I'll Be There

Chapter 13

They finished the rest of their dinner in silence. The waiter only returned when absolutely necessary.

As they arrived back to their new home, Dakota walked in silently and continued to give Jamie the cold shoulder. She was still pissed with him. She started to head upstairs.

"Dakota, come into the living room with me," Jamie requested. "We need to talk."

"What's there to talk about?" she asked impatiently. "You've never treated me like a child before." There was hurt in her eyes.

"Dakota, if you'd stop acting like a child I wouldn't treat you like one. You need to hear me out in order to understand. Please come talk to me. I don't want to fight and I don't want you mad at me. This night was supposed to be about celebrating our new home," he replied.

She looked at him for a moment before giving in. She silently turned around and headed towards the living room, sitting on one side of the couch. He sat beside her. "Ok, I'm here," she said, "Talk."

"I'm sorry for making you feel like a child but you need to know something. Before I tell you though, I never want you to try to upset me by hitting on another man," he started. "That poor waiter fancied you the moment he laid eyes on you and he picked up on our row and decided to take his shot. It wasn't fair to treat me like that just because you were angry and it wasn't fair to make him believe that you fancied him too."

"It wasn't fair to me...!" Dakota interrupted him, but Jamie put his finger to her lips, cutting her off mid sentence.

"I'm not finished yet," he said, "When I ask or request you to do something, it's not because I'm trying to overpower you or demean you. There is always a reason. It upsets me that you think otherwise. I know something that I don't believe you have realized yet and I've been concerned about your wellbeing these last few days with all of the stress you've been under. It doesn't help matters when you skip meals. I promise, I'm not trying to dominate you like Christian does to Ana, but if that's what I need to do in order to get you to listen to me, then I will. Now please continue."

"Why didn't you let me order what I wanted?" she asked.

"We will get to that in a moment," he answered. "Right now I want you to promise me that you will never try to retaliate against me again by hitting on other men, unless you truly fancy them."

"No, there is no one else I fancy," she replied guiltily. "I'm sorry. I know it was wrong to do that. You just made me so mad and I didn't know how else to reassert my independence. I love you and nothing will change that."

"I never doubted that for one minute, love," he replied with a smile. "Come here." He pulled her into a hug.

"Ok, so now why is it suddenly so important that I not skip meals?" she asked, still curious as to his new behavior.

He looked down at her in his arms and stared into her eyes for a minute. "Dakota, the night we made love, do you remember me saying how we made quite a mess?"

"Yeah..." she replied, still completely confused.

"Well, baby....the condom broke. It's a possibility that you may be pregnant," he said slowly, searching her eyes for an inkling as to what was going through her head.

"What?" she whispered in surprise. She was speechless staring at him in amazement.

"Yeah," he replied. "Now do you understand?"

She just nodded. Tears suddenly filled her eyes as the initial shock wore off. "I'm so sorry!" She started to cry.

"Shhh," he hushed her. "Don't cry, Dakota."

"But what if I am?" she asked. "We're not ready for a baby. Our work schedules are crazy. We'll be filming 'Fifty Shades Darker' soon..."

"Hush," he pulled her back into an embrace. "If you are, we'll make it work. I promise I'll stay by your side either way. The only thing I want you to worry about right now is staying healthy. Get enough sleep, stay well nourished, and, most importantly, don't over stress yourself."

Dakota snuggled closer into him and nuzzled her head into his neck. She was scared to death but so relieved that Jamie was with her. "I am so sorry for how I treated you at dinner. I'm so sorry..."

"Dakota, enough. You didn't know. I just want you to take care of yourself," he replied. He looked at her lovingly. Suddenly, she sat up and scooted back to the other end of the couch remembering something.

"You said earlier that you wanted to do something to me that you may regret. What did you mean?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter," he answered. Hoping she'd drop it.

"James," she warned, "tell me now." Dakota wasn't about to give in. She needed to know his original intentions.

He looked at her with shame in his eyes. "I wanted to spank you like Christian would have done to Ana."

Dakota gasped. "I thought you weren't into that kind of stuff," she stated, clearly amazed at his response.

"I'm not...I wasn't," he stuttered. "I mean, hurting you would never bring me pleasure, but I was so angry at you and you were acting so childish that I felt you should be punished like a child." He didn't dare look at her, afraid of the horror he'd find on her face.

"But you don't feel that way now?" she asked, still a little confused.

"No," he admitted. "I mean, I still want to punish you and remind you that we belong to each other, but not through pain now."

"How then?" she asked.

"You'll see..." he replied, finally looking at her. She had a gigantic grin spreading across her face. "You're happy about this?" he asked.

"I'm excited that you're interested in trying some of these things out," she answered nervously.