Victoria shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
She was in a car. Again.
As if the last few days on the road hadn't been enough to make her feel like she was caught in that hot vehicle forever.
Nevertheless she had let David talk her into accompanying his aunt into town today in order to see a doctor.
After she had broken down in the bedroom and had hit her head at the nightstand that morning, she really had no choice left, but to agree to David's decision.
That was why she was now leaning her head against the car window while pressing a cool pack against the bulge that had formed at the back of her head. In addition to the pain she was already feeling, Charlotte had decided to switch on her favorite country radio station and sing along with the songs, which all sounded the same to Victoria.
"You know, you have to talk to me eventually, honey." Charlotte hummed joyfully. "It's a long ride into town."
"Stop calling me that." Victoria rolled her eyes, glad that she had her favorite pair of Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses on.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You prefer Vicky then?" The older woman teased glancing over at Victoria who sat up in her seat.
"No, my name is Victoria and that's what I like to be called." She stated with a cold voice.
"All right then, Victoria. I'd like to know a few things since I'm offering you and your boy a home, which, I'm pretty sure, is illegal." Charlotte turned down the volume of the radio and Victoria reluctantly moved her aching head. "So, let me begin with today. What exactly do you plan on telling the doctor once we arrive in town?"
"That's easy." Victoria put up the sunglasses in her hair and began speaking with an exaggerated tone in her voice. "Hello doctor, my name is Carolyn Meyer, I'm 10 weeks pregnant and I feel like I need medical examination since I've not been feeling well the last few weeks."
"Sounds like you've got some experience with that." Charlotte acknowledged.
"With what exactly? The pregnancy or the incognito part?" Victoria grinned putting her sunglasses back on.
"With both, I guess, though I've been referring to the incognito part." David's aunt returned, still not sure what to think of the woman sitting next to her, although she could understand why her nephew had fallen for her.
First of all, she was extremely beautiful with her long dark her, her porcelain skin and her flawless figure, she was radiating, even Charlotte had to admit that. And second of all, it was probably her passionate nature and her wit that fascinated David and made him do everything for her. Nonetheless, Charlotte was almost sure that there was more to this woman than the face she was showing the world. She could feel it in her bones. There had to be something far darker and uglier about her or her past and she was determined to find out what exactly that was before it would be too late to save her nephew from the disaster he had gotten himself into.
"Let's just say it can be helpful to pretend to be somebody else at times." Victoria unexpectedly continued the conversation.
"And the pregnancy part?" Charlotte picked up at her talkative mood. "How do you feel about that?"
That question took Victoria by surprise. She was relieved that David had taken the pregnancy news so well and loved it when he got protective over her and the baby, but she also longed to speak to another woman about it. She needed someone to confide in, to understand what she was going through and to tell her that all of her fears were perfectly normal and that she didn't need to worry. However, she was not sure if Charlotte was the right person to turn to. She hadn't even known her for 24 hours and in that time they hadn't exactly been friendly to each other.
"Um, well, I'm… I'm fine." Victoria finally stammered trying to regain her posture.
"I don't believe you. You didn't exactly look fine lying unconscious on the bedroom floor this morning." Charlotte dug deeper.
"Isn't that the reason why we're taking this trip into town?" Victoria hissed.
"Yes, you're right. But I've asked you how you feel about the pregnancy."
"I don't know what you mean." Victoria folded her arms.
"Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean."
The brunette then let out an annoyed sigh and eventually began to respond to the older woman's questions. "Well, I consider myself to be a very lucky woman to receive the gift of having another child."
"David's child?" Charlotte pressed on the subject.
"Yes." The brunette glared at her. "I'm very happy that I'm having a child with David. He's a wonderful father and he takes good care of me."
After that, both women let the words sink in at first.
Victoria was surprised by herself and how good it felt to tell someone about her situation with David.
As for Charlotte, she hadn't expected the whole conversation to go that far and after a few moments of awkward silence she suddenly asked out of the blue: "Do you love him, Victoria?" She didn't know what had hit her but she needed to know for sure. She needed to know that her nephew's heart wasn't going to be broken.
"Yes. Yes, I love him very much." Victoria answered truthfully, staring out of the window.
Although she couldn't look her into the face, Charlotte could tell that she really meant it. There was such honesty in her voice, that it made her almost regret her previous accusations of Victoria misusing David's good character. Maybe there really was a different side to this woman. It was certainly enough to let Charlotte make the decision to at least give Victoria a chance.
The rest of the car ride passed in complete silence and gave Victoria an impression of the sheer endlessness of Kansas' landscape until Charlotte finally stopped in front of a small building in an equally small town.
"Here we are." She announced. "I've called Dr. Gale early this morning and told her that the daughter of a friend of mine would need an appointment today."
"Thank you." Victoria swallowed and opened the door. All of a sudden she felt all of her self-confidence leaving her body. She was so scared and wished that David could have accompanied her to hold her hand.
"I'll pick you up in an hour and go to the grocery store in the meantime." The blonde woman explained offering her young companion an encouraging smile. "I'm sure everything is just fine."
"Okay." Victoria simply nodded and walked towards the building with a heavy heart. It had been quite some time since she had let the weak side of her take over her emotions.
It was already late afternoon when Charlotte Clarke pulled the car into the driveway of her farmhouse. Before she could even stop the engine, Victoria jumped out of the car and paced towards the house.
"David?" She shouted, tears filling her eyes. Ugh, how she hated those hormones. Pregnancy always made her seem like an emotional mess and she couldn't do anything against that.
She stormed into the living room, which was empty but her eyes soon found David sitting outside on the porch. He watched the children as they were climbing the old trees in the garden.
"David." Victoria breathed when she finally stood right behind him.
He was startled and quickly turned around. "Vic, you scared the hell out of me!"
"I'm sorry." She mumbled. "It's just that…" She didn't even know how to say it properly.
David immediately noticed how uncomfortable she felt and gave her a motion to sit on his lap. She didn't hesitate long and relaxed into his embrace.
"Come on, just get it over with. I can handle it." He worriedly pulled her close to his chest and Victoria buried her face in the crook of his neck.
"David, I'm fine." She whispered into his ear, hearing him swallow the lump in his throat. "And so is our baby." In an instant, he grabbed her by the shoulders and made her look into his face. When Victoria couldn't hide the bright smile on her face anymore, he let out a relieved sigh.
"Oh my God, Vic, You really had me worried!" The realization slowly sunk in and soon he had a matching smile on his own face. "And what exactly did the doctor tell you?"
Victoria wrapped one arm around his neck and soothingly stroked the side of his face to calm him down. "She told me that I need to rest and avoid any kind of stress to reduce the sickness I constantly feel. She also made an ultrasound to check the baby's health and David; I could hear the baby's heartbeat. It was steady and already pretty strong. Can you believe it? Our child is such a miracle."
That was the first time David noticed the glow that surrounded Victoria. He realized that the whole time she had been nothing but afraid and insecure but now that she knew that nothing was wrong with her and that they were safe out here in Kansas, she could finally begin to enjoy her pregnancy and allow herself to feel happy.
"Say something, please." Victoria whispered, the smile fading from her face.
David looked into her brown eyes again. He had been lost in thought admiring her beauty, her new kind of beauty. Instead of using simple words to express his feelings, David decided to cup Victoria's face with his hands and pull her into a passionate kiss.
As soon as his lips crashed onto hers, Victoria couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She was so filled with joy that she forgot about their problems and lost herself in that lighthearted moment with David instead.
He let his lips wander to her ear. "Victoria, words cannot describe how happy you make me. I love you."
Victoria lifted herself from David's lap only to straddle him the next second. She pressed her legs to his thighs and could already feel what she was clearly doing to him. It only encouraged her to press her body even tighter to his as he caught her lips again.
"Whoa!" They were suddenly torn apart in their intimate position. "Take it easy, you two!" Charlotte mockingly covered her eyes with her hand.
Victoria instinctively jumped up into a standing position and felt her cheeks blushing.
"No, you can't, Vic!" David panicked and pulled her down onto his lap again. "This is too embarrassing." He whispered into her ear making Victoria smirk as she was reminded of what exactly he was referring to.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but you do realize that your kids can see you from up there?" Charlotte pointed towards the trees. "You better save that definitely not G-rated stuff for the bedroom, okay?"
Victoria felt her face getting even redder and was glad that at least David was able to answer his aunt again.
"I'm sorry Charlotte. It won't happen again." He nervously scratched his throat. Why did he so easily forget what power Victoria had over him?
"Oh, I'm sure it'll happen again. Just make sure that there are no witnesses around next time." Charlotte chuckled and stepped into the garden. "I'm taking the horses out now."
"You have horses?" Victoria asked curiously.
"Just two." The older woman turned around again.
"I'd love to see them." Fortunately, Victoria felt the heat slowly fading from her face.
"So you ride?"
"Yes and I was so unhappy to give that up!"
"Why don't you come with me then?" Charlotte offered, interested in what else there was to discover about this woman.
"Of course…"
David cut her off. "Um, I don't think that's a good idea. Remember what the doctor told you? Riding horses seems a bit risky to me." David eyed his lover skeptically.
"The doctor said I should avoid stress, but sitting on the back of a horse has always been quite relaxing for me." Victoria returned becoming aware of the negative side of David's protective nature.
"But still, it's dangerous. You could fall or the horse could kick you or…"
"Don't be ridiculous David! I've been horse riding for so many years now, I won't just suddenly fall!"
Charlotte felt the need to leave them alone with their arguing, so she excused herself. "Why don't you figure that out yourselves? I'll take the kids with me."
As soon as David's aunt was out of sight, Victoria got up and angrily stared at her lover.
"Why did you have to do that?"
David assumed he had to get used to her mood swings and simply let out a laugh, which made Victoria even angrier.
"That's not funny! You can't control me like that!"
"Okay, Vic, calm down. Now you're being ridiculous." He grabbed her by the wrists and made her sit on his lap again. "As you know, I'm only worried about you and actually I've got a much better idea."
"I'm listening." Victoria expectantly folded her arms.
"I'm glad that you and Charlotte obviously left your difficulties behind. I know how important this family is to you and that you want to be on good terms with everyone. So, what I'm suggesting is that this is your chance to finally bond with Amanda. Maybe you two could stop by the stables tomorrow and you could show her how to ride." David smiled as he saw Victoria's muscles relaxing.
"Do you think that she would like to do that with me?" She asked apparently approving of David's idea.
"If she sees that Charlotte trusts you, it'll be easier. Let me just talk to her." He let his hand rest on her waist.
"I guess you're right. I'd love to show her everything about horses!" Victoria said enthusiastically, but David was wise enough to keep the witty comment about her mood swings to himself. "I mean she's a girl, she likes horses, right?"
"Yeah, I think so." David pressed a loving kiss to her pink cheek. "But you still have to be careful." He let his hand wander between them until it rested on her abdomen. "I wish I would have been with you today." He couldn't help it, but he was already captivated by the mere thought of his wonderful child growing inside of this perfect woman. The feeling drove him crazy and he just couldn't wait to finally feel the baby in her belly. As he remembered the doctor's advice he lifted Victoria up without warning.
"What are you doing?" She shrieked, clutching his neck.
"I'm going to pamper you from now on. The kids are with Charlotte and you need to rest." He informed her laying her down onto the sofa in the living room and began to fix her a meal in the kitchen.
"David, before I forget." Victoria called after him moving herself into a comfortable position. "I love you, too." She winked at him and watched as David started to cook while he was whistling a cheerful tune.
It was so easy to forget about their actual probelms when they were isolated from reality and lived in their alternate universe instead. And for their happiness' sake Victoria forced herself to believe that living in this seemingly perfect world was possible. That it was possible for them to have a healthy child, to raise it together and to get married.
She had gained so much hope that day, that even the thought of her angry husband and the police couldn't keep her from smiling as she felt David's love sending butterflies in her stomach. It gave her strength and strength was always a good thing when it came to Victoria Grayson.
So hope was exactly what they needed.
I've already started working on the next chapter, so you don't have to wait long for the Victoria and Amanda scene. Finally! ;)
I hope you enjoyed it and I appreciate your reviews very much! xx