Before You

Chapter 63

We make it off the plane and into the taxi. We make sure to have the driver take Gracie home first before taking us to the apartment.
We come to a stop in front of the building. Eli opens the door and takes my hand to guide me out. I smile at him and say thank you. He smiles back and gets our luggage from the trunk. I insist to carry at least the carry-on and he said "absolutely not. You're pregnant." It made me mad. "Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm not capable of carrying the carry-on! I know my limits Eli!" He was taken aback. "Baby, listen to me, I'm not trying to take your independence. I know you're capable, but as long as I'm around and you're pregnant, you're not carrying heavy things. You can be mad at me if you want, but I'm not changing my mind." He closes the trunk and heads to the building doors.
I go over to the bench and sit down. When Eli realizes I'm not following he stops and looks at me. "Em, come on. Please come inside. You need to eat and rest." I ignore him and sit and stare out at the busy city.
I hear our luggage fall. He comes over to me and picks me up over the threshold and carries me inside. I protest. "Eli! Put me down!"
He grunts and says "no way, Emma Williams. You're going to rest." I groan in agitation. He opens his apartment door and sets me on the couch in the living room. I hardly had no time to take anything in.
"I'll be right back. I'm going to get our luggage. Stay there and rest." He slams the door when he leaves. It hits me that I just had a fight with Eli and it was my fault. What if he wasn't going to come back. I started crying and got up and left the apartment to look for him. I went down to the lobby and see him walking in. I run over to him and nearly tackle him. He drops a couple of our bags and holds me. "Woah, Em. Shh.. it's okay. What's wrong?" His voiced laced with concern. I hug him tighter.
"I'm so sorry for how I acted. Please don't leave me. I need you... our baby needs you." I sob more. He chuckles and allows me to hug him more. "Em, baby, I'm not going anywhere. You're pregnant and hormonal. It's okay, baby. I promise." He pushes me back a little bit to look at me. He wipes my tears and shakes his head with a smile on his face. "Emma, I love you!" I cry more. And he laughs and kisses me. "Baby, come on, let's go back upstairs. I'll have the front desk bring our luggage up." He puts his arm around my lower back so I can be close as possible. He walks us up to the front desk and requested the luggage service. The woman working the desk, Michelle, smiles a flirty smile, "certainly, Mr. Brink." He thanks her and we leave to head upstairs.
I look at him questionably. "She was flirting with you."
Eli pinched the bridge of his nose. "Em, please don't be jealous. She's just working the front desk and is being friendly." I roll my eyes.
"Right." Was all I could muster up to say. He groans. "Let's just try to have a good first day in Chicago baby. I have a big meeting to get ready for too." I just nod my head and sigh.
I stay quiet a majority of the day. Today has been by far one of the most stressful and nauseating days. Eli checks on me constantly in his bedroom and is worried. I know it's ridiculous to be jealous of the lady at the front desk, but I really can't help it. My hormones are crazy. I just need to pull it together. I give myself a mental pep talk and go out into the living room where Eli is on the couch. He doesn't notice me come in. I walk over to him and he glances at me and smiles. I put my hands on his shoulders to make him lean back. I straddle his lap and wrap my arms around his neck and say softly "hi." He smiles at me. "You are one of a kind, baby." And initiates the kiss. It starts off slow and gentle, but I start teasing him by biting his lip and the kiss becomes more heated and frantic. He lifts me up and carries me to his room and closes the door.