Invisible Love

Chapter 2 - Through Hardships to the Stars

The morning was sunny and warm. Ethan woke up at 8 AM and decided to go and buy some food. When he left, Ilsa was still sleeping. She needs rest, Ethan thought, a lot of it. He secretly reads books about pregnancy, so he could help Ilsa as much as he can. He mostly buys everything that Ilsa needs right now: vegetables, fruits, meat, products that have a lot protein, like milk, yogurt, eggs, oats... He was trying to help her so hard, because he loves her. So much.

Ilsa woke up with a hurting back. Nothing new, she thinks, just worse. She slowly gets up from the bed and goes to the restroom. Now they have a big wide mirror over the sink. She looks at her baby bump, it isn't very big yet, but not small either. She feels her baby kicking again and smiles. Today is a big day - they will determine baby's gender. Ilsa doesn't care if it will be a boy or a girl, she just wants a healthy baby. She had so much stress and such a big load, she knew that it can affect the baby. Ilsa takes a quick shower and puts on the most comfortable clothes that she could find. She needs new clothes now that she's pregnant.

Ethan gets back from the store.

"Good morning, darling." he smiles and gives Ilsa a quick kiss.

"Good morning, dear. Since when did you started talking like a British man?" she laughs but Ethan can hear pain in it.

"Since I heard Benji calling me darling for the first time." he laughs and puts food in the refrigerator.

They eat omelette for breakfast. Ilsa loves when Ethan cooks food, she's usually too tired to do that. Now he does almost all housework - dishes, laundry, cleaning... Ilsa knows it's hard for him and that he is not used to do it, but there is no other way.

The doctor's appointment is in three hours, so they decide to unpack some boxes. Ethan begins to assemble their little coffee table and Ilsa unpacks some stuff to put on the shelves. She places some photos and figurines. A little elephant is her favorite, it's orange and made from amber. It was the only thing that was left from her father.

Ethan was trying to figure out how to start assembling legs of the table when he heard Ilsa's painful groan from the bedroom. He rushed there and found her holding onto a wall and her hand placed on lower stomach.

"Hey, easy. Sit down." he helped her to walk to the bed.

She sat down and buried herself in Ethan arms. Her head was dizzy, she was weak and scared for the baby.

"Ilsa, are you okay?" Ethan asked with his voice cracking a little bit.

"I'm okay, it's just the baby, it kicked hard." she said quietly.

"Are you sure you are okay?" he slowly asked her once again.

"While you are here with me, I'm okay." Ilsa whispered.

...

They were looking at their baby. The picture wasn't very clear, but they could see their baby. They were having a girl. A healthy girl. Ethan was sitting on the sofa and Ilsa was laying in his lap. They were so happy. The sun was setting down, people were returning from their jobs, a few seagulls were squawking and wind was blowing. Those were sounds of Blackpool. The sounds of their new home.

Ethan misses Benji and Luther. They were giving him such a big support, he needs it right now. The last time Benji called was two months ago. Ethan was wondering if they're okay. They had to be, The Syndicate was destroyed and there was no danger for them. Yet. Ethan knew that he will have to go to another mission someday and was hoping it will not happen soon. He wants to be with Ilsa. He wants finally to feel like a normal man with a family.

Ethan feels that Ilsa is asleep, he turns on TV and watches a film quietly. He feels like home. Ethan scrolls through the TV channels and decides to watch "The Godfather". It was a long time since he saw it the last time. The sky gets cloudy and it starts raining, typical weather for England.

Ethan was with Ilsa, his love, but he had a weird feeling of loneliness.

He reached for his phone and typed: "Hey Benji. How are you hanging in there, guys? I really miss you, so, if you don't have any plans you could come to Blackpool to visit us.  - E"

He put his phone down and put his hand on Ilsa's chest, he loved to feel her breathing. He loved to feel her alive.