The Secret My Girlfriend Discovered in Maternity

Mariana and Bruno were a couple like any other, two ordinary people who had gone to ordinary schools and led ordinary lives. Bruno was twenty-three and was one course away from finishing his business administration degree. Mariana, at twenty-one, was halfway through hers. They had known each other since their teens and had been together for nearly five years.

Over time, together they had discovered almost everything a young couple discovers in private. First with shyness, with that awkwardness of the first times, and later with a hunger that was never satisfied. The chemistry between them was obvious. Their bodies understood one another without words, read each other in the dark, and that gave them an advantage few couples had.

Mariana had always been the curious one of the two. She liked to explore, to try things, to push the limits a little more each time. Bruno was different: more reserved, more protective of his privacy, one of those who prefer the usual. But he never refused his girlfriend a fantasy. He knew that as long as she was happy, he was the luckiest man in the world.

One night, during a dinner at Bruno’s parents’ house, his older sister announced that she was pregnant. After the hugs, the congratulations, and the wine that was poured a little too freely, Bruno noticed that Mariana had fallen silent, her gaze lost somewhere in the tablecloth.

—What’s wrong? Are you okay? —he whispered in her ear.

—Yes, love —she replied slowly—. It’s just that the news made me think about some things.

She looked at him with a smile he knew all too well and dragged him back to the table, where the others were still toasting. Bruno never relaxed again for the rest of dinner. That smile meant Mariana had thought of something, and it was rarely anything innocent.

***

On the way home, with the avenue lights flashing across the windshield, Bruno couldn’t hold it in any longer.

—What’s gotten into your head, you wicked girl? —he asked without taking his eyes off the road.

—Why do you assume it’s something wicked? —she replied, amused.

—Because I know you. You only make that face when you’re plotting one of your crazinesses.

—Maybe you know me too well. —She let out a low, almost guilty laugh.

—Come on, tell me already.

Mariana turned in her seat, drawing one leg up beneath the other.

—Do you remember that last month we started the gynecology module? That month was all theory. Last week we began the practicals. I have to complete fifty hours in the ward: checkups, samples, whatever’s needed.

—Mm-hm. And what does that have to do with your little devil face?

—Promise you won’t laugh. I think I’ve never had anything so strange cross my mind before.

—Sometimes you scare me a little, Mariana. But I love you, and I’d never judge you. Besides, your craziness is usually pretty entertaining.

She took a deep breath, like someone about to confess a secret that weighed on them.

—The first woman I had to attend was eight months pregnant. She’d come in for a breast exam and needed a culture. I asked her to undress, gave her a gown, and when I started the exam, I barely brushed her with one finger and her whole skin went goosebumpy. Her breasts were swollen, heavy, and as soon as I touched her she shivered in a way I wasn’t expecting.

Bruno listened in silence, still not understanding where this was going.

—When I helped her lie back for the culture —she continued—, her belly was enormous. There was a moment when I couldn’t look away. And when she made the effort to lie down, her belly went hard, taut. I… I don’t know how to explain it, but something inside me reacted. I got uncomfortable, tried to ignore it, and kept going. When I told her I was going to continue with the procedure, she apologized. She told me to forgive how sensitive she was, that she’d been like that for months because of the hormones, that any little touch turned her on. I calmed her down and finished. But since that day I haven’t been able to get it out of my head.

—That’s normal, isn’t it? —Bruno said, trying to downplay it—. Hormones are running wild.

—Yeah, but I’d never experienced it so close before. I’d never stopped to think about what a pregnant woman’s desire is like. Imagine feeling everything more intensely, every caress multiplied. —She paused—. And there’s something about that body, that shape… I find it incredibly attractive.

—Are you going to tell me you’re turning lesbian on me now? —he joked, though his voice trembled a little.

—No, dummy. —She squeezed his thigh over his trousers—. What if you got me pregnant?

Bruno braked harder than he should have at the traffic light.

—What? Now you’ve gone too far. How am I supposed to get you pregnant? You’re halfway through your degree, I haven’t finished mine yet. Work is going well for me, but it’s not the right time, and definitely not just out of curiosity.

—I know, I know. —She laughed, resting her forehead on his shoulder—. But now that your sister is going to be pregnant, I’m insanely turned on by the thought of watching her change, getting rounder and rounder. And the idea gets me so hot. I think I’ve just discovered a new fetish.

—Jesus. So now pregnant women turn you on? And my sister too? —He shook his head, but a half-smile betrayed him—. Though knowing that turns you on turns me on, and you know it damn well. So as the pregnancy goes on, we’ll see what happens. Deal?

—Yes, love. Thank you. —She kissed his cheek with a childlike joy that completely disarmed him.

***

The following weeks were a delicious torture. Mariana spent two and a half months in the maternity ward, and by then she came out of every shift burning with need, unable to think of anything else. Bruno picked her up every day after work, and there were few afternoons when they didn’t end up tangled in the back seat or hurrying up the stairs to lock themselves in the bedroom.

He was astonished. He had never seen her like this, so insatiable, so raw from a single thought. One afternoon, after class, he decided they needed to talk about it seriously.

—Mariana, we need to talk. —He stopped her before she could throw herself at him as soon as he closed the bedroom door—. I’ve noticed how worked up you’ve been these past few weeks. You’re going to kill me, seriously.

—Oh, sorry. —She bit her lip, caught between laughter and apology—. I really can’t help it. Seeing them every day leaves me in a state that doesn’t calm down until you get here.

—I know, and I’m not complaining. —He sat on the edge of the bed and held out his hand for her to come closer—. But I’d like to understand it better. What if we look at some things together and you tell me what is it that attracts you so much? Photos, videos, whatever. I don’t have a clue, but I want you to guide me.

—You’d really do that for me?

—Of course I would. If this subject turns you on this much, I want to understand why. Maybe I’ll even end up liking it.

Bruno grabbed the laptop and opened it on his lap, ready to search for some report, some medical explanation that might help him understand. Mariana stopped him with a hand over his and a crooked smile.

—No, love, not there. That might scare you. Better here.

She took the computer from him gently, typed in an address he couldn’t read, and when she looked up at him, she found him bewildered but full of curiosity. She kept searching without losing her smile.

—Does this really exist? —Bruno asked, leaning toward the screen.

—You can’t imagine how much material there is. I was shocked too. Turns out I’m not the only crazy one who gets their pulse racing over this.

They spent the whole afternoon like that, her showing him one thing after another, explaining in detail what attracted her to each image, where her gaze settled, what made her squeeze her thighs. Bruno started out uncomfortable, then intrigued, and in the end as aroused as she was. Something had gotten inside him, an idea that until that afternoon had seemed ridiculous and suddenly didn’t sound so bad.

They couldn’t hold out much longer. By the time the laptop was forgotten at the side of the bed, they had already ripped each other’s clothes off. They did it slowly at first, looking into each other’s eyes, and then with savage urgency, with nothing in between, without their usual precautions. For the first time, the idea of letting it happen didn’t frighten either of them.

Afterward, lying there out of breath, Bruno hugged her from behind and rested his open hand on Mariana’s flat stomach. She covered it with her own and smiled into the dimness, imagining what would come next. And he, who had always preferred the usual, found himself thinking that maybe that craziness wasn’t such a bad idea after all.