𝗠𝘆 𝗘𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲 ⇉ 𝗝𝗝 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸

𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲

Ariella didn't know when they got to the church, but she found herself sitting on one of the old rusty benches. She flinches at the sound of JJ's sudden loud tone. "Damn it! I knew I didn't hide it well enough!"

Ari turns her head just enough to see JJ kick a cushion to the other side of the room. She stands, catching John B's attention. He rushes to her side and keeps her from stumbling forward. "Slow, cinderella. You took quite a hit."

"Bird, my face—."

"JJ cleaned you off. There's nothing to worry about, just some small cuts." John B assures, moving her hair out of her face. "How's mini JJ?"

Ariella's hand falls to her stomach, she pushes on her bump gently, trying to get a small kick out of the baby. Nothing. Her eyes widen as she looks up at John B. "JJ. Get JJ."

She knew the importance of the cross, but her baby was way more important. If she lost them, she'd be losing apart of herself and she can't take another loss. Especially not this one. It would kill her.

"JJ." John B calls to him, frantically waving him over.

Seeing his girlfriend's terrified expression, he quickly rushes over, checking her over. "Hey, baby. How you feeling? Are you okay—."

"The baby." Ariella wraps her arms around herself. "They're not kicking or doing anything. Something maybe wrong. I-I'm scared."

"No, no, no. Everything is okay." JJ tries to calm her down. His hands take her face. He kisses her forehead. "Breathe, baby."

Ariella does as told, trying to relax herself. JJ's hands move down to her bump, softly moving her arms before placing his warm hands on her stomach. He pressed around gently, mumbling. "Come on, kid. Give me something. Please."

Ariella felt tears brim her eyes as worry starts to fill her heart, but it quickly leaves when she feels a strong kick, the baby hitting JJ's hand. Relief entered her body and tears fall out of her eyes. "Oh, thank goodness."

JJ lathers her bump in kisses. "You gave us a scare, kiddo."

"Gosh, I've never been so scared." Ariella clings to JJ, who holds her close, kissing her head.

"Strong like its momma." JJ moves to sit her down. "Stay here and relax, we have to figure out what to do next."

Ariella hums as she sits down, the baby now having her party in her stomach making her smile. She moves her attention to JJ as he paces back and forth. "Okay. What do we do? What do we do? We need a plan. We need a plan. What's the plan?"

Pope stands off alone, glancing up at where they first find the cross. He was in disbelief, wondering what to do next and if there was anything to do next. He mumbles to himself as thoughts fill his head.

"All, right, here's what we do." JJ starts. "We'll grab some kerosene tanks from the Chat, then we...we go to my dad's shop and grab some dynamite. And then we drive down to Charleston and tell this lady who she's messing with!"

"J—."

"Because this is some bullshit, y'all!" JJ exclaims, anger running through his body.

"That's not gonna help." Sarah says, exhaustion hitting her. It was hitting all of them. And it didn't help that it was their brother that did this.

"Well, what is, Sarah?" JJ snaps at her, the action making Ariella sigh. She motions JJ to join her, pulling him to sit down next to her.

"I think you're the one who needs to breathe, yeah?" Ariella grabs his hands, placing it on her bump. The baby is still kicking as she pulls him into a kiss. She could feel JJ's relax under her touch. "You know, we can't just blow it up. We have to be smart about everything we do from here on out. We can't be rash.