Blake
I leave my kitten alone for a while, knowing she needs a moment of peace. I wish there was something I could do to help her, but I know she should work through this first before she talks to someone.
I'm staying in the study, working on my assignment when I hear the bathroom door slamming with force. Something's wrong!
I quickly save the file on my laptop then go to the bathroom, knocking on the door frantically.
"Kitten! Everything okay?"
"Give me a moment. – she calls out from inside, making me frown when I hear the distress in her voice – I'll be out in few minutes." She adds.
I wait for her impatiently, pacing back and forth in front of the door. Is she sick again? I know she's been throwing up a lot the last few days, but I was sure it was a stomach bug because of that Indian food we got. Even I felt sick for a couple of days after that.
"You can come in now." Lia calls out after a while. She must've heard me pacing out the door.
I rush inside, only to see Lia curled up against the bathtub, staring blankly at the counter in front of her. "Baby, what's wrong? Are you feeling sick again?" I ask worriedly, crouching beside her.
Lia briefly glances at me then stares back at the counter. I follow her gaze, only for my eyes to widen when I see the thing lying next to the sink.
"Is that-?"
"A pregnancy test."
"Are you pregnant?"
"I don't know. I have to wait two more minutes. – she sighs, putting her arms around her knees – Blake, how can we have a baby right now?!" She cries out in despair.
I can't watch my kitten so broken, so I sit next to her and pull her onto my lap, cradling her to my chest. "First we need to know if you're pregnant, baby. We'll make it work. We always do." I kiss her head reassuringly.
"Do you want a baby?" Lia implores quietly, sounding slightly apprehensive. As if she needs to fear my reaction.
"I do, if it's with you. It's my dream to have a family with you, kitten. You're my dream." I confess, cupping her face so I can look into her gorgeous hazel eyes. "I love you, Lia."
"I love you too, Blake." She wraps her arms around my neck, hiding her face in the crook of it.
After a moment, Lia releases me of her hug and turns to the pregnancy test on the counter. Without a word, she gets off my lap and stands stiffly by the sink, just staring at the test. It takes her few seconds to finally make a decision and flip the test over to see the result.
"Kitten?" I implore after a moment of silence.
"Negative."
"What?"
"I'm not pregnant." She lets out a breath, almost falling to the floor as her knees buckle under her. I catch her before she manages to hit the ground, just holding her as she calms down. "I'm not pregnant." She sighs relieved.
But I can't help but feel conflicted about this.
On one hand, I'm relieved to hear we're not going to have a baby right now. We're nowhere near ready for that yet, especially with all the shit that's been happening with Lia's mother, that rapist stalker and Declan. I don't want to put a baby into all that.
On the other hand, I'm slightly sad, maybe even disappointed. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up just because Lia took a test, but I was already imagining her with a mini me in her belly. I've always wanted a lot of kids. Being an only child is... lonely sometimes. Though I never thought I would think about kids at the age of twenty. I've never imagined I would find a woman that I would love as much as I love Lia; that I would yearn for a family.
I shake off the thought, concentrating on my girl. "I think you need to see a doctor. I'm not saying the test is inaccurate, but we need to be 100 percent sure whether you're having a baby or not. I don't want to risk it." I tentatively suggest, getting a questioning frown from Lia as she stares at me.
"Why are you so scared? I won't lash out at you. Never at you. – she gives me a quick peck – And I think you're right. I'll call Dr. Miller." With a short kiss, she gets up and walks out the bathroom, throwing the pregnancy test in the bin in the corner.
I can't help but feel worried for her. Within a span of few hours, she went from happy to angry, depressed, worried, then sad and again happy. It's like her emotions are all over the place and it's seriously concerning. My kitten is usually very good at controlling her feelings and it takes a lot for her to lose that control, but lately she's been having extreme mood swings. The smallest thing could make her snap.
I follow my girl outside, but instead of joining her in the living room, I go to the kitchen to make us dinner. Lia hasn't eaten yet.
I decide to make us a lasagna, wanting to make my girl feel a bit better. I know she loves her dad's lasagna, so I've learned how to make it just like he does. It took me a while to get it perfect, but Lia's happy smile as she ate it made all the torture I went through with Tyson worth it. She was like a kid on Christmas and I want to see her that happy again.
While Lia talks to Dr. Miller, who's been her private physician for many years now, I make our dinner, occasionally glancing at Lia to see how she's doing. The longer she talks to the doctor, the better her mood gets. Dr. Miller always knew how to make my girl happy. She's known her for years, having met her when Tyson called her to check Lia's wounds after he found her.
When I was staying with Tyson, we talked a lot. About everything. He told me about how he found Lia and what happened after he took her in. He even showed me the videos Cole used to take whenever he visited. They were all titled: 'Lili Cam'.
Tyson told me that at first he called Dax to take a look at Lia's back, but my poor girl was so afraid of him that she literally passed out. So Dax called his wife for help.
Dr. Miller, also known as Caroline, has been taking care of my girl ever since she first met her. She knows about Lia's past and her fighting, she's been treating her for a long time and I know Lia trusts her. After my girl moved out because of the situation with her dad, she still stayed in contact with Caroline, who would treat her whenever my kitten needed it.
And now is such moment.
"Mmmm, it smells delicious." Lia wraps her arms around me from behind as I work on our meal.
"I've barely started." I chuckle in amusement.
"I wasn't talking about food. I was talking about you. Yummy." Lie hoarsely says, snuggling her face into my bare back. I didn't put on a shirt after my shower earlier.
I don't comment on Lia's words, knowing that if I do, we're going to skip dinner and end up in the bedroom. So I decide to change the topic. "How did it go with Dr. Miller?"
My kitten sighs heavily, but doesn't take her arms off me. "I'll go see her tomorrow after her shift at the hospital. I'll have to tell coach Jones that I can't stay for practice." I nod in understanding.
"I'll text him later. I don't think you want to experience his interrogation." I laugh. Coach can be really... nosy.
"Is he that bad?" Lia chortles.
"You have no idea." I deadpan, shaking my head.
"Okay then. You know him better than I do." I feel my girl shrug behind me.
After a while, I decide to break the comfortable silence again. "What do you want to this weekend?" I question curiously. Usually Lia fights on Saturdays, but this weekend will be different, and not only because of my team's game.
"You mean after your game?"
"Yeah..."
"I don't know, yet. Why?" She asks and I can almost see the sly smirk on her face. She knows exactly what day it is on Saturday yet she still wants me to say it.
"It's our 600-day anniversary and we're actually going to Los Angeles, so I thought we could have a little celebration." I explain shortly, smiling at Lia over my shoulder.
"Aww... you remember."
"Of course I do. I've never forgotten our anniversary, have I?" I chuckle.
Unlike most people, we don't count months or years of our relationship. We have a celebration every 100 days. Of course, we had a 1-year anniversary, but it was just a small casual party with our family and friends. Our little 'hundreds' as we like to call it are just for us. It's our day and we concentrate only on ourselves.
Lia and I eat our dinner in silence, having no need to fill it. It's usually like that between us; we can just stay together in complete silence, no words exchanged, and just enjoy each other's presence.
After we're finished with our meal, I prepare a bath for Lia while she checks her emails and messages. I know she needs to relax and just let everything go. It's painful to watch her struggles and I'll do everything I can to help her work through it, no matter how hard it's going to be.
"I love you!" Lia exclaims from the bathroom doorway when she sees what I prepared. She stares longingly at the bubble-filled bathtub and the scented candles scattered around the room.
"I know. Come on, baby, let's get you in while the water is hot." I slowly prowl towards her then pick her up and set her on the counter to help her take off her clothes. Lia lets me take care of her, only smiling at me softly as I undress her. I quickly shed my clothes then carry my girl to the bathtub. She sighs in content when I lay her in the water, immediately relaxing. There is nothing more satisfying that seeing your girl so contented and knowing you're the reason for it.
"You're the best thing that ever happened to me." She leans against my chest when I sit behind her and pull her between my legs.
"And you're the best thing that happened to me." I reply, pressing a loving kiss to her head.
We soak in the jasmine-scented water until it gets cold and our fingers are all pruned and funny looking. Lia fell asleep after about an hour into our bath and I don't have the heart to wake her up. She needs as much rest as she can get.
There's been too much going on and it's physically hurting her.