Helen sat straight up in bed, a light sheen of sweat covering her body and her breathing heavy. The early morning light filtering in through the open windows gave her room a soft glow. Her mind was still foggy with sleep and she fought to push away the last remnants of the nightmare she'd just awoken from. It had become quite a common occurrence in the last few weeks. She remembered having the same problem when she was pregnant with Ashley and was grateful to have Nikola in the bed with her this time around. But for some reason his lean arms weren't already wrapped around her in comfort. She frowned and turned to find the bed empty beside her.
"Nikola?" She called quietly, hoping that maybe he was just in the bathroom.
When no answer came, she laid back down and tried to calm her still racing heart. The nightmares were almost always the same. Someone, she never knew who, was hunting her, stalking through her Sanctuary in the dead of night. She was never afraid for herself, but the tiny infant she would be carrying. She had to protect it, had to keep it out of harm's way. But she was never fast enough, never strong enough to fight off whatever demons her mind conjured up. They were trapped with nowhere to go, no escape. Just as her precious baby was being ripped from her arms, she'd wake up.
She was slowly waking up, but her senses were on alert after her jarring dream. When the knob on her door began to giggle like someone was trying to get in, she sat bolt upright for the second time that morning. Holding her breath, she reached for the gun she kept hidden by her bed. As the door swung fully open, she let out a sigh. It was only Nikola. Nikola and an eating tray loaded down with what looked like breakfast.
"Don't shoot," he said teasingly.
She smiled at him warmly and returned the gun to its hiding place. Whatever he'd brought with him smelled delicious.
"I thought you might enjoy some breakfast in bed," he explained, coming around to her side of the bed and offering her the tray of food.
"Thank you. This is lovely."
He lent in and kissed her softly, finally noticing her sweaty skin and the lingering panic in her eyes.
"You had another nightmare, didn't you?"
She nodded, dropping her gaze down to the food, not wanting to talk about it.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here, ljubav." His words were soft and comforting. He tucked her hair behind her ear and gave her another quick peck on the cheek.
"You're here now," she whispered, leaning in to his touch.
He smiled at her before making his way back to the other side of the bed and climbing in beside her, snuggling in as close as the eating tray on her lap would allow.
He'd brought her quite the breakfast. One plate held a stack of three golden brown pancakes topped with fresh strawberries, blueberries, a generous amount of whip cream, and a miniature pitcher of syrup to the side. Another smaller plate was filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, and a few links of sausage. A tall glass of orange juice and a cup of tea completed the shmorgishborg.
"I figured I'd treat you since today is such a big day," Nikola said while she ate.
"What's so special about today?" She couldn't for the life of her remember anything important about the date. It wasn't an anniversary or birthday. She had a video call with all the heads of houses this afternoon, but she doubted that's what he was talking about. By all accounts it was just another Thursday.
"It's the twenty-third, Helen," he prompted, trying to throw her a bone.
It still wasn't clicking though. He could see her confusion and he rolled his eyes at her in mock exasperation.
"You're officially in your second trimester," he finally explained.
"Oh."
It was all she managed to get out. She knew exactly what he was getting at. She'd honestly forgotten and had hoped he would too.
"This is delicious, did you make it yourself?" She tried to change the subject as she continued to eat.
"The big hairy one may have helped some," he conceded reluctantly.
"You know I hate it when you call him that."
"Don't change the subject."
"Nikola…"
"You promised."
"I know I did, but I just don't know that now is the right time."
"No more excuses. You said you wanted to wait until you made it into your second trimester, to make sure you weren't going to lose the baby. Well, it's now your second trimester and you haven't lost the baby, so it's time to tell them."
She sighed. She had wanted to wait in case she ended up losing the baby, no need to tell everyone only to miscarriage. But it was more than that. She knew what they thought of her's and Nikola's relationship as it was. That it was a passing fancy that would eventually blow over, nothing more than sex, she would eventually come to her sense or pay the consequences. But now pregnant AND getting married…she knew what they'd think, what anyone would think.
"Besides, it's not like you can hide it much longer, ljubav." He teased.
"Nikola Tesla! Are you calling me fat?" She joked back.
She swatted at him playfully. He caught her hand easily, bringing it up to kiss each of her fingers lightly.
"Never," he said when he was finished.
She was done eating so he took the tray and set it on the floor beside the bed. Once free of any restrictions, she snuggled against his chest, content to let him hold her for the moment. She needed to figure out what exactly she was going to say to her staff, her friends. She'd managed to convince Nikola that they should keep their engagement a secret for the time being. She'd made several fine arguments. Saying it would be easier to tell them all the news in one go rather than having to gather them twice. Claiming that people would be suspicious, start asking questions or make assumptions and keeping the pregnancy to themselves for the time being was important to her. In reality, she just wasn't ready to share either of their little secrets.
But she had promised him. The thought of sitting down with her staff made her sick to her stomach. She loved Nikola and knew that marrying him was the right decision for them. She knew her team wasn't overly fond of Nikola, or he of them, but they'd all learned to live together over the past six months. That wasn't the part that was making her nervous though. It was the pregnancy.
She honestly had no idea how they were going to react. She'd been more than a little shocked herself. The fact that she was 275 and had accidently gotten knocked up was slightly embarrassing. Not to mention that Henry, who she considered her son and had raised since he was a child, was also having a baby that would ultimately only be a few months older than her's. There were just too many oddities about the whole situation, but weird was their specialty so maybe they'd all take it better than she anticipated.
"Stop over thinking it. It'll be fine,"
"I'm just scared of how they're going to react," she admitted honestly.
"The great Helen Magnus, monster hunter, is afraid to tell her friends she's having a baby and is getting married?" He was laughing at her.
She shifted slightly so she could glare up at him. It wasn't funny. Ok, maybe it was a little funny, but tell that to her churning stomach.
"It is a bit ridiculous isn't it?" She finally admonished, trying to laugh at herself and ignore her nerves.
"Very ridiculous," he agreed.
"I suppose I should go gather the troops. Can't put it off forever," she said, finally getting out of bed to prepare for her day.
"I already took care of it," Nikola said proudly. "Everyone is meeting in your office at nine o'clock."
"Nikola, that's in twenty minutes!"
She barely had time to make it to the bathroom before she was throwing up the wonderful breakfast Nikola had brought her.
I don't know that I like this chapter. It doesn't have much of a point. Please review and tell me what you think!
