Autumn was proving to be a very interesting time in the Kamiya household. Kaoru was close to her due date, with her belly as big as a boulder, and she had gone through several mood changes in her last few months of pregnancy. Two months ago, she was crying because she put her sandals on the wrong feet. One month ago, she was angry at everything and he had to hide from her bokken constantly.

This month, though…

This month had him hiding at the carpenter's shop and Dr. Gensai's office for entirely different reasons. Such reasons led to this very day, where he stood in the office and leaned over the desk the old man was currently sitting at. Megumi was visiting, thinking it wise to be in town when Kaoru was so close to bursting, and she was currently bandaging up the broken arm of a local kendo student.

"Are you sure you do not have something that could help her?" Kenshin pleaded.

"You've got something that could help her," Megumi muttered. She grinned wolfishly when he turned his head slowly and glared at her.

"Kenshin," Dr. Gensai laughed, holding up his hands in surrender. "I have nothing for her. Kaoru is developing without any troubles in her pregnancy. These are perfectly normal things that she's experiencing. The best thing that can be done is simply to yield to them."

"You don't understand." Kenshin leaned forward on the desk, flecks of gold in his eyes. "I have yielded. I have very much yielded. I have yielded so much that there is chafing along the parts that have yielded. I need to not have to yield for a week."

Megumi bit back a grin and stepped on her patient's foot as the man started giggling. One had to admit, the thought of Kaoru the sex predator was a hilarious thought.

"You know, son," Dr. Gensai grinned. "Most men wouldn't consider this to be an issue."

"Most men are not married to my wife, that they are not."

"Then you should like it all the more!" Megumi laughed, tapping the young man in front of her so that he would stand. "It isn't as if she's holding you against your will and demanding something you do not want to give, is it?"

"No!" Kenshin gasped. "It's not that this one is unwilling. It's that…people…need…rest. She should need to rest too, that she should! The baby could come any day now!"

"And that's the whole point!" Megumi straightened, leveling herself taller than him. Sometimes people poked fun at her for being a tall woman, but she always admired it. It gave her that extra help when she needed to make it known she's smarter than others in certain subjects.

"Ken-san, people have documented all over the world that sleeping with a woman around her due date is actually very helpful! It's something that could push her along, really, and at this point I think she needs it. The woman's as big as a house."

"Do not let her hear you say that."

"Of course not, but my point stands. If you're not unwilling, then just…take one for the team."

"The team?" Kenshin raised a brow. "What team exactly are we speaking of?"

"You know," Megumi motioned around the office. "All of us…if she's naked with you, she's not rampaging through the town yelling at Yahiko and crying over baby clothes."

Dr. Gensai was well beyond laughing now, and Kenshin was about to hit the young man with the broken arm simply for still standing there and being thoroughly entertained by their conversation. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Please, just…will you speak with her? Explain that this one is more than willing to help in any way, but rest is needed. I am not a marathon man."

"Don't let Sano ever hear you say that!" Megumi called as he walked out. She glanced at Dr. Gensai, grinning. "Did you hear how many times he switched from 'this one' to 'I'? Poor man must be so tired. I'll go talk to Kaoru this afternoon."

Megumi may have underestimated the situation a bit. When she came to the dojo, it didn't look as if anyone was home. But as she was wandering about, she happened upon Kaoru leaning against a doorframe and looking thoroughly displeased that it wasn't her husband who was home.

"Your breasts are nice, Kaoru, but do cover up." Megumi said flatly.

Kaoru blushed and frowned, straightening her yukata as she motioned for Megumi to sit down at the table.

"So what's up, Megumi? I haven't called telling you that I'm leaking or anything, why are you here?"

The older woman blinked a few times before raising a brow and frowning. "Oh how nice, I stop by to see how a very large friend is doing, and I'm treated with dismay that I am not a red head with his pants dropped."

"What?!"

Kaoru's face was sheet white, her eyes wide as Megumi grinned haughtily. Her explanation of the situation that happened earlier in the day left Kaoru frowning as she leaned her elbow on the table.

"He could have told me all this himself."

Megumi nodded, pushing her long hair away before sighing. "Frankly, I think he's still a bit afraid of crossing you after last month."

"I was rather explosive last month, wasn't I?"

"Explosive is a bit of an understatement, but yes."

They sat in silence a few moments, and she watched as a thousand thoughts passed over Kaoru's eyes. Finally, the familiar firm resolution that was Kamiya Kaoru settled, and she nodded before standing.

"Thank you, Megumi. I think I need to have a talk with my husband when he comes home…if he comes home."

"He'll come home, don't worry."

Kaoru didn't have to worry very long, as it were. Kenshin came in as Megumi made her way out. She smiled at him and pat his shoulder twice before closing the gate behind her. He stared perplexedly after her before making his way up the path. Kaoru smiled softly, setting her hands on his shoulders, using her spot on the walkway to lean over and kiss the top of his head.

"Welcome home."

"I'm home," he smiled gently, taking her hand. "What did Megumi-dono come for?"

"Oh Kenshin," she rolled her eyes. "You know very well what she came for. She told me to stop jumping on you."

His ears and neck turned red as he looked down at his shoes. Kaoru slipped her fingers under his chin, pulling his gaze up to her. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she sighed softly as his fingers traced over the braid of her hair.

"I have been rather…insatiable lately. I apologize."

"Never apologize for wanting me, Kaoru." He murmured softly.

"No, I don't apologize for that. I apologize for not giving a proper respite at times. I've just been," her hand waved in frustration before falling back against his shoulder. "I've been so frustrated! I'm confined to my bed now, because it's so soon. I can't walk about, I can't practice kendo, and I can't do anything! I have all this pent up energy, and I feel like if it doesn't go somewhere, then I'm going to explode!"

Kenshin gasped, and put a hand to his chest, stepping back in fake offense. "You mean to say that you have been using my body to release your frustration? Horrific, I feel positively used."

She laughed, touching her forehead to his. He smiled up at her, kissing the tip of her nose.

"I don't dislike it, you know." The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile. "I simply think I would perform better if we both had rest."

"You have been kind of sloppy lately," she nodded.

He gasped, laughing, and pinched her side until she broke into a fit of giggles, slapping his shoulder. He slid his feet out of his sandals as he stepped onto the walkway, ducking his head against hers as she leaned against the pillar.

"Well…people get better with practice, that they do."

Kaoru smiled, blushing, slipping her hands up his chest to play with the ends of the hair that had fallen over his shoulder. "I thought you wanted rest."

"I took a nap by the river, that's where I have been all afternoon."

His wife burst into laughter. "You took a nap? Heaven, what an old man you are! Can't get through the day without a nap!"

Kenshin grinned, cutting off her laughter with a kiss. She sighed, her fingers slipping into his hair as his tongue brushed over her lip. He pressed against her, his lips trailing across her jaw and down her neck. He shivered when she sighed against his ear, a small whimper escaping her lips when his tongue brushed over her pulse and he softly sucked a mark. Kaoru's fingers tangled in the back of his gi, tugging and pressing closer to him as her pulse jumped against his tongue. She tilted her head, catching his earlobe with her teeth and tugging.

His arms came around her bottom then, and she squeaked as he lifted her up into the air, carrying her down the walk to their bedroom. He reached behind him to close the shoji door and pressed small kisses across her chin. He laid her down on the futon, admiring for a moment the way her hair pooled under her head. Her fingers traced over his nose and cheeks as she smiled up at him. Kenshin felt his heart jump, as it often did when he was struck during certain moments of the day at how wonderful it was that he had her. He brushed his nose over hers, smiling as she kissed him softly, and her lightly calloused fingertips brushed along the back of his neck.

Kaoru arched against him, and grinned against his lips when he pressed harder against her. It was a constant battle between them, the only they ever had. She was the more dominant one, it was known, but Kenshin had his moments. She raised her hips and shifted against him, and her blood sang when he growled softly against her lips, his teeth nipping her tongue. She was a tease, she knew it. But he had to be pushed to know it was acceptable to take certain liberties he wanted. Her fingers tugged at the knot of his hakama, loosening it and slipping her fingers under the fabric.

He jumped when her fingers slipped over him, and his face pressed against her neck. Kaoru delighted in the way he shivered when she brushed against him. His hands would tighten at her waist, and after a while he would pull at her hair when he shook over her.

This time was different though, her fingers brushed over the tip of him and she felt the warm dampness against her thighs.

"Well," she breathed out a laugh. "That was-"

"Not me."

Her breath stopped as Kenshin lifted his face from her neck, his cheeks pink and his breath rapid. They stared at each other, suspended in a moment in time as realization dawned on them both. A smile broke across their faces, and Kenshin kissed her before scrambling off her body.

"I'll go get Megumi!"

"Kenshin!"

He stopped in the doorway; eyes alight with excitement as he raised his eyebrows in question. Kaoru glanced at his hips and cleared her throat, her cheeks a pleasant rose color as she grinned in pride.

"Maybe stop by the well before you go."

He followed her gaze, and laughed, running his hand over his face. She laughed as he ran out of the room.

"I'll be back in a few minutes! Stay in bed!"

"I love you!" She shouted.

When he shouted the same, she laughed, falling back against the futon and covering her face with her hands. She heard the water of the well splash against the ground, and laughed harder when she heard the gate close behind him.

Author's Note: There is a note about this chapter in my profile