Red Room / 𝐧. 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐟𝐟 & 𝐛. 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬

#10

"And so... considering how early she was born, she really is a miracle baby." The doctor finished after telling us that our baby was healthy.

She really was a miracle. Born when I was only 26 weeks pregnant. James, loved her. She was born a week ago, and we'd just been left out of the hospital. James barely put her down, let alone hold other people, excluding me.

He was already so protective. "James, honey, we're leaving..." I said as tears started to appear in my eyes.

He came over to me, holding the bay in his arms. He kissed the top of my head and I leaned into his chest, not moving. "I know... I know it's hard, but it's for her own good. You know it just as well as I do."

"I know, I know." I drew a deep breath in. "I just have to be strong for her."

———

We got off the plane. We were in an airport somewhere in America. We were giving our baby girl to a couple I'd known from the Red Room. They worked there, until they escaped. They were technically prisoners there.

I walked down the centre of the large room, and found them in the back. I looked down at my baby girl in my arms, and tears formed in my eyes once again. She watched me with such intensity it was almost scary for a baby. "James, let's run off. We don't have to do this. We can disappear, we could do it." I beg, letting my tears fall down my face.

James' POV
When Nat begged me to run away with her, my heart broke. "You know I love you, right?" I ask her cautiously. She nods and I continue. "And I love our baby just as much... but if, it they find out, our lives, they'd end them..." I pulled Natalia into my arms and kissed the top of her head, along with our baby's head.

Natalia walked over to the couple with me closely behind her. She kissed our babies head before handing her to the woman. I'd never met these people, but Nat trusted them with her life, which was good enough for me.

"Thank you for doing this." I say, nodding curtly. The man shakes my hand.

"No problem. We've always wanted kids of our own, and this is the closest we'll get to it." He says nodding his head.

The woman looks down at our baby and smiled at her. "She's gorgeous." Nat nods her head before coming to wrap her arms around my waist tightly.

Natalia's POV
I knew that if I didn't do something, I would rip my baby out of that woman's arms, so instead I wrapped my arms around James' waist. "Well, we should get going. We'll visit as soon as we can." I sigh. "Our flight's leaving soon." They nod and let us say goodbye to our baby once more.

"Listen, I'm gonna protect you, no matter where I am. And really, no boys until you're 32 years old." James cooed down at our baby girl before kissing her head and standing behind me.

"I love you. I always will. Be good for the nice couple." I kiss the top of her head before looking down at her again. "I will always love you, no matter what." James wraps his arms around me from behind and pulls me into his chest as they walk away. Once they're out of our sight, I turn and rest my forehead on James' chest. He holds me until he pulls away a few minutes later.

"We have to go." He says. I take his hand and let him pull me, not trusting my voice. People glance at me warily as I walk by, and I realize my face is tear-stained.

The plane ride back to Russia was nothing. It mainly consisted of me holding James' hand and trying not to ball my eyes out. I should have been strong, but in times like this, I couldn't do it. I just gave my baby away to live in a different country. I was in a moment of vulnerability, and after that I swore to myself I wouldn't go through that again.