33 | mend avelina

ADRIK ALMOST COULDN'T believe his eyes. Finally, his reality was the dream he had been chasing since meeting Avelina. The adoring look in her eyes as she gazed at their beautiful child. Natasha sat on the couch, watching the both of them just like Adrik was. She had a smile on her face, leaning back against the cushions as exhaustion began to overwhelm her. Everyone had to be tired after the night they had, but no one could take their eyes off of his glowing Avelina. Not even Vincent could take his eyes off of her. Adrik was sitting on the arm of the couch, carefully running his fingers through her hair while Vincent sat at the end of the sofa near her feet. It was a comfortable silence that overcame them, each just enjoying the moment while it lasted. A huge part of them, knowing that the calm never seemed to stick around for quite long despite how badly they wanted it to.

They might've won the battle, but they weren't sure if they had won the war quite yet. And Adrik was already anticipating the worst, trying to formulate a plan that would protect his family from any more harm. For now, he decided that peace was going to be their best option. It had to be... for Avelina and their child.

"May I speak to you for a moment?" the doctor asked Adrik, nodding his head toward a more discreet area. Adrik began to calculate the chances of hearing the worst news imaginable, and the odds weren't all that great.

"She's told me about severe abdominal pain that has been persistent. We take signs like this after having a child as a warning, especially after not receiving the proper care she needed at the time. It's normal to feel pain, but it's a little abnormal to feel the pain that she's described to me. I'm going to prescribe her some medication that should take some of the pain away and vitamins. Since she has recently just had a baby, we're going to give it about five more weeks and if the pain is still there, we will be looking at some trauma that could've possibly occurred, and we'll do our absolute best to get that resolved as soon as possible," the doctor explained.

It was another situation added to the long list of things to stress about. Only it had climbed substantially to the top seeing as it involved Avelina and her health. He didn't know what he would do without her. She was the only good thing in a world full of bad. She was the light that horror coddled around, but for some reason, it was like she never dared let it stop her stride. Words couldn't describe the way she completely transformed his life, and he was never one to come up short on words. But there he was, absolutely speechless.

"Okay," Adrik stated before turning back to his lady in waiting. Vincent was now coddling the baby with a smile on his face.

"I don't know what to name her," Avelina said, watching her brother.

Adrik could only glare as he eyed Vincent, holding something so precious to his heart. He didn't like how two of the most important people in his life were so close to the one man he spent his whole life hating. The man who took everything away from him. He couldn't even be there for the woman that was carrying his baby until the very last minute. He had to watch her eyes brim with hatred and loathing.

Vincent had been trying to hit Adrik exactly where it hurt, and once he found out about his sister, he struck. Vincent could say his intentions were to protect his little sister all he wanted, but Adrik knew the truth. He'd never admit it to Avelina, but Avelina's mother wasn't the only fucked up person in their family. It would seem the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. Vincent knew exactly what he was doing, and he didn't mind putting his sister in the crossfire. He was too much of a liability for the family he was trying so hard to build, yet Vincent worked too hard to destroy. No one could see it, but Adrik could. And for that, he would never find it in his heart to trust him.

"It'll come." Natasha smiled. Avelina returned with a weak smile. It was obvious she was probably having the same thoughts. Trying so hard to forgive and forget in order to create a more stable foundation for the family, but it just wasn't that easy. It was far from easy.

"I am going to be back in the morning to see how things are going. I need you to rest, eat, and drink a lot of water. Adrik it's important you take very good care of her," the doctor stated, giving Adrik a pointed look. Adrik didn't say a word as he turned back to Avelina and continued running his fingers through her hair. What once was so thick and full of so much life had began to thin out. It could've been the stress or because she just delivered a newborn, but she was so different from the girl he met. Her skin was more pale, her lips more dry. It was like she was barely clinging on to hope.

"Thank you!" Avelina called behind him as he walked out the door.

Adrik had boosted security around the home. Only his best and most trustworthy men were allowed in or around the house. They were meant to watch over the house on a 24-hour period every single day. He hired only the best man who once served for the military and was now working for the dictator of Russia to keep an eye on Avelina and his baby. He was supposed to arrive first thing tomorrow morning. Adrik couldn't afford any more fuck-up's.

"I was scared..." Avelina spoke up quietly. Everyone perked up at her confession, eyeing her as the smile on her face slowly fell into a deep frown.

Suddenly, the baby began to wail and with her balled up fists, she began to punch the air. Adrik quickly went to grab her from Vincent. He pulled his baby in closer to his chest and began to coo gently to her.

"She's probably hungry," Avelina muttered. She moved to stand up and the moment she got up on her two feet, she collapsed to the ground. The thud rumbled through the living room and a loud sob climbed out of her throat.

"Avelina!" Natasha exclaimed.

Vincent ran over to her to pick her up, but Avelina pulled away from him.

"Natasha, may you hold the baby?" Adrik asked. Natasha stood up and carefully grabbed ahold of the newborn. Vincent didn't let up on his sister. Again, he tried to reach out to her, but she only balled herself up as tears streamed from her eyes, her crying growing heavier with each passing second.

"Allow me," Adrik said. He scooped her up in his arms and she immediately placed her face in his chest and let her shoulders rock with each sob. Vincent gazed at them, his eyes full of emptiness as he watched them head toward their bedroom. The baby was still crying, but her cries came to an abrupt stop the moment Natasha pressed the bottle up against her lips.

Adrik had yet to be in the bedroom of their new home. He wanted the first time he stepped into the new room to be with Avelina. Out of the hundreds of ways he anticipated it going, he never expected him to be carrying her as she wept into his arms. Adrik didn't bother turning on a light. He just laid her down softly on the bed and held her. She was holding onto him so tightly that she made it impossible for him to let go. And he didn't. He continued to hold on just like she wanted him to.

"I can't do anything!" she cried. Her breathing was becoming labored and her tone was a lot higher than anything he ever heard her like before. "I can't walk! I can't even fucking stand! How can I take care of a baby? How can I do this Adrik? I can't protect her! I can't even protect myself!"

"I failed," Adrik told her. "I failed. You did not fail."

"No, I failed you! I failed us!" Avelina screamed. He could feel her heartbeat escalating and he knew the doctor would not approve of this. She had already been so worked up over the past couple of days, he needed to find a way to calm her down.

Adrik had no idea what to do, but he'd seen it done countless times before... a hug. He didn't understand it, but for some reason science found it reduces stress. Adrik found himself wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his chest. She responded immediately by wrapping her arms around him in return. He found that it actually felt really nice.

"We are okay. You are okay. Our baby is okay," Adrik said, inspired by words he once heard from a television series Natasha had been watching. It was a couple on the screen and when he woman began to panic, the man wrapped his arms around her and told her that everything will be okay. And just like the woman on the screen, Avelina instantly began to calm down.

"Thank you," she muttered. "I needed that."

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