“Chicken, mustard, French fries.” She repeated the three words over and over until they were the only things she could think about. If Solara and Kayla tried to intrude into her thoughts that was what they would hear and what they would see.
Scarlet walked down the stairs and immediately wished she was back in the shower. They all stared at her like something out of a science fiction movie. Scarlet was well aware that she had spent the last two weeks in bed, but she could remember how everything worked.
“Eric get Scarlet something to eat. Am sorry honey but the only thing left is the bucket of KFC Xavier just brought. No French fries or mustard.” Kayla sat up straight and at Solara then the rest of them.
“Did you hear that?” Kayla said as she clapped her hands excitedly. “Scar what were you just thinking?”
“Is that a trick question?” she walked straight to the kitchen where the blonde blue-eyed boy was warming her supper. “Whatever game that is I don’t want to play.” She leaned back into Stephan’s arms when he came up behind her.
She knew Kayla wouldn’t miss the chance to pick up on her brain activity. She brought a new meaning to no secrets, although Scarlet was proud of herself for being able to keep her pregnancy under wraps for that long.
***
The next morning, as promised Stephan drove her to the hospital. He noticed what she was wearing but wasn’t sure why she did. Scarlet could see it in his eyes but he never dared to ask her. She wore one of his buttons down shirts over her small pink t-shirt. The shirt looked more like a robe on her petite body.
She asked for the doctor she saw the first time. The nurse-led her into the familiar doctor’s room, while Stephan sat in the waiting room.
“Ms. McKyle, it’s nice to see you again. How are you doing?” The doctor spoke as he slipped on a pair of sanitized gloves.
“I am fine, although I feel like am on a roller coaster ride.” She walked to the bed that he had signaled her to lie on.
“I am just going to do an ultrasound today, see how you are progressing.” He switched on the scanner, “From the preliminary report your blood pressure is above normal. You should try and take it easy. Stress isn’t good for the baby.”
She hiked up her top and braced herself for the cold gel. The doctor looked down at her belly a shocked look on his face.
“This is odd.” He squeezed the gel on her belly and rolled the scanner on her belly. “The last time you were here, you weren’t more than two weeks old but now the fetus seems to be twelve weeks.”
Scarlet wasn’t taken aback at anything he said, she more than anyone was well aware of how odd it was. She wiped off the gel and buttoned up her shirt.
“If you will allow me I would like to do some tests. This is very interesting.”
“If you don’t mind, I have somewhere to be. But I will call you about those tests.” Scarlet picked up her purse and slipped out of the office. She wasn’t about to let him conduct any tests on her baby, she knew what he would find and didn’t want to be anyone’s science experiment.
On her way out she went through the waiting room, she didn’t stop to explain. Scarlet took Stephan’s hand and pulled him behind her. He followed without saying a word.
They drove away from the hospital, once they were a good distance away Scarlet relaxed. “He wanted to do tests on me. Crazy person.”
“I don’t understand. I thought that was what usually happens.” Stephan could see how tense she was.
“Let’s not talk about it.”
Scarlet had to find a way to break the news to him as gently as she could. There was no other way around the decision she had made.
When they got to the house, she asked to talk to him in private. They were on their way to her room when Kayla stopped her at the stairs.
“Scar could I talk to you for a moment.” She looked nervous.
“K could it wait a while, I need to talk to Stephan first.” She kept her hold on Stephan’s hand.
Don’t do it.
Am leaving in a week and besides this doesn’t involve you.
Stephan stood quietly and he watched as the two glared at each other. He knew they were fighting but didn’t want to get in the middle of it.
I have to, stay out of my head.
“Fine suit yourself.” Kayla stomped on the staircase leaving a gaping hole once she walked away.
“Kayla?” Scarlet called out after her annoyed friend. She understood that Kayla didn’t support her decision but it was her decision. But it didn’t mean that she had to destroy the house just because they didn’t agree.
“Come on let’s go.”
Scarlet sat across from Stephan, she wanted to be out of reach. She was sure that if he held her in his arms she wouldn’t be able to go through with it.
“Stephan, I have been thinking about us and Washington and Zen.” She rubbed her hands along her thighs. “I will be leaving soon and you will have to remain here to sort this whole thing out.”
“And as soon as am done, I will come and join you.” He smiled at her, took her hands, and kissed her knuckles.
Scarlet gently pulled her hands from his and crossed them on her chest. “Stephan I think we should take a break for a while.”
Stephan got off the bed and stood by the window. She could see the sadness in his eyes and his body tensed.
“Just until, you sort this whole mess out. I don’t think it will do us any favors if I’m caught in the middle of all this. Your past keeps coming after you and honestly, I am frightened.”
“But I will protect you. You don’t have to worry about that.” His fists clenched at his sides.
She got off the bed and rushed to his side, “I know you can, I know you would give your life for me. But know you need to live your life for yourself. Get rid of your past, it’s the only way if you want a future it’s not forever. Do you think I could live my life without you?” She stroked his face. “As soon as you sort this out, you can come to Washington, or I could come back.”
“Scarlet, I understand what you are saying but we don’t have to break up.” He placed his hand over hers.
“It will be better if you don’t have to worry about me. I won’t be a target or a distraction to you.”
“I think you have already made up your mind Scarlet. And as much as I want to, I can’t refuse to give you what you want.” He kissed her palm before releasing it. He kissed the top of her head and began to walk away.
“Where are you going?” All of a sudden she was frightened of losing him. She didn’t want him to go right away but she knew the distance would make it easier for them.
“Don’t worry. I am just going out for a run.” He pulled his shirt over his head. “I’ll be back in a day or two.”
Stephan left that afternoon and didn’t come back for three days. Scarlet was worried, she knew he was fine wherever he was, that he was trying to clear his mind and think about it all. But she was worried that he wouldn’t come back before she left.
She couldn’t bear the thought that she had hurt him enough for him to disappear before she had the time to properly say goodbye. She checked every couple of hours with Solara, Vincent, and Xavier hoping that he had called one of them. Every time she asked they had the same answer, No.
Scarlet kept to herself in her room. She wasn’t getting the hot and cold flashes anymore, so the others didn’t hover over her. Kayla had convinced her to organize her trip and her apartment while Stephan was away, in an attempt to distract her.
When Stephan finally come back home, he looked like he had been rolling in mud. He walked straight up to her bedroom leaving everyone in the living room. He never looked at Scarlet once, she was sitting on the sofa, in his direct eye view but he never made the slightest acknowledgment of her existence.
She followed behind, by the time she got to the room, Stephan was in the shower. The door was ajar, Scarlet decided against going into the bathroom and sat on the bed instead.
She made sure the bedroom door was closed, it wasn’t soundproof and was a useless way to soundproof the room, from the immortals with the super hearing, but she wanted to think that they wouldn’t hear what was going on.
They had asked a couple of times why Stephan had left, all but Solara and Kayla, only they knew what was going on, for a lack of a better excuse Scarlet always said she didn’t know.
She sat on the bed facing the bathroom. Scarlet was hoping that he was more relaxed and had time to see reason in her decision. She heard the shower knob turn and the silence that followed it, Stephan was done.
Scarlet got up from the bed only to sit down again, she was nervous. Stephan stood at the door, her pink power-puff towel wrapped around his waist. She sat up resisting the humor of how he looked in pink. It wasn’t a good time for it.
Stephan walked up to her. His body glistened from the moisture of the shower. His black hair was pushed back with only a few strands hanging over his face. He was so close, too close. Scarlet pulled herself back further on the bed but he only moved with her. She edged further and further but he was still right there in her face.
She stopped and stared at him, she brought her face closer to his, and evidently, that was what he wanted. He placed his cheek against hers and used his nose to trace the curves on her face. When she tried to touch him, he held her hands down on the bed. His nose was on her neck, she could hear his hot breath against her neck.
Stephan’s breathing became more ragged, his body shook and his hands trembled against her. He breathed in deeply, taking her scent in. His tongue licked along the vein in her neck, he could hear it pulsate and was tempted by the rushing sound of her blood in her veins. He buried his nose in her hair and breathed in once again.
Scarlet didn’t move, she waited for the inevitable. She was willing to give him what he wanted, what she yearned for. He pinned her on the bed on her back and moved on top of her. He looked deeply into her eyes and kissed her.