A/n: Hi you guys! Thanks for your patience. Here is another chapter. This one is for Zai who just celebrated her birthday. Love you baby girl! Please check out my author's note at the end of the chapter!
Enjoy!
Chapter Seventeen
Cora fidgeted in her seat on the couch as she watched Robert set up the computer. They were supposed to Facetime her parents that day to tell them about the baby. She didn't know how they would react. She hoped that they would be as accepting as Robert's parents had been when they'd revealed the news a few days ago, but she wasn't sure. Martha was unpredictable, a force of nature by her own right, and Cora could honestly say she's not looking forward to what her mother might say.
Only a few months ago, they'd cleared the air about morals and what it meant about losing one's virginity or having sex before marriage and all that embarrassing stuff—she didn't really want to discuss her sex life with her mother, or how she'd been active, and how that had resulted now to a baby of her own. Sure, she's a grown up, old enough to start a family if that's what she wanted (and it was what she wanted, now that she has it), but there was something about mothers and their approval and disapproval that could cause upheaval upon ones life and beliefs.
And there was also her father who had been quite happily in denial about her daughter and the state of her sex life—Cora was not entirely sure how her father would react. She could venture a guess that it wasn't very well.
"Cora, love, calm down, will you?" her boyfriend asked as he took the seat beside her on the couch. He looked over at her with concern. He was adorable in the way that he was always concerned about her and doted on her. Of course, it could get annoying most times, especially when he was nagging her about her plans for the next semester and if she was still planning to continue school despite the fact that she'd be very pregnant then, but for the most part, he was really, really adorable. "It can't be good for the baby."
Cora harrumphed and rolled her eyes. "Robert, I'm nervous, not having a heart attack. Why don't you calm down?" she snapped, and then she sighed, turning to look at him. She couldn't help the next words that slipped from her mouth: "Why aren't you nervous? After all, we're just about to tell my father that you knocked me up."
She watched as Robert visibly swallowed then, his breath hitching and she laughed inwardly. It served him right for being such a thorn in her side. Although, she knew that he was only doing out of love and concern—he still needed to back off a bit.
Suddenly, and startling them both, their laptop started ringing, signaling that her parents were there and calling them. Robert accepted the call and they were greeted by her parents' face, which were really, incredibly close to the camera.
"Mom, Dad," Cora started, fighting off the exasperation and frustration from coloring her voice, while Robert only shook his head in amusement. "Why don't you try not sticking your face so close to the computer, huh?"
Martha and Isidore launched into a slight argument about who said what, and how close they were to the camera as they backed away. It continued on even when Cora and Robert could finally see them fully, without their noses almost pressing against the Ipad.
"Mother, Daddy!" Cora exclaimed, finally getting the two to stop bickering long enough to pay attention to them. They looked at their daughter and greeted both Cora and Robert hello. "Hello to you, too."
"Hi Isidore, Martha," Robert greeted back, waving his hand at them.
"So, what have we been summoned for?" Martha asked, looking at them curiously.
Fear gripped Cora then, freezing her on the spot, as she swallowed the lump that suddenly lodged on her throat. She couldn't speak, couldn't even blink, though she tried to breathe through her anxiety. Now was not the time to freeze and be afraid.
"We have news," Robert said, sounding a little afraid himself. "It's kind of important."
Martha raised an eyebrow, though she looked awfully suspicious. Isidore was looking at them like he was ready to shoot Robert through Facetime.
Cora thought she'd save her boyfriend the trouble of being virtually shot.
"Mother, Daddy," she began, breathing deeply and gathering courage from deep inside her. "I'm pregnant." She waited a beat. "You're going to be grandparents."
There was silence on both ends as Cora and Robert waited for Martha and Isidore to say something. Both seemed shell shocked, and Martha—for once—was speechless. Cora would find it astounding if she wasn't scared.
"You're having a baby?" Martha asked, and Cora should have known the silence on her mother's end wouldn't last long. She's grateful for it though, because the hours that was stretching far too long was giving her anxiety.
"Yes, we are," Robert confirmed, and Cora was almost in awe of how steadfastly he was taking this, at how brave he was being despite the fact that they both know how afraid he was of her father. As it was his hands were shaking as she held them.
"I'm going to be a grandma," Martha murmured, a smitten smile lighting up her face, and it's not at all what Cora had expected, but well—that was a good sign, wasn't it? "Am I really?"
Cora nodded, tears pressing against her eyelids, getting caught on her eyelashes, and she felt Robert squeeze her hand in reassurance, to let her know that she wasn't alone, and she pulled a great deal of her courage from there.
"Yes, you are mommy," Cora whispered, reverting back to the small child that she once was, and seeking comfort and strength from her mother. "Are you both okay with this news?"
"It's rather too late not to be," Martha said on a laugh, and then she got giddy and excited again. "Do you want me to come there and help out?"
Cora shook her head resolutely. She loved her mother and she appreciated the offer, but too much of Martha was too much of Martha, and that included about six months of pregnancy and then a few more months after she's given birth. She wasn't sure her mother wouldn't drive her crazy by then. "It's okay mother, you can come marvel at the baby once it's here." Cora swallowed then and turned to her father who had so far remained silent. "Daddy?"
Isidore was sitting there, shell-shocked and silent. His eyes were glassy and Cora couldn't ever remember her father being so emotional. He looked like he was about to burst. "You're having a baby?" her father asked once more, and seeing the look on his face made Cora unable to speak, and she could only nod in silence, her tears threatening to overwhelm her and spill down her cheeks. "My little girl is having a baby."
"Yes, papa, you'll be having a new little one to spoil soon," Cora told him in a cracked whisper, and she felt Robert rubbing a hand up and down her back as the other still held one of hers. He had been so far silent, only watching the tender scene before them.
Her father nodded and a tear slipped down his cheek. He wiped it away and sniffled, turning his attention over at Robert. "Listen here, Robert, you take great care of my little girl and my grandchild, you hear?"
Robert nodded. "I promise," he said, and it was almost surprising to Cora that she hadn't heard his voice quiver. "I will protect them and love them with my whole life."
"Good," Isidore said, and then all the tenderness of the moment was gone. He squinted his eyes at her boyfriend. "If you don't, I'll personally make sure you'll be torn apart by wild dogs."
It's the same threat his father made before, she knew, but it still received the same response, as Robert sat there, nodding, his knees quivering.
…
Robert squinted his eyes as he held up the picture in his hands to see further. "But darling, I don't really know what I'm supposed to be looking at," he whined to his girlfriend, as he tried in vain to find where she'd said their baby was.
It was already mid June and she was already twelve weeks along. She was almost on the second trimester—or so what Dr. Tapsell said—and the baby was growing quite nicely. They weren't going to find out what the baby was till their next check up next month and Robert was so excited to know what they were going to have.
Robert found so much change in Cora lately, she was a lot more sensitive, ate more but was very picky with what she ate. They had less fish and more chicken and veggies nowadays, and red meat for him though Cora doesn't favor it. It was different but exciting to see her eating as much she did now, because she used to eat like a bird. The changes in her body, too, now seemed more prominent. Her hips had grown a bit wider, and there's not much bump yet, but he could feel it when he touched it, could see it if he squinted hard enough. Her breasts were growing, more sensitive too, and that was probably one of the best changes lately.
He shook his head of his thoughts and tried to focus on the sonogram picture at hand.
Cora laughed as she moved to sit next to him, snuggling deep into his embrace and pulling his hands down so that it was to her eye level. She pointed at the blob in the middle of the hollowed space in the black and white photograph. "See that blob over there?" she asked and Robert nodded, seeing what she was pointing at. "That's our baby."
He pulled the picture closer to his vision and stared at it in amazement. "Wow, it looks like a jelly bean," he remarked, making his girlfriend laugh. It was such a wonder to realize that he was going to be a dad soon. "I can't wait to find out its sex. Do you prefer a boy or a girl?"
She chuckled at what he'd called their child. "It doesn't really matter to me. I just want the baby healthy. But as Dr. Tapsell said, I'm at twelve weeks, so we won't know until the twentieth week, maybe a little earlier than that even," she answered his question and he nodded in understanding. "Meanwhile, we can just stick to calling it the baby."
"Or jellybean," he suggested, making a smile bloom on Cora's face as she reached up to place a soft kiss against his lips.
"Let's hope he or she likes it as much as we do," she laughed, placing a hand against her abdomen. It was still flat now, but not for so long.
He placed her hand on top of hers and together, they touched her stomach where their baby resided for now. He was so excited to meet the baby, so scared to meet their little jellybean, but so very excited all the same. He wasn't sure what kind of father he'd make, not yet still, but he did know he wanted to give their baby the best. And Cora, he wanted to give her the best.
"I love you, Cora," he murmured, leaning down to place a kiss on her lips once more.
"I love you too," she said back, kissing him back and he felt it, felt the love he knew she felt for him.
…
As she entered her second trimester, the changes in Cora grew more permanent, transcending those that were seen on her body—of course, she grew more and more, though Robert was convinced that she was to remain petite while pregnant. She filled out more, her breasts having grown bigger, and the small bump that he had been the only one to feel previously became a tad bigger, a tad rounder. If she wore the right clothes, tighter and more body hugging, the bump where their baby was became more pronounced.
Her appetite grew, and though there were still days that she had to park herself in their bathroom for hours on morning or afternoon, she'd been pretty much cleared of the morning sickness. She ate more now and it was amusing for Robert to see her make her way through two servings of Spaghetti Bolognese when she used to not be able to finish one before.
Her cravings also came, and it had been amusing at first, easy even. It started with a slice of pineapple in the middle of a couple of sweltering June days, and so every day for a week, he'd bought her a slice of pineapple at Waitrose. And then it became a bottle of pickle a day, in the middle of the night most of the time, and though that particular request though not difficult, had not come recommended, especially when she'd force him out of bed because she'd run out of pickles. Then came the honey, which meant honey everywhere, on anything, which for the most part was bearable (gross, but bearable), and he'd thought that was the end of it, except she'd turned into peanut butter. And it was peanut butter on anything, and he meant anything peanut butter with honey, peanut butter dip for her veggies, then peanut butter on rice—and that was, well, particularly disgusting. Not that he'd ever tell her that.
She was carrying his baby for cripes sake.
And because of that single fact, he'd come to dote on her, overbearing sometimes—even he would admit—but he only wanted to look out for her. Sometimes, she'd smile and pat his cheeks, look at him adoringly. Most times, though, she'd scoffed at him and told him he was being too much. It instigated arguments that landed his ass out of bed and onto the couch. She'd never be able to resist though, and no sooner than she'd sent him to sleep on the couch, she'd come crawling on top of him and asking him to come back to bed.
She also got tired quicker now, so he often asked her to rest more. He'd discouraged her from playing at the pub, knowing for sure that the smoke and the environment was not good for the baby, but she'd been pretty adamant about it—only asking Elsie and Charles to ban smoking inside the pub while she was working there for she was pregnant (something the two and Beryl had been so happy about, toasting the baby and fussing over Cora—much to her chagrin). He'd begged her to skip the next semester, but she'd been particularly adamant about that as well, telling him she was still going to take classes next semester, and if she could no longer make it to class, will take the online classes. Until then, she refused to be kept in the house barefoot and pregnant.
He acquiesced to her desires, not wanting her to feel stifled in the least, knowing how difficult it was for her already. If he noticed the changes in her body, then for sure so did she, in ten fold in fact. It was her body, after all, and though he only wanted to make her comfortable, he really didn't want her to do anything she wanted to do.
There was one thing on his mind though, that he wasn't sure he would not fight her for, in case she disagreed. It made more sense, and it was practical, but it was also a big leap for both of them, so he'd been very anxious to ask her.
But ask her he did, because that was probably the only way he'd get an answer.
"Darling," he'd told her one night as he held her. They were lounging on the couch having finished their dinner of Chinese takeout (she'd been craving chicken teriyaki and dumplings, and he'd been pleased as punch that she finished all of it and even stole some of his kung pao chicken), and were now mindlessly watching a movie on Netflix.
She reached out to pause the movie and then turned in his arms, looking at him. She must have sensed the urgency and anxiety in his tone.
"What is it Robert?" she asked, looking like she's trying to stay calm, but looking anxious all the same. It was part of the changes in her too, she was hardly able to keep it together at most times.
"Nothing bad," he rushed to reassure her, because the last thing he needed was a crying, hormonal, pregnant Cora in his hands. She looked at him with an openly curious expression and he smiled, despite his own nerves. "Just that, have you considered totally just moving in?"
She looked surprise but didn't speak, waited for him to continue.
"You spend most of your time in here anyway, and you only go back to your apartment across the city to get some clothes. I mean, it's such a waste of time and money for you to keep it if you aren't staying there."
Money was no matter, they both knew that, she could keep the place if she wanted to, but it was just more practical to live together, since they were having a baby anyway. It was just logical. And it seemed like a good argument.
"So we can just move in here all of your stuff, and I don't know, if you want to keep it you can, but since I know you're renting it, you can just end your lease and then let someone else have it," he explained, hoping she saw the logic in it, too. He didn't want to live with her just because they were having a baby—it was logical and practical for that reason—but he'd wanted to ask her for so long, long before the baby anyway. "Isn't your lease going to end next month?"
She nodded, looking away as if contemplating. He understood why she would think about it. It was her own personal space, something that was just hers, and not something that was together, or ours, or theirs. But then, they are together…so didn't that make sense.
Her silence was unnerving him, so he squeezed her hips, hoping she'd speak and let him know what she was thinking.
"Cora, love?" he repeated, watching as she got lost in her own world.
"It makes sense doesn't it?" she asked, finally saying something. She still wasn't looking at him and he wondered what she was thinking.
He breathed, although it wasn't what he wanted to hear, it was something. He shrugged. "I suppose," he answered. "With the baby coming, it's only right that we live together, right?"
She nodded, breathing out and finally turning her gaze to him. "How long do you think it will take?"
…
It took them about two weeks to move her all in. She had much more crap that she realized, and it took them a total of two weeks to pack everything in her apartment and schlep it to Robert's townhouse. Phyllis, Joseph, Ros, and Duke had all come down to help them pack. Robert had been resolute that she shouldn't overtax herself. If it had been up to him, she wouldn't even lift a teacup, but it wasn't—thankfully—and she'd been able to help as much as she could.
She tackled her bookcase, taking down the book collection she'd amassed in her stay in London, and those that her mother had sent and delivered upon her request. It wasn't that much, not as much as it had been in New York, anyway, but it still filled out three and a half large boxes. She next handled her closet, only allowing the women to help her with the herculean task. Under no circumstances did she allow any of the men to touch the contents of her bureau and drawers, apart from letting them bring the packed boxes down to the U-haul they'd rented.
It would have been easier to let packers and movers do the packing and moving for her, but there were stuff that she wasn't going to allow anybody else to touch, and also she had to get rid of some of the things she owned since Robert's townhouse pretty much had it all.
So on a bright and sunny day on the last week of June, she'd moved in with her boyfriend and had her things stored inside his townhouse. They'd celebrated her moving in with their friends and family with boxes and boxes of pizza and a few helpings of strudel for dessert. And then she and Robert celebrated her moving in by themselves by making love in every room in the house.
She was just lucky that Robert had given the rest of the day off after they'd helped them put Cora's things in order, because aside from the physical changes she was going through, it seemed as though a lot of changes happened to her, inside her, too, and it was wonderful.
Gone was the nausea from the first trimester. In, now, was her unlimitedly rising libido. Last time, she'd almost jumped Robert when he'd brought one of the million boxes that contained her shoes and had carefully set it in the middle of their walk-in closet where she was organizing them. She'd watched him as he heaved the heavy box down the floor, his arms flexing as he did so. And then he straightened and wiped his brow, and then he turned to her, and good god, he winked at her, smiling gently, and all she wanted was to fuck him right then and there. Unfortunately, his sister was there too, helping her organize her stuff, and fucking him had to wait.
But fuck him she did when everyone had been gently and politely shooed out of their house (theirs now, she was no longer a glorified bedmate). She'd been unstoppable and insatiable, ripping his shirt out of his body and throwing it haphazardly over her shoulder as she nailed him right on the bed.
Thinking about it now made her hot. It shouldn't and she shouldn't, but it did and she did. She was hot thinking about it, thinking about him. It didn't take much nowadays to turn her on, really. And as she sat on the passenger seat of his car on their way home from a lovely dinner, his hand parked on her thigh, she wanted nothing more than to fuck him senseless.
God. Where was her self control?
Gone. It was gone, gone with her birth control, it seemed.
She turned her head to her boyfriend and watched him with hooded eyes. He was looking rather fetching tonight, with his white button down and dark wash denim. His brown hair was tousled but kinda neat, and his eyes were twinkling.
"What?" he asked, turning his eyes to her briefly as he felt her eyes on him. He turned back to the road just as quickly, and Cora grinned, biting down on her lip.
Fuck. She wanted him now.
They were almost at the house, now, but damnit, she's not sure she could wait that long.
"Nothing, baby," she murmured, reaching up to tousle his hair some more. The soft silken feeling made her eyes slam shut, and god fucking damn it, she wished he would hurry because she wanted to bury her fingers in them.
He hummed, bringing her hand down and placing a soft kiss against the palm of her hand. It was innocent enough, gentle even, but it only served to fuel the fire burning inside her. She squirmed in her seat.
When they got to the side of their townhouse where the light was always off—it flickered on and off for months until one day it just didn't and remained off—she couldn't help it anymore.
"Stop the car," she ordered forcefully. They were literally almost at the house, literally just one more slow crawl of the car and they were there, but she had done her waiting. No more. It was time for her to take.
Robert looked at her in puzzlement, but she only shook her head. She unbuckled her seatbelt and then reached out to do the same for him, before she slammed her mouth down onto his, kissing him forcefully, passionately, leaving no mistake about her intentions.
Her hands came down and fiddled with the buttons of his shirt, and by god, she was grateful she wasn't so far along that this would be awkward or difficult.
"Cora, my love," he murmured just as her other hand fell to his lap and she began palming his growing erection through his pants. "We're almost at the house…please just…"
"Nope," she cut him off, making the last syllable of the word pop. She crawled through the little space between them until she was straddling his lap. She reached down and pulled the lever, making his seat move, giving them a lot more space, and ah…that's better, now wasn't it?
"Cora," he murmured again, a plea, even as his lips trailed from her lips down to the column of her throat, finding her pulse point and sucking down on it hard, no doubt leaving a mark, and making her throw her head back, her hair flying back.
Fuck, that felt good.
And thank goodness she had the oversight to wear a flowy dress tonight, making it easier as she sat on his lap, her knees on either side of him.
She slithered both arms around his neck, her fingers burying through tufts of soft sandy-blonde hair, like she'd wanted to all along. She pulled on it a little bit, to get him to lift his head from where it's tucked on the crook of her neck, and then she kissed him again, pushing her tongue inside without permission or urging—not that she needed either. She was so fucking horny.
"This is what you do to me baby," she whispered to his ear, leaning down and biting down his ear lobe. She pushed down to his lap, grinding her sex against the fabric of his jeans where his cock was straining. It felt good, fucking wonderful, and the friction was delicious, but fucking hell, she needed more…more friction, more of him.
She needed to be fucked, fucked hard inside his muscle car, needed him inside her.
"Are you wet darling?" he asked, his voice husky and heavy, and damn arousing. It seemed that any other protests he might have had already flew out the window as his fingers trailed from where he was holding her by the hips, to her thighs. He pushed the fabric of her dress aside and let his fingers tickle the apex of her thighs, before finding the treasure between. He moves her panties with his index finger and moaned when he felt the wet heat pooling there.
She couldn't help but yelp when she felt one finger slide inside her slit, and she threw her head back again. Her hips bucked in time to his rhythm as he thrust one finger in and out of her. She was going to come like this, and they barely even began.
"This is what you wanted huh?" he asked. She felt his grin against her skin as he pressed his face to her neck, nose bumping her collarbones as he trailed down to lick at the valley of her breasts. He was still thrusting one finger inside her, his thumb flicking against her clit.
She knew he wanted to remove the top of her dress, to free her breasts from its confines, to latch his mouth on her nipple, but he really couldn't do that without dislodging the hand currently playing with her cunt, and that's not really favourable for either of them.
She instead, took action, and lowered the zipper of her dress and freed her breasts from their prison. She threw her bra on the backseat, not really caring about it at the moment, and then moaned at the feeling of having her girls freed. They were sensitive now, as they grew each day—something that Robert seemed to be enjoying a lot.
He smirked at her but said nothing as he swooped down and caught one hard nipple in his mouth. He was careful at first, mindful of its sensitive state, but then they both grew desperate and he was then nipping and sucking and nibbling on her tits, moving from one to the other as his finger continued its assault on her dripping cunt.
She was pulsing now, in need of something more, something bigger, and she made no secret of what she wanted as she reached down to free his straining cock from his jeans. He sprang forth, thick, long, and hard as a rock. He was big, has always been, and it had her salivating at the sight of him. Of course, it was literally impossible for her to suck his cock given where they'd decided to fuck, but it didn't mean she couldn't treat him with the same attention he lavished on her.
She lifted her hand and spit on it, before reaching down again for his hardness, pumping him up and down a couple times.
They were groaning and moaning, the sound of them giving each other hand jobs loud against the tight, confined space.
"Fuck Cora," he muttered when she quickened her pace. At this, he upped the ante and slid two more fingers inside her to fuck her with, and if she thought being finger fucked inside his car was erotic, she was damn near coming when he crooked his finger just so that he hit that one spot that made her toes curl and her throat raw as she screamed when he hit it.
"Oh, fuck Robert, yeah, just like that, baby," she sobbed, muttering a string of incoherent sentences, punctuated by an impressive string of curses that would have made a pirate proud. She was a sobbing mess of animal want, and fuck, she wanted to cum, wanted to cum with his fingers fucking her hard and deep, then she wanted to cum again on his cock, with his cock buried balls deep inside her.
His thumb was back to making tight little circles on her clit that drove her crazy and made her thrust against his fingers in need of a release. His mouth found its way to her nipple and he sucked again, biting down, just as he pushed down her clit.
That was it, that was her end, and she screamed, caught off guard by the onslaught of her orgasm. She trembled in his arms as he continued pumping in and out of her, riding her through her orgasm as he kissed every patch of skin he could reach.
When she came back down from her high, she found him looking at her fondly, but still with animalistic, carnal lust that told her he wanted her to cum again, wanted her to cum on his cock, and he wanted to cum too, cum inside her.
She lifted her body, grinning at him, and then sank down on his hard mast, fucking him into oblivion. She rode him, rode him harder than she ever had as she leaned down to capture his sweet mouth in a kiss filled with tongue. She sucked his tongue inside her mouth and his hands fell to her hips, gripping her there and helping her pump up and down him.
She wasn't going to last long, the place where they'd chosen to carry on and fuck was doing things to her—wonderful, arousing things.
"Oh fuck yeah, baby, yeah, oh, don't—wanna—stop—keep—fucking—yeah, right there yeah, oh fuck yeah," she babbled as he stilled her hips and started thrusting his hips up, pumping in and out of her.
Her womb tightened and she knew, she knew she was cuming, coming harder than she did the first time, and god, yeah, this felt wonderful.
"Damn, fuck, Cora," he yelled, his voice gravelly and his accent a little thicker, when her pussy spasmed and tightened around him.
"I'm coming, babe, I'm right—aahhh," she screamed as her orgasm washed over her like a tide; making stars explode from behind her eyelids.
She felt him spurt his cum inside her, filling her with him, and she'd worry if she wasn't already pregnant with his kid. Her head fell to his shoulder and his hands tightened their hold on her. They were both heaving, wondering and marveling over the fact that they literally just fucked inside the car and it was possibly one of the best fucks they had—not just together but in their lives.
Cora pulled away and smiled at her lover, the father of the child growing inside her. "I love you," she told him, reaching up to place a kiss against his sweat soaked forehead.
"And I love you," he murmured, pulling her close and kissing her softly, before rubbing his nose against hers. "I love jellybean, too."
Cora smiled as she snuggled closer to him. Right at that moment, she felt like she had everything.
…
The days following Cora finally and officially moving into the house were sublime. True, it seemed like nothing would change-it seemed like they had been living together for a while now, with her rarely ever going to her apartment to spend her nights there. On the days that she did, he was with her and he spent the nights there too. So it wasn't like they weren't already living together. But there was something about making it official, about not just spending their nights together, or coming home to find her waiting for him, or lying down on their bed and knowing she's not just there until her clothes for the week run out. There was something about not just having her fill up all the spaces with her little things slowly, but seeing her things reside next to his as if it's been there all their lives. It was knowing that there was nothing more holding them back, that this-what they have right now-was real.
It was blissful, settling into the same routine, but knowing it was going to be a permanent fixture, that this was not something that happened when she was at his house or spending the night over. Most days, since the classes were over and she only worked remotely for her father's company and only one day now at The Castle, she would be lounging around the house, reading, sketching. She'd most likely put Mrs. Bird out of a job, too, because she spent a lot of her hours in the kitchen, and made sure she'd be the one to make dinner for them.
During the nights, when they retired for bed after a long day, they'd make love up to the point of the exhaustion and lie next to each other, falling asleep with their arms around one another.
Robert felt so happy he couldn't even really explain it. After Adeline, and the time thereafter that he'd spent running away from commitment, he should be running away from this, should be scared at the responsibility and level of commitment this entailed, and true he got scared, he still does, and sometimes it overwhelms him, but he's happy-too happy to really think about it and wonder what it really meant for him to be scared.
Right now, he was just happy, and he wanted to just enjoy that.
…
The second week of July gave them the best weather they'd had so far this year. The sun was up in the clear blue skies, but there was a gentle breeze that made the days comfortable at best, or at the very least, it was not sweltering. Cora could just about imagine being pregnant during the summer, and it spelled torture to her. She knew it wasn't going to last forever, this summer made from heaven, and soon enough it would become too hot and she'll become too sweaty and sticky and start hating the entirety of the universe. For now, she was just happy enough that she could walk out of the house in a cute little sundress and not feel like she was walking through hell.
And she was also very happy that she was able to spend that wonderful summer in Barcelona with her boyfriend and his sister and his sister's husband.
It took a bit of convincing on her and Rosamund's part that she can travel, and that at three and a half months, she can still go on a vacation and not be too stressed with the commute it will take, and that it was in fact the advisable time for her to travel while pregnant if she wanted to, because it would otherwise be dangerous for her further down the line. She made sure to get cleared by Dr. Tapsell, and had promised Robert over and over that she'd take it easy.
Rosamund had helped out and told Robert that it might be a good thing for Cora to have fresh air, rather than be cooped up in the house like Robert seemed to have planned. It wouldn't hurt Cora to travel, and it wouldn't be so bad for her to have a change of scenery, so what was holding Robert up?
Robert didn't really stand any chance between hers and Rosamund's combined forces.
So she now laid under the sun, her bump just barely protruding, as she worked on her tan. She didn't usually, London did not really offer a lot of opportunities for her to be able to do so and she's too wary of the effects of the sun on her skin, but she did enjoy feeling the sun on her skin.
She knew she was too pasty to actually get a tan, but she was sporting a kind of glow now, which she liked. She knew it would disappear as soon as she got back to the city, but she liked the golden glow of her skin, and how wonderful it looked against the red dress she now sported as Robert escorted her to the surprise date he's about to bring her to.
...
Robert was enchanted with Cora.
That had been something he knew from the very start of their courtship. He had taken one look at her piercing blue eyes and he'd been smitter. It was kind of hard not to, anyway.
Just everything about her was charming and enchanting to him, and aside from being absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous, the person she is, was absolutely amazing too. He would often watch her, as she freely and unthinkingly give a bit of herself to everyone around her-even if it was just a smile to light up someone's day, or a piece of advice that went a long way to her troubled friends. There was an exuberance about her that was contagious, and being around, just around her, has made him happier than he ever had been in his life, happier than he ever thought he deserved to be.
He wasn't sure what he'd done right in his life to have deserved her, to be worthy of her, but whoever thought he did, he was very thankful to them. He couldn't imagine a life without her now, she'd turned his life around so much, it was kind of hard to go back to a life that she wasn't in.
He had once been a very depressed man, coming back from the pain of an ex-lover playing him for a fool and marrying a man he'd considered a friend. He'd been burned, telling himself love was nothing but a fool's errand, and hadn't wanted to experience the same thing. He'd honestly thought that Addie was the love of his life, he'd been so ready to settle with her, to ask her to marry him then, but she'd taken his heart and tossed it away. She had not been in love with him, and he'd been stupid. After that, he'd told himself he'd never be as besotted with anyone and give them the power to hurt him as much.
But then Cora came into his life, literally and figuratively helped him up when he was down, and he'd been helpless to her charm and her wit, despite him trying very hard to fight it. Before he even knew what hit him, he was already falling deeply in love with her-and now, now they were expecting their first child.
It was scary-everything happened so fast, they were dating barely even a year, but their lives were so intertwined now. And there was the baby-something, someone who would be relying on them for everything. Their baby-a product of the love they shared, and it was thrilling, but scary at the same time, because he hadn't really expect to be a father yet, to be responsible for another human being, to have someone depend on him for everything.
And though he tried very hard to not let it show, he was very scared. Sometimes, he feared he wouldn't be good enough for Cora, or that he wouldn't be good enough for the baby. He knew, though, that he couldn't let Cora know that, because he needed to be strong for her, now more than ever.
So, though apprehensions gnawed at him, and highly developed sense of self preservation made him felt stifled as he made this decision, he went with it. After all, it was where they would end up, it didn't seem logical to wait. Asking Cora to dress up in fancy clothing and cleaning up rather nicely himself, he'd set up a date for them in an island just a little bit further away from where they were staying. Rosamund and Duke had made themselves scarce as well, upon his request, and now he held Cora's hand tightly in his as he led her down and off the boat.
He'd rented an island for the night to be their venue for tonight's date. It might be a little extreme, maybe, but then, nothing was ever too much for Cora. He wanted to see her smile, wanted her to feel as special as she was to him, and if he had to pay a pretty penny for that, then he gladly would, because she was worth it. Especially since he knew how little she cared about that, how happy she would have been without all the grandoise and pomp, and how himself and his love were enough for her.
He loved her even more for it, cherished her more.
He watched as her eyes twinkled, growing wide as she took in the view before her. He'd made sure to make this a great set up, made sure to give it his very best, firmly believing he would be doing this for the last time tonight. She was smiling so wide as he led her to the hut where their dinner awaited. The hut was surrounded and illuminated by a hundred twinkling lights, and in the middle was the table set for two that held their dinner-no fish, he didn't want her to puke her guts out, not tonight.
"Oh, Robert," she gasped, taking a seat on the chair he pulled out for her. "This is wonderful. When you mentioned date night, I thought we'd have a meal at a restaurant by the beach. This is...wow."
He nodded and took the seat before her. He took her hand in his and squeezed. "Have I made you happy, Cora?" he asked, looking at her earnestly. heart in his throat, stomach dropping lower. "Truly, have I made you happy?"
"Yes," she said, nodding as tears gathered at her lashes. She looked so beautiful, the twinkling lights making her glow and her eyes sparkle. Her red lips were spread in a luminous smile, even more brilliant than the lights that bathed the night. "Of course, you do. Especially since you fell in love with me...which I'd never thought I'd achieve and more than I'd hoped for." She squeezed his hand and smiled wistfully. "I feel very lucky to be loved by you."
He shook his head. His heart was pounding now, his throat constricting. He shouldn't feel so scared, he knew she loved him, and he loved her and nothing would change that. He loved her and she loved him and this was right.
This was perfect.
"No, I'm the lucky one," he murmured, bringing her knuckles to his lips and placing a kiss on it. "So lucky to have found you and find love again. So lucky to be loved by you, though I do not deserve it, though you deserve more than a bumbling fool like me."
She shook her head as he walked to kneel in front of her. Her gasp was loud and her eyes were wet as she stared at him in wonder and disbelief.
"I thought I would never love again, had been burned once, twice, and it had been enough to have me swearing off love, and I just thought...you know, life could be lived without having to fall in love, to not find the piece that's supposedly missing and can only be found if you find the person you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with. I wanted to believe that love can be dispensable, something we can go without, because I once thought I couldn't and it broke me when the love I thought was mine was gone. But you...God, Cora, you made me believe in love again. Thank God for you," He murmured against her skin and he held her hands tight in his. "I love you, Cora."
She was crying now, her lips parted as she let out soft gasps and hiccups. He reached up to brush her tears away, placing soft kisses on her cheeks in his wake.
"I would never love anyone else as long as you walked the earth," he whispered honestly, unable to help himself from pulling her close and holding her against his chest. God he loved her. "So marry me, Cora, be mine and let me love you for as long as we both shall live."
It was the moment of truth, and he sat there, kneeling, waiting. He watched her face, waiting, waiting, smiling when "Yes," she said, at last. "Of course, Robert, yes."
A/N: So, I have been thinking lately about a lot of things I want to do with my life and I have been thinking about publisbing lately, which is honestly one of my dreams. In case, just in case, I finally lose my brain and go crazy, would anyone be interested in Collide being a book? I'm not saying I will, my writing needs a lot more improvement and I might have to overhaul a lot of the chapters, but just in case will you guys be interested?
Let me know! Hope you enjoyed the fluff that is this chapter!