A/N: Hey! What do you know, I am posting! I am surprised myself. Finally found the inspiration to continue this story. Hope anybody is still around to leave their opinions… But of course new criticism is always welcome! This chapter isn't by far as long lik the last, but I'll soon be updating again, that I promise, because I'm just about to plan the next part. The length of this chapter is mainly courtesy of me eager to post again, which is why I will soon be updating.. Hope you enjoy!
Ryan's arm feels like a safety band, wrapped so delicately but protectively around her swollen belly. They have lied on their bed longer than she can remember. Maybe it's a good thing. That she can't remember. She feels her eyelids getting heavy, having used a lot of her energy on the confrontation. But her tiredness is too courtesy of the contentment of having things out in the open and not left in the dark. Besides, with Ryan so close to her, rubbing soothing patterns on her abdomen, she hasn't felt so calm in a long time.
Ryan nestles her hair, grazing his lips on the back of her neck. Delicately, but protectively. She feels heavy, letting her full weight hit their mattress, but a baby inside your tummy might do that to you. A sense of peace falls over the room. A sacred kind of peace that shouldn't be broken.
Damn doorbell.
Marissa yawns deeply, small droplets of tired resting in the crook of her eyes. She is so comfortable, and so, so devoid of strength. Ryan murmurs something in her ear, but all she hears is his husky tone, feeling too sleepy to make any sense of his message. Her safety band is gently removed, making her on instinct curl into a protective ball-like figure. He takes notice of her change in position, his signature half-smile displaying how much he's in love with her, bending down and placing a kiss on her nose, delicately, but protectively.
He descends the stairs carefully, not wanting to wake his slumbering, pregnant wife. He feels like thing's finally getting on track, and it's an unbelievably good feeling. With sparkling, alive blue eyes, which have resembled a dull man's vision for the past few months, Ryan opens the front door to greet the unknown person.
Swinging the door open, he is met face to face with a person he thought he would never see again. It's cliché, it really is, but he can't help but feel a sense of déjà vu back to his high school years. Though it isn't pleasant memories he is having, it is more like he finally can see how hopeless their relationship was. He feels glad, knowing his mind is no longer clouded with the naïve attitude he was portraying then with her. He guessed an ex being engaged with your older brother does that to you.
Lindsay looks equally surprised, if not more. Their reactions are quite similar in fact, apart from the new lit twinkle in her eyes. She feels sick just by the thought of them being together, sharing a house and their lives with each other. Oh, she remembers, Marissa is also expecting their child. But that doesn't mean she is going to fight a lost battle. In fact, from the way she sees it, she arrived on this very doorstep right on time; before Ryan and Marissa would be connected for eternity. But what about Trey? A voice in the back of her mind asks her. Shoot. She had completely forgotten about him, spur of the moment think she reasoned with herself. But he wouldn't be a problem. She would make damn sure of that, even if it was the last thing she did. But it couldn't hurt to play happy house for just a little while, could it?
Thinking he should actually say something, he slowly opens his mouth, trying to find the right words. "Uhm," he stutters, continuing at a hasty speed "Lindsay, hi."
Having taken in his greeting, she muster's the courage to respond, all of a sudden feeling nervous of being in his presence. "Hey Ryan."
"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?"
"Uhm…" Lindsay seems to have forgotten her reason for this little visit, and just stands there, gaping. A bell goes off in her head. "Oh, of course, I-I'm here because of Marissa."
Ryan does not feel less confused by her answer. "What do you mean, is something wrong with her?" His instinctual worry when it comes to his wife starts to kick in.
Lindsay hurries to stop the misunderstanding from going any further. "No, no no, nothing like that. We… we actually work together. I'm… her boss' financial counsellor."
The words felt like a punch in the gut. This was the last thing he needed. When they were finally beginning to untangle Marissa's and his relationship, Lindsay shows up on their doorstep. Marissa's words were ringing in his ears; Haven't you noticed? There's always people coming between us and causing us problems. Ryan felt a sense of dread, knowing how entirely right she was. He suddenly wondered why she hadn't told him about her and Lindsay working together. But it hit him, they hadn't really been talking at all until tonight. So who was he to blame her for this inconvenient situation?
Noticing the quiet which had descended on them, he spoke up. "Uhm well, should I go get her, tell her you're here?"
Lindsay had been hoping for more interaction from him. "Uhm, sure, I guess." Her voice sounded tiny and weak.
"Okay…" Ryan was at a lack of what to say. "So I will just go and get her, come on in." He spoke the three last words very quickly, finding them awkward to utter.
When the both of them were standing in the hallway, and Ryan had closed the door, he hurried up the stairs to Marissa. He felt guilty disturbing his peaceful wife; he knew that this was the last thing she needed as well.
Opening the door slowly, it letting out a small creak, but seemingly not enough to wake her. He walked slowly up to their bed, wanting nothing more than to lie next to her, feeling her warmth spread through him. She laid tangled up in the sheets, her hair a mess, in a way only he could find adorable. He could see the dark circles under her eyes. God, why hadn't he noticed how exhausted she really was. He carefully sat down on the mattress, leaning over to wake her. Delicately, but protectively he stroked her warm cheek, tucking a stray hair out of her eyes. How he had missed these tiny gestures of affection. Oh how he wanted to crawl into bed with her and just rest. He could think of nothing better.
The gesture didn't seem to wake her from her sleep, quite the opposite in fact. She instinctively curled herself closer to him, seeking his warmth. This made Ryan's heart melt, and he felt himself falling in love with her all over again. Moving even closer to her, he whispered softly in her ear. "Riss, baby you have to wake up." It took a few seconds, but sure enough she began stirring, stretching her limbs out.
She yawned deeply. "Are you referring to me or our child?"
This made Ryan chuckle quietly. "You think you're so funny, don't you?"
"Uhm…" She peered out with one of her eyes. "I am a little bit."
Ryan found himself so at peace. Sighing, he bent his head to the crook of her neck, finding her smell comforting.
"Aww, baby are you tired?"
Ryan gave off a muffled noise, before responding. "Okay maybe we should quit calling the other 'baby' when we're actually going to have one. A baby I mean."
Marissa giggled. "Uh-huh…" Her voice was laced with laziness.
"You're just going to agree to almost anything just so you can stay here, aren't you?"
"Hmm…" Marissa mused, smiling gently.
"Aren't you going to ask me who was at the door?"
"Well aren't you going to tell me?" He had missed this cheeky side of her.
"Are you sure you want to know, because the person is currently standing in the foyer."
"WHAT?" Marissa quickly wriggled out of their embrace. "Why didn't you tell me? We can't lay here then, can we?"
Ryan laughed at her antics. "No we can't," he said, doing a terrible imitation of her voice.
"Jerk." Marissa slapped him in the shoulder. Having kicked of her shoes in her sleep, she glided her bare feet over the edge of the bed, coming face to face with herself in the mirror."
"Oh, my God. My hair looks terrible! Shit, now our guest will think we had a quickie in the bedroom while she was waiting for us!"
Ryan couldn't help but laugh at her. "Now, would that be so bad?"
"Yeah, you would like that wouldn't you." She was now walking like a maniac through their bedroom, searching for something. "Crap, where is my hairbrush! Ry, can I use yours?"
"Aww, sorry honey," Ryan came up behind her, circling his arms around her. "I don't use a hairbrush."
Marissa forced his arms away. "Well you should, you know, in case your wife looses hers? God, where are your priorities?"
"Riss, calm down, I doubt Lindsay will stay for long."
Marissa stopped her motions. "You said what now?"
"Uhh…" Ryan had let it slip. "Yeah… Lindsay is our guest."
"And you didn't tell me sooner? Thanks a lot!"
"Hey, hey, hey…" Relax, I'm here okay? He put his arms on both sides of her pregnant belly.
"Yeah I know…" Marissa smiled weakly at him. "Sorry I freaked out."
He gave his signature half smile. "I would've expected nothing less."
"Haha, I'm sure."
"Now…" Marissa walked to their bathroom, threading her fingers through her hair. "If I could just get my hair under control, we'll have to face her…" Walking back, tying an elastic band around her hair, she seemed to have relaxed a bit.
"Yeah…" Ryan could think of nothing else to say. Delicately, but protectively putting an arm around her waist, they walked slowly together through their door, ready to face whatever was in store for them.
A/N: Please drop me a line or two, words are gold. 3