A Twist Of Magic

Chapter Thirty Nine

I sat down on the staircase and sighed. Daniel always seemed to be putting pressure on me. First I'd had to run away and leave my life behind and now he was pressuring me to get married. I didn't feel ready for any of this, I would be a mother in six months and I hadn't even got my head around that yet, and now he wanted me to march down the aisle. Just because he seemed okay with the fact that we would soon be parents, that didn't mean that I'd come to terms with it yet. It just seemed to be one thing after another.

"What's wrong trouble?" Jack asked as he sat next to me on the stairs.

"Nothing." I said quickly.

"You can tell me." he said quietly.

"No, actually I can't, you'll just stir up again." I said shortly.

"I'm sorry about that, I was just so angry." he sighed.

"Yeah I gathered that." I said shortly.

"You can't blame me for being relieved, if the baby had turned out to be your's, Danny would have left me." I added.

"I know and I do understand that, but I can't help how I feel about you." he said quietly.

I sighed and rested my chin on my hands.

"So why don't you want to get married?" he asked.

"I do, I'm just not ready right now, there's so much going on at the moment that I want to wait." I explained.

"It seems to me like you are having doubts." he stated.

"That's bullshit." I snapped.

"Finding out that I'm pregnant has been a bit of a shock, it's going to take a while to get my head around it." I added quickly.

"Yeah I guess so." he muttered.

"Jack, stop it." I said sharply, knowing that he was secretly judging me.

"I didn't realise you were stressing about being a mother." he tried.

"Well I am, I don't think I'm ready for this." I admitted.

"It's natural to feel that way, but I'm sure you'll be amazing." he reassured me.

"It's just a lot of pressure." I sighed.

"I had no idea you felt that way." I heard Daniel's voice from behind me.

Both Jack and I whipped around as we heard his voice. Neither of us having any idea that he was standing behind us, listening to every word that we were saying.

"I didn't know how to tell you." I admitted. Part of me was ashamed that I felt this way. I was supposed to be strong and deal with whatever life threw at me, but I didn't feel that way. I felt overwhelmed and afraid that I would let both Daniel and our child down.

"I'm not as strong as you." I whispered.

He sighed and knelt down next to me.

"I'm not strong, I'm just as terrified as you are, but we will do this together and support each other. I'll be right by your side." he said gently.

"Plus Uncle Jack can cover babysitting duties." Jack chuckled.

I smiled slightly and stared at the floor.

"I'm sorry Danny, I do want to marry you, just not right now." I told him.

"It's fine, we can have a long term engagement." he reassured me.

"Thanks Danny." I smiled as I quickly leaned across and hugged him tightly.
"No problem, take as long as you need." he whispered in my ear.

"We should head back to the safehouse." Jack suggested.

"Are you ready to go?" Daniel asked me quietly.

I nodded and slowly stood up, smiling at Daniel as he took my hand.

"We're all here for you." Jack stated as he took my other hand.

Daniel glanced at him for a moment, clearly not happy that Jack was holding my hand, but to my relief he remained silent as the three of us walked down the stairs to return to the safehouse.