The Trade

Disclaimer: Coraline and its plot, settings and characters by no means belongs to me. It belongs to... somebody else.

A/N: A cute, short, pointless chapter. Because I like 'em that way. This story's kind of dragging on. I'm really sorry about that.

Chapter 18: Redecorating.

She groaned when her eyes were assaulted by a bright slit of light peeking in through her curtains. She sighed, realising her source of warmth had already left the bed. Groggily, she rose and groaned again as her whole body protested the movements. She was sore everywhere. Such exertion while carrying another child was simply not easy. But it was certainly fun. She tried to push the thought out of her head as she sat up, slipping on a pair of blue elephant slippers and a robe, then got up and shuffled down the stairs.

When Coraline got to the doorway she watched him for a few seconds, before going up to him and wrapping her arms around his waist, and leaning her cheek against his wide back.

"Yes, Coraline?" Bel sounded more amused than anything.

"Nothing," she replied honestly. "Your back's really warm. I missed it in bed,"

He laughed. "You didn't miss the rest of me, love?" he asked, teasing.

Coraline paused rubbing her cheek against the warmth of his back. "Well... no. Not really," she replied, her tone equally as cheeky.

Bel raised an eyebrow at the eggs he was cooking. "Not even this part?" he asked, snatching one of the tiny hands grasped at his waist and moving it to his erect member. Her swelled breast and womb that carried his child pressing against his back - along with the cheek - didn't do much to calm him down

She gasped and pulled her hand away. He grinned at her reaction. It was almost worth having her cease rubbing her cheek against his back so intimately. Almost.

"What's wrong, Coraline? You didn't seem to have so much trouble tackling me to the ground and forcing yourself on me yesterday. And today you're frightened off by a mere touch?"

"Whatever," she mumbled, blushing, as she took her normal seat at the table. He smirked as she avoided his gaze, staring pointedly out the window.

Coraline jumped suddenly as she continued staring out the window. "What's wrong?" Bel asked, feeling as startled as she.

"Oh... Nothing. He, um, she, um, it kicked me," Coraline said, running her hands over her belly, as she jolted again from the force of the kicks.

"May I feel?" Bel asked in an almost timid manner. Well, timid for the Beldam. Coraline stared at him, taken aback by the question. Bel waited. When still no response came, he called her name. She jumped again.

"Huh? Oh, of course," Coraline brushed back a stray lock of hair that had somehow fallen into face, allowing her hand to linger over her face to cover her red cheeks, tinted from embarrassment.

Bel chuckled lightly, then moved up from his seat to tower over her. Moving her hands away gently, he removed her dragonfly clip, before brushing the lock back with the clump of hair she always held back, managing not to tear out any strands as she often did, before fastening the clip back.

"Oh, thank yo-"

He bent down gently, and she gasped as he knelt beside her. Then he pressed his fingers to her warm belly. The child within her instantly kicked back at him.

He smiled again, then leaned forward to press his ear against her belly. He winced when it kicked his ear, then started laughing. It became contagious, and she started laughing.

It was a completely perfect moment. Perfect enough to make Coraline suspicious of what was to come. But she put it out of her head. She didn't want to ruin the moment.

"So," Bel said, lifting his ear from her rather large midriff. "Have any plans today?" he asked with a lifted eyebrow.

"Not... Particularly..."

"Well then, I was wondering if you would like to help me..."

"Wow... I hardly recognise the place," Coraline remarked, and like the curious creature she was, brushed her fingers against the nearest surface, wondering about the feel of the wallpaper-less walls of her Other Parents' Room.

"That was the intention," Bel remarked as he walked around the bare room.

"What are you planning to do with the place?" Coraline asked.

"What do you think?" he replied. She turned to him, frowning, head tilted to the side, before realisation hit her.

"No!"

"Yes,"

"No! Don't tell me you-"

"-plan to turn this place into our kid's room? I have no idea what you're talking about. You may also want to pick your jaw off the floor now, sweetheart,"

Coraline closed her mouth with an audible snap. She watched him move about the room, memorising each angle and imagining different designs for the room. She moved to stand next to him, wondering if she stared long enough at what he was gazing so intensely at, she might see what he did.

"Green and yellow are gender-neutral colours, right?" Coraline asked absent-mindedly.

"Gender-neutral colours?" Bel asked in a tone of slight disbelief, and slight derision. She stared up at him, frowning.

Then, Coraline gasped. "You know its gender!" she accused.

The corner of his mouth tilted up, just a little. "Maybe," he teased.

"You do. You totally do! Tell me!"

"Don't you want it to be a surprise?"

She groaned, loud and lengthily. "Stop tormenting me!"

"Here, a gender-neutral colour," he handed her a can of beige paint.

"You've got to be kidding me. Come on, Bel!" she whined desperately.

"Actually, I am joking. How'd you know? It's glue. We're going to use this wallpaper," he held up a patterned roll of wallpaper. It was polka-dotted, and coloured two shades of purple. A lighter background and darker dots.

Coraline gasped. "It's a girl?"

Bel paused. "Purple isn't gender-neutral?" he asked, genuinely baffled. Coraline frowned, her excited expression disappearing.

"It's not a girl?" she pouted.

"I didn't say that,"

"So it's a girl?"

"I didn't say that either, love,"

"Beeeeeeellllllll...."

A/N: I'm leaving the gender ambiguous for now. All you need to know is that Bel knows the gender.