Cresswell: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six

Thorne cast a glance at Cress, curled up on on the sofa with a half-eaten pop tart on the table beside her.

"You doing okay?" he asked, checking the ships pressure.

"Yep!" Cress grinned. "Just checking my class schedule."

"You said you're doing all online, right?"

Cress nodded, a little sadly. "I liked actually going to school."

"Maybe next semester when she's a little
older you could go for one or two classes."

Cress nodded again, then yawned.

"We've still got a few hours until we land if you want to go get some rest," Thorne suggested with a shrug.

Cress shifted her lips to the side. "Yeah maybe I will. Don't suppose I could talk you into coming?"

Thorne smirked. "Sure, just give me a few minutes to set auto pilot."

Cress have him a thumbs up. She stood, pausing to kiss him and then disappearing down the short corridor.

Thorne was quick to plot the coordinate, checking the weather and landing pad to make sure they would be clear before getting up and joining Cress in their cabin. She was already curled up quite comfortable in their bed, cocooned in blankets.

"You sure there's room for me in there?" he asked with a laugh.

Cress giggled. "Pretty sure."

Thorne kicked off his boots and slid in beside her, wrapping her in a careful hug and kissing the side of her head. "You're feeling okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just checking. Gotta take care of my girl."

"Girls," she corrected with a grin.

"Ah, very true." Thorne rubbed a hand on her stomach, feeling the baby move around. Spades he didn't think he'd ever get used to that feeling. It was so hard to believe there was an actual, living little baby in there! They'd taken another scan at her last appointment and the picture was propped up on the nightstand. The baby was sucking her thumb.

"Have you talked at all to your parents?" she asked.

"Shh. You're supposed to be resting."

"I am resting."

"Talking about my parent is not a restful subject."

Cress laughed a little harder. "I just meant since they, you know... set up a trust fund for her and gave us all that money for medical expenses and stuff..." she trailed off.

Thorne was silent for a few minutes. "I talked to them."

Cress perked up. "You did?" Her eyes were round and she looked relieved.

"I did."

"What's they say? Or what'd you say?"

"I just told them what happened when you were to the ER and that everything was okay and that we were going back home. I also thanked them," he added with a mock shudder.

Cress poked his side.

"Okay, go to sleep. You've got two hours."

"No pressure," she scoffed.

Thorne switched on the net screen, turning the volume down and playing with the ends of Cress's hair. She grew quiet and while Thorne wasn't sure whether or not she actually fell asleep, she at least got some decent rest.

The ship chimed about an hour and a half later, and Thorne quietly snuck away and took over to manually land. Since there was a rainstorm, it was a little trickier than normal but he managed to get them on the ground with only minimal damage to the trees nearby.

"Cress? We've landed, sweetheart," Thorne said, surprised to find her actually asleep when he came back into their room.

Cress stretched her arms beneath the pillows. "Mkay."

Thorne stopped for her sweatshirt and shoulder bag."You wanna wait here while I bring everything in?"

"No, I can help."

Thorne shook his head. "It's cold and raining."

"I don't mind," Cress said around a half-hearted glare.

"I mind." Thorne kissed the end of her nose. "Get your shoes."

Cress tugged on her boots and took Thorne's hand when he held it out to her. He walked with her back up to their apartment, turned the heater on, and got a fire started before jogging back down to the Rampion and grabbing the rest of their things. He let Cress do the unpacking while he ordered some food.

"I've gotta go to the studio tomorrow morning," Thorne said after their dinner was delivered.

"Starting up on live episodes again?"

He nodded. "Yeah." He almost grinned. "I kinda miss it. Recording in the studio. I mean, I haven't been doing it all that long but it's easy to get used to."

Cress grinned right back, taking her box of food when he handed it to her. "I'm sure!" She sighed, smiling happily as she stared out the window at the falling rain.

"You good?"

She nodded, leaning back against him. "Oh yeah."