The Beast Within

Chapter Twenty-One: Space

It had been three days and Jerome was getting pissed off at Nyssa who had locked herself in her room and wouldn't let him see his baby, he wanted to hold off on breaking the door down and scaring Crimson but he felt he had no other choice, she was keeping their baby from him and he was sick of it, their fight didn't give her the right to stop him from seeing his daughter, he knocked on the door sternly but didn't get a reply and he groaned "Nyssa.. I'm giving one warning to open this fucking door and let me see my baby, or I'll break it down", Nyssa rolled her eyes at him thinking it was just a bluff, she looked down at her baby laying on her bed happily and started tickling her.

Jerome heard his baby giggling and felt his heart hurt, he wanted to see her "last fucking chance! or I'm kicking this door in!", she ignored him again and started kissing her baby, suddenly there was a loud bang and the door went flying off its hinges and fell to the ground, her baby started crying and in the doorway stood a very furious Jerome "what the fuck Jerome! you scared her half to death!" she said grabbing her baby and stepping close to the bathroom "don't even fucking think about locking yourself in that bathroom Nyssa! give me my daughter!" "no! you're a psychopath!" he laughed maniacally and stepped forward "you knew exactly who I was when you got into bed with me! now give her to me!" "no!" she stepped back and was just on the lining of the bathroom and the carpet "fucking don't, Nyssa" he growled.

"You didn't want her in the first place! I should have never pushed for you to be around!" "I'm going to ignore what you're saying.. because I really don't want to hurt you while you're holding our child" "get out.. go calm down and then maybe you can see her!" "Nyssa.. I'm sick of this shit! it's been three days! give her to me before I put your head through a fucking wall!" "you think I want you anywhere near my child!? you're threatening me in front of her! you're fucking crazy!" Jerome felt his anger hit a boiling point "I will shoot you" "excuse me!?" "give me, my fucking daughter.. or I'll shoot you" she stepped back in fear and he pulled out a gun "don't.. if you step into that bathroom I'll kick the door down drag you out and shoot you in the leg" she could see he was serious, he had shot her before and that was for no reason, he was mad enough that she believed he was capable of shooting her in the head.

She stepped forward a little and he put his gun down, she cautiously stepped over to him and she saw him relax when he saw his little girl smile at him, she gently placed Crimson in his arms and he dropped the gun to the floor and stared at her, he looked back to Nyssa with rage in his eyes "don't ever keep her from me again" he turned around and stormed out of the room with her in his arms.

The next week was difficult, Nyssa and Jerome constantly fought over who got Crimson for the day or where she would sleep, every little thing was a constant battle and Nyssa felt she'd had enough, she knocked on Jeremiah's study door and he allowed her in "how can I help you, darling?" she took a deep breath and sighed "I wanted to let you know.. that I'm leaving" he tilted his head to her "leaving, where?" "I found my own apartment, I'm leaving today.. don't try to stop me, and I won't stop Jerome from coming to see Crim, but I can't be here anymore.. not with Jerome the way he's been acting" Jeremiah understood both of their points of views, Nyssa just wanted to protect her baby and Jerome just wanted to see his baby.

He sighed and nodded "if that's what you wish.. I'll have someone pack your things" she nodded softly "thank you, Miah" he sent her a warm smile "I don't blame you for this darling, you've both said and done stuff that can't just be fixed with an apology and I understand.. but I do hope you'll allow me to see my niece" "of course you can, come by any time and I'm sure you'll see her when Jerome has her" he nodded and she left the room, she finished packing her last box when Jerome walked into the room "what are you doing?" "I'm leaving" his face turned angry in seconds "the fuck did you say?" "I'm taking Crimson to my new apartment.. you can see her every second day" "you must be fucking crazy if you think I'm letting this happen" "I'm not asking your permission.. we need space from each other and living in the same house isn't helping" he shook his head and walked to where Crimson was sleeping.

"Don't touch her" she snapped and he glared at her "you're not taking my child, Nyssa" "she's mine too, and my new place is a lot safer for her.. this isn't a discussion or up for debate, I'm leaving with her, and I'm being fair to you and letting you have her still" "fair!? what the fuck is fair about what you're doing!?" her eyes darted to their sleeping daughter than back to him and he calmed down a little "shh! you threatened me, hit me and scared our daughter.. I shouldn't be letting you near her but I am" "you fucking hit me too" "after you threw me into a cement wall" "because you accused me of trying to kill our child!" "keep your voice down.. I can't go on like this anymore, we need space and that's that" "you wanna leave, fucking leave.. but she stays" she shook her head violently "that's not happening, she needs me more than she needs you right now, how are you gonna feed her Jerome? she came from me and she's coming with me" Jerome could see he wasn't going to win this, he leaned down and kissed his baby on the head and left the room.

Nyssa set up Crimson's new nursery and laid her in her bassinet and caressed her cheek "I'm sorry about all of this baby girl.. I promise it won't be like this forever, your daddy's just mad right now" she sighed and left the room leaving the door open, she sat on the couch and felt tears sting in her eyes she wiped her tears away and laid down, she woke up to screaming, she groaned and tiredly walked to Crimson's room who was crying loudly, she lifted her up but she wouldn't stop crying, she wouldn't even breastfeed and Nyssa knew exactly what was wrong, she wanted her daddy, desperate and not wanting her baby to starve she called the one person that could help settle her.

She laid Crimson who was still crying down and put the phone to her ear "Nyssa.. do you know what time it is? why are you calling me.. wait, is that Crimson crying, what's wrong?" exhausted and crying herself she couldn't make her voice sound normal "Jerome.. please come help, she won't stop crying for you and I can't get her to eat anything, I don't know what to do" he sighed and she heard him shift "calm down.. I'll be there soon" he hung up and she put her phone down, Nyssa tried rocking her to sleep but she still cried loudly until ten minutes later there was a knock at the door.

She quickly opened it and Jerome took in her appearance, she had purple bags under her eyes, her hair was slightly messy and her eyes were red from crying, he stepped inside and carefully took Crimson from her and she calmed down almost instantly, Nyssa put her face in her hands and sobbed "she hates me" Jerome was mad at her, but he still loved her and didn't want her to feel like she was failing as a mother "she doesn't hate you, she's just in a new environment, she'll calm down" "you should just take her.. I'm doing a terrible job" although he wanted to just walk out the door with her, he knew that it was just Nyssa's exhaustion talking and she'd be heartbroken if he did take her "I can't do that, she needs to be with you" she shook her head still crying "she doesn't want to be with me.. she hates me" "you're just tired, I'll put her to bed now and be back tomorrow to pick her up for my day and you'll be able to sleep" she nodded sadly and Jerome carried an already sleeping Crimson to bed.

He placed her on Nyssa's bed and looked around her new room, he noticed she had a few pictures of them in frames on her walls and a lot of framed photos of Crimson, he walked back out and saw Nyssa curled up on the couch crying, he sighed and sat next to her "you're not doing a bad job Nyss, she's just a baby and trying to get used to everything" "I don't know what to do, she won't feed at all unless you're around.. I can't have her starve" although he wanted to fight against it, he pulled her close to him and hugged her "babies can sense stress.. you're stressed and tired, once you get a proper sleep you'll be good as new" she buried her face into his chest and he rubbed her back, he went to pull away from her but realized her breathing was heavier and she had fallen asleep, her carried her to bed and pulled the covers over them both, instinctively in her sleep she wrapped a protective arm over Crimson making him smile, he kissed his baby's head then lightly kissed Nyssa's and left.