Pregnant Pause [H.S]

Chapter 22

Sheer

The following morning, I slept past the rising sun, only waking when I heard plates clattering in the kitchen followed by whispering voices. My eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the light. As often was the case, I'd slept soundly on my stomach, cheek pressed into the pillow. But at some point in the night, Fitz had cuddled up to me on her side, and I woke with an arm outstretched and curled around her.

I blinked away the sleep and smiled, remaining still for a minute or two in order to consciously appreciate how we'd gravitated to one another in our sleep. The whispering voices grew louder as those awake moved into the living room just outside our bedroom door, and with a relaxed sigh, I began to disentangle myself from the girl sleeping next to me. I pulled up the blankets in my place to keep her warm.

Then I threw on a few clothes – boxers, shorts, the pullover jumper that Fitz and I had been sharing – and slipped out of the room with a smile on my face.

I waved good morning to those in the common room – Liam, Macy, Louis – and strolled to the kitchen to find a pot of tea already steeped. Whistling to myself, I grabbed a mug and poured myself a cup.

"I'm sorry... what?" Louis said as he joined me in the kitchen. Unperturbed, I looked up. He counted off his fingers. "Up late, smile on his face, whistling the tune to 'The Hamster Dance'... did my mate get some last night, or what?"

Declining to confirm, I cupped his cheeks in my hands when he stood before me and kissed his forehead. Then I took my mug and headed out the back door, Louis' laughter echoing behind me.

It was a misty morning, not quite as clear as the day before. I inhaled deeply and delighted in the fresh, crisp air that filled my lungs. So different from the city, with its smoke and pollution and stagnant air. Here, the air smelled like the ocean, like everything bad could just be washed away.

And I knew this air was doing me good. It had been a long time since my thoughts weren't racing and whirling, but they were at peace here. My head felt clear and free for the first time in a long, long while.

The sliding door opened and closed behind me, but I kept my mug on the rail and stared ahead, reasoning that whoever had come out would verbally announce themselves. Instead, a pair of arms wrapped around my middle, a body pressed to my back.

With a lazy smile, I turned to face Fitz, who let me lean my back against the rail before clasping her arms around me again.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead, pulling back to say in a husky voice, "G'morning, birthday girl."

She closed her eyes and smiled. "Did you make me birthday breakfast?"

"Seeing as I've been up all of sixty seconds... yes, yes I did. Lou ate it. I say we drown him."

She chuckled, leaning forward against my body and pressing her cheek to my fleece covered chest. "Okay," she murmured in agreement.

And then we stood in silence, lost in our own thoughts. I enveloped her in a firm embrace, comfortingly rubbing her back over her shirt, and then slipping my hand underneath to feel her skin warm to my touch.

Fitz sighed in contentment. "I love being here with you."

A thoughtful half-smile crossed my face. "Yeah."

"I don't want to go back home. I just want to stay here, like this, forever."

"Well, we have all of today."

She shook her head, tightening her grip around me. "That's not nearly long enough."

*

Another lazy morning around the cottage, another relaxing afternoon on the beach (although Josie, whose fair skin had burnt the day before, camped under an umbrella the entire time). In the evening, we showered off and walked into town for dinner on a restaurant patio – except for Macy and Liam, who hung around a bit longer and drove because they were "late" (a likely cover – in reality, they had a gift for Fitz that was apparently heavy).