|
|
Post by Christian Ward on Dec 31, 2016 21:35:08 GMT -5
Hanley's kind expression softened even further at the sentimentality the couple had shown in naming their son. It was a side of Christian that Hanley had not seen since before the passing of the senior Ward, and Hanley was happy that Diana had brought it back.
"A strong name," he said warmly, before his expression turned. "Are you alright my dear?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Diana Ward on Dec 31, 2016 21:42:11 GMT -5
"I-I..." she said clenching her shirt. The pain was deep. It felt unbearable, and the added stress of 'pulling herself together' was making the situation considerably worse.
"I'm fine." she was not fine. "Fine." she repeated harder.
She swallowed, "Please excuse me Doctor, I must be tired is all. A-Are we done?" she was panicking. She needed to be alone, she couldn't stand it anymore, and the more she fought the worse it hurt.
|
|
|
|
Post by Christian Ward on Dec 31, 2016 21:49:21 GMT -5
Hanley wasn't convinced by the facade but not wanting to add any more stress he nodded. "Of course, my dear girl. You should rest. Remember to eat plenty, we want a fat baby when he arrives. And I know you will argue, but I do encourage you not to work." He patted her kindly on the shoulder. "You will know what is best for baby."
Hanley packed up the rest of his tools and left Diana alone in her room. He needed to speak with Christian.
|
|
|
|
Post by Diana Ward on Dec 31, 2016 22:00:36 GMT -5
When Hanley was gone Diana finally felt as though she could breathe. She took a few deep breaths and let the ache dissipate. She didn't want to move, but neither did she want to be in the room that had such bittersweet memories. She stood and left going to the kitchen. She did want a healthy baby and heaven only knew when Christian would let her out again.
|
|
|
|
Post by Christian Ward on Dec 31, 2016 22:25:13 GMT -5
Christian was looking at the torn pieces of the photograph of his wedding night. Looking through them was probably a more appropriate term. Christian didn't know how to react to any of this and it seemed like the more he uncovered, the more he felt lost. Nothing was what he had thought it would be and the immense amount of change in such a short time was terrifying. He was almost grateful for the disruption that Dr Hanley's knocking created.
"Come in," Christian said without rising from his desk. He didn't inquire about the baby or Diana, just waited for the doctor to speak his piece.
Hanley came inside the office fully and shut the door behind him. He had a somber expression on his face. "I am concerned," he started, and when Christian didn't speak he continued. "She is not eating enough, the baby is very small. But there is more."
Still Christian didn't say anything and Hanley continued, a little perplexed. "I know you have a business to run and it would not be my place to tell you how to run it, but I urge you to keep her out of the field. She is under a severe amount of stress and it is affecting the baby. His heartbeat should be stronger and he should be much bigger. Diana is hardly showing at all, it is not healthy."
Christian scoffed at Hanley's assertion that Diana's belly was not big enough. Hanley's face grew stern. "You love that woman, yes?" He didn't wait for the response as he already knew it was true. "Well you are her husband and if she won't take care of herself then you will have to do it for her. This is what your father did when your mother was pregnant with you and it is what you will do now. She needs to eat. She needs to stay in bed. And no working! Liam will be a healthy, active boy if you take care of her now."
Christian felt guilty. Even if he thought the baby was not his, he was not providing Diana with enough food. He frequently forgot about her and would spend hours away from the house working while she was confined to the second floor with no access to food. No wonder his sandwich had disappeared. Christian nodded. "Thank you," he said in a sincere attempt to sound gracious. "I'll see to it."
Christian walked Hanley out to the foyer, he could hear Diana in the kitchen.
|
|
|
|
Post by Diana Ward on Dec 31, 2016 22:31:02 GMT -5
Diana heard them in the foyer and hurriedly gathered the food she had made for herself. There was no way she'd be able to sneak past Christian and Hanley to get to her prison cell/sanctuary, but she was determined to get her snacks and supplies to her room. Without a wand she couldn't shrink the food so she settled for grabbing a canvas bag. When she heard the door shut she steeled herself listening to Christian's footsteps, silently praying they would grow fainter indicating he had decided to leave her alone.
|
|
|
|
Post by Christian Ward on Dec 31, 2016 22:34:53 GMT -5
He hadn't.
The semi-lecture he'd just received from Hanley had only encouraged his bad mood, and the guilt that accompanied the lecture annoyed Christian further. Why should he feel guilty? It wasn't his baby!
"What are you doing?" he asked loudly as he saw her with a canvas bag.
|
|
|
|
Post by Diana Ward on Dec 31, 2016 22:38:32 GMT -5
She cursed when his footsteps grew louder. And groaned when he asked about the canvas bag. She grew angry then at her cowardice and straightened her shoulders, "I am scavenging for food, I don't know when you'll let me into the kitchen again and I'd like to not die of starvation if that's alright with you." she said narrowing her eyes at him. Her grip tightened on the canvas bag. She didn't trust Christian's mood and partially worried he might try and take the food from her.
|
|
|
|
Post by Christian Ward on Dec 31, 2016 22:44:23 GMT -5
He wasn't so petty that he would snatch food from a pregnant woman. Or maybe he was, but certainly not after Hanley's warning. "If you're so damn hungry all the time why don't you f*cking say something? It's not like I'm accustomed to taking care of someone, you might have to actually f*cking help out!"
The other Christian had grown used to caring for Diana and took pleasure preparing meals for them to share. But she'd taken his memories and with it his ability to care about someone other than himself. Still, when she yelled about the bathroom he had granted her access. He wasn't a monster.
|
|
|
|
Post by Diana Ward on Dec 31, 2016 22:54:53 GMT -5
"I'm sorry, was I supposed to f*cking beg?!" she returned with heat, "That's what you wanted isn't that what you said? If I wanted food I should beg?"
She laughed bitterly and looked at him with disgust. "Fine." she said all laughter gone as she fell to her knees.
"Is this good Christian?" she asked the ache returning to her chest.
|
|
|
|
Post by Christian Ward on Dec 31, 2016 23:00:33 GMT -5
They had been fighting when he told her to beg. He hadn't actually meant it and he'd since forgotten about the order. If she had begged him, the first time would have been the last as he would have told her to stop being so melodramatic.
"Get up off the f*cking floor," he said with a sneer. "Even if you did have to beg, you're the one that's pregnant, not me. Some mother you're going to be, you won't even try to feed your baby."
|
|
|
|
Post by Diana Ward on Dec 31, 2016 23:14:11 GMT -5
He had a point. Her pride wasn't worth her son's life, but he was so rarely home and when he was home he avoided her she didn't really have the chance to beg for food as much as it galled her.
She stood then angry, defeated, and at the end of her rope. "I will do anything for my child! For both my children! Your Children!" The ache in her chest began to spread and the expression appeared on her face. It weakened her, but it was even more important not to appear weak in front of Christian.
Her voice became shrill, he had pushed her too far earlier and in forcing her to act as though she were fine.
"So what do you want?! Should I offer you sexual favors in return for a f*cking sandwich?! That's what else you said isn't it? The only use I've ever served was f*cking men, so maybe that's how I can f*cking help you!" she yelled reaching for the hem of her shirt and lifting it over her head and throwing it at him. She had charmed away the bump, she couldn't bear for him to mock their child again.
"What do you want?! What the f*ck do you want from me?!" she screamed at him.
|
|
|
|
Post by Christian Ward on Dec 31, 2016 23:18:39 GMT -5
He was too angry to appropriately take in her gorgeous figure as she tore off her shirt and flung it at him. "I want you to f*cking end this charade! Just admit it! F*cking say who that thing's father is!" He gestured toward her currently flat stomach as he demanded she tell him the truth. "If it's not Burke's then its one of the other men you've been around with, because it sure as hell isn't mine!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Diana Ward on Dec 31, 2016 23:28:56 GMT -5
"You're his father!" she screamed, and put a hand to her chest. His command to end the charade forced her to reveal the pain she was in and if it weren't horrifying it was almost beautiful how deeply her heart was breaking, how deeply she had loved him.
Tears were falling freely down her face; she couldn't hide them anymore. Her chest was heaving, her face was pale.
"I've never f*cked Burke! I've never f*cked anyone but you in my whole life. Just you. I loved you." she whispered as the confession was torn from her. She dropped the canvas bag and ran from the room. She couldn't hide so she ran.
|
|
|
|
Post by Christian Ward on Dec 31, 2016 23:42:00 GMT -5
His heart sank as she revealed honestly that he was the child's father. If it hadn't been for the supernatural power he held over her he would have simply believed her to be lying, but he had compelled the truth from her and now he nauseous.
She left the food she was planning to horde in her bedroom and ran up the stairs. He turned to follow after her when he caught sight of an owl tapping on the sitting room window. Christian looked to the stairs then toward the owl and groaned. After letting in the owl and ripping open the envelope he realized the letter was from Burke.
He felt another ripple of emotion overtake him and sunk into the armchair. Eve had been murdered. Obviously one of the other bounty hunters - the actual bounty hunters who were actually searching for Diana because she actually had a real bounty on her head - had thought Eve was Diana. There was a small sense of grief and sadness over the loss of life, but strangely Christian felt relieved. The bounty hunters had not gotten to Diana. He found that he wasn't relieved simply for the fact that his life too had been spared, but he was actually happy that the woman herself was alright.
But she should know that her imprisonment had saved her life. He carried the letter upstairs.
|
|
|
|
Post by Diana Ward on Dec 31, 2016 23:55:00 GMT -5
Diana was grieving now full force, but at least the ache in her chest was going away. She had slammed the door shut, but she knew she had no power in keeping Christian out if he wanted her, and that was the problem. She couldn't cut Christian out of her life, no matter how much it hurt her, if he wanted in she let him.
She had fought him so many times she had fought him, and he had won her over like a conquering hero. Each time she lost more and more of her soul, of her sanity.
Now she was a quivering mess. Perhaps if she wasn't pregnant she could have withstood his accusations and anger better. But with her defenses down she just couldn't understand how after giving herself to him so many times he would still question her.
She curled on the bed her spine showing through her skin. She didn't have her picture to cling to. She didn't have anything except the life inside of her forcing her to keep going.
It wasn't Christian's harsh words, though that had certainly played a part, it was the realization that she was alone again. The brief reprieve she had in being cold aloof and tough, fighting through sleepless nights, broken bones, lost loved ones, was over. She had to become the machine again, but she didn't know how.
"I'm sorry..." she cried, "I'm so sorry." she was sorry for herself, for her child, and for Christian. She had created this mess, now she had to live in it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Christian Ward on Jan 1, 2017 0:12:15 GMT -5
He could hear her sobbing from the hallway. Her apologies to no one, or perhaps to her son - their son, were haunting. Christian hesitated in front of her door, then remembering Hanley's warnings about her stress levels and the baby's health, he crumpled the letter in his hand and turned away. He'd done too much damage as it was, he'd give her the night to herself.
He went back downstairs, walking past the abandoned bag of food Diana had left on the floor. He didn't notice it as he headed for his office, intending to write to Burke to see what his next plan of attack was now that Eve was gone. According to Burke's lies, Christian would have no need to hunt down a mysterious board member and an assassin. But Christian's life was still tied to Diana's so the job needed to get done somehow and if Diana was truthful about how helpful Burke could be on the mission he'd need to keep the man around somehow.
But Christian didn't make it that far. He had only just sat at his desk when he was greeted with the torn remains of the only wedding photo he was aware of. Judging by Diana's reaction to him destroying it, it was probably the only one they had taken. Christian used a spell to repair the photograph but the couple was gone. He hung his head in his hands and stared at the empty scene until finally he saw a miniature Christian peering at him from the border of the photograph.
"Yeah, yeah," he said bitterly as photo Christian gave him a menacing look, joined after a moment by photo Diana who wore an expression to match. Photo Christian put his arm around photo Diana's waist and pulled her close to him, then kissed her passionately as he made a rude hand gesture to the real Christian.
He felt a pang in his chest, then snatched the picture from the desk and headed for his bedroom. This time he noticed the bag of food on the floor and he picked it up and looked inside. He groaned at the meager supplies she had taken. Carrying the bag up the stairs, Christian left it in front of her door with a note that she had full access to the kitchen, sans the knife drawer which was spelled shut. Then he went to his room and pulled Diana's go bag from his closet and placed their wedding photo inside. He fell asleep feeling like sh*t and thinking about what he was supposed to do with a kid that was 100% his.
|
|
