Page 126 of Bastian

Ellaiza’s laugh.

Sebastian’s voice.

As long as I have that, I know all will be well.

“Bonjour, mon amour.” Opening my eyes, I smile and stare at Sebastian hanging onto a metal rail doing his daily physical therapy. After he woke up, he had trouble going back to normalcy, and therapy has helped with that. He can stand and walk on his own, but he is still unable to do some movement without being in pain. He’s almost healed… almost, but he’s taking every precaution so he can speed up the process of recovery.

Sebastian, to me, is young, but he won’t recuperate at the speed a twenty-year-old man would. Something I told him yesterday, which prompted him to give me the finger. That fact that I finally admitted that I love the man more than anything and that I thank God every day that Sebastian didn’t kick the bucket doesn’t change the fact that I love pissing the man off.

“Good morning, tyrant.” I greet him at the same time Benjamin shuts the door behind me. I move towards the coffee table, placing the tray down, and Ella follows suit. I don’t miss the little growl that slips from her mouth when she takes in Sebastian’s home nurse and full-time flirt, Kim. Laughing under my breath, I pat Ella’s hand, which in turn makes her relax a bit. Only a bit.

"Comment est mon bébé?" Sebastian asks with a crooked grin as he slowly walks toward me, completely ignoring his nurse now that we are here.

You know, I am trying to be good. I am trying hard, but sometimes the man loves to test my patience, like right now. Where the hell is his shirt? Narrowing my eyes, I take in his raw beauty and the giant wolf on his chest. The wolf with my eyes. I haven’t asked him about it. Same for the tattoo on his ring finger because, well, it hasn’t come up. I had other things to worry about, but now that he’s on full display for this woman’s eyes, it’s giving me an odd sense of satisfaction and possessiveness to see that he marked himself with something that reminds him of me.

Nurse Kim clears her throat like she always does when I am in the room, looking away from Sebastian, I glance at her. Kim is pretty, there’s no doubt, and the only reason I haven’t thrown her obnoxiously sweet ass out is that, apart from flirting, she manages to do her job right. Besides, I have nothing to worry about. This man can’t seem to look at anyone else but me. Looking away from her, I roll my eyes at Sebastian, making him smile when I respond. “Our baby.” That smile. It rivals most of nature’s unexplained phenomena. I vividly how he looked at us and smiled the night he woke up from the coma, and he hasn’t stopped smiling since. I swear the sun rises in Sebastian’s eyes when he smiles, and I can’t look away. Not that I want to.

We stand there, smiling at each other like two damn fools, and I have never felt more at home than here with him. In his space and his heart.

Ugh, Sebastian’s romantic slash corny disease is contagious.

But there’s no denying that things have shifted between us. I was still wary, a bit guarded, yes, but every day I try to leave my past reservations behind and be more open… more loving towards him. I am still allergic to corny behavior, but I am trying to be more understanding of the fact that this giant tyrant of a man, at times, can be one needy ass baby. So, yes I am trying… but Rome wasn’t built in a day, and my turning into a hopeless sap won’t happen any time soon either.

All I know is that I never want to go through what I went through in the last months again.

I don’t want to be without him.

Ever.

So that is why I am here.

In his life and in his world when I once swore to burn it down.

But the second he put himself between me and two bullets, I came to the realization that I, along with his daughter, am his world.

Feeling gentle hands on my stomach, I can’t help but feel warm all over. He does this three or four times a day. He puts his hands on my stomach and just smiles from ear to ear. Sometimes Ella does the same. I told them they wouldn’t be able to feel the baby kicking until at least the sixth or maybe, seventh month and they both shrugged me off telling me they just wanted the baby to know they care.

That the baby is loved beyond measure.

Sebastian’s words, to be exact.

“How are you feeling?” I hand him a plate of fruit while Ella sits like a proper lady with her phone out, taking photos of us. The little diva not only enjoys taking photos of herself but of others as well. Mainly us, Benjamin, and of course, Shaw.

Sebastian grabs me around the waist and pulls me closer to his body until our foreheads are pressed together. I sigh at the same time as he says. “Better now that you’re here.” He gives me a quick kiss and pulls back, looking down at me with bright eyes. Smiling. Laughing. Loving. Dammit, I am sick in love with this man. “Now that you’re both here.” He releases me and looks back at the two trays of food we brought for him then his eyes fall back on me. “I like this domestic side of you, darling.”

Narrow wing my eyes, “Don’t get used to it. It was your daughter’s idea. Right, Ell—” When I look at where I last left her, she’s no longer there but on the other side of the room where nurse Kim is packing her stuff. That’s when the little monster I created shows her claws. She’s been waiting for this moment since she entered her father’s room to find him shirtless and with his very obviously smitten young nurse. “Excuse me,” Ella says.

Kim turns with her bag in hand and looks down at Ella as if only now realizing she’s there. “Your dress is very short,” Ella states with her brows furrowed, making the most adorable angry face. The one she makes when she’s really really mad. Oh, no. Here we go. Bending, I grab my mug and take a sip, already knowing my kid will say something that will make my day. A second later she does.

“I think I can see your butt, and maybe even your va—”

“Ellaiza!” Sebastian turns and interrupts his daughter before she goes any further.

“What?” Ella turns to us with her hands raised in questions and a confused look. “I wasn’t going to say anything bad, daddy. I was just going to say that I can almost see her vagina.”

Sebastian groans.

I, on the other hand, take a second sip of my tea and sputter and choke on it as I try not to die from laughter.

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