Chapter 57
She woke up in the early hours and slipped downstairs. The tv was on but he was fast asleep on the sofa. She fetched her drink from the fridge and clicked the tv off. She sat next to him and stroked his hair from his face.
"Hey!" He mumbled still half asleep.
"I'm mad at you but not this mad." She told him.
He smiled.
"I was watching a film and thought I'd give you some space." He said. "What time is it?"
"Early. Come to bed." She told him.
She leaned down and kissed him.
He smiled.
"Ok." he said.
She stood up and held out her hand to him. He took it and climbed up of the sofa. He put his other hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it. He must have been sleeping at a funny angle, he thought with a sigh.
She held his hand all the way up the stairs and into the bedroom.
He grinned looking down at their joint hands.
"Ella." He said softly.
"What?" she smiled at him.
"I love you." He said.
She grinned.
"I'm still not saying them back." She said.
He kissed her hand before he let go of it and took his clothes off diving under the covers naked. She pealed of the bathrobe and climbed in the other side clicking off the light.
It hadn't been what he was going to say at all but asking her if she were still unhappy would have ruined the temporary truce they seem to have and quite frankly she was smiling at him and that was amazing.
He tried to keep to his side of the bed but found that he rolled towards her.
She sighed at him and pulled his arm around her.
"Now go to sleep." She told him.
He kissed the back of her neck and closed his eyes.
After a few minutes she poked him in the ribs.
"I meant all of you."
He grinned and kissed the back of her neck again.
"We missed you." He said.
"And do you often refer to that as another person?" she asked grinning.
"Not usually. But it does seem to have a mind of its own tonight." He told her.
"Well it needs to go take a cold shower. I'm not in the mood."
He chuckled.
"The amount of times you've told me that and then you change your mind." He said.
She sat up and pulled away from him.
"Get back downstairs." She hissed.
"Wow." He said. "I can't even talk to you anymore." He muttered.
She pulled away from him and stood up.
"Elizabeth." He said quickly, losing his temper.
She stopped and looked at him.
He stood up and pulled on his bathrobe.
"Sit down." He instructed.
He walked over and switched on the overhead light.
She blinked and moved to the wicker chair in the corner, sitting slowly.
"Right lets get a few things straight shall we." He began.
She looked at him and crossed her legs before folding her arms across her chest.
"If you are unhappy then we will do something about it. You are not leaving me. I have missed being with you the past few nights and obviously being with you in bed has an affect on my body that I can't really control with just thought alone. Planning Nic's wedding and buying their house has been stressful and I am sorry that we are dealing with that on top of a difficult pregnancy and trying to get used to being together." He said in rush.
He looked at her before continuing.
"We are not the same people we were back then we've both changed and you've become spoilt by being on your own for a lot of the time. You are used to getting your way and you can't always have that in a relationship."
He sank down on the bed.
"Have you finished?" she asked patiently.
He looked at her.
"Yes."
"So I have permission to go use the bathroom now?" she said.
"You were going to the bathroom?" he asked grimacing.
She nodded.
She stood up and began walking across the bedroom on the way to the bathroom before turning and pressing a quick kiss on his lips.
"But it's good that you can share." She told him.
She came back a moment later and climbed back into bed.
He switched off the main light and got in beside her.
"Christopher and I were together for 3 years, we lived together for a year when his job moved to California. When we split up I came back to Australia and set up my studio. I told you I first met Dane when we took Suzanne to hospital for her treatments but it wasn't until I bumped into Dane again after a few years of intermittent emails and letters. We got together and I lived with him for a year. His place was set up for him being in a wheelchair and I would have to stay at the studio on weekends we had Mike. It wasn't ideal and when it came down to looking for a place that we could kit out together it was more or less over. We tried hard. He even proposed but we knew that it was the end. And I was heartbroken." She took a breath. "After that I made it about me and Mike for a long time because I didn't want to get hurt. Maybe you are right and I am selfish about getting my own way because I haven't been able to make any other relationship work."
He sighed.
"Ok." he said softly. "In order. Firstly I am sorry that you were hurt. Secondly I know you aren't selfish, maybe a little stubborn sometimes yes, but not selfish." He said.
She looked at him.
"And thirdly?" she asked.
He grinned at her.
"It's thirdly and fourthly together."
"Yes?" she asked warily.
"Would you like to make love and I've got the girl." He said.
She chuckled.
"No. I need some sleep and I would just like to cuddle." She told him.
He smiled and pulled her into his arms. She reached over and clicked off her light.
"Ella I love you." He said softly.
She patted his hand.
"Love you too." She mumbled half asleep.
Nic woke up from a bad dream.
"Hey Princess." Geoff said from a chair by the bed.
"Geoff?" she asked softly.
"Yes. I didn't climb in your window because it's like really high. You dad let me in late last night I thought you might need a cuddle or this?" he said and handed her a white rose with a pink frosting to the edge.
She gasped.
He placed the rose beside her bed and climbed in next to her fully dressed.
She put her arms around him and held him to her.
"You are the best you know." She told him tears in her eyes.
He grinned.
"I know I'm not Aden and I'm not your Dad and maybe I'm too serious half the time but I love you Nicole Franklin Harris soon to be Campbell." He told her.
She smiled.
"I love you as you are, you know. I loved you when you were all like the Bible and no sex and stubborn and had no sense of humour at all and I love this you. I've seen you change and be hurt and keep that wonderful faith of yours through it all. And when my dad wasn't around you were. When I was hurt you were still there. You didn't judge me with all the stupid stuff I was doing, you was there. The amount of times we nearly kissed. The amount of times I could just look into your eyes and know that no matter what I did you would still be my friend. I want you Geoffrey Campbell. I love you and I love the way you touch my body and make me feel clean and whole. I want nothing more than to make love to you but I want you to know that I respect that you are a Christian and that means no sex before marriage." She took a deep breath. "I know that some things have changed for you and that yes you have been sexually active but when I'm with you I want our past to disappear. I want the vow I worship with my body to mean something to us."
"Wow Nic, thank you." he said taken aback by the outpouring, it was the first time she had been able to tell him what she meant.
He kissed her long and slow.
"Are you trying to persuade me differently?" she asked.
"With just one kiss?" he said.
She smiled a slow satisfied smile.
"Oh, you can a lot with those lips of yours." She told him.
They both blushed.
Roman cooked breakfast. He made scrambled eggs and toast for Ruby, Bacon and fried eggs for Geoff and Nic. French toast for Ella and for himself he wanted an omelette. He wondered idly if after Nic moved out whether the bridesmaid did too and then told himself off for being grumpy.
He took their breakfasts upstairs on a tray and went into the bedroom.
"Do you have coffee?" the lump under the bedclothes asked.
"No." he replied.
"K." she said and slowly crawled upright.
She put the pillows up and sat back against them.
"Your breakfast as ordered." He said.
He put the tray on her lap and climbed back in bed with her.
She picked at the food for a while but took a long drink of the milkshake she begged for him to make her. Not that he wouldn't have got her it anyway, but it was nice to hear her voice in that gentle tone almost whispering promises to him.
"Ice cream?" she asked.
He grinned.
"I thought you could do with the extra calories."
"What have you got?" she asked.
"An omelette with cheese and chives." He told her.
Her eyes lit up and he lowered his plate so she could try some.
She grinned at him.
"Didn't you fancy bacon this morning?" she asked him.
He laughed.
"No I knew whatever I had you'd want some of."
She laughed.
With a sigh she turned her attention back to her plate and tried to finish it. He looked at her for a long moment before switching plates.
She chuckled.
"Are we going to tell them about the house now?" she asked.
He laughed.
"How did you know that Geoff was here?" he asked her.
She smiled.
"I have my ways you know."
She leaned over and kissed him.
"Thank you." She said and put the cleared plate on the tray with her empty glass. She looked over at his plate. He lowered it and she speared some of her original breakfast and ate it.
"See it just tastes so much nicer when it is someone else's breakfast." She said with a grin.
"Ella I love you." He said seriously.
She looked over at him.
"I love you too." She said.
"Are you still unhappy?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"I think it was all the Mike stuff at the weekend. Brought up a load of memories. I told you in my studio I still have my photography but it's not as important as this and this." She placed her hand on her bump on the second this. "I think I felt a bit tied down by everything too."
She sat up straighter and took the empty plate from him and put it on the tray which she'd placed on her bedside table.
She took hold of his hand.
"I knew when I saw you again that there was something between us and after you ordered me to marry you well I couldn't really refuse."
Roman grinned over at her.
"It wasn't an order I just didn't phrase it like a question." He said softly.
She smiled.
"Anyway can we tell them about the house?" she asked.
"We can if you calm down." He said.
She kissed him and climbed out of bed.
She took a step and felt the word suddenly swirling.
"Roman." She managed to gasp out as she slid to the floor. She put out her hand and knocked the tray so the breakfast plates fell too, crashing to the floor and breaking.
Roman vaulted out of the bed and came round to her side. He looked at her and saw how pale she was. She felt freezing cold too. He lifted her on to the bed and tried to wake her. He looked up and saw Nic in the doorway.
"Phone Rachel for me Nic." He said softly.
She reached for her Dad's phone and dialled.
"Rachel its Nic, Ella has collapsed again and Dad can't wake her." she said into the phone.
"Dad. She said take her straight to the hospital." Nic said. "Thanks Rachel." She hung up and went to sit with Ella while her dad got some clothes. He disappeared into the bathroom and got dressed taking only a matter of minutes before carrying a still unconscious Ella to the car. He felt a strange sense of calm.
Within minutes he was at the hospital and he met Rachel at the entrance. She got Ella inside and into an examination room and onto a bed. Roman waited outside the room for the longest time. Eventually Rachel came out and sat next to him.
"I want to keep her in for a few days. She isn't well and I'm being optimistic about the pregnancy but you have to be prepared," she told him.
"Rachel she is doing everything you tell her. Eating, even when it makes her sick to her stomach. Resting until she is so bored she is ready to scream. She's taking every vitamin tablet there is." He told her.
Rachel nodded.
"I know. And it is the worst thing to lose a baby." She confided in him. "I know how much Ella wants this baby, but at the end of the day some things just aren't meant to be."
Roman lowered his head.
"She said something similar when she was telling me what happened when she had the first miscarriage." He said softly.
Rachel nodded.
"And that does hurt for a long time but eventually it gets better and it becomes a comfort." She said.
He looked up and pulled himself together before going into the room.
"Hey." She said softly.
"Hey." He grinned. "Can you please stop doing this to me? I've just been offered a personalised parking place."
She grinned at him and held her hand out to him.
"I love you for trying not to let me know how worried you are." She told him.
He smiled slowly.
"What things do you need from home?" he asked.
"Are you offering to pack me a suitcase again?" she smiled at him.
He grinned.
"Maybe." He said.
She pulled on his hand and he stepped closer.
"It wasn't because of this weekend so I don't want you or Mike or Nic to feel guilty ok." she said blinking back tears. "We just might not make it is all." She said putting her hand on the bump.
He bent his head.
She put her hand on his down turned head and stroked his hair before putting her hand on his cheek and caressing it. He lifted his head and looked at her.
"Tell Nic that I've asked to stay in because I need to rest." She said. "Oh I'm sure you'll find the words, just please don't let her worry. She might come to you to tell you something. If she does please hold her." she told him, tears falling down her face. "We're tired so I need some sleep." She said softly. "I love you."
"I love you too." He said.
"I know." She whispered. "I really wanted our baby." She told him.
He kissed her.
"We have to be strong." He said.
She nodded tiredly.
"I really want our baby." She corrected using the present tense.
He kissed her before he left her to sleep and drove home.
He walked in and saw Nic.
She saw the expression on his face and went over and held him.
"She's resting. Rachel thought it might be a good idea to get some decent sleep so Ella decided to stay in for a bit. The baby is fine." He said to her.
Nic pulled back and looked at him.
"Nice try Dad." She told him.
"Yeah, but don't let Ella know we haven't fooled you." He grimaced.
Nic chuckled.
"I've got to take some things into the city. I'll visit her when I get back." Nic told him.
He nodded.
"We cleaned up the stuff in the bedroom by the way." Nic said.
Roman nodded again.
"Thank you Nic." He said.
He walked up the stairs and she sighed before heading out. She hoped he wouldn't miss his wallet for a while.