It was about 5 in the evening Monday evening, Linnie putting away the toys and sanitizing the shelves and desks before he locked up and went home for the evening. His sweater could no longer cover up his stomach now as he found himself in the mid-2nd trimester, his back aching as he struggled to reach down and pick stuff up. Heck, he even had a hard time when he got down on both knees to do so, holding his back and gritting his teeth as he positioning himself back upwards.
All he wanted was to go home after a long day. While he enjoyed his job very much, Linnie found his pregnancy was slowly getting in the way of his daily life. Some mornings, he found himself lingering over the toilet bowl, and other days, he'd be making a few trips to the bathroom every hour. It made it harder for him to interact with the children properly, and he was also starting to get more irritable and tired, just wanting the baby to be born.
As Linnie continued to clean up the daycare, he heard a loud, forced knocking at the door, before it opened suddenly, revealing one of Nora's friends, Liz, charging right at him.
"You stay the fuck away from Nora, you hear! I know what you've done to her?", Liz snarled, now looking at his stomach, "And that stupid little baby bump just proves my point!"
"W-What? Liz, what are you talking about? What did I do wrong? I-I don't understand.", Linnie stuttered, tears starting to well up as his hormones made him sensitive to yelling.
"Oh, don't play all cute with me! She told me everything! What kind of sick person does something like that to a lady like Nora? Do you know how fucking lucky you are that she even looks in your direction? And you're just gonna take advantage of her like that? Really?"
"Take advantage? What do you mean by that? W-What did she tell you?"
"She told me you had assaulted her, and raped her in her own house. She said you showed up to her porch one evening, half drunk and naked, and just told her that you wanted to fuck her, and clearly you got what you wanted! You know, Linnie.", Liz yelled, though her voice got a bit quieter, "I never did like you. Ever since Nora found you, I always thought she was too good for you, but I never would have imagined that you would be the type of person to so such a thing to her."
"W-What? I didn't rape her!"
"Uh huh..then how'd you get pregnant then, unless that's just a lot of fat and you've been going out with sugar donuts or some shit."
"S-She told me to come over! I-I did so I could keep her company, but then she started kissing me and eventually, we well..slept together."
"Sex! Call it Sex! You've done the deed, you might as well call it as it is.", Liz snapped, though looking at Linnie's scared face, "Nora told me all about you. How it was your ambition to raise a family one day, and she would complain that you would not stop talking about it. So if it got what you wanted, which clearly it did, why should I believe you didn't rape her? How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"I didn't rape Nora, Liz! Alright? I would never do that to someone!"
"Uh huh..yeah sure..That's what you want the people around you to think."
"No, I'm serious!", Linnie said, now starting to get angry, "I understand you don't like me. I get it and it's fine. But what I'm not going to let you do is disrespect me in my own work place. You are very lucky the children aren't here to hear you cuss and yell at me right now."
"Pfft..and what would you do if they were? Would you have raped me too?"
"WHAT? NO! I barely even know you! Seriously, what kind of person do you think I am? I was hired by Jorgen to take care of these kids, and I work my little behind off to make sure that the kids are cared for, and I help out others when I have off time. I have worked hard to get where I'm at right now, and I wouldn't ruin it by raping someone and potentially going to prison and turning myself into a felon. You have a lot of nerve busting in her, and accusing me of something I didn't do!"
"Well, I've known Nora for a lot longer than you have, sweetheart, so I know she would never lie to me. To you, maybe, because in all honesty, you should be grateful you're even in her life. She doesn't have to put up with someone like you."
"Well, if she doesn't want to put up with someone like me, then why doesn't she leave? You know, after I had gotten pregnant, she made me move in with her! If I HAD raped Nora, why do you think she would keep coming back? I wouldn't think she was the type to put up with other people hurting her."
"Probably because she feels sorry for you.", Liz shrugged, making her way back towards the door, "Fine then. If you hadn't raped Nora then I guess I don't have any evidence against you. But, if you ever so much as raise a finger against that innocent woman, then I'm going to make sure you have a first class seat to hell, where men like you belong."
"Yes, good luck with that dear.", Linnie said, his green eyes in flames, though he still wanted to sound polite, "Maybe if you're lucky, we'll get the same torture chamber."
"Oh Fuck you Bitch!"
The door slammed shut and Linnie, stood there in shock, anger, and sadness. He had taken a lot of screaming, yelling, and hitting while in a relationship with Nora, but felt tears spill his cheeks again after Liz had left. He collapsed behind his desk and started crying, wondering why he was being treated the way he was. What did I do to deserve this? I didn't want to have sex with her! She just kissed me and then..we just did it. Oh, why does everyone hate me? Wait..why is Nora going around telling people things that aren't true? I thought she loved me! Why is she lying about me, and saying I did these awful things? I thought she wanted to work on our relationship?
Gathering himself a bit, Linnie finally managed to grab the house keys and take himself home, irritatingly seating himself on the couch, awaiting Nora's return. She sometimes got home later than Linnie (which is when she would tell him to make her dinner), but Nora had previously told Linnie that today shouldn't be a late night. Unless it was another one of those lies she told him.
Linnie sighed as he got up and poured himself so water, wanting to clear his head a bit before he confronted Nora. Despite the slapping, yelling, demanding, and lying he had been put through, he still felt some sort of affection for her. He loved the way she took charge in things, and was quite a passionate lover when she's given the chance, but Linnie was also getting exhausted. While he still wanted to be with Nora and wanted to keep loving her (especially since they were having a child), he also wasn't sure with how much longer he could put up with her behavior. It was as if Linnie was Nora's chew toy, and playing with his heart and emotions every change she got, and Linnie was starting to get tired of it. He was a person too; why does no one treat him with the same respect?
Finally, Nora came in and put the brief case down, giving Linnie a puzzled look as she saw him sitting in the living room.
"What're you doing sitting out her? Shouldn't you be making dinner?", Nora asked, impatience hinted in her tone. Linnie frowned.
"I'm afraid it's TV dinners tonight, Nora. I've had a rather..interesting day at work, and don't really feel like cooking right now.", Linnie said, crossing his arms. Nora got closer to him and crossed her arms in response. She didn't like the attitude he was giving her.
"Well, the last time I recall, you're not the one that pays the bills in this house, do you?"
"Nora, you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself.", Linnie said, though Nora was starting to look angry, "Just like you are perfectly capable of spreading lies about me! Do you know what happened to me today?"
"Linnie, you're out of line."
"No! I'm not! Your friend, Liz, came into the daycare today and told me that you told her that I raped you! You know perfectly well what happened that night! Why did you tell her something that wasn't true! I thought you said you loved me!"
"Of course I love you. Why would you make such a stupid assumption?", Nora yelled, trying to make herself louder than Linnie and while she succeeded, Linnie wasn't backing down like she wanted.
"Clearly you don't if you think I raped you!", he yelled before collapsing on the couch, trying to avoid Nora's raised hand, as if she were about to slap her, "I've done some thinking Nora and..I do love you. I still do. You know, I'm grateful for all that you've given me and I would really like to raise this child with you, but I also don't deserve to me treated like this. You and Liz might think I'm the worst person in the world, but I honestly think you are trying to disrespect me. I..I think we need to take a break for a while."
"What? WHY? AFTER ALL I'VE FUCKING DONE FOR YOU?", Nora screamed all of the sudden, picking up and throwing her brief case across the floor, Linnie just barely able to dodge it.
"See, that's my point. You love me but you don't respect me, and you have no idea how exhausting it is to be your punching bad all day every day.", Linnie sighed, "I love you, Nora. I promised I would when we started dating, but I just need some time for myself. I just need a chance to recover for a little while."
"Really? And where would you go? Did you forget we moved in together?"
"No I didn't. I'm going to ask one of my friends if I can stay for a while. I'm sorry Nora but I honestly think this is the best thing for us right now."
"So what, are you leaving me?"
"No. I've said I still loved you. I just want to be aware from you for a bit, that's all."
"Oh well..I get it. I guess you are better on without me. The world's better without me then. You know, I don't even know why I bother existing anymore."
"N-Nora what are you saying?"
"Well, it's just that no one ever appreciates me and now that you're leaving..do you want me to die? You're tearing me apart.", Nora whined, forcing tears to come out of her eyes. Linnie had never seen that side to her, and honestly, it was starting to scare him a bit.
"Nora please..no one hates you. I don't hate you.I-I just trying to help us a bit that's all. Oh no..please Nora. Stop crying. I'm sorry. I love you, I promise. Please don't cry. You'll see this will be good for us. Didn't you say you wanted to work on our relationship? I think this would be the first step. Admitting we're wrong. Oh no dear..", Linnie's voice dropped as he tried to hug Nora, feeling guilty for yelling at her. He hugged and rubbed her back, whispering sweet, comforting words before all of the sudden, he saw a wave of pink sparkles and magic around him, everything making him sleepy. His body went limp as Nora held him, holding her wand in front of his face.
"Now, listen to me. You're not going anywhere, Linnie. I love you and you love me. You don't want to leave me, and you'll always be there for me, just as I have been for you. I love you, Linnie. Don't leave me. I know you don't want to leave me anyways. You love me too much to do so. Now say it."
"I..I..", Linnie stammered, trying to fight the magic off, feeling himself slowly losing control of his mind, as his eyes turned pink from the magic, as if she were brainwashing him, "I.."
"Say it! I love you."
"I..I love you."
"Good boy.", Nora said, now dropping him on the couch, her haughty smile returning, "Now, why don't you be a sweetheart and make us some dinner."
"I..Yes dear, anything.", Linnie nodded, though his eyes were turning back to normal, got up and left towards the kitchen, forgetting why he was angry at her in the first place. All he knew was that his beautiful girlfriend was standing in the living room hungry, and he needed to do what he could to make her happy. He DID love her after all..