My Husband Is My Savior (ON HOLD)

Chapter 15 (Part 2)

"Let's hear it." I sigh. It's late and I'm exhausted from work and answering all of Ari's questions. I had no idea she had this many. I never realized how much I've kept her at a distance. No wonder she was so upset with me.

"Do you really not want to get married or have kids, or were you just saying that to upset Christine?"

I heave a sigh. I knew she would ask this question sooner or later. This topic is the real reason Ari reached her limit and why we're sitting in this room going through this.

"If you want to get married, we can get married." I reply.

"But do you want to get married? Don't agree to it because it's what I want. You have to want it too."

"Marriage isn't important to me. I don't need some piece of paper or a ring to tell everyone how much I love you. It just seems like a lot of money for something so unnecessary."

"It's not just about a piece of paper. It's about the commitment and the deeper connection that marriage brings. It's about being bound together in the deepest possible way. I want that with you. Besides, it doesn't have to be a big expensive thing. It could be small. Just our closest friends and family."

I know she doesn't want a small wedding. This is something she's probably envisioned since childhood. But she would still have a small wedding, probably just at the courthouse, if it meant I'd agree to it. But I don't want to take her dreams from her. She deserves to have everything she wants.

"If getting married will make you happy, then it's something I want to do. Maybe not now, but in the near future."

"And kids?"

"Uh..." I don't know what to tell her. I don't want kids. I never have, but I know she does. She apparently wants three and I don't want to take something that huge away from her. But I also don't want to bring kids into this world who will have a part of me in them.

"Why don't you want kids?" She asks, taking my silence as an answer.

"I think one of me is enough." I reply. "Don't you? Anymore and the world might catch fire." I laugh softly.

"I'm serious, Derek." She sighs.

"So am I." I reply, jokes aside. "Look how Frank turned out. Look how I turned out. My grandfather and great grandfather weren't much better either. The men of the Knight family carry screwed up genes and I really feel like it should end with me. It's what's best for everyone."

"Derek don't ever put yourself in the same category as Frank. You are everything that he wasn't and more. You're good, and sweet, and patient, and gentle, and loving, and so many more things that I don't have time to list right now. As for your grandparents, I've obviously never met them, so I can't judge their character. But I've met you and I love you, and I know that our kids would be so, so lucky to have you as their dad."

"Arabella..."

"It's not something we have to decide now. We have plenty of time. Just think about it and get back to me in a couple years." She gives me a soft smile and I smile back. I'm sure I won't change my mind but in order to move away from the subject I leave it there.

"Okay then anything else on your mind?"

"No, that's everything." She lightly shakes her head. "Thank you for this. I know it's not easy for you to open up to me, so it really means a lot for you to let me in. Even for just a little while." She takes my hand in hers and intertwines our fingers. She looks up at me with her big brown eyes as she tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear with her free hand. With her looking at me like that it takes everything in me not to pin her to the bed and lose all our clothes, but I refrain from ruining the breakthrough we just had. "Well I guess we'd better go to bed." She says. "It's nearly midnight."

She moves to get up, but I tighten my grip on our intertwined fingers to stop her.

"Wait." I say. "So, are we okay now? No more separate rooms or silent treatment?"

"Yes, we're okay." She reassures me. She leans in and meets her lips with mine, a spark setting off the moment our lips touch. When she pulls away, too soon for my liking, she smiles. "Now let's go to bed." She gets up, pulling me up with her. She pulls me across the hall and into our bedroom.

We quietly get ready for bed. I steal a few glances her way as we change into our pajamas, my disappointment growing as I realize she wasn't joking. She really just wants to go to bed. I've been dying to touch her all week and now that we've cleared the air, I was really hoping for the makeup sex part.

"Goodnight." She says as she climbs under the covers. I sigh softly and climb in beside her. I wrap my arm around her and pull her into the curve of my body. I immediately regret it the moment our bodies touch. A rush of heat flows through me. "Derek." Arabella says.

"Damnit, sorry." I apologize as I quickly move away.

She rolls over and faces me, a humorous smirk on her face. "You clearly have something other than sleep on your mind." She says.

"Yeah, well, I kinda hoped we would be doing something else right now. But since you'd rather sleep..."

She meets her lips with mine cutting me off. She pulls away as she pushes me onto my back and climbs on top of me. She sits with her legs straddling my sides. She looks down at me with a small smile.

"It has to be quick." She says.

"Okay." I quickly agree as my excitement grows. I try to reach up and close the distance so our lips can meet once more, but Arabella pushes me back down onto the bed.

"I'm serious." She continues. "One round and that's it. We have work in the morning."

"I said okay." I reply as I wrap my arms around her and turn so she's now on her back and I hover over top of her. "I love you."

"I love you too." I press my lips to hers again as I pull the blanket over our heads.

***

I jump awake as my phone blares. I sit up, waking Arabella who was asleep on top of me.

"What is it?" She asks groggily. I reach over and grab my phone. Gavin's number lights up the screen. As I cancel the call, I realize it's after 9:00.

"Shit, shit, shit." I say as I scramble out of bed. "We have to get up." I say.

"What?" She asks, still not fully awake.

"We were supposed to be at work at 8:00." I explain. "We overslept."

It takes a moment for my words to register before she also scrambles out of bed to get dressed.

"How could this happen?" She asks as she rakes her fingers through her bedhead, deciding against a brush.

"After last night you're really wondering?" I slip on a pair of random jeans.

"That's why I said only one round." She complains as she rifles through her underwear drawer. "You're just so damn convincing." She mutters.

"You have to admit that the third time was the charm." I smile.

"Shut up and finish getting ready." She commands, but the small smile on her face is hard to miss. We both pause as a sudden pound sounds from the front door. "Who..."

Before Arabella can finish her sentence, I rush to the front door. A bad feeling enters my stomach as I get closer to the door. Whoever this is, I have a feeling it's not a neighbor, but anyone outside has to be let in by us. The person on the other side starts pounding again, this time so hard I wonder if the door will break in.

"Who is it?" I call out,as I pull my shirt over my head. They don't answer. Instead they continue topound on the door. I check to make sure Arabella isn't behind me before I stopto grab my gun from the top shelf of the hall closet. I get to the door andlook out the peephole. My blood turns to ice when I see Gavin standing on theother side.