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“What is it, baby?” Lincoln asked me as he gripped my hips, dipping his head so he could run his eyes over my face.
“It’s Jessie,” I told him quietly. Lincoln frowned. “He’s barely said two words to me. He feels guilty, like he failed me.” Tears welled in my eyes as my breath shuddered out of me, all of my fears rising to the surface. “I c-can’t—can’t—” I dropped my face into my hands. “Fuck,” I choked.
“Hey, hey,” Lincoln soothed, drawing me into his arms. “Calm down and breathe, baby. You’re not fucking losing him, you understand me? Yes, we could have done more to protect you, but taking out how we’re feeling on you isn’t okay. I’ll talk to him, but first, you need to calm down. Getting overwhelmed isn’t good for you,” he reminded me.
I hiccuped and collapsed against his chest, my shoulders shaking. Lincoln lifted me into his arms and carried me inside the house. “Fuck,” Jessie swore when he looked over at us, instantly dropping whatever he’d been holding on the counter.
Lincoln scowled at him. “Might as well keep ignoring her, asshole,” Lincoln snapped at him as he carried me toward the stairs. “You fucking did this shit.”
I whimpered and buried my face in the crook of Lincoln’s neck. I hadn’t meant for them to fight. “Baby, I need you to calm down,” Lincoln begged me as he sat on the edge of the bed and held me on his lap. “Come on, West,” he coaxed. “Breathe, darlin’.”
“West,” Jessie roughly spoke up from the doorway.
I lifted my head from Lincoln’s shoulder and looked up at Jessie through my tears. Jessie clenched his jaw, his eyes pained as he took in my tears. “Fuck, I’m sorry, baby girl,” he softly apologized as he moved toward us. “I needed to sort through what I’m feeling. I didn’t mean to hurt you while I did,” he raggedly spoke, his voice rough. He kneeled in front of me. “Please stop crying,” he begged me. “I hate seeing you cry like this.”
“She’s terrified your fucking turning your back on her,” Lincoln told him, knowing talking would be too hard for me right now. My speech still took a toll when I got too overwhelmed.
“Never,” Jessie told me, his eyes never leaving mine. “I’ll never fucking leave you, never turn my fucking back on you, baby girl. If you can believe anything, I swear to you, you can believe in that. I love you too fucking much to ever let you go. When it comes to you, I’m goddamn selfish.”
“Lay with her,” Lincoln told him, gently laying me on the mattress. “You did this shit—now you fix it. I’ll finish dinner.”
“Dinner is fine for about an hour,” Jessie told him as he kicked his shoes off and unfastened his jeans.
Lincoln pressed his lips to mine in a soothing kiss once Jessie pulled me into his arms. “I’ll be in the shower if you need me, baby,” he softly told me.
Lincoln disappeared into the bathroom. Jessie tightened his arms around me. “I’m so fucking sorry, baby girl,” he apologized. “I got lost in my head and blocked you out. I shouldn’t have, and I’m so, so fucking sorry.”
“Just please h-hold me for a little whi-while?” I asked him, hating that I was still stuttering.
“However long you need me to, baby,” he promised as he tucked my head under his chin.
Lincoln held me on his lap as Jessie massaged my feet. I sighed in contentment, my body relaxing further into Lincoln’s. “How’s your neck feel, baby?” Lincoln asked me.
“A bit sore,” I told him. “But I can handle it.”
“And your arm?” he asked.
I just shrugged. My arm was throbbing, especially where Darren’s nails had bit into my arm, drawing blood. I hadn’t looked at myself in a mirror yet, terrified that if I did, I would send myself back a step.
I was terrified I would see that same young, scared girl that just wanted to survive staring back at me.
Jessie stilled his hands, and I huffed in protest as I looked down at him. “How bad does it hurt, West?” Jessie asked me.
Fuck, he knew me too damn well. “It’s just throbbing,” I told him. “I’m fine, really.”
Jessie stood up from where he had been sitting on the coffee table and walked into the kitchen. I huffed when I heard him fumbling with some medicine bottles. “I said I was fine,” I grumbled.
Lincoln rubbed my belly where the baby was moving. “You don’t need to be in pain at all.” I sighed. Lincoln pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Let us take care of you, baby. Don’t fight it.”
Jessie came back into the living room a couple of minutes later with a bottle of water, a bottle of Tylenol, and an ice pack. I released a groan of protest but sat up on Lincoln’s lap, reaching up for the bottle of water and Tylenol. Jessie sucked in a sharp breath of air when his eyes landed on the inside of my arm. I clenched my jaw, keeping my eyes trained on his.
