4.
~ Arthur waited impatiently for sleep. His thoughts too troubled to fall into the black and peaceful abyss of dreams and forgetting. He instantly regretted accusing Ariadne of still being in love with a man who had taken her innocence; then carelessly abandoned her. Still, as her child grew, so did the nagging reminder of the man who came before him.
Why did he have to be so jealous all the time? He found he was even becoming jealous of the time his wife spent with Phillipa and not him. His resentment towards her relationship with Eames, no matter how platonic, was like a thorn in his side. One that was becoming infected.
Was it wrong to want this woman all to himself? She was too willful to be controlled like he wanted. Yet, in a way, that made her all the more tantalizing to him.
He sighed and tried to settle back into his empty bed. His room was cozy with a cheery fire giving a comforting light.
As a boy, he remembered many cold nights with just a warm fire and his parents. So many Christmas days without presents or good food. Today, he had all of those things. He had also been surrounded by his family; a beautiful wife and a child. It had been the best Christmas he had ever had. Why was he so miserable now?
He was so lost in thought, he almost didn't hear the knock on his door.
"Come in." he called out to the darkness.
He wasn't surprised to see the petite form of his bride slip into the shadowy room.
"It's cold in the hallway." She whispered as she stole to his bedside.
He nodded as he moved over to make room for her.
"I couldn't sleep." She told him as he covered her in his warm bedding. Her feet and toes already cold. He could smell the soap on her hair, the faint scent of rose water as she snuggled closer to him.
"I couldn't sleep either." Arthur told her as they watched the fire dance and crackle.
"I'm not in love with Jeffery." Ariadne told him finally. "Not anymore."
"But you don't love me." Arthur prompted.
She gave out a sigh.
"Arthur, I really believed Jeffery loved me. I gave myself to him; I wanted to marry him. I had this fantasy that we would be together. When I found out about the baby, I thought it would be alright. I thought we would elope and go West. He just looked at me; like getting pregnant was something horrible I did to him. Then, suddenly he tells me about his wife and kids. How I'm going to ruin him. I had no idea he was even married."
She took a deep breath.
"I had to tell my mother. I had no choice in the matter. She wanted to take me to a doctor who would... who would 'take care' of it. I wasn't sure what they were going to do until we got to the office. Then I wouldn't let him. Mother screamed at me that I was a whore and that I wasn't welcomed in her house anymore. Then she told my father."
She seemed to be holding back tears.
"I went to stay at a woman's lodging house till my situation became known to my employer. Jeffery wasn't even implicated in it. He had stopped talking to me altogether. He kept his job, but I was fired. I soon ran out of money to stay at the boarding house. I had no idea what I would do next; when my friend told me about Mr. Cobb; about your situation."
She pulled herself free of his arms. Her long dark hair so beautifully framing her face. Her large eyes so fearful and doll like, he wondered how anyone could abandon this creature.
"Jeffery, wounded me deeper then I ever thought possible. If he had stood by my side, been the kind of man you are, then I would love him till the day that I died. But he turned his back on me. Pretend that our child was my problem alone. He would have let us starve in the streets before he helped me. I can't be in love with a man like that."
She looked on the verge of tears.
"But I can't fall in love with someone as recklessly as I did before Jeffery. My trust, my hopes for love have been stunted. I know that you're nothing like him. But if I don't love you, you can't hurt me." She told him. "And if you don't love me, you can't be hurt either."
"Well, I do love you." He said boldly.
Never, never in his life had he told a woman he loved her. But at that moment, when the words slipped out of his lips, he knew it was true. He did love her. He loved her infuriating need to go against his will whenever riled. He loved her fairy like beauty, her steel that seemed to be stronger then his own. It was all these qualities he loved in her.
"I love you. And I want to be a father to your child. I want this baby to be mine." he said taking a deep breath and charging fearlessly ahead.
Here was his heart. His blood, as red as any, and he was giving to her. He could give her a home and possessions so easily. He could even give her physical pleasures, but he wanted to give her his heart; and pray she wouldn't reject it.
"Arthur. I know you would never abandon me the way Jeffery did, you're a better man then he was... but I can't just-" She started to say.
He cut her protesting lips off with his kiss. He couldn't bare not to touch her anymore. His hands were caressing her hair and face as she seemed to melt into his arms. Her body falling into his will as she allowed him to shed her of her night dress.
Her breasts were suddenly more beautiful then ever before. Rounded and larger from her condition.
"Do you really want to be my child's father?" She panted as she broke away from his kiss.
"Our child. I want to be our child's father." He growled into her neck as she surrendered her body to him. Another fact that, once out of his mouth, he would not take back.
"Arthur." She mewed up at him and his hands caressed her full body. "Here." She whispered into his kiss and she pulled his hands onto her stomach. Her figure looking ripe and healthy in the firelight as he felt his own need spark angrily with lust for her.
To his great shock, he felt what could only be a kick.
He pulled away from her kiss in surprise. Had she done that? Did she have some kind of control over the baby? Some ability to make it move when she wanted?
He looked at her belly; not too large yet with their child. A fascinated sort of curiosity took hold of him as he wondered who was in there.