Chapter 9
1038 Words
The next few days passed in a haze of hospital food, nurses checking vitals, and quiet conversations under low lights.
Nathan barely left Ella’s side, only stepping out to grab food or to answer urgent phone calls.
He was gentle, attentive, patient in ways that made Ella's heart ache.
But nothing gold could last forever.
"I have to go to the office tomorrow morning," Nathan said one evening, as they sat side by side on the hospital bed.
Ella stiffened.
"You’re leaving?"
He caught her hand immediately, squeezing it.
"Just for a few hours. I have a meeting with some investors. It’s important, but I’ll be back before you even realize I’m gone."
He smiled, brushing a kiss across her knuckles.
Ella nodded, but inside, a storm churned.
Being vulnerable was terrifying.
Loving Nathan this deeply was terrifying.
Because it meant he could destroy her with a single choice.
"I’ll call you every hour," he teased. "You'll be sick of me."
She smiled weakly, and he kissed her forehead before leaving her to sleep.
---
The morning passed slowly.
Ella sat in the hospital bed, flipping mindlessly through TV channels, feeling heavy and restless.
Nathan had left his jacket draped over the chair.
Her fingers toyed with the edge of it, needing to feel close to him.
His phone buzzed.
Without thinking, she glanced at the screen.
A message lit up the display:
> "Last night was so fun, babe. Let’s do it again soon! – Ava"
Ella’s blood ran cold.
A model. She recognized the name immediately.
Gorgeous, thin, perfect Ava Addams— she had seen her in magazines, in perfume ads.
Last night?
Fun?
Her chest tightened painfully.
Nathan had said he loved her.
Had held her while she cried.
Had promised he was here for her and the baby.
Was it all a lie?
Was she just some pathetic, fat, hormonal placeholder while he lived a double life?
Ella looked down at herself — the swollen belly, the stretch marks, the heavy body she barely recognized anymore.
Tears stung her eyes.
How could she compete with someone like her?
How could Nathan even want her like this?
She buried her face in her hands and sobbed — deep, raw, broken sobs that shook her entire body.
---
The door burst open.
"Ella?" Nathan’s voice was alarmed, panicked.
He dropped everything in his hands and rushed to her side.
"What happened? Baby, what’s wrong?"
She shoved the phone at him with shaking hands, not trusting herself to speak.
Nathan frowned, scanning the message.
Realization dawned in his eyes, and then horror.
"No. No, no, no," he said fiercely, grabbing her face between his palms.
His thumbs wiped away her tears, his eyes desperate.
"Sweetheart, listen to me. That message — it’s nothing. Nothing happened."
She shook her head, the pain too deep to explain.
"You were with her," she whispered brokenly.
"I’m... I’m not enough anymore. Look at me!" She gestured wildly to her pregnant body.
"I’m fat, I’m disgusting, and you're out with girls like her—"
"Stop," Nathan said sharply, his voice rough with emotion.
He tilted her chin up so she had no choice but to look at him.
"You are beautiful, Ella. You are carrying our baby. You are the strongest, most breathtaking woman I have ever known."
His voice cracked.
"I didn’t touch her. I was at the meeting all night — she’s an old client, she was drunk, and she sent that message without anything happening. I swear to you, on my life, on our baby’s life."
Ella blinked, her tears falling faster.
"I’m scared," she whispered.
"So scared you’ll leave... that I’ll be alone again..."
Nathan gathered her into his arms, holding her so tightly it was like he could protect her just by sheer force.
"You’re never going to be alone again," he swore against her hair.
"Never. I’m here. I’m yours. Always."
He pulled back just enough to kiss her —
not hard or demanding,
but tender and reverent,
like she was something precious he could never bear to lose.
Ella melted into him, the ache in her chest loosening just slightly.
She needed him — needed to feel him, to remind herself that she still mattered.
That he still wanted her.
Their mouths moved together, slow and aching.
Nathan’s hands trembled slightly as they framed her face, her neck, her swollen belly.
He pulled away just long enough to whisper, "Are you sure? Tell me no, and I’ll stop. I swear."
Ella answered by grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him back to her.
She needed this.
She needed him.
Nathan kissed her again, deeper this time, his control slipping as he laid her gently down on the bed.
Every touch was full of worship, of adoration.
He kissed every part of her — her forehead, her cheeks, her swollen lips, the curve of her belly — murmuring soft, breathless words between each kiss.
"You’re perfect," he whispered.
"So beautiful, Ella. So strong."
She whimpered against his mouth, overwhelmed by the tenderness.
Nathan made love to her slowly, carefully, as if she might break.
But there was nothing fragile about the way she clung to him, about the way she kissed him back like she needed him more than oxygen.
Their bodies moved together, finding a rhythm, a desperate connection that chased away every shadow.
Nathan's forehead pressed against hers, his breath ragged.
"I love you," he whispered with every thrust, every touch, every kiss.
"I love you. I love you."
Ella cried again, but this time it was from the overwhelming relief, the fierce, impossible love flooding her entire being.
When they finally collapsed against each other, tangled and breathless, Nathan tucked her head beneath his chin, stroking her back in slow, soothing circles.
"I’m never letting you go," he murmured.
"Never again."
Ella smiled against his chest, exhausted but safe for the first time in what felt like forever.
"I’m not letting you go either," she whispered.
And for the first time, the future didn’t seem quite so scary anymore.
Not with Nathan by her side.
Not with their baby growing inside her, stronger every day.
Together, they could survive anything.
- Writer
