“Not ever letting you leave me again,” I say, as we both come down from our orgasm. Her eyes are glittering with unshed tears, and she may have left me physically, but she never left my heart.
Chapter Eight
Larissa
When I wake up, I’m wrapped in Jake’s arms. He’s behind me, with his hand on my stomach. Holding both of us. The only thing waking me up is my bladder. I go to move, and Jake pulls me back into his warmth.
“Jake, I have to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back,” I whisper into the dark room, trying not to wake him up.
He sits up abruptly and turns on the lamp on the bedside table, “Are you okay?” he questions.
“Yeah, just the little one playing football on my kidneys,” I reply as I heft myself out of bed.
I watch his eyes go soft and he says, “I can’t believe we made our own child.”
He’s not accusing me of leaving him and running off pregnant. He’s not upset with me. He’s just Jake. My Jake.
“Give me a few minutes and I swear we’ll talk, but if I wait much longer, I’ll be cleaning up a mess,” I chuckle and make my way into the bathroom.
I do my business, and when I’m done and washing my hands, I stand in front of the mirror and take in all the changes that have happened lately. I take a look at myself one last time and pull in every ounce of courage and face the man I’m in love with.
When I walk back, his back is to the headboard and he motions me towards him, my feet shuffle to his side of the bed. He helps me in and settles me between his legs. My back is to his chest and his arms instantly go around my now round stomach.
“I know it’s three o’clock in the morning and I won’t keep you up too much longer, but I need to know everything that happened\ these past months,” his voice was thick with emotion.
I turn my body, my legs are over his and I look into his eyes and tell him everything, “I woke up in the middle night, as you know, and left. I was scared and a coward. Instead of staying to tell you all of the emotions I had built up, I ran away. I didn’t want to lose you or to see if you’d be disappointed in what we had. It would have broken my heart, so I did the one thing I shouldn’t have. I ran and made it impossible for you to find me.”
“I searched for you. There wasn’t a day that went by that I wasn’t trying to find you. I even went to your parents’ house and I gotta say, Babe, they fucking suck,” he says, with annoyance in his voice. I’m not sure if it’s at me or my parents.
“I’m not a big fan of them either,” I tell him as I push a lock of hair that’s fallen down on his forehead. I want us to be connected somehow. Even if it’s something as simple as a brush of my fingertips on his skin.
“Yeah, I can imagine. Keep going,” he coaxes.
“I landed in a small town out west, working in a diner. I stayed in a room I rented from a little old lady and went to my doctor. That’s all I did, if I wasn’t walking around kicking myself in the ass. I did what I always do, I read, I think I read every pregnancy book I could get my hands on.” My hands are in the air as I explain to him what I did.
“Are you okay? When is your due date? Are we having a boy or a girl?” He hit me with rapid fire questions.
“I’m fine. I’ve had an amazingly smooth pregnancy. I’m two weeks away from my due date. Which reminds me, tomorrow I need to set up an appointment with a new obstetrician in town. I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. I wanted to wait until we could find out together,” I answer him.
He kisses my forehead as he says, “Thank you.”
“I’m not sure you should be thanking me. I was being entirely selfish and leaving you out of everything,” I answer with exasperation as our little one kicks me.
“We’ll deal with that later. All I care about is that you’re home and healthy,” he mumbles as he sees my stomach move with the acrobatic moves happening.
I place his hand on top of my stomach and he feels our child move.
“Wow,” his voice is filled with joy and if I did anything right, it’s this right here. It’s coming home.
Chapter Nine
Jake
When I felt Larissa move in the middle of the night, I expected the worse. I know I shouldn’t have. She’s sworn she wasn’t leaving me ever again. Yet, I’m still fucking scared that she’ll leave and not because she’s pregnant with our child. No, I’m scared shitless she’ll leave me. Period.