Page 115 of Fighting For Light
“For what?” she asks, dragging her hands through my hair.
“For loving me even when it’s hard,” I tell her.
“You don’t need to thank me for loving you,” she says quietly, making my heart leap. Then I feel a kick against my cheek. I guess that means he agrees with his mother.
If I do one thing for this little boy, it’s keep him safe from all the monsters, seen and unseen. I will be their protector, whatever it takes. I will fight for them in the dark so they can remain in the light.
53
Cordelia
We finally managed tocatch up on sleep. Well, I did. Kai is becoming more and more like a caged animal. But he’s finally healing, and there’s only light bruising left over from his ribs and hip. He sleeps, but not much. I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night to find him sitting in the chair, looking out the window. I asked him one night what he was doing, and instead of answering my question, he made me see stars. The next night was the same thing, only he kissed me on the cheek and told me to go back to sleep before he slipped out of our room. I didn’t ask where he went or what he did because I didn’t think I wanted to know.
Kai followed me down to the beautiful saltwater pool. The water has helped reduce the tension in my back, so I don’t want to leave. I caught Kai staring at the hot tub earlier, and the memory of our first kiss plays on repeat in my mind. He swims over to me and kisses my temple. “You’re thinking about that hot tub, too, aren’t you?” he asks slyly.
I angle my sunglasses down and look at him floating in the water with his hair slicked back. “Maybe.”
He chuckles and flips my floaty. I scream before hitting the water.
“I like this swimsuit. Did I tell you that?” he asks while we both tread water. I roll my eyes and splash water in his face.
I could barely get this bikini on. I didn’t want to put it on to begin with. I wanted to wear a one-piece instead but forgot it. Though, I’m not sure my stomach would have fit in it even if I tried. My boobs are about to pop out with one wrong move, and the strings are hanging on for dear life. The bottoms barely cover my butt, too, but Kai hasn’t stopped staring at me either.
“I don’t know why. I literally look like a whale wearing a blue bikini.”
He swims closer and pushes me to where he can stand in shallower water. Then he grabs my thighs, lifts me around his waist, and spins us around so I’m forced to hang on to him.
“You don’t look like a whale. You look like my beautiful, pregnant wife.”
I scoff as he twirls us in the water.
“You’re being nice, but okay, I’ll take it.”
“You should because it’s the truth,” he says.
I roll my eyes, trying to ignore the slight bit of panic rising in my pulse.
“What’s wrong?”
I tilt my head back to look at the blue, cloudy sky.
“Gem,” Kai says gently. He knows when he says my nickname like that, I melt immediately. There is no resisting him.
“I’m nervous. Thewhat-ifskeep flying around in my head. I keep having this waking nightmare that we will have to run again, only we won’t have a place to run to, and then I’ll be birthing this baby on the side of the road.”
“I mean, women have been having babies in tents or barns for thousands of years. So even if thatcouldhappen, I’m positive you could do it, just like they did,“ he offers.
I sigh and kiss the corner of his mouth. “That’s not really what I wanted to hear, you know.”
“Well, it’s the truth,” Kai says, leaning forward and kissing my collarbone. “How long do you want to stay in here? You’re going to turn into a prune.”
I giggle at the thought. “It’s a way to…kill time, I guess.”
“If you say so. Don’t you want to…I don’t know, go shopping? Take a nap? Watch a movie?”
“You’re so full of good ideas.” I grin.
“If we’re brainstorming, I can think of a few other ideas that would keep both of us busy.”
