Out of all the months of her pregnancy, the last was the worst. The closer she got to the nine-month mark, the more emotional she got. Too many times I found myself getting called by Chu Hua to come pick Dee up because she was too upset to drive home. Two weeks before her due date was the last time I picked her up. She had taken herself in her car, a vintage 1938 black Mariah panel van we had customized for her years ago, and once more had become upset.

"Why did you bring them?" I asked as I half carried her out to my car, the three tigers strung out behind us.

"You told me not to drive alone!" she sobbed into my jacket. "No! We have to take my car! They won't fit in there!"

I frowned as she tugged at my lapels, trying to get me to take her over to her car. "Dee, I'll come back for them, ok? And when I said not to drive alone, I did not mean to drive with a bunch of felines. I meant to drive with a human who could take you to the hospital if you needed it. What are they going to do if you go into labor?"

"Keep me company?" she asked hesitantly, plucking at my tie.

"No more, Dee. That's the last time you drive yourself anywhere. Either they pick you up, or you come to me for a ride, understand?" I said sternly, shaking a finger at her.

"Yes, Eddie," she sighed, sitting back in the seat as I buckled her in.

Waving the cats back into the courtyard, I apologized to Manchu and Chu Hua asking if it would be all right if I came back for them in an hour. Manchu graciously offered to follow me back with Dee's car so she could have her pets with her. Thanking him, I passed the keys over.

"So what was it this time that set her off?" I asked as we loaded the tigers.

"First it was her tea, followed by her dropping some steamed buns she was making. In the end she just waddled up to her room and curled into a ball on her bed. Chu said she's worried she isn't going to be a good mother."

"What's your opinion on that?" I secured the doors and leaned against them. Waddled? Dee didn't waddle, even if she did looked like she had swallowed a basketball! She still had that combination of deadly martial artist/playful feline sway in her hips.

"I think she's going to be fine. She knows how to take care of people very well. Our kids love her. And despite her spiky exterior, she's got a good and gentle heart. You really should talk to her about this. I don't think it's the first time she's broken down over it. Just the first time she's done so around others," he said.

I nodded.

"You'd best get back to her before she decides that you hate her. They do that if you leave them alone for too long at this stage." He grinned and patted my shoulder. "But she most likely has a good reason to."

"Ha ha. We still on for next week?" I asked. Chu was planning a surprise baby shower for Dee and I was going to be spending the time with Manchu and some other Triad members. This time I was going to be certain not to join them in too many toasts should they bring those damn stoneware bottles out.

"Yes." He gave me a mischievous grin, as he added, "We've had the erguotou ready to go for a week now. A very fine batch, if I do say so myself."

"Great. I'll see you at the warehouse," I said, opening my door. "Did you want anything before we head back?"

She shook her head and nuzzled against my shoulder. "I just want to sleep," she said.

While Manchu let the tigers out of the van, I took Dee and put her to bed. She begged me to nap with her, starting to cry when I told her I needed to finish something first.

"Alright, alright. Just give me a few minutes to thank Manchu for bringing your car and your tigers back, and see if he needs a ride home, ok?"

Her silent sulking was all the answer I got as I backed out of the room. I offered Manchu a ride back, but he said he would take the subway. Thanking him once more, I called down the hall to Dee to see if she wanted me to bring her some juice or water. There was no answer. Wondering if she had fallen asleep in the time it had taken me to say goodbye to Manchu, I quietly went back down the hall. She was wrapped around her body pillow, face red from crying. Grabbing the tissues off the nightstand, I sat her up and wiped her nose.

"What's the matter, Kitten? Dee? C'mon and talk to me," I said when she refused to look at me. Tipping her chin up, I dabbed the tears off her cheeks. "What's going through your mind, doll?"

"You hate me."

Manchu was right. Ah, the roller coaster of emotion that was my expectant girlfriend! "Why do I hate you?"

"Because!" she sobbed, bursting into fresh tears. "I'm fat, I'm ugly, I'm all gross, and I'm swollen! I disgust you! You don't love me anymore."

I sighed and pulled her into my arms. "On the contrary, Q-doll, I find you even more beautiful than before. And I love you even more than before, if that's possible. Why do you think that I don't?" I asked her, stroking her cheeks with my thumbs.

"You never want to touch me or make love to me anymore," she sniffed.

"Again, not true. I do, but I'm afraid of how you'll react when I do anything. The few times I tried to start anything, you got mad at me. You're still as attractive to me as the first day I saw you," I said, nuzzling her ear.

"Really?" she asked pushing back. She held on to my arms as I looked into her puffy eyes. "You still want me?"

"Really." I kissed her softly on the eyes. The tang of her salty tears spread across my tongue as I licked my lips. "Do me a favor, ok? Get some sleep right now. I'll order something for dinner and we'll make it a special night tonight. Does that sound good to you?"

Hugging me tightly, she nodded against my chest. "May I have a cookie, please?"

I chuckled. "Yes. But you have to promise to nap after you finish it," I said.

"Promise," she said, raising herself enough to kiss me.

As we kissed, I could feel her need expressed in the way her tongue lightly stroked mine. She clung to me as we parted, the look on her face obviously wanting more right now. While I was more than willing to give her what she wanted at the moment, I knew she was tired and would enjoy things more after a nap. Lowering her to bed, I ran my hand over her belly before I went to get her snack. She smiled and nestled down in the blankets, watching as I left the room.

Things were awkward later that night to say the least. Dee's belly was quite the obstacle to overcome, having become larger since the last time we had made love. I had to reassure her over and over that I thought her body looked beautiful to me. It was no lie and if my attentions that night didn't prove it to her, nothing would. Something about her being pregnant and having that round belly made me feel even more aroused. After some hit and miss, we finally found a position that was not only comfortable for both of us, but gave us both pleasure. She was vocal in what touches were and were not pleasant to her and I complied. It was soon evident that though she was far along in the third trimester, her appetite for sexual pleasure had not died.

"Thank you, Tiger," she said once she had been sated. "I've been wanting that for so long now."

"So have I. I just worried you didn't want me anymore," I murmured, kissing her sweaty neck as we cuddled together. "And I was worried that if I pushed to do this, I might hurt you."

"I'll always want you, Edward."

Kissing and nuzzling my hand, she purred happily. She had giggled contentedly as we made love. Only now I realized that I hadn't heard either of these wonderful sounds from her for over a month. Her purring cut off suddenly and she struggled to sit up.

"Help me up! I have to get to the bathroom!" she cried.

Getting her up, I watched in amusement as she hurried to relieve herself. When she came back, I laughed outright at the sight of her cloaked in question marked leopard fur, tail swishing behind her as she shook her finger at her belly.

"Your father and I were enjoying ourselves and you had to go sit on my bladder! You naughty little thing!" As quickly as she could, she got back under the covers. "It's freezing out there too!" she said, teeth chattering as she pulled my arms back around herself. Wiggling down into the curve of my body, she made herself snug. Soon enough, she had fallen asleep.

~ ~ ~

The next week I drove Dee to see Chu Hua on the premise that Chu was taking Dee out for a special day. Chu had told Dee to wear a dress because she was taking her to a nice restaurant for lunch. How true that was, I had no idea. All I knew was that the empire waist dress Dee displayed for me had me kissing her eagerly and damning the fact that I had promised to have her over by eleven in the morning. She would have killed me if I had wrinkled her dress anyway. I was very glad when she covered herself with her long wool overcoat and told me to hurry so she wouldn't be late.

Dee started crying when Chu led her into the main hall, where she saw many of her female friends waiting for her with gifts and a banner wishing her well. I watched from the doorway, knowing she was in good hands, nevertheless wanting to stay with her. Manchu tugged my sleeve and took me off to another room where there was a gathering of men. I had barely set foot in the room when a cup of erguotou was shoved in my hand and I found myself drinking toasts with the fiery liquid.

At some point they took me down the street to a bar and gave me more liquor. I pushed off what I could, doing my best to watch what I drank. Once they had decided I had enough to drink there, they shuffled me off to a restaurant for food. Let me tell you that being a tall white man in a crowd of shorter Chinese men is unnerving. Especially when all the men are trained fighters and assassins for the Jade Tiger Triad. The looks I got from the wait staff as I drunkenly fumbled with my chopsticks, ranged from amused to curious.

"He's going to be the daddy of my sister's child," Manchu explained proudly, thumping me on the back. He beamed at the waiter who chortled at whatever Manchu added in Chinese. I wondered if they knew that Manchu's "sister" was white just like me.

"You guys are all trying to get me killed, I just know it," I mumbled, shoveling rice into my mouth. The food was helping and I ate as much as I could, hoping to dull the effects of the moonshine, scotch, bourbon, and vodka. Just the thought of all I had to drink was making me sick.

"She has you henpecked," said Chun, one of Dee's old classmates. "You should stand up and tell her that you'll get drunk whenever you please!"

Knowing what I did about Chun, I scoffed at his suggestion. Both Dee and Manchu had told me stories about him and his thoughts on how to treat a woman. The fact that he used to spy on Dee when she was bathing made me dislike him before I'd even met him. Admittedly, there had been a few times before we had become lovers that I had tried to catch a glimpse of her getting in or out of the bath. The difference was that I was her boyfriend and Chun was just a horny boy.

"I'll do that, Chun. When she kicks me out onto the couch, I'll tell her that I took the advice from you. She'll personally come to thank you for giving it to me," I said, letting him subtly know that I knew about all the times she had beaten him up for grabbing or spying on her.

The other men at the table laughed at this. Apparently Chun getting his ass repeatedly kicked by Dee was common knowledge. Chun grumbled and turned his attention back to his food. By the time they decided to go back to Manchu's house, it was almost five. I was worried about Dee and how she was doing. She tired out so quickly now that I was anxious to make certain she was ok. My concern only increased when we were told that the women hadn't come back yet.

"Cheer up, Eddie. You're going to be a father," Manchu said, patting me on the back. It was now just the two of us in his study.

"I'm just worried about Dee, that's all. Any idea where they went?" On wobbly legs I paced the room, glancing back and forth at my watch.

He tapped my breast pocket, reminding me of my comm-unit. "You can always check up on her. But why don't you stop worrying for one day? Chu would call immediately if anything was wrong. You'll have plenty to worry about in a couple of weeks," he said, pressing a glass into my hand. "Like the fact that you haven't even decided on a name for the child."

I gulped. "Thanks. That didn't help at all." Without looking, I drank the contents of the glass. It was more erguotou. Grimacing, I gave him the cup back. "Stop with the alcohol! I'm already too drunk to drive!" I snarled swaying slightly.

"Easy. I'm just trying to give you one final day of irresponsibility before you have to buckle down. You'll thank me for it later."

"No, I won't. You know how she feels about being drunk? It's worse now." Scrubbing my hands through my hair and over my face, I stopped dead in the middle of the room. "I'm going to go lay down for a while. Maybe see if I can get a hold of Dee."

Manchu only nodded and let me leave the room. I made my way up to Dee's room and sprawled out on her bed. The painted ceiling spun and dipped slowly above me, clockwise, as the bed spun counterclockwise. I felt like I was on NASA's gyro ride. This was not a good sign. Loosening my collar, I closed my eyes and swallowed slowly. When I opened them next, the room was completely dark and I could hear Dee breathing next to me.

Sitting up, I grabbed a hold of my head as the erguotou headache exploded through it. A piece of paper fluttered off my chest and I groped to find it in the dark. Reaching over, I turned the light on and was surprised to find a tray of cold food there. The paper turned out to be a note from Dee who continued to sleep despite the noise I made.

"Idiot. How many times do I have to tell you not to trust Manchu? You went and trusted a room full of them! You're all idiots! Eat everything on that tray and get your ass back to bed before I wake up and shove those dumplings up your nose for being so stupid!

Love you."

"Right," I grumbled softly dropping the note onto the tray. She certainly knew what I hated most and knew when to use it. Struggling to my feet, I tried my best to leave the room quietly. After relieving myself and washing the sour taste out of my mouth, I returned to find the note on my pillow. I cringed, expecting her to turn over and make good on that threat. Instead, she had written something else.

"Sorry for calling you an idiot. But you knew about the erguotou this time and you still got yourself drunk. Just eat and go back to sleep, Tiger. ...And give me a kiss."

"What if I don't want to?" I asked.

"You'll find those dumplings up your nose," she said.

Straddling my arms across her, I looked down at her smirking face. "I suppose it would be in my best interest to kiss you then."

"It'd be in your bestest interest if you did more," Dee hinted with a twinkle in her eye.

"So should I kiss you, eat, or do the 'more' first?" I laughed quietly.

"Start with the kiss and the more. You can eat once I've had my fill," she whispered lustily, grabbing a fistful of my shirt and dragging me down.
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