Chapter 38
WHEN DAWN WOKE UP TO THE SUNRISE, she found David sitting fully dressed at the foot of the bed and staring down at her belly with a lenient smile on his face.
"Hey, morning mist" he cooed, drawing invisible circles on her tiny bump, and the feel of his fingers suddenly made her insides warm.
"Morning" she smiled, scooting into a sitting position. "Did I oversleep?"
"No, I'm just up early." He said, settling into the space beside her and wrapping his arms around her. "I need to go over a few things at the hospital and finalize everything for the surgery tomorrow"
"It's tomorrow?"
He nodded, squeezing her before kissing the top of her head. "He's going to be finally free"
Dawn was quiet for a moment. She stayed still and leaned into his chest as she enjoyed the feeling of being wrapped in his arms.
"Tell me about Alex, I'd like to know more about him," she asked, pulling her head from his chest to watch him speak.
David smiled to himself as he thought of the times he had spent with his son. "He's smart and funny. Very blunt sometimes but loving and welcoming" He stroked her cheeks. "He's a nice kid and how fucked up would it be if I told you the first day I saw him, I wished he was ours?"
Dawn's eyes flashed with laughter, and a second later, those giggles rang out around the room. "Pretty fucked up"
He chuckled. "I can't wait for you to meet him, honest to God, you'll fall in love."
"Why don't I accompany you to see him then?"
He looked down at her, surprise in his eyes. "You'd do that?"
She nodded and smiled. "He's an extension of you David, of course, I'd want to be part of his life," She looped one arm around the back of his neck and touched her other hand to his chest. " I want to be involved. I also want to stay by your side and watch him grow into a perfect little boy"
Hearing those words come from her lips made a burst of pleasure shoot through him. It felt like his insides were going to explode. His lips moved as if trying to form words but they gave up on speech and having no more words, he reached out for her and kissed her. It was a gentle kiss, perhaps the gentlest he'd ever kissed her, but it said everything he wanted to say.
Dawn closed her eyes, relishing the softness of his mouth against hers, she'd admitted that she had missed it, she'd missed him, his touches, his words, and her desire only heightened now that the hormones played a huge role.
"Thank you for loving us, Dawn" David murmured against her lips.
Dawn chuckled against his lips. "You don't have to thank me"
"But I do. Thank you. I fucking love you" he confessed, taking her into his arms and kissing her with everything he had.
***
SIX MONTHS LATER.
The last few months of Dawn's life had been one of the most magical ones. There were no stupendous events, no extravagant gifts, or unexpected visitors. But still, even though it all seemed very ordinary, everything changed.
After the successful surgery and her reunion with her husband, things had gone back to the way they used to be and life became even more satisfying.
Alex moved into the house and David bought an apartment for Stella just around the block. After everything she'd done, the least he could do was give her a chance to restart her life and get back everything she'd lost.
A few weeks later, Dawn had gone for her scheduled ultrasound and found nothing wrong with her child.
She could still vividly remember it like it had happened days ago. She remembered the feel of the cold liquid as it spread on her stomach.
"There's your baby." The doctor had said, pointing at a little floating gob on the screen. "It's still too early to detect the gender but I'm happy to say your baby is growing fine."
She hadn't been able to take her eyes off the screen and as for David, seeing the image of his unborn child on the screen made him feel an emotion so strong that he nearly forgot to breathe. At that moment, he hadn't cared about the gender, just felt an instant connection with it and his sense of protectiveness for the baby bumped up a notch.
Fast forward to four months later and here they were, driving to the lake house in Peekskill with a trunk full of gifts for Alex who celebrated his birthday.
During the ride, David had been particularly attentive to Dawn's needs, asking her if she was okay or cold from the wind, or if she needed anything.
He took her pregnancy quite seriously and hardly left her side for the past months. The truth was, although it was a bit relieving to know that their child was growing fine, he was scared and it still didn't stop him from secretly meeting with professional doctors and trying to cough out a possible remedy to their problems —it was the only way he could sleep comfortably at night without the fear of losing his wife any minute.
Twenty minutes after driving through the plush green hedges, they pulled up to a massive house and stepped out.
"David, you made it" Stella smiled, walking around the granite island to greet them.
"Sorry, we're a bit late. The damn traffic was tight" David said, hugging her warmly.
Stella chuckled softly and swung her gaze over to Dawn. She smiled. "It's so nice to see you again, Dawn"
"Same here" they both exchanged warm hugs and Stella pointed to the pool.
"Alex is playing around with his friends, he's been waiting for you"
"Thank you"
David protectively placed his hand on Dawns' back as they walked together to the closed in-ground pool which sat in the middle of the large backyard where at least a dozen little boys in pirate costumes were running around.
When Alex spotted them in the crowd, he dropped his make-belief sword and made a beeline toward them. "Dad! mum!"
David knelt down with his arms open as he ran toward him and threw himself into his arms.
"Happy birthday, big guy." He cooed, smuggling him closer.
"Happy Birthday Alex," Dawn chimed in. She bent down. "Do I get a hug, too?"
Alex shook his head and she pretended to frown. "And why is that?"
He swung his gaze over to her 31weeks old pregnancy and bit his lips in the cutest way. "If I hug you, your belly might explode"
David looked at her, and they both couldn't help but laugh a little. She cupped his cheeks and smiled. "It's not going to explode Alex, it's not a balloon"
His brows jumped up. "It's not?"
She shook her head and smiled. "It's not"
At first, Alex didn't say anything, but then, he pulled her into a hug and she chuckled, wrapping him in her arms.
"That's more like it"
After few hours of opening gifts, blowing out candles, and wrapping paper, David decided it was time to leave. He'd caught Alex yawning few times and it didn't look like he was going to make it much longer either.
"Bye mum. Bye, Dad!" He yelled as they got into the car.
Amanda smiled as she shut the car door.
"He'll be back home by the end of the month, in the meantime, he's mine," she said and David chuckled.
"As long as you don't feed him sweets to bed then we'll be fine"
She smiled. "You two take care okay?" She urged and they nodded before David finally drove off.
As soon as they arrived home, Dawn discarded her clothes and took a brief shower before standing by the balcony to receive some fresh air.
The night was quiet, peaceful. The air outside was blowing against the window in a gentle breeze. She simply stood and enjoyed the pleasant silence.
David who'd momentarily concluded his shower found her looking out at the nightfall. He wrapped his hands around her waist and stood behind her.
"Come back in, it's cold outside"
"Just a few minutes"
"You sure?"
"Yeah"
As they stood there watching the stars together, his fingers stroked her stomach. "It's been months now but the thought of my child growing inside of you, inside this beautiful body, still seems amusing"
"David…"
"I know, I know" he chuckled. "I'm talking too much again"
She chuckled. "You're not"
He pulled her hair to the side and kissed her neck. "I just really love you, Dawn. I fucking love you, and the baby and Alex. I love everything"
"We love you too David" she turned around and leaned into him before touching her lips on his.
David squeezed her a little tighter and kissed her more deeply before breaking away as a strong wind blew past them.
"Alright, that's enough fresh air for one night"
He guided her back into the room and shut the balcony door.
Once they climbed into bed, he pulled her close so her head rested on his chest as he stroked her hair. After about ten minutes, her breathing became slow and steady, and he knew she had fallen asleep.
"I love you, Dawn" he whispered and kissed her head before drifting into sleep himself and it had only been some minutes after the hour of one when Dawn suddenly woke up with a hungry appetite.
"David?" She called softly and he moaned, pressing his face deeper into his pillow.
"David, wake up" she beckoned, slapping the mattress between them to get his attention. When he didn't respond, she placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him.
"What is it, Dawn?" He mumbled with a slight grunt as he raised his head a little and looked over his shoulders at her.
"I'm hungry" she whispered.
He looked up at her and saw her bite her lip nervously. He sighed. "There should be a piece of cake in the fridge, go and eat that okay?"
She shook her head softly. "I want coconut pudding"
"Now?"
She nodded and he sighed loudly.
"But we're out of those"
"I want it David" she nagged, shaking his shoulder.
David dragged his lids up and strained his eyes to glance at the clock.
"It's just one Dawn, all the shops are closed"
"I really really really want it" she deadpanned and he groaned.
"How about you eat something else?"
"Do you want me throwing up all night long?" She bit off irritably and he sighed again.
"So what do you want me to do?" He asked, trying to blink the sleep away as he looked at her
"Get me some coconut pudding"
"Can't we just wait till the morning Dawn? Please..." He trailed off.
"Fine then. I'll just get it by myself " she said, waiting for his reply but he had already slept off on her again.
Grumbling, she forced herself up and slipped her feet into her flops before heading downstairs and navigating through the dark stairs with only her dim torchlight as the lights had been turned off.
She had successfully gotten through the top stairs but when a severe cramp struck again, she was paralyzed in shock, the sudden rush of pain making her lose footing and falling until her body smashed the ground with a thud loud enough to wake David who immediately shot up from his.
"Dawn!"
