Authors Notes: Here's chapter 12, enjoy :
Disclaimer: I still own nothing.
-.-.-.-.-
The four of us had left LJ and Kiersten in charge of the shop while we went to the doctor's appointment for our sonograms. Veronica was sitting in the back with me, and I could tell she was just as nervous as I was. The boys were listening to the radio, so I could talk out of their earshot if I did it quietly.
"What're you hoping for?" I asked her, leaning closer.
"I'm kind of partial to a girl. What about you?"
"It doesn't matter, as long as it's healthy. I only want to know the sex for the sake of picking out a name. I'm terrible with decisions like that, and I don't want to go through the trouble picking out a boy's and a girl's."
"I know what you mean. I think Lincoln's finally starting to come around. He's been so concerned lately, always asking if I'm okay, if I need anything. I think he's finally growing up, not running from his problems anymore."
"That's good," I said. "I always knew he had it in him, he just had to find it."
Our appointments were delayed, and we didn't end up getting out of the office until four thirty, just in time to have to deal with rush hour traffic. Even knowing it'd take two hours to make it back to the shop, we were too giddy to care. We were both having girls, and they were perfectly healthy so far.
We made it back to the shop and closed up, me and Michael getting in our car and going home, a night of relaxation on the horizon.
"Pick out any names yet?" He joked, knowing how much I drove myself crazy already.
"Nope. I've got three books of names, though, and we're going to go through every one tonight."
"I can't wait." I could tell he meant it, his smile gave it away, and it was enough to make me shut up for the rest of the short drive.
As soon as we were inside, I couldn't stop yawning, it was as if I'd got extremely tired all of a sudden.
"Why don't you go take a nap, or lay down, at least?"
"I don't know, I think I might. How about we get a quick shower first?"
"I'd love to. Go get the water ready, I'll be right in."
It was almost dark outside, and the bathroom was colder than you would've thought. I turned the faucet on and my nipples hardened almost instantly when the cold water splashed on me. I turned it further towards hot, and stripped, leaving my clothes in a heap under the sink. Once the water was warm enough not to give me pneumonia, I stepped in and closed my eyes, letting the stream beat down on my neck. I braced my hand up against the wall and tilted my head down, savoring the liquid massage. I heard Michael get in behind me but I didn't move, deciding instead to wait and see what he'd do. He inched closer and circled his right arm around my waist, his left coming up to rub my shoulder, his lips dancing softly on the back of my neck. A quiet moan escaped my throat when his left hand found my breast, his calloused thumb rubbing my nipple. I could feel him growing harder and pressing against me, and I wanted more. I grabbed his wrist and brought his other hand up, pressing it against my other breast, but he jerked away. Shaking the cobwebs from my head I turned around, blinking away the water from my eyes.
"What's wrong?" I saw him cradling his hand.
"Nothing, it's fine. I'm sorry." I eased closer to him and took his wrist again, this time turning his palm up to me for my eyes to see. His hand was red and swollen, little circular bruises dotting his flesh.
"What happened to you, Michael?"
"Nothing, I broke a glass when I was doing the dishes last night, it's no big deal." He leaned in to kiss me but I pushed away from him.
"No big deal? Have you even seen the infection in your hand? This is a very big deal, but once again, you're too busy trying to be strong for everyone that you're hurting yourself. Why didn't you tell me about this when it happened?"
"I love you, Sara. That's why." His voice was low and ashamed, but I wasn't following him.
"What? How does that justify not telling me? If anything, you've got it backwards."
"You and everyone else, you were having such a good time last night, I didn't want to ruin it." I stared at him, unaware that my mouth was hanging open with shock.
"Why won't you realize that you don't have to be a hero all the time, Michael? Why won't you let me take care of you? We're in this together, forever." I was trying my best to be mad at him, but all I could do was feel sorry that he felt like he had to keep things from me. "I just don't know how to get through to you," I said, getting out of the shower and wrapping a towel around myself. The air in our bedroom was making me shiver, so I dried as fast and thoroughly as I could, dressing myself in a pair of green sweats and clean socks, and climbed under the covers. I laid there and felt lost, and the silent tears that flowed down my face only made me feel stupider for the whole thing, but I couldn't stop. Michael crawled in behind me a minute later and wrapped his arms around me, apologized against my neck, and it only turned my silent tears into vicious sobs. The only man I've ever actually loved, and here I was acting like a lunatic, wanting to be angry, wanting to apologize, wanting to hit him, wanting to make love. I didn't know which one I wanted more, so I laid there and I cried, trying to forget all the thoughts in my mind and just cry. He held me tighter and kept whispering his apologies, and how much he loved me, and it just sent my emotional roller coaster into overdrive. I wanted to scream at him, tell him to shut up, beg him to never let go, but I didn't. I cried.
I cried for what seemed like hours until I woke up, still in his arms, my cheeks still burning, my face still sticky from the tears. From the amount of silver light shining in the room, I'd guess it was a full moon, or somewhere close to it. I laid there and stared out the window, not wanting to move, not wanting to cry anymore. I could feel Michael's steady breath hot against the back of my neck, and I realized that I was burning up. I eased his arm from around me and stood up, stripping the sweats off of my slick body and carefully pulling the blanket off the bed. The dresser creaked when I opened the top drawer, but Michael didn't move a muscle, thankfully. I slid on a pair of underwear and made my way back to Michael's side, facing him this time, and kissed him. I let my lips linger where they were, barely touching his, and closed my eyes, trying to go back to sleep. My mind wouldn't let me, though, and baby names flooded my thoughts again. I decided to go along with it instead of fight it, and laid there for a good hour and a half. It finally hit me, and it's the name my heart was set on now. Alexis Renee Scofield. I repeated it over and over in my head and rolled to the side, grabbing a pencil and scribbling it down on a piece of paper. I was so excited that I accidently put two N's in Renee and had to erase it, a case of the giggles building up inside of me. I looked over at the clock and decided Michael wouldn't mind if I woke him up, he still had plenty of time to sleep. I snuggled right up next to him and whispered his name right onto his own lips. His eyes snapped open and I saw fear, then it faded into confusion.
"What's going on?"
"The name, I've got it!" I was still whispering, but it was like an excited shout.
"Oh yeah?"
"Mhm."
"And what is it?"
"Well, if you want it, I was thinking Alexis Renee Scofield."
"It's perfect," he said, leaning forward and kissing me. I could taste the passion and the love on his mouth, and his eyes told me he'd meant what he said about it being perfect.
"I love you, Michael," I said with a smile, still in mid-kiss.
"Oh, but I love you more. And that's a fact of life."
"Hardly."
"You want proof now?" He scooped his arm under me and rolled, his face hovering less than an inch above me, his eyes locked on mine.
"If this is what proof is like, I want alot of it," I said in a playfully quiet tone. He dipped his head and captured my mouth again, his tongue poking for access, then dancing across the tip of mine. My body heaved under him, and it was all I could do to keep myself from grinding my hips against his thickening bulge, even though I could imagine that it was going to happen anyway. He broke the kiss and brushed a couple of loose strands of hair out of my face.
"You mean the world to me, Sara. You and Alexis both. I'm never going to let either of you down again, I promise." His whisper was hot and meaningful against my skin as he spoke, and then caressed my cheek, his lips sucking at my neck. I tilted my head to give him a better angle, an angle that he found in no time, causing my breath to hitch in my throat. I rarely ever got to reciprocate the pleasure he brought me. He'd spend so much time on me, driving me insane, then we'd actually make love and I'd be so exhausted that I'd fall asleep on his chest before I could recuperate. He never said a word about it, though; he kept on giving, driving me over the edge time and time again with his mouth and hands, and I had a feeling that tonight wasn't going to be any different.
He kissed his way to my breasts and teased my peaks, almost making me lose it right there. He stopped at the last second and looked up at me, giving me a rest before he trailed his way down my body, below my navel. He had my panties stripped and to the side in a matter of seconds, but this time I did lose it, an earthquake rattling itself through my body as I screamed his name against the pillow I'd bit down on. My breath was coming short and ragged, my toes aching from curling up so tight, but Michael didn't want me to come down too much. He was easing himself inside of me before I knew it and he paused when he'd reached as deep as he could. I ran my hands up and down his arms, my eyes never leaving his and I started to rock my hips towards him. He fell into perfect rhythm with me, then our pace quickened, but everything stayed gentle. He brought me to the edge again and I screamed, this time without a pillow as I tightened around him, urging him to come with me. He collapsed next to me and caressed my heaving stomach, our breaths slowly returning to normal as we drifted back to sleep.