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"Okay. Well, I would like some tea. There's an electric kettle on the counter. Tea bags are in the first cupboard on the left."
"Good. I'll be back in a few.”
He filled the kettle with water then flicked it on before going back to the living room.
"Mind if I use your bathroom?"
"Down the hall, first room on the left," she said, flicking on the television.
He opened the door of the bathroom, cringing as it banged off the sink. Jesus, how did she even fit in here? The bathroom was the size of a broom closet. He stared in horror at the shower, which he knew he'd never fit in. If she could turn around in there, it would be a miracle.
After taking a piss, he washed his hands and looked down at the bottles on top of the tiny sink. One was a container of prenatal vitamins.
The sound of the teakettle got him moving, and he quickly dried his hands and went to fix the tea. When he carried it out into the living room, he found her fast asleep on the couch.
It was chilly with the air conditioning on, so he went to her bedroom to find a blanket. She'd curled up into a ball, and he carefully covered her with the comforter.
Not wanting to wake her, he went to her room to crash on the bed.
The emotional exhaustion of the day had caught up to him. His limbs grew heavy, and he closed his eyes for a moment to rest.
When he opened them again, the clock on the nightstand read 4:00 am. Holly was curled tightly against his side, and they were both underneath a blanket and her comforter.
Eli wrapped his arm around her, a sense of peace washing over him. This was how it was supposed to be. Him and her, together, against the whole fucking world.
He buried his face against the top of her head, inhaling the light scent of lilies that always seemed to envelop her.
She stirred when he pulled her closer but didn't pull away.
Fuck, he needed this. So, so, much.
He'd planned to come over here and beg her to forgive him for being such an idiot. For making her feel like she was alone in all of this. The idea of her heading off to California... he couldn't even stand to think of it.
She deserved a grand gesture, like the one he'd done when he'd begged for forgiveness at the hotel. But he'd been exhausted and fresh out of ideas. So he'd run to Target and wandered the aisles, trying to find something that would help express how sorry he was for everything.
He still had no idea what the hell he was going to say to her tomorrow. All he knew was that he wasn't walking out of this place without laying everything on the line.
* * *
At 8:00 am, he woke to the sounds of tortured retching and leaped from the bed. He ran down the hall and found Holly in the bathroom, kneeling over the toilet, her head in her hands.
"Holly! What—"
She waved a hand. "It's just morning sickness."
A massive wave of guilt washed over him. "How long have you been like this?"
"Not long. The past week it's kicked in." She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and took a swig of water from a bottle on the floor nearby.
Getting to her feet, she swished the water around and spit in the sink, then flushed the toilet.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"How could you?" She brushed her teeth as he went back out into the living room.
She came back into the room a few minutes later and took a seat on the couch.
"Why don't you just sit and rest a bit?" he asked. "Can you manage anything on your stomach?"
