Chapter 251 - Late

Lila

"Are you serious?" he whispered.

He'd frozen, his arms locked around her, staring at her, wide-eyed and she couldn't tell if it was fear or hope. Or maybe both. She hiccupped and swallowed her tears, and plowed on, their faces only inches apart so she could see every twitch on his.

"It… it was a lie when I told Chris and the others, I was just using it to try to keep your dad cautious, but… Dane… I'm late. Like, really late. I didn't even realize until Chris had me tied up in that bathroom—" Dane shuddered at that, "—and I started thinking back and counting days. And I realized I keep getting really tired and I've been feeling sick and I threw up whenever I got anxious and… I don't know for sure, but… but you might not have to wait for that, Dane."

He stared at her like she was a wonder. One of his hands cupped her face, his thumb stroking her cheek, but he just kept searching her eyes. "You're serious."

"Yes. I'm… are you okay?"

"Are you fucking serious, Lila? Don't play with me."

"I'm not playing."

"We have to find out! Are you okay? Like, can I get up, because I'm going to go get a test and we can—"

"Dane, you can't go out."

He frowned and squeezed her harder. "I could send a driver to—"

"No, you can't, you know you can't," she laughed, thinking he was joking. But his face. He stared over her shoulder his eyes flickering back and forth like he was searching for something. His hand in her hair started stroking faster. She grabbed his arms. "Oh, wow. Okay, Dane, like… you need to calm down and be careful right now, okay? You're in hiding, the staff don't know you're here, and we can't let anyone know we were… I mean… this isn't something I want to share. If it's real it's super early. They don't always… stick. You know that right?"

"We need to get you to a doctor," he said, but his voice was vague, like he wasn't really listening.

"Dane… Dane, look at me." She took his face in her hands and his eyes finally snapped to meet hers. "Women have been having babies since the beginning of time. This isn't… like… rocket science, you know?"

"Yes, but they weren't my babies—"

"Dane, you're being really cute, and doing a great job getting me out of my tears. Well done. Kudos. I mean it. But you know you can't do anything about this right now, right?"

The muscles at the back of his jaw twitched and her heart throbbed. The disturbed expression on his face didn't change, but he pulled her back into his chest and put his chin on her hair and sighed. "I know," he said, darkly. "But we are going to work something out. I don't know how long this is going to take with Harry and… we aren't just leaving you unsure and… unchecked."

"Dane—"

"Do you have any follow up appointments for your ribs?"

"Yes, but—"

"We'll figure something out where you can get checked out for this at the same time."

Lila inhaled slowly, her nose against his collarbone. He had the best smell in the world, and being in his arms threatened to make her tears start again. "I love you, Dane," she said quietly.

He hugged her even harder, then suddenly released her, "Shit! Am I squeezing you too hard? I mean—"

"No, Dane, please. Calm down. It might not even be a pregnancy. It's been a really stressful few weeks and that can… that can make things stop too. Just relax, okay? I don't want you to be too upset if I'm wrong."

"I won't be upset. That just means we have to keep trying," he said, and she heard the smile in his voice and she almost cried again.

"If I'm not pregnant, something else is going on because I've been a weepy mess for a week," she whispered.

Dane stroked her back and sighed, squeezing her again.

They lay there for a few minutes in a cocoon of warmth and love that made Lila's heart sing. The smell of him and the feeling of his arms around her, knowing that he was safe… It blew her mind.

Without really thinking, she laid her mouth on the divot between his collarbones. She felt him tense. Then he pulled his head back to meet her eyes and she was surprised to see tears in his.

"My turn," he said hoarsely.

She put a hand to his face and kissed him slowly, softly and he curled around her again, his voice breaking in his throat as he kissed her, so tenderly, her skin tingled.

"You're so precious to me, Lila," he breathed, kissing her so softly, his lips were a whisper on hers, their tongues barely brushing.

"I don't ever want to be without you again, Dane."

"I know, me either." He sipped at her lips, and stroked her back with his fingertips, so lightly.

"How can we get out of this? How can we get free?"

"Shhhhh… we'll figure it out." He rolled her onto her back and leaned on one elbow over her, combing her hair back with this fingers and shaking his head. "Thank you, God," he breathed, staring at her.

"My thoughts, exactly," she said, letting her hands trail from his shoulders, down his chest. "I wish… I wish we could just disappear."

He nodded, but his eyes were on her skin where he traced her collarbone with a finger then trailed it down, between her breasts, the circled back up to one nipple.

Lila bit her lip and closed her eyes as he did it again, so, so softly. Her skin came alive under him, but even though the fire was there and she was still desperate for him, this was something different. She could see it in his face when she opened her eyes, that he felt it too.

This was a moment for reverence, and love.

This was a moment for gratitude.

And she prayed dear God, please, that this wasn't just a pause in their time apart. That this was the night they'd look back on. The night the rest of their lives truly began.

She didn't know how it was going to happen. But she would do everything in her power to make sure it did.