Author's note: I haven't been writing in ages – like literally in over three years. Having said that, I'm really glad to be back even though I'll probably have to take a couple-months-long break after this one because I'll have to study for my darn finals. Sigh. In fact, I should probably be studying as we speak, but I had to get my mind off of school for a bit. Oh, and just for the heads up, this one-shot is going to be pretty light and fluffy with a good dose of Brella. So, if you're not a huge fan of fluff, you know what to do.

Alright. Without further ado, I hope you guys enjoy reading this if you decide to read on.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Winx Club

Chocolate Chip Cookies

"Does this look alright?"

Brandon, who had just come home from another royal council meeting, paused in the midst of untying his tie to look up at his wife. "You look absolutely amazing, Stella," he assured with a charming smile. "As always."

Unsure, Stella bit down on her lower lip pensively as she turned her back to look over her reflection in the full length mirror again. Her hair was fixed in an elegant bun, loose strands of ringlets accentuating her flawless features. The orange dress she wore contrasted against her skin tone in a way that gave her porcelain-smooth skin a radiant sheen. Embossed with floral print and golden vines, the dress couldn't have complimented the special occasion any better which happened to be her friend's Flora's soon coming wedding.

"You think so?"

"I know so," Brandon reassured, leaving his tie hanging loosely around his neck as he began to unbutton his shirt cuffs.

"Do I look fat?"

Brandon let out a sigh. "We have talked this through before, Stell. You don't look fat, you're just pregnant with our baby. There's a huge difference and you're worrying for no reason," he said as he finally removed his tie and was about to change into a more comfortable set of clothes, opting to wear a plain white T-shirt along with a pair of dark boxers. As he was getting his head through the neckline, he added, "Trust me gorgeous, you look beautiful. Far from fat."

Being five months along, Stella's baby bump was quite noticeable. To say Stella was just a little insecure about her current appearance would be a gross understatement – she was extremely self-conscious about her body and needed constant reminders from people to convince her she wasn't looking like her worst nightmare. Fortunately, Brandon had always been there for her, always assuring her that she looked just fine. He'd always tell her that the glow in her face, and not to mention the fact that she was carrying their child, made her look even more attractive.

Absentmindedly, Stella placed one of her hands on her belly, rubbing slow circles over it. She couldn't believe how quickly the time had gone. Just about three months ago she and Brandon had thrown an extravagant dinner party with all their closest friends and family to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. It was at that time the couple had decided to announce the news of Stella's pregnancy and everyone at the party had seemed beyond overjoyed and thrilled for the couple and had wished good luck to the two of them and their unborn baby. Thinking back on how everything had fallen perfectly into place after the Winx and the Specialists had finally defeated all of their enemies made Stella smile, but just the mere thought of parenting seemed to scare the day lights out of her.

Brandon, who had been watching her across the room on their bed, noticed the sudden change in his wife's mood and proceeded to get up and walk to her. Wrapping one arm gently around her waist from behind, he lifted her chin up with the other, making her honey-coloured eyes look straight at his warm, coffee ones.

"What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"What do you mean?" she countered, feigning confusion. "Nothing's wrong."

Brandon raised an eyebrow suspiciously, noticing right off the bat the way her hands fumbled around with the fine fabric of the dress. A clear sign that she wasn't telling the truth. "Oh yeah? Care to explain why you're fidgeting then?"

"I'm not fidgeting," the blonde asserted stubbornly.

"Right, sorry. You were preening," he replied with a deep chuckle, teasing as he gently reached to grasp her smooth, petite hands that had stopped moving by now in his calloused ones. "There's a difference."

Brandon then gently turned her around by her waist and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. "Come on, what is it?" he coaxed softly with a slightly serious undertone in his voice. "You can tell me anything, you know that."

Defenseless against his cool, sincere gaze, she knew she couldn't keep anything from him and relented after a beat. "It's just that I'm kind of scared," she finally confessed in a small voice, looking away. "I mean, what if I'll turn out to be a horrible mother? What if I can't handle it? What if something goes wrong? What if I'll mess everything up? What if I–"

"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down, sweetheart," Brandon soothed, cutting off her frenzied mid-stammering as he set his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them slightly in reassurance. Her eyes shot up to meet his and she was instantly met with his consoling chocolate gaze, which was full of warmth and sincerity. "Look at me. We can work this out, alright? Everything is going to be fine. You have been doing great with the baby so far, and I know for a fact that you're going to make a wonderful mother, Stell."

Brandon wasn't lying when he said that. He was sure she was going to be a great mother. He had seen her interact with Bloom and Sky's child and seeing that alone had proven him that she was going to be a great mother to their child. All the fuss, stress and concern she had for keeping their baby healthy had also shown him that she really cared about their baby and was willing to do anything for them. Furthermore, her experience as a Queen had matured her immensely and shown a much more responsible and serious side of her.

"How can you be so sure?" Stella volleyd back at him, no heat in her tone. "What if I do something wrong?"

"You won't," he reassured. "I will be there for you every step of the way. Everything's going to be just fine, trust me. Besides, take a look at Musa and Riven. They are doing it, too. Now that is saying something," he joked light-heartedly with an easy-going smile that was edging close to a crooked grin.

Stella ducked her head and dissolved into a peal of giggles at thinking how Musa and Riven had been the first ones of their group to have a baby. "I suppose you're right," she giggled, her eyes shining merrily as her hand flew to cover her mouth self-consciously.

"See? There's nothing to worry about."

Her giggles subsided as she turned to look directly at him again with a grateful gleam in her amber eyes while his gaze was still patiently trained on her, never faltering. As she looked into his eyes, she couldn't help but feel warmth and sparks of happiness all over her body; Brandon knew exactly how to cheer her up and make the blues go away. She honestly didn't know what she'd do without him and she certainly didn't know what she'd done to deserve him, but she was beyond grateful that she had him.

"Thanks," she said adoringly as she drew her arms around his neck. "You're the best."

"Anytime, princess."

"You know, I'm not a princess anymore. I'm a Queen now."

"Doesn't matter. You'll always be my princess."

"Oh, really?"

"Really."

With that Brandon dipped his head to press his lips against Stella's. And just like that all the worries and fears she was having earlier seemed pointless and futile, starting to drift away into deep oblivion as his hands pulled her even closer as she responded to the kiss eagerly with matching pace and passion. Stella could feel the warm waves roll and course through her body as every inch of her flesh came alive with delightful shudders. Deepening the kiss, she bit back the moan that was threatening to escape her throat as her hands smoothed over his strong, muscular chest.

However, much to Brandon's chagrin, Stella suddenly pulled away from the kiss when she felt the baby suddenly move around inside her and her hands immediately dropped down to her sides before going to rest on her lower belly. Before Brandon could even open his mouth to question what had happened, Stella had already taken his hand and placed it on the exact same spot where her hand had been set before.

"Feel it. I think it just kicked." Stella beamed, a smile spreading across her face.

When Brandon felt a slight pressure underneath his hand, his eyes lit up as a foolish grin stretched across his face. "I think it did," he conceded with the same giddy smile plastered on his face.

Although it wasn't the first time Brandon had felt their baby kick, he'd still always feel a glow of pride and giddy sort of happiness slice through him every time he felt a kick or just a faint flutter. And after he had placed his hand on the spot where the baby had started moving, it seemed like the baby had somehow gotten more excited and started kicking harder.

"You know, I think there's a very good chance that it'll become the next star football player or maybe even a boxer if that happens to be a hand instead of a foot."

"Oh yeah? I think it just knows it's you," Stella laughed, but that laugh was short lived as it slowly turned into a yawn.

Brandon chuckled before smiling and rubbing her belly lovingly. "It's getting late. You should get some sleep."

Stella nodded before she brought her hand to cover yet another yawn.

Toss, turn, toss, turn.

Sleeping just wasn't happening.

Toss, turn, toss, turn.

Try as she might, Stella couldn't fall asleep. She had tried to count sheep, roll over on her side and rub circles over her belly, but no matter what she did she was unable to ignore the pregnancy craving that was keeping her awake and tired. Taking a glance at Brandon who was sleeping right beside her, she couldn't help but feel a little envious to the fact that he got to sleep so peacefully while she had to deal with her pregnancy and the sleepless nights that came along with it.

A small stab of guilt shot through her as she thought about waking him up from his serene state, but she knew she had to do it, the craving had become too intense and unbearable for the blonde pregnant woman.

"Brandon," she spoke softly, but he didn't even budge as he continued to breathe in a slow, steady rhythm.

"Brandon," Stella hissed a little louder this time, shaking him lightly which made him stir a little in his sleep. "Wake up."

"Mm-hmm?" Brandon mumbled groggily in his deep slumber.

She tugged at his arm. "I want chocolate," Stella chirped sweetly. "Actually, no. Scratch that. I want chocolate cookies. You know, those with chocolate chips on them?" she pondered aloud. "God, yes. I'm seriously craving those. Like, really, really badly. Like—are you even listening to me?"

"Brandon?"

There was no response.

Angry, she huffed and snatched the covers off of him as she yelled at him loudly, "Brandon! Get up right now!"

Being woken up this time for good and rather unceremoniously, Brandon let out a long, sleep-induced groan. "What is it, Stell?" he croaked, his voice heavy and thick with sleep as he rubbed a hand over his face.

"I want chocolate chip cookies and I think the baby agrees, too," she said hotly, her arms folded neatly across her chest as her patience was wearing thin.

Propping himself up slowly in a sitting position, Brandon groaned again as he saw the vibrant, red digits on the clock glaring out in the darkness. It was two in the morning. Grabbing the covers back, he began to make himself comfortable again by pulling them back on. "It's middle of the night, Stell. Go back to sleep. I'll bring you your chocolate cookies tomorrow morning, okay?" he said nonchalantly, clearly not understanding the importance of a pregnant woman's needs.

"No! I want them right now!" she screeched at her husband, tugging at the pristine white covers and whipping them away at once. "Brandon Matthew Eraklyon, if you don't get your ass out of this bed right now and bring me those damn cookies this instant, I swear by the Great Dragon that I will sun blast the living day lights out of you!"

Left with no choice whatsoever, Brandon sighed in defeat and grumbled as he got up and proceeded to walk to the downstairs where the kitchen was. "Damn pregnancy hormones," he muttered darkly under his breath as he was on his way to the kitchen, cursing the pregnancy hormones and all the erratic mood swings that came with it.

However, he had to come to halt in front of the door when he heard Stella call his name again.

"What is it this time?" he asked, his voice tight and clipped as the words tumbled out of his mouth unintentionally harsh. Brandon immediately regretted the tone he had used after he around and saw the tears that glistened in her pools of liquid gold.

"You're mad at me," she stated in a small voice.

"Stella, I'm not mad at you. I–"

"Stop lying! You hate me!" she exclaimed, bursting out in a fresh round of tears out of blue.

Brandon sighed deeply as he ran his hand through his brown mane. He had no idea how his wife's emotions could change at such a swift rate: one minute she'd be happy, the next she'd be angry, and the next she'd be sad and then back to the same cycle again. It was truly perplexing how the pregnancy hormones worked, but being a good, responsible husband he was, he didn't question the evil pregnancy hormones any further and took a seat beside his pregnant wife without any hesitation.

"Stella," he said softly, coaxing her chin up after wiping away the tears in her eyes. "Please don't cry. I could never hate you, you know that. And I'm not mad at you either. How could I be? You're the one carrying a baby for crying out loud! Honestly, I can't imagine what you must be feeling and I'm sorry for snapping at you. Bringing you cookies is the least I can do, really. I mean, what kind of guy would I be if I couldn't even fulfil my wife's cravings?"

Stella sniffled. "What did I do to deserve you?" she whispered as she wrapped her slender arms around him to which he simply returned the gesture. "Please don't ever leave me."

Brandon chuckled lightly, stroking her blonde hair affectionately as he dropped his voice an octave low and whispered, "I wouldn't even think about it, princess." Winking cheekily after pulling apart, he added, "I did promise you a forever, didn't I?"

"You did," she murmured softly.

"And you know me, I always keep my word."

Stella nodded meekly as the corners of her mouth slowly lifted up into a tender smile.

"Now there's my girl." He grinned, reaching out to swipe the last bit of her tears from her cheeks before remembering what he was originally supposed to do. "How about I go now and bring those cookies that you wanted? I'll be right back."

Stella nodded her head again with a smile on her face in a silent thank-you.

Ten minutes later Brandon was back with a plate full of her favourite chocolate chip cookies that she had craved just a few minutes ago. Only to his dismay she had fallen fast asleep.

On second thought, maybe it was for the best.

He slowly walked closer to her side only to witness that she was indeed fast asleep when he saw her chest rising up and down in steady beats. Brandon couldn't help but smile with sheer adoration at the blonde beauty who looked so placid and serene while sleeping. He then set the plate aside on the side table and climbed in the bed on his side very carefully as to not wake her up, knowing she was a light sleeper.

Giving one last lingering look, he settled back into the pillows more comfortably. "Sweet dreams, princess," he whispered, placing a soft kiss on her forehead before he, too, drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

Author's note: Was this too cheesy and fluffy? In my defense, Stella and Brandon are a pretty cheesy couple, so I thought it was only fitting that they'd have some fluffy, cheesy moments in there. Although I may have gone overboard with it. Oh well. Everyone likes cheese, right? No? Okay. Alright, I'll stop my rambling here.

On another note, I'm sorry if this seemed crappy. Like I said before I'm writing after a very, very long time, so my writing skills may be a bit rusty to say the least. It's highly possible that I might come back later to edit this.

Oh, and don't hesitate to tell me what you thought about this one-shot though. I'm always open to all kind of criticism and I'd be super happy if you decided to drop a line or two. I'll even give a chocolate chip cookie to everyone who does that. Promise.

- Eve