Nathalie's Breakup

Part 4 - What's the other issue?

Simply seeing the man, who had been so cold and distant to everyone for years, caring so much for 'her', made new tears flow down her cheeks.

The designer noticed and sat back down, asking compassionately:

"What happened? Did I say something, that hurt you? If so, I am sorry, I....!"

He was shut up by her lips on his cheek.

"Thank you!", the pregnant woman whispered, as more tears dripped on his blazer, "the crying is the worst of those annoying hormonal things, I can't control! Followed closely by....never mind.... it's none of your problems.... I...."

Shaking her head and blushing even more, she once again avoided his gaze.

"Why don't we just get you to bed and then you can tell me about all those things, if you want to. I promise, I will neither laugh nor judge! And maybe there are some 'hormonal things' I can offer my help with!"

He had lifted her into his arms, while he spoke and had begun to walk up the staircase, when she groaned to his words and buried her face into the crook of his neck.

"Can we please talk about anything else? I don't know, where to look at all right now! And the more I think about your offer, the worse it gets, so please, just...!", she whined desperately.

"I'm afraid, I can't follow right now! Care to explain, what's making you feel so flustered? I have been through most of the things, when Emilie was having Adrien, so... I won't mind any mood swings or cravings, I can handle any sorts of vomiting and know like fifteen recipes against severe heartburn. On very bad days, especially, when you were busy with other things, I even pretended to be a female friend and listened to her, complaining about sore breasts, discharge, being all bloated and gassy, obstipation, the urge to pee all the time.... anything, I forgot?", he snickered, and gently let her down on the mattress of his huge double bed, as they had arrived in his bedroom, while they spoke.

Waiting for his young assistant to get into a comfortable position, he then went to his closet to grab a fresh duvet and was about to switch it with his used one, when Nathalie stopped him.

"Wait, please don't make such a fuzz because of me! First of all, I don't mind and second, your scent is kinda nice. It's one of the few odours, which doesn't make me sick and it's comforting somehow, as it's something I am familiar with. I hope this doesn't make me even more pathetic and the situation even more awkward, than it already had been!", she wondered with pleading eyes.

The look, she gave him right now, would have been enough to make him rob a bank, shoot that moron, who kept hurting her so much or crawl at her feet right here and now, if she would just tell him to.

Trying to hide his sudden vulnerability, he laughed it off and sat down on the edge of the mattress, right next to her, his leg slightly touching hers, while he observed her with a still worried expression.

"Are you comfortable here now? Or is there anything else, I can do? Would you like something to eat? Or to drink. Crap, I left your water downstairs, I'll go and get you some to place on the nightstand, so you don't need to get up for it. Like a jug and a glass. Just speak it out and I'll try to make it happen!"

Nathalie shook her head smiling and crying at once.

"Oh Gabriel, this is, you are.... I don't even know, how to thank you! What you're doing just now, it's more than I could've hoped for, more than someone ever...."

Now she was sobbing again and the man could tell right away, what she was thinking about. He was acting the way, her unborn child's father should have acted, should have cared for her.

This time he just watched her, as he could tell quickly, she would calm down on her own. Instead he waited for her to be able to look at him again, then reluctantly let his hand hover above her lower belly, pleading:

"May I?"

The young woman looked puzzled for a moment, then she understood and, not knowing, how to respond, just shrugged and tilted her head a little bit in consent.

With a blissful smile Gabriel placed his palm very softly on her stomach, feeling her tense, the moment he made contact, but very soon, he could also feel her relax into the touch and close her eyes to savour the moment.

As her breathing deepened, the designer smiled and was about to get up and let her rest, when he felt her hand on top of his, which had still been on her very slightly visible bump, had been drawing small circles, very slow and very lightly, hoping to make the woman, he cared so much about, feel safe and wanted.

"Please stay a little longer, yeah?", Nathalie muttered, while she held his hand in place.

"I thought, you were asleep, dear!", he hummed but she shook her head.

"No, just feeling good for the first time in ages. So if you don't mind, I could use a couple more minutes of feeling good!"

"Oh? Do you?", he teased her with wiggling eyebrows and a mischievous grin, to which she almost jolted up and into a sitting position.

"Woah, relax! I was joking! Just lay back down!", he soothed her. But then it dawned to him and he all of a sudden felt the desire, he had buried deep inside, when she moved in with that dickhead, rise again and shifted uncomfortably on the bed.

"Everything okay?", the assistant asked him after a few minutes of fidgeting.

"I guess!", he sighed, focusing on their hands, which were still both on her belly.

"Gabriel? If you want me to trust you, maybe you should try the very same?"

He inhaled deeply, then searched for her eyes. Only when he had found them and locked his gaze with hers, he almost yelled his question:

"What's the second worst hormonal issue, Nathalie?"

"What?", the woman gasped in utter shock, "what do you mean?"

"You said, crying was the worst, followed closely by....! By what, dear?"