Forever Tied to you

53

Sophie

Everyone has a time in their life they wish they could go back to - the golden years when everything was less complicated. The time when you were carefree and without any real sense of danger.

As I walked into the house with Mason, I wished I could go back to that time, the time before all the bad stuff happened, before life got complicated and out of control.

"I'm going to run you a bath, just relax okay?" Mason stamped a kiss on my forehead before disappearing upstairs.

I set my jacket on the coat rack and filled up a glass of water in the kitchen. As strange as it sounded to admit, I wouldn't change the circumstances of my life. Everything that I had experienced had brought me and Mason together in the first place, and everything after only seemed to make us stronger as a couple.

Changing my past, no matter the scars that still remained, would change my present with him, and Mason was something I never wanted to change in my life.

When he came downstairs soon after, he held me for a few moments as we stood in the kitchen. No words needed to be said,  the feeling that he was there speaking louder than any words could.

I slipped into the warm water filled with bubbles, immersing my skin completely as I closed my eyes and let the lavender scents relax me.

After about thirty minutes of soaking the water was turning cold. I got up and wrapped the fluffy white towel around myself before walking to the bedroom.

"Feel better?" Mason asked as he held his arms out, beckoning me to find my way into them.

I quickly slipped on some pajamas and snuggled into his side as he covered us with the blankets. "I do, thank you."

....

Another couple of weeks passed after that night and neither of us brought up the meltdown or the reasons for it. It was stupid, but I didn't want to talk about it with him. I didn't want him to wonder if he could have prevented it, didn't need him to punish himself anymore than he already had.

Everything was going great, or as great as it could be. Sierra's father was still very persistent about everyone having dinner together, but I was showing far more than I had been on our first encounter, so Mason had to continue to make up excuses - my none existent school preparations being the main one used.

I was also, officially now too pregnant to be seen in public. I was fortunate to get to the last few months before I really began to show, but now that I was, it was impossible to leave the house. The risk of being seen by someone was too much. So I stayed put. Arranged and rearranged the nursery a few times and put it back to its original place.

I tried to find a hobby, but our Netflix and Hulu accounts had run dry after the first week, leaving me with very little to do in terms of occupying my time. The house was spotless, and while Mia would come over to keep me company, the cabin fever of being surrounded by the same few walls was suffocating.

"I'm officially going crazy!" I announced as Mia smiled at something the youngest was coloring on the floor.

"You are not. You're just tired of being stuck inside the house, which, by the way is normal. But you only have a few weeks left Sophie."

"I know." I sighed, "it's just these last few weeks feel longer than the last seven months!"

"Just wait. Soon you'll be elbow deep in baby poop and spit up, you won't even care about the outside world anymore."

I rubbed my stomach slowly as I absorbed her words. It wasn't really that bad was it? It couldn't be? Everyone always said that babies were adorable and smelled nice. Mia was making it sound like they were gross.

"It can't be that bad?" I looked at her as she gave me a pointed stare.

"I mean the first few months are fine, but then you'll get a few blow out diapers and a lot of spitting up. Then they start moving and making a mess and before you know it, they're yelling back at you." She chuckled as a weird pain hit my right side.

"Crap!" I gasped.

"Are you okay?" She looked at me concerned.

"Yeah, just got a pain in my side." I rubbed the spot.

"Here, drink some water." She handed me the glass off the table. Surprisingly it went away. "False labor. Drinking water or walking around helps. If it doesn't then it's usually the real thing."

"Good to know." I smiled as the doorbell rang and I looked at her confused. "No one is supposed to know I'm here except you and his family and they just walk in now."

"Don't worry. I'll get rid of them. I'll tell them I'm grabbing work for Steven. Just go hide." She winked getting up with her youngest in tow.

I ducked into one of the adjoined rooms where I wouldn't be seen as she opened the door. "Why are you here?" She asked.

"To look at my future house. Why are you here!" Sierras voice echoed through the house.

"I'm picking up some files for Steven. Plus Mason asked me to check on the house while Sophie is out studying."

"Well let me in. I need to see what needs to be decorated in a few months. This will be my house soon." Sierra continued.

"Yeah, I don't think so." Mia replied followed by a phone ringing.

"Mia is everything ..." she didn't give Mason a chance to say anything before she cut him off.

"Mason, can you please explain to Sierra that if she wants to come and scope out the house, she needs to do so when you are here. I am not comfortable letting her in when I'm only here to get some files." She lied like it was nothing.

"Sierra. I'll arrange something with you soon. I still have three months until our arrangement and if Sophie leaves me before then our deal is off!" He said with a little more conviction than I liked.

It was okay though. I mean I knew it was a part of the act we had to put on, at least for now.

"Fine, but I'm getting tired of waiting." She whined.

"You need to leave my house. If Sophie sees you there the deal is off!" He said sternly over the phone and if the clicking of her heels and the door closing was an indication, she had left.

"Thanks Mason, Sophie is fine, she hid when I opened the door. Okay we will see you both soon."

Mia suddenly appeared in front of me with a smile. "Guess who's staying for dinner? By the way I really do need to get your secret!"

"My secret?" I shrugged.

"For keeping him so obsessed with you all the time?" She smirked and I laughed.

She was the best friend ever and I assumed that the impromptu dinner was connected to him making a decision on the partnership idea. I knew Mason well enough by now to know he had a plan for everything.