Page 20 of Hap

“Keep taking the tablets. You need to eat,” he states.

I smirk and shake my head. “I never had you down as the bossy type.”

He lifts his glass to his lips, his eyes never leaving mine as he drinks. “You call it bossy, I call it looking after what’s important to me,” he states.

I fold my arms across my chest. “Yeah well, the baby is important to me, too. I can take care of myself just fine without you,” I say defensively.

“I found you unconscious on the bathroom floor,” he counters.

I angrily stab my fork into some broccoli. “Yeah well, that wasn’t my finest hour, but up until about a couple of weeks ago I was fine. I was feeling amazing, and then the little devil decided to hit me with sickness,” I say, placing my hand on my stomach. “Not just in the morning, but all day. I could only manage to eat a bit of dry toast or crackers in the evening. So yes, I may look and feel like shit, but I was coping,” I snap.

He places his knife and fork down on his now empty plate. “Right,” he states, causing my blood to boil.

I jolt to my feet. “How dare you just swoop into my life and take over? This may well be your baby, but it’s my body and my life. I don’t need you. We don’t need you,” I spit angrily before storming away. I make it all but three steps before he grabs my wrist in his grasp and spins me around, pinning my back to the wall. I try to yank my wrist free of his grasp. “Let go of me,” I protest.

“Look at me,” he demands. I refuse, and continue to wriggle and fight against him. “Look at me!” he barks.

I freeze, flicking my eyes wide up at him. His jaw is set tight, and I can see the nerve ticking with annoyance.

“I don’t care what you think you need. I am telling you right fucking now, I will not leave you alone. You are carrying my kid, so I will take care of you until he is born,” he says through gritted teeth.

My teeth grind so hard I’m surprised they don’t break. “SHE!” I snap. “So, you just take care of the vessel until your child is born. Then what? Because if you think for one second that I will let you take my baby from me, that you think I will not fight you tooth and fucking nail for my child, then you are mistaken. You may think you are dangerous, and you may threaten me and hold me fucking prisoner, but if you try and take my child, my baby from me, I will kill you,” I spit with such strong emotion and venom. Tears prickle at my eyes, and my heart is racing in my chest. He may be part of a gang, and they may be deadly, but they haven’t met me yet. If they try and come between me and my baby, I will destroy every single one of them.

Silence stretches between us as we both stare each other down. A moment passes before he releases my wrist and steps back. Walking over to the table, he picks up our plates and places them in the sink. I watch him unmoving from my spot. He opens the fridge and pulls out two bowls and walks back over to the table and places them down.

He stands at the back of my chair, his hands resting on the back. “Sit down and eat dessert,” he orders sternly. My eyes flicker from him to the bowl. “It’s a fruit salad, and you need the vitamins,” he sighs with irritation.

I lift my chin in defiance and walk to my seat. “I’m going to eat this because I want to, and not because it’s good for the baby,” I state as I take my seat. I look up at him. “Not because you told me to,” I affirm. For a moment, I thought I caught a hint of amusement in his gaze, but he moves to his seat and startseating his fruit without saying another word. I suppress a groan when I taste the fresh fruit.

How does he even make this taste good?! Bastard.

When we’ve finished, I stand and pick up both our bowls and walk over to the kitchen and begin loading them into the dishwasher. Hap comes up behind me and snakes his arm around my waist, making me jump.

“Leave that and go and sit down,” he says low into my ear, causing shivers to break out across my skin. His hand splays out across my lower stomach, caressing it affectionately. The simple caring movement has my defensive walls crumbling just a little.

I nod and step out of his hold, immediately missing the heat from his touch. Taking a seat on the deep couch, I curl my legs up beneath me and sit there, feeling warm and cosy as I watch the fire.

The peacefulness doesn’t last long as my stomach begins to swirl a little, and as my mouth begins to fill with saliva, that familiar feeling of nausea creeps up my throat.

“Oh god, no,” I mutter, covering my mouth with my hand. I jump from the couch and run upstairs, crashing to my knees in front of the toilet just in time to empty the contents of my stomach. I feel him move my hair away from my face, holding it back with one hand as he slowly strokes my back in soothing circles. When I finally stop, my stomach now completely empty, I rest my cheek on the seat and take in deep breaths.

Hap moves away and comes back with a damp cloth. “Sit up, baby,” he says softly. I sit up and he gently wipes the warm cloth over my face. As I look up at him, the dam breaks, and I just start sobbing. Full-on uncontrollable, ugly sobbing. “Shit, what is it?” Hap asked, panicked. “You need me to take you to the hospital?” he asks in a worried tone.

I shake my head no. “No!” I wail. “I’m so tired of being sick, and your food was so nice.” I sniff. “It felt so good to eat,”I hiccup between the tears. “I, I just... I just want to eat.” I continue to cry.

Hap doesn’t say anything. He just helps me to my feet before he scoops me up in his arms. I rest my head on his chest, still crying like the world is coming to an end. He carries me into my room and lays me down on the bed. As he goes to move back, I reach out and grab his t-shirt.

I look up at him through my tear-filled eyes. “Please don’t go,” I plead.

He strokes my hair back from my face. “I’m not going anywhere,” he states firmly. I release my grip on his T-shirt, watching as he walks around to the other side of the bed. He climbs up and lies down next to me. I roll closer to him, and he doesn’t protest or move away as I cuddle into him. He wraps his arms around me, and I nuzzle my head into his chest. His fingers stroke through my hair. My tears still continue to fall. He doesn’t talk, and he doesn’t ask questions. He just lays with me, holding me in his arms.

My tears eventually stopped, yet we still just laid there, his fingers still stroking through my hair. I swallow. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m not a crier, but since being pregnant and sick, I just can’t control it. It’s like it just happens, and I can’t stop it,” I sigh honestly. “I didn’t even cry when I found Trent and Steph. Even then I locked that shit up. I am not weak,” I continue, trying to ignore how good he smells.

“I will see if we can increase the dose the doctor has given. We will find a way to make you feel better,” he states.

I didn’t want to tell him that this right now, him holding me like this already made me feel so much better. Even when we were married, Trent had never held me like this. I go to move away, as the feeling, this moment, feels too personal.

Hap’s arm tightens around me before he rolls me onto my back and leans over me. A moment passed as his eyes searchedmy face. “Let me take care of you.” It’s a statement. He’s not asking, but he’s demanding it, albeit in a softer tone.

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