/ Istvan – FC Rob Evans
/ Both images borrowed from their Instagram
/ I own none of these images, all used with love and respect <3
/ Rings – enoirvado / Vegas view – Instagram sin1city / Quotes – all taken from Pinterest and none had credit for where they came from.
Viktoria lay on the soft bed of pillows, letting the meditation music wash over her as the beauty therapist painted a hydrating mask onto her face. Her hands and feet were wrapped in heated mitts to allow them to soak in the moisturisers from her massage, a warm blanket draped across her middle. She knew that Istvan’d picked this spa specifically for their pregnancy-friendly treatments, and Viktoria was very impressed at the effort he’d gone to; the spa was beautiful. She’d been given a back, neck and shoulder massage in a specially designed chair to avoid leaning on her bump and then she’d been moved across to the bed of pillows where the therapist had proceeded to massage her legs and finally her bump with oils infused with bitter almond, which was reported to help with stretch mark prevention. It felt really strange to have someone touch her stomach like that, it was almost intimate, but in no way unpleasant.
Viktoria took a deep breath in as the therapist started to massage her scalp while her face mask soaked in, murmuring,
“That’s so nice…”
She wondered if Istvan was enjoying his treatments; he was off getting some sort of body scrub and a hot stone massage with a charcoal facial. He deserved some relaxation time; he worked so hard and she hadn’t been easy to live with recently… She was blessed to have him; he’d arranged all of this to help her feel better, to let them spend time together… She thought about the journal he’d given her, the beautiful necklace to commemorate the pregnancy, the fuzzy little bear for the baby… How many women were lucky enough to say they had a partner who understood them so well? Who could anticipate their needs the way he did? Yes, she was truly blessed. She wanted to do something nice for him, to show him how much she appreciated him, but what? She smiled beneath the face mask, she knew something that would make him really happy, but was she ready to take the step?
—
Istvan was thoroughly enjoying the hot stone massage, he had been so absorbed in the baby, and how Viktoria was feeling, he’d barely recognised the amount of tension he was carrying. The rhythmic movement of the stones against his flesh, the heat searing into his bones was utter bliss. He was in a half-conscious state as he thought about his wife. When they’d arrived last night, they had strolled through the main town, quite anonymously, and eaten in a taverna on the cliffs overlooking the sea. They’d held hands across the table and he’d looked into her pretty blue eyes as they’d talked about anything and everything. Istvan had to admit that he was surprised at how receptive she was to his ideas about decreasing her workload to take some pressure off of her; she’d actually agreed that that she could use some help with a lot of the day to day running of the charity. She’d never anticipated that it’d take off in such a big way or become quite so much work; it was fine in it’s infancy just she and Maxwell, and getting outside and specialist help in as required, but as things had developed and gotten more and more intense… Even with the size the Trust had grown to in the past few years, there was still only a compliment of four full-time staff, plus Viktoria and Max…
Istvan acknowledged that he was quite blown away when he looked at her calendar and realised just how many engagements and meetings she had between monarchy duties and the charity… He stroked her hand and told her how proud he was of what she’d built at the Trust, but suggested that maybe it would be a good idea for them to not only to delegate additional responsibilities to Maxwell and the team during the remainder of Viktoria’s pregnancy, maybe they should think about getting another couple of full-time staff on board, possibly even a business manager, to allow Viktoria and Maxwell to focus on more strategic planning for the charity? It would allow them to move away from so much day-to-day involvement but still oversee the big decisions. He pressed a kiss to her knuckles as he murmured that it was something they should have been looking at doing, even if there wasn’t a baby coming… That conversation that he’d thought would be so controversial, so difficult, seemed to have taken a lot of weight off his wife…. They’d gone back to the villa around eleven and made love until they’d fallen asleep wrapped safely in each other’s arms. The sun streaming through the white drapes had awakened them around ten… After a shared shower, they’d lain by the private infinity-edged pool outside their villa; a room-service delivery of croissants and healthy smoothies arrived to enjoy together. Istvan grinned at Viktoria, she looked stunning in the bikini that she was debating not bringing with her, a pretty sheer kaftan cover up, sun-hat and shades. For the first time since they’d confirmed the pregnancy, she looked truly radiant. He quietly congratulated himself on the Oia trip, they’d been in Santorini for less than twenty-four hours and it seemed like a resounding success thus far…
—
Viktoria stood in the bedroom by the full-length mirror squinting at her profile in the jumpsuit she was going to wear this evening. The white fabric showed off the sun she’d caught by the pool this morning. It was pretty; strappy with a sweetheart neckline, thin navy blue vertical stripes and a bow around the middle. Vik’s hand gently rolled over her tummy, up til now her stomach just looked puffy, but today: was it starting to look like an actual proper baby bump? Rounded? More pronounced? She stared hard at her reflection. Her thoughts were interrupted as Istvan appeared behind her fresh from the shower, a fluffy towel slung low around his hips, droplets of water glistening on his taught chest, wrapping his arms around her from behind, Viktoria squeaked at him,
“You’re all wet!!”
Istvan assaulted her neck with a barrage of kisses as he whispered,
“And you’re gorgeous!”
Viktoria smiled shyly at her husband as their eyes met in the mirror. Istvan placed his hands gently on her hips, pulling her back against him. Viktoria was slim, but how he loved her figure; she was curvy in all the right places and he couldn’t get enough of her…
“You look amazing, my love…“
Viktoria worried her lip between her teeth as she moved out of his grasp,
“Look?”
She turned to show him her profile in the mirror and watched his eyes and smile widen simultaneously,
“Ohhh wow Vik…”
She met his gaze as she stated quietly,
“It’s starting to look like a proper bump isn’t it?”
Istvan nodded tentatively as he inquired,
“And do you feel ok about that…?”
She shifted in front of the mirror looking at herself, her hand resting softly on her lower stomach, as her lips curved into a nervous smile,
“It’s… Not as weird-looking as I thought it would be…”
Istvan spun her into his arms as she squealed,
“It’s not weird-looking at all… It is the singular most beautiful thing I have ever seen Viktoria.”
She groaned softly against his lips as he kissed her, murmuring how she was going to make them late for their dinner reservations as he let his towel slide to the floor and scooped her up into his muscular arms…
—
TBC – VP 💖
