in with a happy sigh as the extra fluffy car seat embraced her.

“See, even you like this car,” I teased as I started it.

“I like the seats,” she corrected. “We should put one of these seats into one of those cars.”

“Lumbar support and a roll cage. Sounds like the midlife crisis special down at the used car lot.”

Kaley broke into laughter, making me grin. I had never kicked off so many good days in a row as I had since she moved in, and I thanked my lucky stars that we hadn’t called it off. The morning drive was almost pleasant now; though the traffic was still ridiculous, the company had vastly improved.

We walked into the building arm-in-arm and kissed goodbye for now, confirming our lunch date for later. Our morning routine had become commonplace in recent weeks, and my employees didn’t even seem to notice anymore.

Lighthearted and satisfied to the depths of my soul, I hurried off to the 30^th floor.