CJ wasn't feeling well and Dean could tell. The problem was that she was refusing to acknowledge that she wasn't feeling well. In her world she was perfectly fine, and she was going to do everything in her power to make him believe that like she did. But he knew her better. He knew once she requested that he go easy on her during their sparring session that she wasn't feeling well.
But he abided by that request, giving her half of what he usually would until she was straddling his hips with lust in her eyes. She leaned down for a kiss, something Dean gladly gave her because he loved when she dominated him. It was rare, but whenever it happened it was supremely glorious for him. Especially since since he always got to return the favor.
"What do you want, your highness?"
"I want you, Sir Ambrose."
"Take me." Dean whispered against her lips, smirking when her hand slipped down his body to the waistband of his shorts as he sat them up. "Whatever you need, I'l give it to you and you know that."
"Right now I need the bathroom." She mumbled, quickly getting off of her boyfriend and heading for the staircase. Dean followed behind in concern, knowing that nothing really kept CJ from sex. She was insatiable, so he knew that this was really serious and that notion was confirmed when he heard her throwing up. But it wasn't coming from the bathroom.
His girlfriend was throwing up in the kitchen sink.
"Babe?" Dean asked quietly, wrapping his arms around her waist to hold her steady since her legs were wobbling. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I was probably just jostled too much." CJ tried playing it off before pouring herself a glass of water, not noticing the way Dean looked over at the clock.
"Do you think it could be morning sickness?"
"That's when you smell food and shit." She explained, knowing that he wasn't around for the early stages of her pregnancy so he had never experienced that with her. "And you have to be pregnant for that."
"We haven't been using protection, babe, and your birth control doesn't always work." He reasoned, knowing that another baby wasn't exactly ideal, but it was something the could handle.
"I'm not pregnant, Dean."
"Alright." He sighed, gently rubbing her bare stomach. "But I'm calling and making you a doctor's appointment."
"Babe, really?" She asked, feeling him pull away from her and turning to see him leaning against the counter.
"I'm worried about you." Dean stated, pulling his phone from his pocket and starting to dial. "The puking, the sleeping, the lack of appetite and energy, not to mention the fact that you're burning up. You're scaring me, baby."
"I'm-" She was cut off by the urge to cough, the action being forceful enough to send her shaking body plummeting to the floor in a small heap.
"You're not fine." Dean whispered, kneeling down beside her and taking her into his arms. "Let me take care of you, Christina."
"I never said that you couldn't take care of me, I just don't think I need a doctor." CJ whispered, trying to regulate her breathing after her coughing fit. As much as Dean disagreed with her not wanting to see a doctor, he knew that she wasn't in any condition to waste air arguing with him so he just carried her up to bed. "I don't want to change, babe."
"You want to lay down in everything you've been sweating in for the last two hours?"
"I don't feel like changing."
"You can't stay in those." He enforced his opinion, sitting her up and going into their closet. "What do you want to wear?"
"Something of yours, if that's okay."
Whatever you want. Dean thought to himself, going through his shirts and finding the one shirt he wanted to be in. He casually tossed it onto the bed beside her before pulling off the heather grey sports bra and jokingly smelling it.
"Smells good, huh?" CJ asked with a smirk, putting the shirt on while he pulled off her capris.
"Smells like sick girlfriend."
"Fuck you."
"I would've, but you had to throw up." Dean quipped, making CJ laugh before another coughing fit hit. "God, that shit sounds terrible."
"Love you, too." She complained before laying on her pillow. "I feel like I shouldn't even be in here."
"Why?"
"I don't want to contaminate the bed and get you sick, babe."
"Don't worry about that right now. Just lay down and I'll take care of everything. Seth will be here tomorrow to help and everything will be okay."
Dean was starting to regret his request for her not to worry about everything. He had absolutely no clue how single parents dealt with multiple kids, because he was slowly losing his damn mind. CJ was a child when she was sick, needing everything from food to cuddles and then pushing him away so he wouldn't catch what she had. For somebody so independent, he never would've ever guessed that she'd whine so much just because she was sick. He also learned why she tried her best to ignore being sick.
And poor Olivia. She had no clue what her mother was going through or why her father wasn't letting her see her mother, but it was almost like she knew that Dean was nearing the end of his rope and just had to make sure everything was ten times more difficult. If she wasn't hungry, her diaper was full at the exact moment that CJ wanted something from him. Or she wanted his attention while he was trying to help CJ out and her fussing turned into neglected wailing and Dean felt so bad. Neither one of his girls deserved to be neglected, and he really wasn't trying to make either feel neglected, but he was just one person without help until Seth flew in the next day. He just wished that at least one of them understood that.
"Can I get more juice, babe?"
"We're out, babe."
"Can you go get some?" CJ asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes at her boyfriend. As much as he wanted to say no; since going to get the juice involved getting Olivia dressed into clean clothes, bringing his fussy infant along on a ten minute drive, carrying her through the store, and having to interact with people, he couldn't deny that face. He could never deny the mother of his child and that would always one of his weaknesses.
"Yeah." Dean sighed, mentally deciding to call Seth and request that he book and earlier flight because he couldn't do this alone anymore, unable to fight the smile when his girlfriend grinned with appreciation. "I'll pick up a pregnancy test while I'm there."
"I promise you that I'm not pregnant."
"For my own peace of mind?" He asked, the look in his eyes telling her that he was really stuck on the possibility that she could be pregnant. She wasn't sure if that was a good stuck or a bad stuck, and she really wasn't sure that she actually wanted to know. "Please?"
"Alright. Just one box, though, since it comes with two."
"Alright." Dean whispered, kissing CJ's forehead with a smile. "Thank you."
"Yeah, whatever. Just be safe, babe."
"Always am. Love you."
"And I, you. Now go get my juice, wench."
Dean could only laugh as he headed out to get Olivia dressed, something that made CJ smile as she snuggled into their bed. She had a great man to call a boyfriend, and she knew that no man could measure up to Dean Ambrose in terms of loving her unconditionally.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but Bear was a good companion while Dean was gone. He stayed by her side with his head in her lap, letting her caress his head and scratch behind his ears while she rambled about how much she loved Dean. She knew that Bear probably didn't care about what she was saying, but what mattered was that he was there with her without having made any attempt to leave her just yet.
CJ reached for her phone, smiling when Bear didn't even budge and let her take his picture for Instagram. She didn't even bother with a real caption, simply putting one hashtag that she felt perfectly described their situation.
'#GoodListener'
"Oh, babe." Seth sighed upon seeing his love laid up in bed. She was pale and obviously cold since she was bundled up so tightly, which didn't make sense since it was so warm in the house, and he was so worried. Upon closer inspection, he could've sworn that she looked almost kinda blue. "CJ?"
"Sethie?" The blonde whispered, wincing when the younger man felt her forehead. "Everything hurts."
"Babe, you need a hospital."
"Good luck with that." Dean stated from where he stood in the doorway with Olivia in his arms. "Stubborn as hell."
Seth's frown deepened at his statement, knowing that CJ would probably fight him to the death to avoid going to the doctor if she felt it was unnecessary. But he pulled down the blanket and put his head on her chest, listening for her heartbeat, eyes widening when he heard how rapid it was. He'd never heard a heart beat that fast, not even when Dean would have those adrenaline rushes before big matches and made him and Roman listen to his heartbeat.
"Babe, you need to go to the doctor."
"It's just the flu." She argued before having to sit up and cough into her arm. Seth looked closely when her eyes widened, and he knew then that she knew that there was no more fighting it. "Maybe I do need a hospital trip."
"You just coughed up blood, babe, so I'm gonna say that you do."
"She what?" Dean asked, but kept his positioning since neither he nor CJ wanted to risk Olivia getting sick while she was so young.
"Yeah. I'll take the little one, you get CJ ready to go." Seth suggested, standing and crossing the room to stand before Dean. "Her heart is going pretty fast, which probably isn't too good with that fever."
Dean only nodded, handing Olivia over to Seth before going to their closet and getting some comfortable clothes for his girlfriend. As anti-diva as CJ was, she never wanted to risk being seen in any state of undress when she was regarded as a big deal. Being Diva's Champion meant that she was a big deal and it was already bad enough that her being in the hospital for any reason would hit the internet, she didn't want to be seen disheveled if there were photos in the article.
"C'mon, your highness. Time to get dressed."
"You're the best, babe." CJ mumbled as she forced herself into a sitting position so Dean could help her change. It was a bit harder than the day before, since CJ's muscles had become achy and sore overnight and Dean felt bad every time she winced in pain. "I hate being so weak."
"Everyone gets sick at some point, Christina. Don't worry about it." Dean spoke with a smile as he put her socks on her feet before starting on her shoes.
"I owe you, babe. You're too good to me."
"I know you'll pay me back. No worries." He assured, pulling her up to her feet before putting her arm around his shoulders to help support her weight as they moved. "I'd carry you down the stairs but I don't want to risk dropping you, babe."
"I'm alright, Dean." It was her turn to assure him as they moved down the hall. She neglected to tell him that she was feeling like passing out, not wanting to worry him further since she felt like she could make it downstairs.
But she was very wrong.
They hadn't even made it halfway down the steps before she slumped against Dean, stunning her boyfriend with the sudden extra weight leaning into him that he almost fell forward. His hand shot out to the rail to help him balance them and he sighed as he looked down at his unconscious girlfriend. She almost looked peaceful, and that bothered him. He hated that she was so damn sick, and he wished that he could've prevented it somehow. If only he knew how she got so sick.
"Dean?"
"She passed out and almost sent us down the stairs." He informed Seth as he did what he hated and scooped CJ into his arms to carry her down the stairs where Seth was standing and holding Olivia tight in his arms and the diaper bag on his shoulder. He wanted to ask when he said anything about them coming to the hospital, too, but knew that it was probably for the best that they all stuck together.
I'm coming down with something, and it like hurts to function. Literally. Ugh. This has never happened before and my throat has never bothered me like this before. The next update may take a while, but don't think I'll forget!
Thank you to TajiaK, ItReignsJustice-619, ChelleLew, and JeffHardyChicka365 for reviewing the last chapter! Love you guys!