Page 214 of Creep

“By protecting you?” I asked. I cupped her cheek until she was looking at me. “Silly girl. I would have died a thousand painful deaths if it meant you’re safe.”

“W-What about you? I need you to be safe as well, don’t you know that? I need you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. Who else would protect her if I’m gone? No, I planned on living a long life if for nothing more than to keep all those fucking bastards away from my girl.

“You promise?”

“I promise,” I said, moving back on the bed. “Lie down with me.”

She eyed me. “You’re injured.”

“So?”

“So I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t fucking care,” I said, pulling on her arm until she was with me on the bed. She carefully lay down close to my side, and I tightened my arms around her, biting back a groan. That fucking hurt, but it was so fucking worth it.

We stayed there for a long while. I pressed my hand on her still-flat stomach. It might have been nothing more than a dream, but…

“Baby?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“Yeah?”

“Are you pregnant?”

She didn’t show any reaction, but I could feel the air shifting around us.

“How did you…”

I smiled. “You’re really pregnant?”

Tears sprang to her eyes, and she mutely nodded.

I closed my eyes briefly, feeling my own emotion swelling inside me.

Fuck, Lia was pregnant.

She was pregnant with my child.

I pulled her in closer to me, kissing the top of her head and feeling so many things at once, I didn’t know which to focus on.

“Mael?”

“Yeah, kitten?”

“Thank you for saving me.”

I shook my head. “You don’t ever have to thank me for that. After all, it was what I was put on this earth to do.”

And that was the fucking truth.

52

LIA

I exhaled,seeing fog forming in front of my face from the chilly air. This walk had been easier when he took me out for our first date. Of course, there wasn't any snow on the ground on our first date, and it wasn’t as cold.

It wasn’t like it was such a hard path to walk on, but I hadn’t felt like myself since I found out I was pregnant, and I knew I hadn’t exactly gained any baby weight, but I felt like I had. It also didn’t help that I was still recovering. Mael had protected me well from the fall when he took most of the impact, but that didn’t mean I had made it out of there unscathed. I was sore and bruised and just not my usual self.

---