Back To Seattle

Chapter 14

Getting out of bed was not something she wanted to do that morning. From the second her conscious was awake, she was fully aware of what had been threatened to her the day before from Jordan, and she did not want to put herself in that situation. But then she didn't want to let Derek on to what was happening, either.

His soft snores sounded from beside her in the bed, his arm loosely over her waist, where it had been for most of the night. At least, it had been there every time she had woken up.

Slowly, she crawled from the bed, not moving too quick to avoid any feelings of being faint. Her stomach was already churning, and the last thing she needed today was a bad bout of morning sickness on top of an already stressful day. Like that was something she would even be able to control.

A short grumble came from the sheets behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Derek stirring slightly, but he seemed to drift back off to sleep, none the wiser to her absence from the bed. Staying quiet, she slid into the adjoining bathroom, splashing cold water over her face a moment before realising maybe an actual shower would be more useful.

Perched on the side of the bath, she waited for the shower water to warm up with her arms wrapped around her middle. Her eyes drifted shut as she sat there, her hand drifting over her slightly raised abdomen. It wouldn't be noticeable if you weren't looking at it, but to her it felt like it's all anybody could see. One reason she was dreading Jordan's appearance.

They'd been trying for a baby, before things had become unbearable, before things had become more and more physical. She had thought maybe a baby would make things better. If she gave him what he wanted, he'd ease off at the very least. But it was becoming clearer and clearer, especially after her visit to a fertility specialist, she wasn't the one with the fertility issues.

She visibly winced as she remembered bringing it up to him. Merely suggesting he was the one with fertility issues. He had been constantly adamant that he wasn't the one with the issues. It was her, of course it had to be her. Everything was her fault.

Clearly, since all it took was one night with Derek for her to get pregnant, the problem didn't lie with her.

A soft knock on the door disturbed her, and her eyes opened again to the steam starting to fill the bathroom. Her head lifted as she stood and opened the door slightly, meeting Derek's worried expression.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently.

"I'm good, I'm just going to get a quick shower before we head in," she gave him a small, and hopefully reassuring, smile.

"I'll pull together something quick for breakfast then," he offered, and just as she opened her mouth to protest, he spoke again quickly, "You need to try and eat something, Mer, it'll make the sickness easier, remember?"

She rolled her eyes, remembering how he had been pouring over the pregnancy books just as much as she had. A slight panic jolted her, her eyes widening as she realised what she'd done, rolling her eyes at him. That had to have been a mistake. She shouldn't have done that. But he just chuckled softly.

"Cute," he smirked slightly, lifting his hand to her cheek as he pressed a soft kiss to her lips, catching her off guard slightly.

"Oh," she breathed, pressing her lips together to savour his sweet taste.

"Go on, get in the shower, we've got time so don't rush," he told her, his thumb gently stroking her cheek.

"Okay," she whispered, leaning her lips forward to catch his again, unable to keep the smile off her face when he responded just as eagerly.

She stepped forward as his other arm slid around her waist and brought her closer to him, their lips moving in a slow synchronisation with one another, like it was something they had done for years. Their bodies just seemed to know each other, and every time she realised this it almost pushed her over into a state of panic. But then he would gently squeeze her closer, nudging his nose against hers with a soft grin, and everything felt okay again.