Amber's P.O.V.-
For three days she would wake up just long enough to really make sure Ethan was really there. He hadn't left her side once. That first night, she wanted to tell him why she had left, she knew he had questions, but she hadn't been able to think straight and had only been able to stay awake long enough for him to tell her what had happened.
She lowered her hand to the little bump on her stomach. She felt foolish now. She had ran for no reason. But at the time she didn't know that. As she rubbed her hand over the little bump she thought back to the morning she told her dad more then she had told anyone else.
Flashback:
Evan had his arms around her, holding her tight as she cried into his chest. She was overwhelmed with what she had done. She couldn't believe she had actually married Ethan. The night they had shared had been amazing. He had been so gentle, but she could feel the desire he was holding back, so he wouldn't rush her. He had asked several times if she was sure she was ready. She had to finally take it into her own hands. She had kissed him with everything she had in her. The love, desire, need, but mostly love. She didn't know what she was doing, but Ethan got the message she was trying to tell him. It finally broke something in him. He was still gentle with her, but it was no longer slow and he stopped asking questions.
Right before he had fallen asleep he said, “I love you, Amber.” Before she could answer him, his eye's closed and he was out. She thought she would have fallen asleep with him, she had been so relaxed and happy. But then she started thinking. Yes she did love him too, but she hadn't told him. She hadn't told him one thing he should have known before marrying her. That had scared her. Trying to talk herself out of running, she had laid in his arms for almost an hour. But she knew she couldn't give him the one thing that this silent but loving man deserved. The one thing he cherished above all. That was a family.
Amber cried harder into Evan's chest. She wanted to stay and be Ethan's wife. She wanted it more then anything else she had ever wanted in her life. She wanted it more then she ever wanted out of her old life. Coming in close second was she didn't want to give up her new life.
She wanted to be able to run into Lucca in the kitchen cooking and argue with him over going clothes shopping. She hated clothes shopping but since Lucca was their resident shopper, he bought all of their clothes, along with every thing else they needed.
She wanted to spend Sunday's playing video games with Micca as had become their habit. With Jenni watching and trying to distract Micca so Amber could win.
She wanted to stay so she could spend hours talking to Jenni about what they planned to do with the art gallery once Jenni took it over. Or just to sit and talk to Jenni in the middle of the night when neither of them could sleep. Jenni was the sister she didn't have and Amber didn't want to leave her.
She wanted to be able to go have coffee or hot chocolate with Nick when something was bothering her. She could always talk to him and he would listen.
She wanted to be able to get in her car or get on the back of Ethan's bike and come visit her Dad when ever the mood hit her. Which happened a lot over the past year.
She wanted to have family dinner's on Sunday following her and Micca's video game wars.
But most of all she wanted to cuddle up every night in Ethan's arms falling into a peaceful sleep, waking up still wrapped in his arms, to be able to run to him when she was having a bad day, feel her heart race just at the thought of him. To smile when he called or text her. To be able to kiss him when ever she wanted. To hold his hand just because she could. To feel him walk up behind her and hug her from behind, kiss her neck, and tell her that she looked beautiful. She wanted to stay so she could feel and do all those things and so much more.
She wanted her new life, but she was willing to give it all up, because she couldn't give Ethan the one thing they had given her. They had given her a family, but she couldn't give Ethan that back. She couldn't have children.
Coming out of her sad thoughts, she wiped the tear off her face. Evan had tried to get her to stay. To stay until Ethan got there, but she just kept telling him she had to go. She didn't tell him that she heard what he said. She didn't tell him that she was tired of running. She didn't tell him that she couldn't stay and wait for Ethan. She didn't tell him that she was running towards Ethan. She didn't tell him that she had to go fix the mistake she made. She didn't tell him anything. If she had made she wouldn't be in the hospital now. If she had waited for Ethan like Evan had begged her to, she wouldn't have gotten hit by a car. If she would have told Evan that she was leaving to find Ethan instead of running away, they wouldn't have all thought that she had ran off.
She heard the creak of the door as Ethan stepped in. She watched a smile slowly take over his face when he realized she was awake.
“Hey babe,” His velvet voice gave her shivers. “Are you ready to get out of here?”
She watched him slowly walk across the room, to sit on the side of her bed. He held a cup of coffee in one hand, and with the other he reached up and pushed a strand of hair out of her face.
Bending a little he gave her a soft kiss on her lips, before resting his hand on top of hers, which was still laying over her baby bump. She couldn't believe she was pregnant let alone pregnant with twins.
Turning her hand over, she laced her fingers with his. Giving his hand a light squeeze she answered him, “Yea, I want to go home.”
Ethan's smile turned into a smirk, “Sure thing.” Amber wondered what the smirk was about, but didn't get a chance to ask as her hospital door bounced open. In came Jenni arguing with Lucca. Micca, trying to wrap his arm around Jenni's waist to make her stop reaching for the bags in Lucca's hand.
“Leave him alone women. My brother's going to run for the hills if you don't stop picking on him.” Amber shared an amused smile with Ethan.
Last came a frustrated Nick. Amber was pretty sure he wanted to kick all their butts. Made her wonder how long they had been at it this time. Nick pushed his was thru the three and walked to the side of her bed Ethan wasn't currently occupying.
He went to reach for her free hand, but pulled back. Amber knew he did it because he didn't want her to freak out. She still did that sometimes. But she wanted to touch him. She reached out and linker her fingers with his. Like he had done since showing up, but he must have paused this time because she was fully awake.
He gave her baffled smile, before leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead. She had gotten used to him doing that over the last couple of days. He would come in her room. Link his fingers with her, give her kiss on the forehead and say, “Hey sweetheart.” She hadn't been able to answer most of the time because she was out of it.
However today she did answer him. “Hey Nick.” She pulled on his hand so he would lean closer, Glancing at the three still arguing by the door, she asked, “Want me to kick them out?”
Nick sighed, “GOD YES.” Amber laughed. “They have been at it since we picked Jenni up.”
Amber smiled, “Next time make them take their own car.” Nick gave her look to say, AS IF.
They never took their own cars if they could all fit into one. The only time any one took a separate vehicle was when she rode with Ethan on his bike. Poor Nick was stuck with the arguing trio.
“Cut it out.” Her softly spoken words made the trio freeze and face her. She knew she was blushing, but she had to take pity on her friend. He looked at he was about to punch one of them.
Jenni bounced over to her, but couldn't get closer then her legs because Ethan and Nick wasn't moving. Jenni huffed, but Amber thought Jenni knew there was no use arguing with these two brothers. They weren't going to budge.
“Hey girly you ready to get dressed and bust out of this prison?”
Amber smiled at her bubbly friend. “Yea. But I need some clothes.”
Jenni sigh sounded like it was long and suffering. “I picked you some clothes out, but Lucca over there vetoed all of them.” Amber gave Lucca a grateful smile. She loved Jenni but the girl had a crazy idea on what was appropriate to wear. Lucca on the other hand knew exactly what she would or wouldn't wear.
Lucca spoke up. “If all these guys leave, I can help you get dressed.”
Jenni started to argue as Nick and Micca started heading towards the door. Ethan didn't budge.
Jenni said, “I can help her. I'm the only girl here after all.”
Before Lucca could argue with her, Ethan cut their argument off before it could really begin.
“I'll help my wife get dressed, if she needs help. Now get out.” Amber watched Lucca sit the bags he was still carrying on the seat next to him as her face became beet red. Jenni and Lucca walked out the door as Ethan turned back to her. Reaching up he ran a finger down her cheek, “What embarrassed you?” He asked softly. She could see the amusement in his eyes which only made her blush harder.
When she didn't answer he asked her, “Was it me seeing you without clothes on or me calling you my wife?”
Ethan raised a brow when she said, “Neither.” She was to shy to tell him she liked the idea of him being so possessive of her. She liked the idea of his hands being on her naked body, and she blushed because when he said my wife so possessively it brought back the night they got married, and he had said “my wife” in the exact same possessive manor right before he had sank into her.
When he realized she wasn't going to answer him, he chuckled and stood up. Walking to the chairs by the door, he picked up the bags Lucca had left there.
Ethan's P.O.V.-
Amber was in the shower and he was laying on her bed waiting for her. He had tried to convince her to let him take a shower with her, but she didn't go for it. So now he was starring at the ceiling, thinking back over the last week.
The last three months he had been living in hell. He was surprised his brother and friends hadn't committed him. He had been going insane without her. Not knowing where she went. When he had gotten to Evan's that day, he had beat the crap out of him for not keeping Amber there. The only thing that stopped him had been the thought that Amber wouldn't like it if he had hurt Evan. And the way Evan was acting he wouldn't have even bothered to fight back. He blamed himself for not being able to keep her there.
But Ethan knew that it wasn't Evan's fault. Amber maybe shy, but she wasn't weak. When she made up her mind to do something, there was no changing her mind. No matter how much you tried to change her mind.
When he had walked into her hospital room a week ago, he had so many mixed emotions. He was excited because he found her and she was making him a daddy, but he was scared that she was in a coma and that she might not want him there.
When she had whispered his name and finally opened her eye's he felt his world tilt back on it's axis. It had been out of whack since the night she had walked out on him. He knew Nick could feel the joy that had spread thru him at that moment.
The next three days had been hard just sitting most of the day waiting for Amber to wake up fully. Every time she had woken up, she would ask him the same thing, where she was and if he was real. He would tell her what happened and would reassure he was there and he wasn't going anywhere.
On that forth day when she finally stayed awake and remembered what happened when she woke up he had felt like celebrating. She was getting better. The next day she had been released to go home after being put thru endless test to make sure there really was nothing wrong with her. Ethan had a feeling the doctor wouldn't have believed Amber woke up from her coma just by him talking to her if it wasn't for the nurse. Nurse Jane, Ethan had finally found out her name. She was the one that had tracked him down.
Amber had finally told him why she ran. The night of the forth day of her waking up from her coma, the others had left when visiting hours where over. By that point the nurses had stopped trying to kick him out. They knew he wasn't leaving.
They had been lying in her hospital bed, with her cuddled up to his side when she told him.
She had asked if he remembered when she told him about the first time Frank had tried to rape her and had ended up beating her instead. Ethan had felt his anger rise. He knew Frank was spending a life term in prison for killing Irene, but it wasn't good enough for Ethan. He wanted to kill the bastard for what he had done to Amber.
Ethan had nodded at her. He didn't think he could talk without the anger in his voice, and he didn't want Amber to think he was upset with her.
“When I finally could draw up the energy to move, I crawled out of the house. Frank had passed out on the couch, and I was so afraid of waking him up, but I couldn't stay in the same with him. That scared me worse then taking the chance of waking him up. I needed to get away from him.”
Amber shivered in his arms. He pulled the blanket up and wrapped her a little tighter in his arms. “I crawled out to the garage. I hid in the same spot I usually did. I'm not sure how long I was there before Charlie found me. I had passed out several times. When Charlie saw me, he took one look and picked me up. He carried me to his car and took me to a hospital two counties over.”
She sighed, “Sure there was hospitals closer, but we wanted to go some where we wouldn't be recognized. He told the staff he was my older brother. Anyways, once they got me cleaned up, I was put thru a bunch of test to make sure nothing was wrong.” He watched a tear slip down her face.
“I didn't have any broken bones, but I had bruises all over my body. The doctor told me at that time that I would probably never be able to have children. Or more correctly, I would probably never be able to get pregnant. Apparently I was born with a titled cervic's. Which makes it almost impossible for me to get pregnant.”
She leaned her head back and locked her eye's with his, “The night we got married, it was the most amazing night I had ever had.” That filled him with joy.
“After you feel asleep, I started thinking about all you had given me. The most standing out was the family I now have. It started me thinking how I couldn't give you a family.” She raised her hand and laid it against Ethan's cheek. “You deserve a family. But anyways, I got scared and ran to Evan.”
Then she had told him how Evan had tried to talk her out of leaving and running again. But what healed the broken feeling in his heart was when she told him that she hadn't been running away when she left Evan, she had been running to him.
But her next words made the spit freeze in his mouth, “I know who hit me. I saw his face before the car hit me.”
Ethan sighed and sat up to lean against the headboard. He hadn't explained to her that night how the person was connected to him. He didn't know how. He had just gotten her back and he didn't want her to leave again. And this time he would understand why she left. She had every right to leave. The person that had hit her was connected to him.
He had thought he had taken care of the problem, they hadn't bothered to contact him in over a year, but apparently they had just been waiting. Waiting for the right moment to hit him while he was down.
And boy did they know how to hit him. They hit his heart and made him more then stagger. But what they didn't realize was now he had the upper hand. He had always flicked them off as pest before, but now he was going to smash them. They were going to be left with nothing.
But first, before he did anything, he had to tell Amber. He had to finally open up to her. He had to tell her about his family.