Chapter 45: Promise of a Family

AVA

We walked into the restaurant at a little before seven and were taken to a nice quiet table in the back. Cyrus pulled out my chair for me, as usual, and we ordered something to drink.

The waiter returned to take our order, and Cyrus ordered us the five-course meal.

“And do you happen to have an alternative for the scallops?”

The waiter listed some options, and Cyrus chose one and handed him the menus.

“I thought you loved shellfish,” I said.

“I do, but you don’t.”

I blinked slowly, trying to remember when I had told him.

“You mentioned it at the Christmas party.”

I remembered now. Tobias had offered me one of the hors d’oeuvres, and I ~had~ declined it because I didn’t like shellfish.

“Can’t believe you remembered.”

He shrugged. “It’s not that strange. You’ve remembered a lot more of my preferences and dislikes.”

I thought about it for a moment. “I guess it’s just new for me. Not to bring up my ex again, but in all the years we were dating, he never remembered any of those things.

“He also forgot my birthday most years and never bothered to learn any sign language at all.”

Cyrus shook his head. “Well, consider it my new mission to show you how you deserve to be treated.”

When we walked out of the restaurant, I was so full I could barely even stand up straight, and it only worsened when Cyrus made me laugh so hard that I needed to steady myself on his arm.

When I finally straightened up to catch my breath, my eyes locked with someone across the parking lot.

I felt as though a bucket of ice water had been poured down my dress, and my breath caught in my throat as I stumbled backward. Cyrus looked at me and then turned his head to follow my gaze.

“Let’s go,” I managed to say, and I pulled on his arm with all my might.

Cyrus clenched his teeth, and I felt his bicep bulge with tension in my grip. “That’s him?”

“Please, let’s go.” Tears started to cloud my vision. “Please, Cy.”

I heard his breathing speed up and felt his muscles flex and relax alternately as he fought an internal battle.

“Sure. Don’t worry, baby. I’ll take you back to the hotel.”

He turned us around, wrapping his arm protectively around me. I sank into him. His scent enveloped me and calmed me. That is, until I heard Timothy’s voice.

“Ava! Sweet cheeks! Is that you?”

The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I felt my knees go weak. Cyrus’s arm was now holding up my full weight as he kept walking.

“Focus on me,” he said. “It’s just us. You’re safe.”

I closed my eyes, focusing on Cyrus fully, allowing him to guide me away from the literal source of my nightmares.

I heard Timothy’s footsteps approaching us from behind, and my breathing sped up. Suddenly, I felt his cold hand wrap around my free shoulder and yank it toward him so I was facing him.

The sheer sight of Timothy, combined with my overfull stomach, made me double over and press both hands to my mouth to try to keep down the five courses that were making their way back up my esophagus.

Cyrus’s grip on me released as his hand flew up to grab Timothy by his throat and pin him to the wall beside us.

“You will ~never~ put your hands on her again!”

Cyrus’s face was so close to Timothy’s that their noses almost touched. Timothy gasped for air, his hands clawing at Cyrus’s grip around his throat.

For a split second, I wanted Cyrus to continue, to finish Timothy and take all my fear with him. But then reality came crashing back to me.

“Cy! Stop!” I yelled. Tears were streaming down my cheeks.

He did. He released Timothy, who fell to the ground like a sad sack of potatoes.

My eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. Timothy, who had always seemed so big and frightening to me, now looked so small and vulnerable in comparison to Cyrus.

All the more so when Timothy was on the floor, trying to catch his breath, while Cyrus towered over him, his chest heaving.

Cyrus crouched down to grab Timothy’s collar and pull him close to his face again.

“You didn’t break her. You didn’t take anything from her. You never will.”

Timothy scoffed. “You don’t know who you’re talking to. I have connections everywhere.”

Cyrus looked at him darkly. “I know exactly who you are, little Timmy. And I will burn you to the ground.”

We got in a cab, and Cyrus held me as I shook with silent sobs, releasing the tension that had built up in me.

He whispered soothing words to me until we were back in our hotel room, where he ran us a bath.

We sank into the water, and I melted into him, feeling heavy and tired. He ran his hands over my body, helping my muscles relax with each gentle stroke.

“I meant what I said. He took nothing from you. You were pure and whole before you met him, and you remain that way.”

I sighed. “My back begs to differ.”

Cyrus traced his fingers over the scars Timothy had left there. “These? These just show that you’ve survived trauma. They bear no mark of his. These are yours, and yours alone.”

I looked up at him. “That’s beautiful, Cy.”

I ran my hand over the scar on my thigh left by my assailant in the parking garage. “It just bothers me that all the permanent marks I have were left there by men who were out to hurt me.”

Cyrus was silent.

“I would carry yours,” I said. “You’re the only one who’s ever marked me out of love. But they’ve faded since.”

He wrapped his arms around me tightly, squeezing my shattered soul back together. “I’ll find a way to leave a permanent mark out of love.

“And one day, when you’re pregnant with our son, your skin might stretch to accommodate his growing body, and you will be marked by a boy who will love you forever, who you made with a man that will love you forever.”

I closed my eyes, and tears spilled from them again.

I lay there on Cyrus’s chest and silently thanked the universe for sending me this wonderful man. Everything that had happened in my life had led me to him, and it somehow all felt worth it.

“I wish there was a way to express my love for you,” I said. “I don’t know how to get you to understand the way I feel.”

“I know. I feel the same way. You know, I never wanted to have children before. My mother died giving birth to me. It seemed cruel and reckless to put someone through that risk.

“But I have to see you mother my children. I don’t know how to explain it. I’ve never felt so conflicted before.”

“I would never want to put you in harm’s way, and childbirth seems like the riskiest thing I could expose you to. But I want to see you grow children that we made together.

“It seems like the ultimate way to seal our love. How do you feel about it?”

I thought about it for a moment. I’d always wanted children. It had never even been a question to me.

“I’d love to have your babies. And you know, we could always foster, or adopt. There’s more than one way to have kids.”

He kissed my hair. “We could do it all. I’d love to have a big family.”

The fantasy I’d had earlier, which had just been a fleeting thought at the time, was now starting to take shape in my mind.

I envisioned us in the garden of a lovely house, surrounded by our kids who had come to us in all kinds of ways. I was overcome with happiness, feeling excited about the future as well as the present.

It seemed like things had finally started to look up for me.