Extra 3: Maternity photos

"What's this?"

Arthur glanced at the pile of magazines on the table during his visit to Eternuz. Dave was on his stomach eating his oranges leisurely and two people were massaging his back. This was right after Arthur had returned from overseas at that time, he had purposely visited Eternuz to see the development of the business he had left more than five months behind.

And also because he fulfilled the wish of his men who wanted to know his condition after surgery.

Dave ignored the open magazine in front of him to look at Arthur. "Boss, I'm looking at a fashion magazine."

"Fashion magazine?"

"Yes, a magazine about the latest fashion from several famous brands that are worn by famous models."

Arthur took off his jacket and put it on a chair, then sat down. "What are you looking at all that for?"

One of his men offered a massage as well, but Arthur refused.

"To see if I'm fit to be a model."

Arthur's brow furrowed at this but said nothing. He had gotten used to hearing Dave's bullshit. The 25-year-old man has a lot of dreams in his head. For example, when he first came to this base, he said he wanted to be a pirate, then at some point he changed again wanting to be a lighthouse keeper, ship driver, pilot, lawyer or even an actor. Everything is never really accomplished.

Now he wants to be a model ...

Arthur picked up the top magazine and saw the cover where a thin female model was wearing a summer bikini against a white background. The model was very thin and tall, with tanned skin and small eyes, and had the face that models usually have; oriental face.

"You want to be a female bikini model?" asked Arthur blankly.

Dave chuckled and sat up. "Geez! No! I want to be the male model, which shows my six pack abs and beautiful muscles. How about that?"

Arthur didn't say anything, turning the magazine over in his hand.

"Well something like that. See, Boss. This guy I think is not suitable, he is too thin, is not it, to be a topless model?" He pointed at Dave at will, suddenly he was next to Arthur.

"Mn. You'd be a good fit."

"I told ya, Boss! Aaah, maybe I'm actually meant to be a model!"

It's been more than one month since Arthur fully recovered, Dave has relinquished his medical degree and is living life as usual. He had intended to leave the medical world if Arthur recovered. So here it is.

Furthermore Dave rambled on this and that a lot of things. Arthur listened, but didn't really hear what was being said, his eyes focused on the magazine sheet in his hand.

"Also, if my photos are cool, I will not be ashamed to display them at home. I will show my sexy photos to my dad and let him vomit blood! Pfft!" said Dave with satisfaction.

"Displaying photos?" Arthur was intrigued by these words.

Right after he said that, one of the magazine pages showed a photo of a woman who was pregnant. The woman does not cover her stomach, as if it is the main focus of the camera. There are three photos of the woman posing alone, on another sheet, there is a photo of her with the man holding her stomach.

"This." Arthur pointed.

Dave stopped talking and looked at him. "Ah? What? What's with this photo?"

As he watched it, memories of his pregnant sister-in-law immediately filled his brain.

He grinned. "So you want me to pose like this with sister-in-law?"

"..."

"I don't mind anyway. The beautiful sister-in-law and I are handsome, we will match well in the photo." He chuckled.

As a result of his words, Arthur's eyes darkened, he got up and threw the magazine in Dave's face.

Then left angrily.

"Hey, hey, Boss! I was just kidding. Why are you offended?" Dave chuckled and chased Arthur into the inner room.

"I want it." Arthur said without stopping in his tracks.

"What? Want what?"

This time Arthur finally turned around. "I want a photo like that. A photo with my wife."

"..."

Dave gaped for a moment unable to digest it. What? His boss who has never liked the camera is in the mood for a photo?

Especially maternity photos!

Now Dave really wants to be a photographer!

***

"Don't cover it." Arthur didn't take his eyes off his little wife.

"B-But this is embarrassing." Livy tried to pull the thin strands that could only cover her upper body, while her bloated belly was wide open.

Livy didn't understand how the situation could become like this. At first Arthur came home and rushed into their house, then without further ado asked her to display their photo.

At that time, she immediately offered to take a selfie together. But he refused. In an instant he had been taken to the back garden and a large crowd of people and camera equipment had gathered.

When are these people coming?

"You look beautiful like this," Arthur complimented.

"But everyone will see me dressed like this. I think it's a bit inappropriate." Livy was still embarrassed, imagining photographers photographing her half naked like this.

In fact, not only was she dragged to get dressed, Arthur was the same. The man had no clothes on his body at all, only light blue beach pants. Around hus neck hung a matching light scarf, and on his head was a beach hat.

"Everyone here is women. Don't be shy."

'Then, am I going to let the women see you naked?'

Livy traced his upper body. She had seen her husband naked before, but never so clearly. Under the light from the dressing mirror, the thin scars on his skin were quite visible. But more than that, the lump of six packs in his stomach was more tempting.

"No! No! This shoot is about summer on the beach, right? You have to wear clothes! Wear clothes that will cover your stomach." Livy immediately said.

"Well then."

As soon as Arthur agreed, Livy went over to the clothes rack and looked at several more revealing sets of men's beachwear. She trudged in the middle of a narrow impromptu make-up room, bumped into one of the boxes.

"Be careful." Arthur's hand caught her shoulder before she could fall. His heart was pounding. "It's too full. Watch as you walk."

"Y-Yes. I'm sorry." Livy held his arm around her shoulder, nervous.

Arthur didn't let her go, instead pulling the clothes rack towards them and pushing aside the box that was in the middle of the road. Livy took a set of short beach pants and a sleeveless beach shirt.

"This is good."

Arthur took them. "I'll change first."

After he changed his clothes, Livy felt satisfied. Even if she had felt shy before, those feelings had vanished. All staff photographers, even the lighting staff hired are all women. She glanced at his appearance one more time and smiled proudly.

'No one can see your abs now, ok?'

They immediately took up positions under the lights when ready.

"It's too bright, is that okay?" asked Livy, thinking of Arthur's eyes.

Arthur kissed her temple. "It's okay. It's recovered."

Livy felt calm.

"Sir, you stand behind your wife and hold her lower abdomen." The photographer said giving directions, as soon as Arthur did she said, "Yeah, just like that. Hold on. You guys can smile as if you're having something to be happy about."

Arthur smiled stiffly.

"I'm sorry, sir, your smile is a bit off." The female photographer winced. "It's okay, just relax, imagine that you are experiencing special happiness in your life. Imagine how happy that will be. Look, I mean, it's happiness that is precious and money can't buy."

Livy didn't move in her position and relaxed her mouth in a smile. Little did she know that at this moment, her husband was staring at her silently, in brief contemplation, then in an instant his natural smile appeared.

A very handsome happy smile.

"Fine, like that, sir. Relax. Hold on a second." The photo was snapped several times. "Well, good. One more time. Maam, could you lean over and look your husband in the eye a little?"

Livy bit her lips to hold back her embarrassed smile and did the photographer's directions.

"L-Like this?"

"Yeah. Smile more gently. Okay, hold on."

The sound of camera shots once again filled the air.

But that voice was not heard by Livy. When she saw Arthur's face from this distance, nearly all of her senses went out of action, except for her eyes. The gaps in their faces were very thin and she could see the good looks he had, his expression immediately turned natural. He smiled gently.

"Hold him by the cheek, maam. And, sir, place your right hand on the other hand of the maam on her belly, then your left hand against her shoulder. Lower your eyes slightly, and you should look at each other full ... lovingly." The photographer pressed the word 'full' against her lips.

Once they have done all the directions well, the photographer positions herself. She found the right angle and was proud.

This is good. Cool. Exquisite.

And she couldn't stop snapping those happy poses.

***

There were so many photos of various types of clothing worn. They were all beautiful, and the two people in the photos match very well. Livy didn't blink when she saw the final result on the female photographer's computer.

"You are very professional. These photos look beautiful." Livy complimented sincerely.

The photographer blushed. "No maam. You are very beautiful, and your husband is also very handsome. You are so well matched in this photos, the camera seems to like you. I have photographed a lot of objects since my career, but you both have a natural smile that comes from your heart. It doesn't show that you guys are following directions at all."

Livy was shy.

The woman continued, "It is said that a woman who is pregnant looks very beautiful. And that really defines you today. I am stunned, maam."

Even though this was just a mere business compliment, Livy sincerely expressed her gratitude.

"Can I have a soft copy of these photos, please?" Arthur asked.

"You can have it. My studio will send you a photo with the figura you ordered too, two days after today. I hope you are satisfied with the result."

Livy nudged him. "What's that soft copy for?"

"To keep it on my phone."

Ah. Livy stared at him. "Oh."

The photographer put the camera in her bag and said, "All right, sir. With this our work is done, I'll take my leave first. Your wife is heavily pregnant, she need to rest a lot. It must be tiring."

"No! No! Not tired." Livy said honestly, she was addicted to having more photos. At the time of their wedding, they did not make any official photos. They don't have any memories.

The photographer responded to some small talk before leaving.

Half an hour later, Arthur took Livy to rest in their room. They see a photo together.

"This one is good, we can display it in the room," Livy pointed at the photo on Arthur's phone.

"Everything is great. You are so beautiful." Arthur didn't blink at the face of his little wife in the photo. "We can display this in the living room too."

Livy refused in horror. "No! How could this be on display in the living room? I'm embarrassed to see other people dressed like this."

That is right.

Arthur thought it made sense, if this kind of photo was posted for others to see, God knows how many people could think badly of his wife. His little wife is so beautiful! No evil eye!

"Then there should be a photo of our wedding in the living room." Arthur rested his head on his palms, looking at her.

"Wedding photo?"

Arthur nodded.

The wedding photo in question was the photo that Livy had thought of before. There are no really official photos, only candid shots taken by the wedding photographer.

"That's not good. Our wedding photos are just average." Livy actually didn't see the candid photos, but photos like that really aren't good for display.

"We can reshoot."

"What?"

"Reshoot for our wedding photo."

Livy gaped. "A photo when I was heavily pregnant like this? What will other people think of me later? If people don't know the facts, they will think I got married while pregnant. They will think I got pregnant first!"

Arthur covered his mouth, hiding a hint of laughter.

"Why are you laughing?" Livy pouted.

Still laughing, he got up from his position and pulled her closer to his chest. He kissed the top of her head. "We'll take photos after you give birth."

"That's still three months away."

"No problem."

Livy took Arthur's free hand, and played with his long, slender fingers. There are almost no calluses there. "Why are you suddenly doing all this?"

"..."

"You suddenly asked me to take maternity photos and want to re-shoot wedding photos too. Do you have any ideas?"

Arthur didn't immediately answer the question, he stroked her hair while staring ahead. He also thought the same reason, but actually he already had that answer because he wanted it himself.

"This is a memorable photo for us. With this photo, we can look back at the times how happy we were both. Our children will be able to see it too. This kind of photo is great to see in old age," said Arthur finally.

Livy was touched.

She also felt that reason was acceptable. Because she will remember how their happiness just started and will continue to be happiness until they are old.

"We will display our wedding photos in the living room. Every guest who comes will know that we are two hearts joined by love. The gesture in our eyes in the photo will say it all."

Livy looked up. "You say all this as if you're memorizing lines," she sneered.

Arthur pinched her nose. "I'm already this serious and you're mocking me?"

Livy chuckled.

They were in a semi-huddled position for a long time. Enjoying each other's thoughts in achieving the beautiful dream of life with them. Each of them hopes that this happiness never fades away.

"I love you, Livy."

Arthur whispered low, barely audible, but his breath had tickled Livy's earlobe.

"Mn. I love you too. Love you so much."

Arthur smiled gently.

Supported by a calm atmosphere, their lips were brought together gently to each other. This is not an initial or final statement, but a statement of love where they will live with the bridge of love that they built with all their might without anyone starting it and ending it.

And this love will be eternal love for them both.

END.