How is This My Life?

Chapter 7

Adrian POV

Elise had been gone for about ten minutes, and she said she shouldn't be more than five. She'd been doing most of the changing and night time routine the last two weeks, except one night when she got held up at work by a crazy patient. I checked my watch again as I headed inside. Something in my gut was saying something was wrong. Same feeling I had before getting blown up. I start checking rooms. Living room, kitchen, dining area, reception area, first two bedrooms on the first floor, all empty. Where are my girls.

"NO! DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME OR HER!" Spinning around, I try to concentrate on where her voice came from. As soon as she's done yelling, I hear my princess crying. The ringing starts and it's the absolute wrong time for that.

"TREVOR! STOP IT!" Keep yelling, I hear both of them more clearly and move in the direction of the hallway.

"WHO THE FUCK IS HE?!" I see them at the end of the hallway. His hand is on my girl and my baby is red in the face, screaming her little lungs out. She notices me first as I run up on this asshole. I round his right side grabbing his arm, tight.

"Let go." I say, deadly quiet, "Now. Or I break it off." He looks in my eyes and I can see he's fucking hammered. He listens, hopefully that survival instinct kicked in. I move my body in between my girls and this guy. "You two, okay?" I can hear Elise, shushing Tennley and sniffling. I wanna fucking kill him.

"Fuck off man. We were talking. That's my girl and baby." He slurs, hiccupping as he tries to get that out. Dude is swaying on his feet, barely standing.

"You're done here. Who did you come with?" I ask, putting my arms out in a way that I try to corral him back to the party. Elise turns and hurries in the room behind us, locking the door.

"Fuck you! That's who! That's my girl! I'm trying to fix shit."

I take a deep breath, because I haven't told anyone that I'm falling for her. For them. That I claim them. "You need to walk away. Those are my girls you scared the shit out of, and if you don't leave, I'll have to make you. And I don't want to do that, seeing how fucked up you are."

His face gets red and angry. Deciding it's a good idea to swing, he stumbles and misses, falling on his face, as I hear laughter from the other end of the hall. The catering crew came around the corner, probably seeing what the drama was.

One man, who looks like the chef is marching this way. "Sorry about him, sir. He's, my cousin. Is she okay?" I just looked at him. "I'm assuming he caught up to Elise?" I nod.

"Sorry. I know they broke up like a year ago. He hasn't been himself, and I've been trying to help him get his shit together. He was supposed to be bartending for my company tonight. I apologize. I'll be in contact with Denise tomorrow to figure out how to solved this."

"He needs to sleep it off," I stare into his eyes, so he can deliver this message clearly, "He touches, looks at, or breathes the same air as my girls, I'll kick his ass so hard he'll be eating through a fucking straw. Do you understand?"

He swallowed, hard, eyes wide, nodding.

"Thank you." I hear the tiniest, most angelic voice behind me. Turning I see both my girls with red eyes, my little one in her jammies. I reach for her, and she practically falls into my arms. I kiss her forehead, telling her she was a brave girl with mommy, that it's all okay now. Pulling Elise under my arm, I walk both of them out and back to the cabin. I'm not leaving them tonight. Not that I was planning on it, but definitely not now.

Watching as Elise laid Tennley down in the pack-n-play we brought, I smiled. I want this. I want these two. This is what I've been missing. The nightmares are basically gone when they're close, or the few times I've fallen asleep next to Tennley trying to get her down in the middle of the night so Elise can sleep a little longer. I don't replay that day over and over anymore when they're around. The anger is quieter when they're around.

"I'm going to change...umm...would you..." she looks from my eyes, to the floor. Breathing in, she looks at me, "After I've changed, will you stay with us? Please?"

What?

"I don't want to be alone." She looks hopeful, "I mean I know Tennley is in here, but it's not the same, and I feel safe with you and that's what I want. I have to call my lawyer tomorrow about this too, and I really just want to feel safe again. And I don't think I can do that with just us two. Tennley and me, I mean."

She really wants me to sleep in here? With them?

"If you don't want to, that's fine. I just"

"Yeah. I'll go change while you do. Do you mind if I bring my own pillow?"

She smiles at me, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "okay" came out barely above a whisper, if I wasn't holding my breath I would have missed it. I hurry to my room, stripping out of my suit and hanging it up. I toss on my grey sweats, grab my pillow and head back to her room. She left the door open, and I see her struggling to unzip her dress.

Helping her unzip it, she puts a t-shirt over her head before stepping out of her dress. I hang it for her while she finishes getting ready for bed. She crawls into bed, next to me, curling into my side. She smiles at me, and I just start talking. Hoping to give her comfort, but also, it feels right. I tell her about my family, or lack thereof, my time in the military, about getting blown up. I show her the scar on my leg where I'm missing a chunk of my thigh. She opens up about her ex, Trevor, I had the pleasure of meeting. She tells me everything, her parents, how she met Denise and Aaron, how Trevor asked for an open relationship then signed away his rights to Tennley.

We talk so long that I don't know what time it is when we finally fall asleep, but I know I'm not out long when Tennley cries. I try to wake Elise so she can feed Tennley, but she's out. I pick my little lady up and go downstairs to get breastmilk out of the freezer to thaw, getting a bottle for the angry little princess.

Leaned against the headboard, feeding this little girl, looking at her beautiful mother who is sleeping next to me, I want this. Could I be a luckier bastard? Kissing the sleeping pair, I curl around Elise, Tennley within eyesight in her pack-n-play.

If you'd asked me two years ago what I wanted, it was to party on in the military. Now? These two. That's what I want. A life with them.

How is this my life?