You woke up in the middle of the night with truly awful cramps. It felt like someone had run a sword through your abdomen. And to make it worse, your back was spasming. Truly a crummy night.

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A groan of pain was already halfway out of your mouth by the time you woke up, making you seem rather like a zombie. The pain really was just that unbearable. You stumbled off to the bathroom and forced some Midol into your system, resisting the urge to double over in pain.

Then, you stumbled off back to the bedroom and beelined to the closet. In an old shoebox near the bottom was an electric heating pad. Theoretically, you could have grabbed Alec's hand and laid it on top of your belly, but you suspected your innards wouldn't appreciate the weight of his hand, so heating pad it was. Plus, it would be a lot warmer than the hand.

You shoved the plug into a socket, cranked the heat up to the max, and let it heat up while you climbed into bed, at which point you put it over your stomach. Then, you pushed yourself into your husband's side, seeking cuddles for comfort.

He slowly woke up, blinking sleep out of his eyes, and obliged, putting one arm over your body and drawing you in close.

"Are ye okay, darlin'?" he asked, voice thick from sleep. "Usually you only bring out the heatin' pad when yer cramps are really bad..."