“Cat?” Alaric walked into the kitchen and placed a hand on my lower back. “Are you okay?”
I laughed lightly and leaned my head on his shoulder. “I’m fine. He’s fine too,” I tacked on before he could ask.
Alaric slipped his hand around to the constipation-sized bulge I was permanently sporting right now.
“They want us to play. You up for it?”
“What about your dessert?”
“Shouldn’t they enjoy the show too?”
“If that’s how you want it.” I lifted a shoulder in a shrug.
“I’ll walk you up when we’re done.” He kissed my brow and then went to get the cake. He must have known I was ready to fall asleep right here and now. I’d have to make it through all of this first.
Alaric returned to the kitchen after he dropped off the cake, holding out a hand for me to take. It still threw me off how sweet and caring he could be when there was this whole side of him that was completely terrifying. I loved him exactly as he was, though.
I slid off the stool and walked with him towards the great room.
Passing by the dining table I caught Chloe’s eye. She was quick to look away.
The last conversation we had was approximately two weeks ago when she questioned how I could settle for this and didn’t like my reply. The answer was rather simple.
This was my life now.
Alaric was mine and I was his.
The baby he had wanted so badly he’d given me fertility medicine to hurry the process along, was nestled inside of me. This small human that I loved more with each passing day.
I had no clue what kind of parent I would be, but I knew I wouldn’t ever abandon him as my parents had me. I wanted him to have the best of everything. He was a ball and chain but also a blessing. With him and the proposal soon to be a wedding, I wouldn’t ever be free.
Not unless I self-sabotaged everything, including the man I loved.
But I would survive because there was nothing else for me outside of here. I wouldn’t have Alaric and I needed him. So, while she would try to escape again, I would remain content.
I’d live this life between reality and nightmare. Sanity and madness. I would do it until he told me it was time to take my last breath. Caught in his perfectly woven web of torment and ecstasy.