An Understanding

A fortnight had passed and Taylor found herself better since she was sleeping more. Aaron was still worried about her but she insisted she was fine. Christy was helping her around the caves and now so was Hunter, which was a surprise to all of them. Taylor had a growing feeling it was because of Christy though. But she didn't care, it was an extra pair of hands that was learning what to do. Now she had more time on her hands.

Tonight Taylor was sitting in front of the fire with Christy. They were just talking like good friends did.

"I wonder why Hunter's been helping out so much lately?" Christy asked to veer the conversation in a different direction.

Taylor gave her a sideways glance and smiled at the opportunity to tell Christy her thoughts on the matter.

"Are you serious? You really don't know why he's coming around?" Christy shook her head. "He likes you." She said bluntly.

Christy shook her head again. "No, no, no. He's been very forward before and it didn't go anywhere. He's not into me." She seemed as though she was trying to convince herself he didn't like her.

"Chris! Think about it. He talks to you constantly, he's studying medicine to be around you, and…I don't know. He just does." Taylor told her.

"Taylor that's great but I suppose if Noah came to help you say he was in love with me too." Christy played.

"No. Be open minded about this. It's the way he looks at you, the way he doesn't look at you. I can just tell by the look in his eyes." Christy smiled.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

The conversation lulled and the girls both stared into the fire. Christy thought about Hunter and whether or not she should believe Taylor. After all, Taylor was her best friend, she'd do anything for her and she'd hope Taylor would do the same for her.

Suddenly out of the corner of her eye, Christy saw Taylor jump and panic hit her.

"What? Are you okay?" Christy asked quickly.

"I'm fine." Taylor laughed. "The baby kicked that's all." Taylor couldn't help but laugh at the way everyone was so nervous all of the time. She was nine months pregnant, not a bomb.

There was a long silence between the two before Christy spoke again.

"Aren't you scared?" She asked timidly.

Taylor thought a moment. "Of coarse I'm scared. I'm terrified but there's really nothing I can do. I can't stop this from happening. I'm nervous but really excited all at the same time." She confided. Her hand found it's way to the top of her midsection and rested there as the baby stirred within her.

000

Taylor was sleeping peacefully again tonight with the comfort of her husband. His large arms were rapped around her, drawing her close to him.

She felt a tap on her shoulder. She was still half-asleep and decided to ignore it. Whoever it was really wanted her awake because they shook her slightly. She felt obligated to get up after that.

She opened her drowsy eyes to meet the face of Stanley. She sighed and cleared her eyes of sleep, then looked at the watch she kept next to her bed. It read 3:22 a.m.

"Stanley, what are you doing? It's three o'clock in the morning." She stressed.

"I know but I was worried about this." He turned and pulled up his shirt, revealing his back, which was cover in red blotches. "It itches, if that helps any." He added.

Taylor ran her fingers along the edges of each blotch to get the feel of it. "I think you have hives."

"Hives? What's that?" Stanley asked pulling his shirt back on.

"It's a rash brought on by stress. And which one of us isn't stressed out right now." She chuckled to try and make him feel better.

"So how are you doing?" He pointed to her midriff. She looked down and ran a hand along the curve of her belly.

"We're fine. Thank you for asking." She sighed again and blinked sleepily hoping he would get the hint.

Luckily he did. "Well doctor, I think you both need you rest and I'm sure I could use some too." He waved goodbye and then disappeared into the brush.

"Who was that?" Asked a groggy voice from beside her.

"Stanley." She whispered as she scooted back down on her side and he re-rapped his arms around her so she could sleep.

000

Taylor found it increasingly hard to get up everyday and today was probably the worst it had been in a long time. She was just physically tired but she knew she couldn't sleep. It was nice to have the help of Hunter and Christy but she couldn't let them do all of the work. So she forced herself out of bed and left her husband sleeping alone.

---

"Good morning." A cheerful voice, clearly male, called out to Christy who had been up for quite some time already. She was taking stock that morning. She turned to greet the voice.

"Back at you Hunter!" She told him. Then went back to her job. He quickly started helping her by asking her what they needed. "Rope would good. And bandages. We need to rip up some more shirts for bandages." The list was longer but she would pile the work on him. That was a job she left for Taylor.

"That's all I have to do?" Hunter asked in astonishment.

"For now." Christy replied.

Hunter took on the duty of raveling rope first. Christy gave him a sideways glance and smiled flirtatiously. Hunter, noticing the small hint of playfulness, glanced and smiled back.

"What's so funny?" He asked rapping old vines together.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking of something Taylor said." She tried not to reveal a bunch.

"What would that be?" He pried.

Christy shook her head and chuckled to herself. "I can't believe I'm telling you this…but she thinks that one of the reasons you're helping out around here is because you like me." She laughed a little more as she watched him get up with the raveled rope on his shoulder.

"Who said she was wrong." He said as he turned to walk into the jungle.

Christy took a moment to process the information then looked at him in shock. She didn't know why she was so surprised. She had always liked him. Ever since she could remember she had always wished for Hunter and now he wanted her back. This scared her.

"What's going on?" A sleepy Taylor asked from behind her. Christy whipped around.

"N-nothing." She replied. She was kind of shocked at the whole ordeal.

Taylor thought a moment. "Okay." She said with a sly smile. She walked her way up to where her friend stood. "So, what needs to be done today?" She asked laying a hand on her midsection.

"An ass load of things." Christy replied showing Taylor the list of things to do.

Taylor smiled in disgust. "That's good." She said sarcastically.

000

Aaron rolled over on his and Taylor's mat of a bed. He went to drape his arm across her and hit nothing but the dirt they slept on. He opened his eyes to see if he'd missed. He hadn't technically missed since there was nothing there to be aiming at in the first place. Aaron rolled onto his back with a heavy sigh and noticed the sun was not that high in the sky. It couldn't have been an hour at the most since the sun had come up, yet Taylor was already gone.

Aaron had a growing feeling of loneliness. He was married to a wonderful woman…or at least she was a wonderful woman from what he could recall. He hadn't had a real conversation with her in the longest time. He tried to help her around the caves but all she ever did was lecture him about how she had all the help she needed in Christy and Hunter. That he should go off and enjoy himself. To tell you the truth…he hadn't been enjoying himself for a while.

He almost felt as if he wasn't married to Taylor at all. She got up early and came to bed late. He was sure she ate somewhere in there but it wasn't with him. Aaron truly hated life without his parents. If they were there they would have given him advice on how to deal with the whole situation but instead he tried to come up with a solution on his own.

Aaron sighed once more before standing up to see what other people were doing. He made a promise to himself to talk to Taylor; whether she was busy or not.

000

"Okay…so we need to go to Sun's garden and pick the passion fruit before it goes bad, gather whatever remaining medication we have and take inventory on all of that, and last but not least we still have to make some more bandages." Christy read off the last three things on the 'to-do list' for the day. Hunter and Taylor both nodded in satisfaction. They were actually going to get done before sun down. This was a good day.

"Um…I guess I'll go to Sun's garden." Hunter announced as he picked up a basket.

"That's great and I'll go through the medication." Christy piped. "That leaves bandage duty to you Tay. Is that okay?"

"Yeah…that's fine with me. In fact I can sit while I do it." She smiled in relief. Her feet hurt her so badly in was ridiculous. And if she could see them she was sure they would be swollen.

It was only a moment before they all went onto their respective duties. Taylor sat down with a loud sigh and started tearing t-shirts and other old cloths apart for bandages, tourniquets, or whatever else they needed. She was extremely bored all of the sudden. She turned her head every which way to see what everyone else was doing. She saw Noah and Mia sitting together. They were talking. Just talking. 'Uninteresting,' Taylor admitted to herself. Her eyes stalked another person for a second before her head turned in a different direction completely. Her eyes met Aaron.

She smiled and waved as he came up to her. He had a solemn look on his face. Nervousness set in. It was almost as if he had bad news.

"What's up?" She asked. She put the yellow shirt down in her lap and turned towards her husband.

"Taylor I'm going away." He stated blankly.

"What?" She asked confused. "Why? Aaron what are you talking about."

"Listen Taylor, I just need to work a few things out on my own and I know I can't do that here." He took her hand and kissed it gently. She didn't like where this was going.

"What do you need to work out Aaron? What is so bad that you need to leave us…leave me?" She asked a little annoyed.

"It's not bad just…Taylor I never see you. I never talk to you. As far as anyone is concerned we might as well not be married." She looked puzzled and hurt all at the same time. He could see it in her eyes. "I love you, and I am not leaving you." Aaron used a lot of emphasis to get the point of that statement across. "I'll be back in a few days."

Taylor nodded her head causing her blonde locks to bounce. She had no idea what was going on but she trusted Aaron enough to believe him when he said he'd be back.

Aaron smiled at her, kissed her, and then just got up and…left. Just like that. Taylor had never been so baffled in her life. She was just hoping that things would be okay as she churned the events that had just aspired in her mind.

A/N: Okay…well, I'm back. We'll let your reviews say whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Anywho, my play just got done and even though I have school I promise chapters will be coming at a steadier pace now. I missed you all. Enjoy and Reivew!