AN: Sorry its been a while... haven't had much muse and computers been acting up... Still trying to fix it but at least it turns on now...
When Cross woke up he was surprised to find himself alone in bed. Usually Aren never let Cross sleep in or leave the bed without waking Cross to some degree. As Cross was going about getting ready for work he learned that Aren wasn't even home at the moment. Apparently she had taken Link and went shopping. For what no one seemed to know. But Cross wasn't worried, Aren wouldn't cheat on him and Link would keep Aren safe which was the main reason Cross had sort of assigned Link to be more of Aren's guard than his own at this point.
Link himself was a little concerned since Aren had insisted on driving. Not that Aren was a bad driver but she seemed a little annoyed and driving annoyed wasn't always safe. Of course Link couldn't tell Aren no when she demanded he let her drive sense one she was his boss and two he figured she needed a little control in her life after yesterday. It clicked to Link what Aren was doing when they stopped at a paint shop and Aren bought a few different shades of purple and pink as well as different size brushes.
Aren was planning on painting the nursery for the baby to distract herself and keep herself busy as she waited for the babies arrival. She had an idea on how to paint the room since she now knew the baby was a girl. She would paint the room purple then paint light purple swirling vine like designs with pink butterflies in certain spots on the walls.
"Isn't this something you should do with your husband..." Link asked a litle embarrassed as Aren now dragged him through a baby store to pick up some baby girl clothing and toys as well as a crib, car seat, stroller and anything else she figured they needed.
"Marian is busy with work... You can help me Mr. Link." Aren said in a rather annoyed tone as she continued to drag Link around. Of course most people would be quick to assume that Link was the father of Aren's baby since she was dragging him around which was why Link was a little flustered but Aren didn't really care at the moment. When Aren was finally done shopping Aren let Link drive her home where she disappeared into the nursery asking not to be bothered by anyone.
When Marian came home and heard his wife was in the nursery still he of course went upstairs to check on her. He found Link sitting out in the hall where all the furniture for the nursery as well as the toys and clothes waited. Link said nothing as Cross looked at all the stuff that was almost blocking the hallway before he opened the door to the room. The window was wide open to keep fresh air in the room as Aren painted. Cross' wife had her hair braided and pinned up wearing a shirt and skirt she didn't mind getting paint on as well as a mask to help keep the paint fumes to a minimum even with the window open.
Aren had splotches of paint on her clothes as well as on her arms and face from all the painting. So far Aren had completed the main purple coat of paint and was working on the light purple swirly vine like designs before she could move on to the butterflies. Cross was a little surprised at Aren's free hand painting talents. Aren was unaware of Cross as she was so focused on her painting and mostly had her back to her husband. So when Cross asked Aren if she was okay when she had stopped painting for a moment to rub her slightly rounded belly Aren nearly jumped out of her skin turning to face Cross.
"You scared the daylights out of me! Don't do that!" Aren scolded still holding her stomach this time out of being startled rather than for the discomfort she had felt a moment ago.
"Sorry... But that doesn't answer my question..." Cross replied walking up to Aren staring down at her stomach. Of course he was as new to pregnancy as Aren was so he wasn't sure what was normal and what wasn't. So he was worried about the slightest changes in Aren and her stomach.
"I'm fine... I think... I felt the baby move...It felt like...when you're nervous and you feel butterflies in your stomach..." Aren explained looking down at her stomach. It was endearing how worried Cross seemed to be but so far Aren was sure she was doing fine and the doctor seemed to approve her health and progress so far.
"You don't know?" Cross replied pointing out Aren's uncertainty.
"No. I've never been pregnant before. So of course I don't know what it feel like. But that's the only option really." Aren retorted placing her hand on her hip in her usual annoyed gesture. Cross put his hands up in surrender taking a step away from Aren. As Cross was about to respond Link poked his head in with a rather concerned expression which was unusual for the man.
"Sir... Levierre is here and wants to speak with you..." Link of course was a little worried since he knew Levierre too well. Levierre was the head of the German mafia and Link's previous boss. But Link hadn't liked how Levierre worked so he had left and ended up in Cross' employment which was quite the play on Cross' part since he basically had insider information for the German mafia thanks to Link. Cross scowled a little but kissed Aren on the forehead before heading for the door.
"Aren stay in this room. Link don't let her out of your sight." Cross ordered as he left the room. Aren knew little of the German mafia but she knew the name of the head man. But it seemed Cross was wary of the man, enough so to actually give Aren an order. So Aren would do as Cross commanded and stay in the room. Aren trusted Cross' judgment and if he didn't want Aren involved than the would stay out of it as best she could. So Link sat in the center of the room as Aren resumed her painting. Though Aren was a little worried since Link actually had a hand on his gun as if worried someone might be mad enough to just barge into the room and cause a problem. The pregnant albino knew that her family had no friendly ties to the German mafia but she couldn't say if Cross' group had some form of partnership with them even if it was a shaky one.
"So...does the German and Irish mafia get along or are they like my family and the German mafia?" Aren asked Link quietly as if worried to be heard as she painted. Since she couldn't ask Cross about it right now she would ask his second in command who was her guard at the moment.
"Its a shaky...truce. They aren't really friends but for now they aren't enemies either. Though Cross doesn't really like how Levierre he hasn't had a reason to declare Levierre an enemy yet and completely cut off ties." Link explained but was keeping an eye on the door. This really wasn't helping calm Aren at all right now. She felt as if there was the chance of a gun fight breaking out any second. Which really worried her since right now Cross was out of sight so she had no idea if he was in danger. The thought of Cross being in danger made Aren's stomach turn. Setting her painting supplies down Aren placed a hand on her stomach gently rubbing it to try and calm it down. The last thing she wanted was to throw up right now.
"So...you're pissed because some guy is back in London...what does this have to do with me?" Cross asked rather grumpy as he sat across from Levierre in the main sitting room. Apparently Levierre had heard about Nea's return to the English mafia and wasn't too pleased about it.
"From what I understand you married the leader's granddaughter... so you have some sway. Help me get the man named Nea and I'll be sure to pay you well..." Levierre replied with a devious smirk that made Cross sick to his stomach. But Cross hid that well as he lit a cigarette. Right now Aren was safe up in the nursery so Cross could smoke for now without worry.
"What did Nea do to you?" Cross' tone was that of being bored but he was rather curious. Was Levierre possibly the reason why Nea had left his reason before? And if so why had Nea suddenly decided to go back home. This did pose a problem for Cross...though at the same time it didn't. Cross had no real intention of helping Levierre get to Nea simply because he didn't like Levierre but there was also the fact that Nea was Aren's uncle.
"He stole my lover from me..." Levierre was clearly still bitter even though this had to have occurred at least 8 years ago according to what Aren had explained to Cross on their way home from London.
"What lover? I didn't realized you had had one..." Cross was being completely honest about no knowing Levierre had had a lover at any point. Though he had heard of Levierre being into younger boys he couldn't be sure if that rumor was true and even if it was they wouldn't be considered lovers since it sounded more like one night stands.
"It doesn't matter. I just want him dealt with..." Levierre sneered at Cross clearly not appreciating these questions. Of course that only made Cross want to ask more questions.
"My understanding is that Nea only showed back up the other day... How did you hear about his return so quickly?" Cross couldn't help but ask about that. Had Levierre been spying on Aren's family? If so...what had Nea really done to piss off Levierre?
"It doesn't matter. Will you help me or not?" Levierre almost growled out growing tired of all of these question. Cross had to ask for some time to think it over since Nea was in fact his wife's uncle. Levierre could understand this and agreed to give Cross a day to figure out if he would help or not. After that was agreed upon Levierre left but not before telling Cross to give Link his regards. Levierre was still pissed about Link leaving his employ to work for Cross. And he was betting that since he hadn't seen Cross' wife that she was hiding somewhere with Link.
