By eighteen weeks, it could no longer be hidden that Troye was pregnant. Even Jacob's baggy jumpers, although they weren't quite tight over Troye's bump yet, bulged out with Troye's belly. The younger boy couldn't keep his hands off of it, always stroking or holding the firm skin. Tommy became infatuated with Troye's stomach as well, cooing over it and patting it whenever he could.
In fact, Troye was certain that Tommy touched Troye's tummy more than Jacob did, but he couldn't blame his Dom. Jacob was trying, was still adjusting to the idea of the babies, and Troye was simply glad that they would be having them in the first place. It was a few days after Troye had reached eighteen weeks, and he was safely and happily in his second trimester. Jacob and Troye were in the living room with Luke and Tommy sitting in with them as well to watch a movie. Jacob of course, was emailing people, but Troye had talked him into coming out of his office so that Troye could cuddle into him on the couch while the older man worked on his laptop.
Troye had grown accustomed to taking short naps throughout the day ever since his fifteenth week, as he was finding that it was harder to fall asleep at night, more uncomfortable, and so as the movie continued he gradually started to fall asleep against Jacob's shoulder. Or, he was until Jacob swore. "You have to be fucking kidding me." Troye jolted awake, instantly sitting up off from where he'd practically been laying against Jacob's side,
"S-sorry, I didn't-" The Dom looked to Troye in confusion, but Luke supplied, "I don't think he was upset about you falling asleep on him, Troye." "Oh, you were sleeping, shit. Sorry. You can sleep, pet, I need to talk to Luke about something," Jacob ran his hands over his face. Troye could clearly see that Jacob was irritated, and he felt like it was his job to soothe his Dom. So rather than leaning back against the older man to drift back off again, he lightly touched Jacob's arm.
"Is everything okay, sir?" "Mmhm," Jacob's face softened a bit, and he reached out to stroke Troye's hair. "Don't worry about it, just nap or watch your movie. Luke, can we talk in the dining room?" Luke nodded, and Jacob sat his laptop on the coffee table before he stood and left Troye on the couch. It was immediately colder without Jacob's warm and solid body, and Troye frowned as he watched his Dom leave the room. Tommy jumped up and hurried over, sitting next to Troye and smiling at Troye's tummy.
"What are they doing in there, do you think?" Troye giggled, rubbing his belly softly but moving his hands for Tommy to touch as well, "Well they're the size of sweet potatoes. That's probably why I'm so noticeable. They're supposed to be yawning and stretching and stuff in there, wiggling around too. Sometimes I think I might be feeling them but... it also might just be gas bubbles or something because you'd think that I would know for sure if I felt one of them." As Tommy rubbed at Troye's belly, Troye attempted to pick up on what Jacob and Luke were saying in the other room. They were speaking too low, however, and Troye gave up as Tommy spoke again.
"It is okay if I touch your tummy, right? It doesn't freak you out or anything?" Troye shook his head instantly, "Of course not! You're my friend, I don't mind you touching my belly." "And Jacob? I don't want to make him mad or make him think I'm like... flirting with you. I don't want to get you in trouble either!" Tommy chewed his bottom lip. "He won't get mad," Troye promised. "He trusts you, you earned his trust the moment you... well, you've earned his trust."
Tommy had betrayed his own Dom to protect Troye, it was what Troye was trying to hint at, but he didn't like to talk about it, and Tommy had a new Dom. He didn't need to be reminded of his old Dom. Troye would still have the occasional nightmare from the day if the incident, or from both incidents involving him. Sometimes Jacob would never come back from being questioned, would end up arrested or something, and Troye would be stuck being tortured by Brandon. Or Jacob would come down as Troye was caned, prepared to go to Troye's aid only for Brandon to turn the cane on him instead. He hadn't told Jacob about the dreams, but when he would wake up sweaty and shaking, panting against Jacob's chest, Troye would claim he couldn't even remember what had happened. Jacob came back into the room then, Luke following behind him, and Tommy hurried back over to Luke to shyly worm his way against Luke's side, sneaking a quick kiss to the Dom's jaw.
Troye's Dom held his hand out to Troye, offering to help the boy up to his feet. Since week seventeen Troye's feet and ankles would swell now and then, his knees and back would ache, or he'd get random leg cramps. Troye allowed himself to be led from the living room and up the stairs, and he waved a quick farewell to Tommy as he and Jacob headed to their bedroom. Jacob shut the door behind them, and Troye momentarily wondered if Jacob was horny or something.
"So here in about three days I have to go to the states," Jacob told Troye, sitting the boy down on the bed and standing in front of him. "Oh..." Troye pursed his lips. "Should I start packing?" Jacob's nose scrunched, "Well I talked to Luke... and you're going to be staying here with him and Tommy." The younger boy's stomach gave an uncomfortable twist, "I can't come with you?" "I'm only going for four days, only three nights. It's a lot of walking from building to building, and then a lot of sitting through meetings. Not to mention the paparazzi. You'd have to be stuck in the hotel room the entire time all by yourself." "Luke and Tommy could come too?" Troye suggested hopefully. "Then I wouldn't have to be alone-" "You aren't coming, Troye," Jacob said firmly.
"I have to go for the benefit of my company, I'm the CEO. This isn't something that someone can just fill in for me. On the bright side, I won't have to go again for a long time after this, so we don't have to worry about me having to leave when you're even further along in your pregnancy." "I've never-" Troye swallowed hard. He was already extremely emotional because of his pregnancy, but the thought of Jacob leaving him for a few days was something extremely upsetting anyway. "Ever since December I haven't had to sleep without you. Five months, almost six..." "Three nights," Jacob reminded gently. "It's only three nights." "I want to come with you, sir, please," Troye croaked out. "I'm sorry, Troye, but the answer is no," Jacob shook his head.
"You're better off here." Troye blinked a few times, but then he turned away from his Dom and curled up on his side. He wanted to flop dramatically in the form of a tantrum, but it wouldn't be good on the babies. Jacob didn't respond, but Troye could feel heat rising to his face and lump forming in his throat, and then he was sniffling. "I don't want you to go," Troye whimpered. "Troye, please, just relax and don't worry about it. I'll be back before you know it," Jacob sighed. "You don't need to stress, anyway. Think of the Fuzzies." But that only made more tears fall, because of course Jacob wouldn't need Troye around as much as Troye needed him. His mind drifted back to Nick Grimshaw, thinking of how the man had said that Troye was a brat that Jacob was forced to take care of. Jacob was probably excited to have an opportunity to leave. Troye felt himself be covered with a blanket, and then Jacob was leaving the room. Troye was completely sobbing then, grabbing a pillow to press his face into it in attempts to muffle his tears.
Jacob hadn't even left yet and Troye was already lonely, and yet all he could do was cradle his tummy and wish that, if Jacob had to go that he could go and be back already.
Jacob knew he'd really upset Troye when the boy was sullen and quiet up until the day Jacob had to leave. He still cuddled with Jacob and still ate, but he wasn't his usual smiling self. Jacob felt bad, and he was going to miss Troye just as much as Troye would miss him, if not more. Like Troye had said, he hadn't spent a night without Troye since the boy had come to live with him. Even when Troye had been hospitalized Jacob had stayed with him. But it would be selfish to bring Troye to America, it would be a lot of stress, the long flight could jetlag anyone, especially a person who already had trouble sleeping at night as it was.
Of course, if Jacob was leaving Troye completely alone at home he wouldn't leave Troye at all, but Luke and Tommy would be staying with his boy, and he trusted them to care for Troye. He'd already made Luke promise several times over to call if there was even the slightest bit of change in Troye's or their unborn babies health, and he hoped that Troye would call if he needed something as well. He made sure to leave Troye's phone on the bedside table next to the framed sonograms. The day of his departure, he stood in the kitchen and spoke to Luke, trying to soothe his own nerves, "I'm already dreading this. I've been trying to pretend like I'm not bothered because I was hoping it would make Troye stop feeling bothered by it all, but I've probably only made it worse." "He'll be okay," Luke assured. "Tommy and I will look after him." "I want so badly to take him with me," Jacob sighed. "But that'd be dangerous, and selfish on my part."
" Flying is still safe for him, he could fly all the way up until his thirty-sixth week," Luke informed him. But Jacob shook his head, "He already seems so fragile. He's so small and his belly is growing day by day. It'd be so easy for him to get jostled in a crowd, much easier for him to exhaust himself-" The other Dom touched Jacob's shoulder, patting it soothingly, "I promise, mate, I will personally see to it at nearly all hours of the day that Troye is fine. Don't worry about it, that'll only make things worse for you both." Jacob ran a hand through his hair anxiously, "Okay. Alright, yeah. Thank you, Luke, honestly. I trust you, it's just that I love him very much and-"
"You don't have to explain," Luke chuckled. "I get where you're coming from." Jacob nodded, and then he turned and left the kitchen to go to where Troye was eating breakfast in the dining room with Tommy. He had to say goodbye to the boy, and he was hoping that there weren't any tears, because he was unsure if he'd be able to stop a few tears of his own from slipping if there were, and crying wasn't something he usually did. Of course, Troye hadn't eaten any of his food and was instead pushing it around his plate. He scrambled to his feet as Jacob approached, and Jacob held his arms out to the boy with a sigh.
"I have to go soon, pet," he told the younger boy, and Troye's face crumpled. He hurried forward into Jacob's arms, breaking down into tears against Jacob's chest. The Dom couldn't hear Troye crying, but he could feel Troye's shoulders shaking with the quiet sobs and feel Troye's tears against his collarbones. "I'm going to miss you so much," Troye sniffled. "C-Can I call you? Or-" "How about I call you when I'm free?" Jacob asked. "My meetings could be a bit sporadic, I don't know what times I'll be free. But I'll call you, sweets, and you can tell me how you and the babies are, okay? Only three nights. I'll be back to you on the fourth night and I'll bring lots of nice things for my good boy." "If you can come back sooner I don't need you to bring me anything," Troye responded hopefully, and Jacob hugged him a little bit tighter. The sub always seemed to know how to tug at Jacob's heart strings, he hadn't even known he had such a thing as heart strings before he'd been matched with Troye.
"Three nights," Jacob sighed. "I love you..." Troye' quiet sobbing started up again, but Jacob felt him nod in agreement and heard a choked, "I love you, too." He pulled back after several moments to wipe Troye's tears and pat softly at Troye' baby belly, "You and the- our Little Fuzzies... take care of yourselves, okay? Eat three meals a day, take your vitamins, get plenty of rest... and no stressing. I ask that you don't leave the house, but in our room I put my credit card and your phone next to the babies' sonograms. Feel free to order takeaway or shop for baby clothes online." "I want to shop for the babies with you," Troye pouted rubbing over his enlarged belly.
"Well, when I get back we can go back out," Jacob told the pouting boy, leaning forward to kiss him softly. "I have to go. I love you, see you soon. Only three nights," Jacob kissed him again, leaning back to connect eyes with Luke before turning to quickly leave the home. He wouldn't be able to leave if Troye started crying again. "He'll be back soon Troye, want to watch a movie?" Tommy asked and Troye shook his head, lifting a hand to wipe at his wet cheeks. "No, I think I'm going to lie down," he said. He pushed in his chair and left the room, going to his and Jacob's. If he could nap now it would save him later from when he couldn't sleep. Troye was sure that he wouldn't be able to sleep without his Dom at night. Jacob wasn't very happy on his flight either. Eight hours on a plane when he could have been sitting at home with Troye cuddled to his side. There were of course other Doms and subs sitting first class with him, and Jacob felt slightly mocked by them.
None of the other subs seemed as cuddly towards their Doms as Troye was, and several couples were even completely ignoring each other as they played on their phones. And then of course he was going to have to sit through irritating meetings for four days, and he wouldn't even have Troye to calm him down. The boy did so well at soothing Jacob, simply touching his arm or chest and asking what was wrong, and then Jacob would already feel the anger draining from his body.
All he could do was sit back and angrily scroll through emails on his phone and wait for his flight to land so he could call Troye. He landed around 3pm, and he knew that back home Troye would usually be showering and getting ready to settle in bed to read for a bit while Jacob scrolled through stocks on his laptop next to him. As quickly as he could, he checked into his hotel room, and he didn't even bother placing his suitcases or suits neatly in the room, he simply spilled them onto the floor and hurried over to call Troye despite the international charges he knew he'd receive. Troye answered on the first ring. "Sir!" "Hello, sweets," Jacob replied, smiling for the first time since he'd left. "I'm finally in my hotel room. I assume you all have eaten dinner already?" "Mhmm," Troye said softly. "It made me and our Little Fuzzies kind of sick." Jacob chewed his bottom lip, already wishing he was back home, "Do you still feel sick?" "I don't think so, I just miss you a lot already," Troye's voice grew hoarse. "I miss you too," Jacob murmured sadly. "But I'll be back soon. You should be enjoying this time without me, you don't have to hang around me and be bored while I work." "Instead I have to hang around and miss you while you work."
"Oh pet..." Jacob sighed sadly. "Distract yourself, read a book or watch a movie with Tommy." "Tommy and I are watching a movie right now," the younger boy still sounded choked up, and Jacob wanted nothing more than to hug him. "Ah, I suppose I should leave you two to watch that then-" "No!" Troye gasped, and then he quickly tried to recover himself. "I mean- I'm not telling you no, I... please don't go yet..." And so Jacob talked to Troye for nearly two hours, but at five he reluctantly made Troye get off the phone, "It's late there, babe. You should sleep." "I don't think I can," the boy admitted. "Tommy and Luke went to bed... I'm just on the couch. They said I could get them if I needed them but... I just need you, sir." Jacob had long since moved things around while he had talked to Troye, and had settled into a laying position on his bed. At Troye's words, he sat up,
"You're breaking my heart, pet." "I just wish I could have come with you," Troye sniffled. "I wish you could have come with me, too," the Dom wanted to cuddle Troye, make sure his boy got to sleep well. "I almost brought you, I really did. Especially when Luke told me that it would be safe for you to fly. But then on my way out of the airport I was almost glad that you weren't with me because the paparazzi was so thick. They're not as grabby, but it still would have made me anxious. The only reason I didn't bring you with me is for the safety of you and our babies, you know that right? I wasn't trying to get away from you." "Well I kind of hoped that was it..." Troye cleared his throat, and Jacob could almost picture the boy curled up on the couch in one of Jacob's jumpers, his hand on his tummy.
"But it's nice to hear you say it." "I love you," Jacob said sincerely. It sounded as if Troye was sniffling again, but the boy of course returned the sentiment, "I love you, too, sir." Jacob finally hung up the phone after convincing Troye to at least go get in there bed, even if he couldn't sleep, and the boy seemed to have dozed off in the middle of the conversation about Troye's pregnancy. He himself was exhausted, but it was still light outside the hotel and without Troye's small form in the bed next to him, sleeping felt wrong.
Troye woke up around 4am angry with himself for falling asleep on Jacob, and he debated calling him, but he knew it was only 11pm where Jacob was and that Jacob would hopefully be asleep. He didn't fall back to sleep himself, but he got up and turned on the light in the room so he could read and talk to his tummy. "I at least have you two for company... I still don't think you can hear me quite yet, but I know you're there," he rambled. He joined Luke and Tommy for breakfast at 9am, keeping his phone close just in case Jacob called him. But Jacob didn't call him until 11am, and it was only to say good morning and to ask if Troye had taken his vitamins. He had his first meeting within the next hour, so he had to go rather quickly, and then Troye didn't hear from him again all day. All he did was mope around and watch movies with Tommy, and while Tommy did seem pretty good at cheering people up, Troye still missed Jacob. Jacob called again after they'd eaten dinner.
"I'm done with meetings for today pet. Only two more nights and I'll be back to you," Jacob's voice was already soothing Troye. "Two days too many," Troye whispered. Jacob had to go sooner than Troye wanted him to, hanging up before Troye was in bed. It was worse that night. Troye couldn't get comfortable, he felt incredibly sick to his stomach, and the bed was far too large, too cold. He finally fell asleep a little after midnight, and then that was when he had the dream. A bad one of course, one where Brandon was dragging him up the stairs. This time, however, Troye was already pregnant, and with the rough way Brandon was handling him, things weren't looking good for his unborn children.
He woke up where he always did, right before Brandon could do anything further. His stomach was churning, and he had to leap up and scramble to the bathroom to be sick. The sub was sweaty and sobbing, wishing that Jacob was around to rub his back and brush the hair off of his forehead. He stumbled back to the bed, curling onto his side and shielding his tummy as he fumbled for his phone beneath his pillow. It would be about midnight where Jacob was, but he had to call, he needed to hear Jacob's voice. The phone rang several times, but then right before Troye was prepared to hang up and call again Jacob was answering. "Troye? Troye are you alright?" Jacob's voice was anxious and groggy, no doubt having been woken up. "I'm- I think so?" Troye croaked, but then he was sobbing.
"Where's Luke? Are you- what's wrong?" the sub could hear Jacob shifting around, getting out of bed most likely. "I need you," he wheezed. "I don't want L-Luke I want y-you!" He felt bad for being so needy, but it felt as if he were slowly breaking apart, and he wanted Jacob to hold him tight, keep all of his pieces together. Jacob sounded frantic,
"Are you in pain? Troye, I need to know what's wrong." Momentary guilt surged through Troye, and he figured he should explain further to Jacob that he wasn't deathly ill, although he had puked, or injured, "I h-had... a bad dream. A-About him." Jacob was quiet for several moments, and just as Troye was about to ask if he was still there, he spoke, "I'll pack right now and book the first flight home. I'll be there by tonight, Troye." "Your meetings?" Troye whispered. "If they need me that bad I can attend through a skype call," Jacob said firmly. "Okay, just relax though, alright? Run yourself a warm bath." "I don't want to hang up," Troye said quickly, his heart climbing back up into his throat.
"You don't have to," Jacob assured. "I'll stay on the phone with you until Luke and Tommy are up. Are you alright?" Troye wanted to stay curled up in the bed, but he figured a bath might help. Jacob always took baths with him if he was freaked out or coming back from subspace, "I'm okay... just don't hang up, please." Just like Jacob promised, he booked the first flight back. He talked with Troye until he had to leave for the airport, but it was easier hanging up knowing that it was because Jacob was coming back to him. He found it difficult to eat throughout the day due to all the excitement he had, but he knew he had to eat for his Little Fuzzies.
At the dining table at lunch, Luke chuckled as Troye picked at his chicken, "Jacob will skin me alive if you don't eat something, mate. He's already been emailing me constantly to make sure you're doing well and not faking it for him." Troye placed his fork down and shrugged, "I'm just ready for him to be home." "I admire his Dominant skills," Luke replied. "He's strict when he has to be, maybe stricter than I would be, but then he also takes very good care of you and I know for a fact that he cares greatly about you." Troye blushed, drinking some of his water and wishing he could head back up to his and Jacob's room and burrow beneath their blankets as he waited. He trusted Luke and Tommy and knew that they'd never bring him harm, but he only wanted Jacob, and if he couldn't have Jacob then he didn't want to be around anyone else. His Dom had been the one who had insisted that Troye be around Luke and Tommy, most likely for the reason that Luke had told him about.
Luke could provide Jacob updates on Troye's wellbeing. Evening took forever to come, and they ended up having to eat dinner without Jacob as well. Afterwards Troye moved a chair to sit in front of the window so he could watch for the car that was supposed to bring Jacob back from the airport. When it finally arrived, Troye was prepared to rush out and meet Jacob in the driveway, but Luke stopped him and insisted that even though Jacob would be happy to see Troye, he wouldn't appreciate Troye going out barefooted even if it was late May. The younger boy was so anxious he was practically trembling, and the moment Jacob stepped inside Troye was bursting into tears and hugging him before he'd even set down his things.
His Dom dropped his stuff however, to hug Troye back just as tight, maneuvering them to the side so that the driver helping Jacob bring his things in could get in the door as well. "I missed you!" Troye sobbed happily, his hormones and his joy of having Jacob back making things far too overwhelming. "I missed you more," Jacob murmured. "I brought you back lots of stuff though, I think you'll like them. No baby things, I know you wanted to do that together." "Please don't leave me for that long again," Troye huffed, his hands clenching onto the back of Jacob's shirt. He hadn't even kept one hand on his tummy, he'd been so happy to see his Dom that it required a two armed hug. Jacob laughed quietly,
"I was only gone for two days, Troye..." "Oh..." Troye felt his Dom's hands stroking at his hair, and his lack of sleep suddenly hit him hard as he relaxed against Jacob. Even Jacob's voice soothed him as the older man thanked the driver who had brought him home, thanked Luke for looking after things, and spoke to Troye, "Come upstairs with me and you can sit on our bed while I unpack. I'll show you everything I got you."
"Can we sleep first?" Troye requested. Jacob pulled the boy back to look at him, frowning at the dark shadows under Troye's eyes, "Oh yes, you'll definitely be sleeping first now. You can shower in the morning, and then I'll unpack and show you my things. My sleeping schedule is already a bit out of whack, but I'll lay down with you." And then finally, Troye got what he had been wanting for the past two nights. He was cuddled up to Jacob's chest in their bed, Jacob's large hand stroking his hair and the other resting on Troye's belly. Even though Troye was exhausted, he decided to be a good sub instead of being selfish like he figured he was being.
"How was your trip and your meetings?" he asked sleepily. "Irritating like I knew they would be," Jacob responded. "I needed you there to keep me company. Remind me to never leave you behind when I go on business trips. Now sleep, sweets." "I love-" Troye began, but his words cut off as there was a light fluttering just below his belly button. For a moment he thought that Jacob had tapped his fingers, but the movement had come from the inside. He was unsure if Jacob had noticed it at first, but then the Dom spoke out, "Did...?" Troye moved away from Jacob's chest a bit to place his hand over Jacob's, "You felt that too?" "I felt that," Jacob said softly. "I- I think o-one of our babies just moved?" Troye croaked, and then he was crying again. Happy tears this time, and Jacob gave a soft chuckle as he rubbed small circles against Troye's belly.
"That is honestly... really amazing," he murmured in awe. "That those are my babies, our babies in there, and they're moving." "I guess I wasn't the only one who missed you," Troye giggled through his tears, and then Jacob couldn't resist kissing the boy.