"Hey, Mom, this is Hope, the girl I texted you about." Ryan shifted Hope's duffle bag full of clothing so that it hung more comfortably off his shoulder.

"I'm Seylah, as you may have guessed." The older woman looked Hope up and down carefully. "The room is in the basement. It's fully furnished, has its own bathroom and fridge, and you have free reign of the stove and sink up here, provided you clean up after yourself. Though you'd be welcomed to eat with us if you want."

Hope was taken aback by this level of generosity and she almost bolted for the door. People were never kind to her unless they wanted something from her, except for Ryan, but she remained where she was.

"Would you like to see it?" Ryan offered.

"By the time you unpack and take a shower if you want to, dinner should be ready."

"I'm not that hungry."

"Yes, Ryan mentioned you were pregnant and that the baby was his." She glanced at Ryan with one brow going up just a little in an almost automatic gesture. He met her gaze with unflinching steadiness as they communicated silently.

"Come on. Let's get you unpacked." Seylah said finally, as if accepting whatever she saw in Ryan's face as enough for her to go with what he wanted. "Once you're settled, I'll get some water boiling to make you some tea. Peppermint was my go-to when I was pregnant."

Seylah opened a door and led the way down the stairs to a furnished basement, complete with paneled walls and carpet on the floors.

Gesturing to a TV and couch situated across the room from the bedroom door, Seylah said, "That's available to you if you want to use it. Washer and dryer are over there, and the fridge is around that corner."

"Thank you."

"You agreed to pay rent, so you should get to use the facilities if you need them."

"Everything I have to unpack needs to be washed before I put them away, so I think I'd like to start a load, if that's alright with you?"

"Of course."

"I'll take it from here, if you want me to," Ryan offered.

"Okay. One more thing, if you have guests, I would like to know so I'm not surprised if I come down to do laundry and I see someone I don't know," Seylah said, almost as an afterthought.

"I can do that, though I don't know anyone really, so that shouldn't be a problem." Hope laughed, but it sounded forced, even to her own ears.

"Alright. Come up when you're ready." Seylah left them then.

"I'll put this bag away." Hope held up the bag full of cash. "It's got nothing that can be washed in it."

"Do you want me to go ahead and get this started?" Ryan held up the two bags he carried.

"If you don't mind handling my dirty clothes."

"I've got a teenage brother. I doubt your laundry could be worse than how his smells after marinating in his room for two months."

"That would be an experience." Hope wrinkled her nose at the thought. It might be bad for a human nose, but for hers, it would be even worse.

"It definitely is," Ryan laughed as he headed towards the washing machine.

Once he was occupied, Hope opened the bedroom door to find a comfortable room. The dark blue bedding and warm gray walls, with dark wood furniture created more warmth in a room than Hope had experienced in years.

Looking over her shoulder, to double check that Ryan was still busy and Hope shoved her money bag into the lowest drawer of the dresser. Then, she placed a spell on it so only she and people she allowed could access it.

When she finished with the spell, Hope returned to the main room. As if sensing her approach, he turned to face her, his gaze falling to her mouth, then he looked at the floor, a faint smile pulling at his face. Hope walked closer to him, her teeth catching her lower lip

"May I kiss you?" she whispered.

"Yes."

Hope stood up on her tiptoes and Ryan lowered his head as he pressed his mouth softly against hers. Hope wrapped her hand around the back of his neck, and he deepened the kiss just a little, his tongue brushing lightly against her lips

"You probably think I'm weird." Hope dropped down so that she was flat on her feet once more. "I don't usually go around kissing people I've only just met randomly."

"Getting kissed by the most beautiful woman I've ever seen is hardly something to call weird." His lips pulled into a wide grin. Then, he chewed on his inner cheek as he cradled her jaw and he ducked his head to press another light kiss to her lips.

With a contented sigh, Hope laid her head against his heart and closed her eyes as she listened to the steady beat. Almost hesitantly, Ryan wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek against her hair.

"Is this real?" Ryan's voice was so soft Hope wondered if he'd meant for her to hear him.

A flash of rage cut through her, threatening to ruin the moment, at the reminder of just how badly people had broken him down. To keep from revealing she knew more than he'd told her since she arrived that day, Hope took a deep breath to calm herself. She was here now and she would do everything she could to help him heal from the damage that had been done.

Someone barreled down the stairs and Hope looked up to see who it was and a teenager who was several inches shorter than Ryan skidded to a stop when he saw them. His mouth fell open, at he stared at Hope.

As she looked at him, Hope wondered if this was Landon. The only resemblance that she saw between him and Ryan was their similar hair, both in texture and color, but then again, her own family was proof that family could look very different.

"Landon."

Ryan's breath stirred Hope's hair and she pressed her cheek against his chest, needing his touch. Was it because she was pregnant? Or because she just wanted to reconnect with the one person who had made her feel like a person? Maybe it was a combination of the two.

"Dinner's about ready." Landon kept staring at them.

"Hopefully, your mom has that tea ready." Hope looked up at Ryan, then pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

"Stomach still a little twisted up?" Ryan brushed a lock of hair out of her face.

"Yeah. Maybe I should take a shower and see if that'll help too." Hope glanced towards the bedroom door. She wanted desperately to ask him to join her, but what would he think, her asking him to do that? She was the only one who remembered that they'd slept together, so maybe she shouldn't push so far.

"Alright."

As the warm water washed over her, Hope tilted her head back, luxuriating in the feel of it. Truck stop showers were serviceable, but clinical, and the warmth never seemed to reach her bones, unlike this shower. The only thing that would have made it better was if Ryan was in there with her.

Finally, she knew she had to get out of the shower, because it would be rude of her to stay in the shower, wasting water, so she climbed out.

Hope caught her reflection in the steamed up mirror and wiped off the fog. Once it was clear, she framed her still flat stomach, wondering just how she'd look when her belly started swelling with the child she carried, Ryan's baby. Was this how her mother felt when she decided she wanted to keep her? This overwhelming love for a baby she never planned on having, but would do everything to protect?

"Hope?" Ryan called from outside the shower door. "Dinner's ready."

"Be right there!" Hope replied.

Dressing quickly, Hope tossed her dirty clothing into the nearby hamper, then exited the bathroom, running into Ryan as she did so.

"Sorry." Ryan ducked his head just a little in apology.

"It's okay." Hope reached up, pressing her fingertips against his lips.

Ryan wrapped his hand around her forearm, then kissed the soft skin of her inner wrist, keeping his gaze on hers as he did so.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Still nauseated. I'm afraid to eat anything."

"Seylah has tea and toast ready for you."

Reaching out hesitantly, he ran his knuckles over her stomach, profound sadness in his eyes. What was he thinking, to make him look that way? Did he think she'd gotten pregnant through some terrible event and she was on the run?

In an effort to get his thoughts off of whatever he was thinking, Hope caught his hand and flattened his palm over where his baby lay. Would the child look more like her or like him? Or would it be some kind of combination of both of them?

"He or she will be beautiful with you for a mother," Ryan whispered, bringing his other hand up to frame her belly.

"And they'll be lucky to have you for a father." Hope's throat tightened, wishing she could tell him the truth, that the child she carried was his, but fear of how he'd react held her tongue.

"Ryan? Hope?" Seylah called, drawing them out of the moment.

Standing on tiptoe, Hope kissed Ryan softly on the lips and linked her hand with his.

With whatever dark thoughts he'd been thinking cleared from his thoughts, Ryan smiled at her and led her up the stairs.

Landon was already sitting at the table with they arrived and Hope unwillingly separated from Ryan to sit across from him.

"So, you're Ryan's girlfriend?" Landon asked, something in his voice warning Hope that something was up.

"Something like that."

"Did you tell her everything?" Landon looked at Ryan.

"We all have things we'd rather people not know about ourselves," Hope cut in. "He can tell me whatever secret he has when he's ready and I'll tell him mine."

"Secrets like his?"

"You don't know what secrets I have." Hope raised an eyebrow at the younger boy.

"Landon," Seylah admonished as she set a mug of peppermint tea and a small plate of lightly buttered toast in front of Hope. "Let me know if you want anything else."

"I think toast will suffice for now." Hope smiled.

"I remember how it was when I was pregnant. I could hardly keep anything down and it was all Ryan could do to convince me to even try to eat anything."

After setting the casserole on the table, Seylah sat down and food started getting passed around. Some steam from the casserole hit Hope full in the face and she struggled to keep herself from gagging.

"If you want to sit in the living room with your tea, I don't mind," Seylah said, her expression sympathetic when she realized that the food was negatively affecting Hope.

"Thanks." Hope took her tea and toast to the living room and took a seat on the couch nearest to the table, so she could still be a part of the conversation, while far enough away from the food that twisted at her stomach.

"I thought morning sickness only hit in the morning," Landon commented.

"Not always." Hope took a sip of her tea and allowed the liquid to soothe her twisted stomach. The scents from the table still messed with her, but not nearly as much as it would have if she was sitting right next to the food.

Hope looked up at Ryan and he smiled at her. Catching her lower lip between her teeth, she looked down. She ached for him, to take him inside herself once more. Now, how could she convince him that she knew what she wanted and that he was it?