Sugar Daddy Chronicles

And They Lived.

AN: This is an epilogue but I refuse to call it that.

~Couple of Years Later~

I anxiously wring my hands in my lap because my nerves won't let me just sit here patiently.

My husband is looking at my surprise in confusion and I'm not sure how much longer I can take his silence.

Should I get up and get something from the kitchen? Maybe a drink of water? Or, maybe a bite to eat? I know he hasn't eaten all day so I could start on dinner and begin eating in the hope that he'll join me.

But that wouldn't work since I can never seem to hold anything down these days, an occurrence I know was really starting to worry him. It worried me too, which is why I went to my doctor to figure out what was wrong with me.

I thought it would be cute, ya know? I was taking a long walk after leaving the doctor's office and the idea just popped into my head.

Now I honestly regret ever searching for and then buying the stupid bib that says, "Daddy's Napping Partner." This may be my dumbest idea to date.

I take in a deep breath and let it out slowly in order to keep my calm. This silence is really starting to rattle me. I can even hear our clock in the kitchen ticking away!

Which is a lie, but I feel like I can hear each second tick by. Slowly. An eternity of clicks goes by before he moves.

He startles and looks up at me with big glassy eyes.

"Phoebe...." He starts but can't seem to finish because something catches in his throat.

"Gareth...?" I respond nervously.

We lock eyes for a moment before he tosses the bib onto the ebony coffee table and flattens me against the couch. One arm around my middle and the other goes above me as he places his head right against the curve of my neck. I wrap my legs around him and hug what I can.

"Phoebe!" He sobs. His entire body is shuddering with emotion.

I let him weep into my neck but I can't decipher if he's happy or not. I knew he'd have a strong reaction but I didn't think he'd cry. It's not even his full body weight that crushes me, it's the fact that this has never happened before.

Oh hell this is bad, really bad.

He was supposed to scream out in happiness or yell in disbelief. Not cry. I don't have a plan for crying.

Tears suck because I never know how to make them go away.

But maybe that's the problem?

Instead of trying to get rid of them, maybe I should accept the situation? Let everything progress naturally?

I rub my husbands back for what seems like forever. Tears escape my eyes every once in a while at the pain I can practically feel coming off of my Gareth.

It took him forever to come clean about what happened between him and Nash. Once I found out I called the woman crying and now we've come to an understand of sorts. Losing a child isn't uncommon but it's no surprise that it's what split them.

Now I'm pregnant and scared that the past will repeat itself.

Maybe he is too?

I bought an app that tells me the baby's size in food comparisons but I haven't looked because I know I'd let the information slip out without meaning to. Who wouldn't want to know that you currently have a baby the size of a plum/ avocado/ grapefruit in your uterus?