Hey! So this is the final chapter and I want to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews and to all the people that Followed this story and Favorited it... and me. You guess are the best :)
Spoiler: I'm posting chapter 7 of my other story Shawna on Sunday night so you can look forward to that!
Chapter 7
The sun hasn't showed himself yet when he wakes up with someone's hair tickling his nose and the smell of cherries filling his nostrils. A head rests on his chest. Slowly, he blinks and opens his eyes, licks his sleep-dried lips. It was three hours ago when his mind and brain decided to take a break and allow him to rest. He didn't object. Now, a smile spreads across his face as he lowers his eyes and spots his wife snuggling against him. He is her favorite, private pillow. He doesn't object about that, either. It almost feels like nothing changed, like he didn't disappear for a year, didn't leave her alone and didn't miss the birth of his own daughter.
He sighs.
A daughter, he has a daughter and still, he can't believe it. When he heard that cry yesterday and saw her with a baby in her embrace, he thought of the worst possible scenarios. Maybe, she had forgotten about him and moved on, found another man and had a child with him. And then, she told him she was his and it felt as if the earth disappeared below his feet. Happiness overtook him, and joy filled him. A child with her was something he wanted from the very start of their more than partners relationship. But he was angry with himself as well, he imagined the moment she found out she was pregnant and he was supposed to be dead. She was alone, with a dead husband, without help. And the day she gave birth, lying on the hospital bed screaming his name and trying to reach for his hand to hold and she found none.
He was hidden in a house, doing nothing.
Giving himself a mental shake he looks down once more and tucks a few strands of stray hair away from her face and behind her ear.
''I'm sorry,'' he whispers and pulls away slightly to place a kiss on her temple. She stirs, yet doesn't open her eyes, and buries herself deeper in the cave of his body.
A tear rolls down his cheek. Only he knows how much he missed her all this time, how much he missed her body against his, her eyes meeting his and her mouth on his.
Her voice.
His wife.
He sniffs, rubs his eyes with one hand while the other sneaks around Emily's shoulders, holds her tightly.
His grip bruising.
''Derek?'' she asks, clearly confused and caught dazed between being awake and asleep. Raising her head, she gazes at him.
He swallows past the lump in his throat. ''Hey.'' he says, his voice cracked and hoarse.
''What happened?''
''Nothing.''
She frowns.
It seems that she now realizes how close they are and she tries to put some space between them, but he holds her there.
''Stay, please,'' he begs her.
She's angry with him.
She wants to hurt him as much as he did her.
She stays where she is though.
''Thank you.'' He plants a kiss on the soft skin on the side of her neck. ''And sorry for all of this, for what I did.''
Anger flares in her eyes, rage swells in her chest and she shoves him back. ''I don't need your apologies, Derek. I need to know why.'' She controls her voice at the last minute, well aware of the girl sleeping in the crib.
''I know. You deserve to know. Just not in here.'' He glances at Josie and back at her. ''Let me go make us some coffee and then we can talk; I will explain.''
''Don't you think I've waited long enough?'' she hisses at him.
A cry fills the room and she bites her lip.
Idiot.
''Not in here.'' he repeats.
There are two mugs with steaming, hot coffee on the counter when she comes out and finds him waiting for her. She combs a hand through her messy hair and walks to him, places her open palms on the solid surface and looks up at him from under her eyebrows.
''How is our little girl?''
''Sleeping once again and no longer hungry,'' she answers.
He grins. ''Coffee?'' he offers.
''No.'' She sets the mug aside ''Explain?''
He swallows hard, and does what he's asked. The memories are far from pleasant, but she deserves to know what happened, why he was not with her for a year, and so he describes the hell he had gone through, the pain. Different emotions take over her face, the anger reduces itself and leaves room for an empty sadness that comes and changes to sympathy for him.
''Michael Davidson?'' Her eyes widen. ''I thought he was dead...''
''I thought that too.''
To tell you the truth, he doesn't really believe that the man is dead. He is somewhere, hiding and recovering, regaining his strength to come back. He's waiting to strike once more. And this time, Derek isn't so sure he is going to survive. Not if instead of him, Davidson hurts his wife or child.
Or maybe both.
''And is he dead now?''
He shakes his head ''I don't know, Em. Jordan told me he blew himself up. But… I don't know.'' He lifts his chin and the softness in her eyes surprises him.
''I still feel betrayed and angry.'' She circles her arms around his waist and clasps her hands behind his back. ''I understand though.''
She kisses him long and hard and deep.
And suddenly, he can breathe again.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this story. Tell me if you want a sequel! Thank you!