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“Ma’am?” the officer said anxiously.
Seth ran out. “Dana!” He dropped by her side and put an arm around her back. He held her hair back while she vomited. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” he crooned softly.
“What should I do?” the officer asked.
“She’ll be okay. She’s pregnant,” Seth said.
“I’ll get her a drink,” the officer said, quickly walking back towards the kitchen.
“It’s okay, Dana.” Seth said.
She cried, “No, it’s not!”
“Shh, we’ll fix this.”
“How? This can’t be fixed! I don’t know what the hell I’m doing anymore.”
Seth gently rubbed her back while she cried against his chest. “Edward is going to take care of this. Don’t worry.”
“You’re telling me not to worry? A nut job broke into my house with plans to rape me and apparently kill my kids. I didn’t ask, but I’m pretty sure the guy would have killed Edward too if he was here. How can I not worry? I could have lost my entire family in one night!”
“But you didn’t. Everyone is safe. The kids are safe. Edward called them to make sure.”
“Dana?” Bret said.
“What’s up, Bret?” Seth asked.
“Officer Fields said he’d come over tomorrow on his day off to go over security with me. We’re going to set up tighter security and he thinks it would be better to have a live in security.”
“Can you talk to Edward about this? She’s really upset.”
“Okay,” Bret said, trying to give her an encouraging smile.
“I’m going to stay in one of the guest rooms tonight, Dana, okay? Until they put that plan into motion.”
“Sounds good,” she said, getting to her feet.
The female officer walked onto the patio, carrying a can of ginger ale. “Here you go.”
“Thank you,” Dana mumbled. She sipped the soda slowly.
Seth stood by her, watching her every move, afraid that she was going to pass out or be sick again. “Seth, can I ask you something?”
“The answer is yes I am trying to steal you,” he said, smiling wryly.
She rolled her eyes and ignored his comment. “I wanted to ask you why Edward stopped using security. When I met him the first day he had security, but by that night they were gone. What happened?”
Seth winced. “Oh that…..umm, okay, but don’t tell him I told you, okay?” She nodded encouraging him to continue. “He got rid of them for you.”
“For me?” Clearly not the answer she was expecting.
“Yeah, see he said that you weren’t hiding behind security and were leading a productive semi peaceful life and that if he had any chance with you he couldn’t have security around. He didn’t want to scare you off.”
“Hmm, well, that was pretty dumb.”
“That’s what we told him,” Seth agreed. “But that boy was so head over heels in love with you we couldn’t talk any sense into him.”
“I didn’t know,” she said, feeling guilty.
“He’s happy. I haven’t seen him happy in years and now he’s ridiculously happy. He loves you and the kids. He’ll do what he needs to make everything perfect for you and the kids.”
“I just need them safe.”
“He’ll do that,” Seth said. He looked at his watch. “Look it’s after three in the morning. I want you to go get some sleep, okay?”
“But-”
“No buts, you’re pregnant. You need to rest for them.”
She reluctantly nodded and made her way inside saying good night to Bret who was the only one that remained. She didn’t see Edward until she walked into their bedroom.
Edward was lying on top of the covers in his clothes. His arms were folded over his face. Dana quickly undressed. She pulled on a silk nightie and climbed in bed. He didn’t react.
Dana moved towards him cautiously. She snuggled against him and placed her head on his chest. She laid her arm across his flat stomach and sighed with relief. She felt safe. He felt like home. Her body began to relax. She closed her eyes and welcomed sleep.
He couldn’t move when he heard Dana come into the room. What he wanted to do was to scoop her up into his arms and run with her to the car, get their kids and leave the country. Instead he tried to force all his fears out his head. His imagination was on overdrive. When he found out what the man brought with him to their house he almost punched the cop to get to him. He couldn’t take the thoughts or the knowledge of what that bastard had planned.
When Dana curled up against him he felt peace. His chest relaxed, allowing him to breathe. Now he felt her arm across his waist. She felt good. He wanted her to lie on top of him like a blanket so he could take in her warmth and keep her safely against him.
She was asleep now and he wouldn’t do anything to take this moment of peace away from her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. She was alive and the kids were safe. That’s all that mattered. He would keep them safe.
*******
Dana woke up a little after seven and looked around the house. Seth was snoring away in the guest room next to the kids' rooms. She moved through the house, making sure windows and doors were locked. The alarm was set, Seth must have done that. Edward entrusted him and his family with the code in case they had to come by the house for either the kids or look after the house while they were on a shoot.
When she woke up she was surprised to find Edward gone. She didn’t think he got much sleep. So far she hadn't come across him. The office was in dire need of a good cleaning after last night and she wanted to clean it before Rick arrived in two hours.
She didn’t really want to clean the office. What she wanted was either to climb back in bed with Edward or soak in the tub. Neither one was an option at the moment. She sighed heavily and opened the office door.
Edward was moving around the office. She was surprised to find it mostly clean. He organized the desk, picked up the papers that were thrown on the floor and straightened out the little knickknacks that were thrown around the room last night.
“Good morning,” he said softly to her.
She pushed her hair back. “Good morning. What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m cleaning this mess up.” He continued to clean. “Sit down and relax,” he said absently.
A man cleaning without being asked, was that possible? She forced her legs to carry her to the overstuffed chair and sat down with her legs pulled up. She felt odd sitting in panties and a nightie while he cleaned. If she had to match a word to how she felt it would be lazy. She hated sitting around while others worked, but he wasn’t allowing her to help.
