Drew drove them to her apartment and followed her up the stairs. He’d tried to carry her but she put her foot down. She wasn’t an invalid who couldn’t walk. He’d caved, when she agreed to walk very slowly. She gritted her teeth but walked slowly up the stairs.
As Drew looked around the tiny room, he was grateful the new place would be ready soon. If they were going to be under house arrest he’d go insane being in the tiny space for too long. He had newfound sympathy for prisoners.
“Sit down and I’ll get you something to eat,” he told her. For once she actually listened, without arguing. He was off to a good start. He made her a sandwich and some soup and sat down with her on the couch while she ate.
“This is good, thank you,” she told him. She was starving, after the horrible hospital food.
“I need to talk to you about some things,” he started. She looked at him quizzically. He knew the conversation was going to be a battle and did not want to raise her blood pressure any more than necessary.
“Go ahead and spit it out,” she said with an encouraging smile.
“I bought a new home. It’s pretty close to Derek and Jasmine,” he started with.
“That’s great, you must be excited. You really don’t have to stay here and babysit me if you want to get settled in,” she told him.
“I bought the place for us,” he said, while looking her in the eye. Her cheeks flushed and her eyes widened in shock. He had to remember to keep calm, so not to raise her blood pressure. He was going to be firm but he could keep his temper in check.
“I…you…we aren’t a couple,” she sputtered at him.
“Trinity, we are a couple. We’re sexually compatible. We enjoy being together and to top all that off, we’re having a child. We will get married but I’m willing to give you more time to get used to that. But you’re on doctor’s orders to not be alone and for complete bed rest. This place is too small for two people to stay in comfortably so it makes sense for you to move in with me now,” he told her.
“I’m fine in my own place,” she told him, as she crossed her arms over her chest. Drew blew out a breath of frustration. He knew she was going to be difficult but it still frustrated him.
“Look, I don’t want to be a jerk, Trinity but you’re not safe here, which means my child isn’t safe. Are you so selfish you’d endanger our child for the sake of your pride?” he asked her. He watched her suck in a breath in shock. He wanted to take the words back but he needed to get her to move and he couldn’t figure out any other way other than force. He really didn’t want to go down that road.
“I love my child, Drew,” she finally said to him.
“I know you do Trinity and that was a crappy thing to say, I’m sorry. How about a compromise? You’re going to be on bed rest for a while, most likely the rest of your pregnancy,” he said. She gave him the courtesy of at least listening to him. “Stay with me until after the baby is born so I can help take care of you. If we haven’t managed to work things out by then, we can reassess our situation. You know this apartment is far too small for a baby anyway,” he tried to reason with her.
She really couldn’t find anything wrong with what he was suggesting. She was far too attached to the man already and it would be really hard for her to keep her distance if they were living together but he was trying to be a good father. That was more important than anything else. She was still unsure, though.
“I don’t think I’m ready for this, Drew,” she said, though she was starting to cave. Drew could see she was fighting herself as much as him, which gave him confidence. He sat back with a smug smile.
“I can’t stay in this place, it would drive me insane, so you can either move into the large house with me, where you’ll be waited on and completely pampered, or I’ll move in and you’ll have to go back to the hospital because the doctor said you weren’t to be alone,” he told her with too much confidence.
She glared at him for several minutes, trying to break him down but she knew he was well aware of how badly she hated that hospital. He was blackmailing her, plain and simple. She’d much rather be anywhere other than the sterile hospital room. She was considering it though, just so he couldn’t have his way but then she’d only be punishing herself and that didn’t make either of them winners.
“Okay Drew, I guess I’ll move in with you but when I’m better we’ll talk about this again,” she told him with reluctance. He threw his arms around her with excitement and grabbed the laptop so she could see the house. She was definitely impressed. It was beautiful and larger than anything she was used to. It would be hard to leave there once she’d lived in it. She’d try not to get attached.
The weeks went by far too slowly in the cramped apartment. Trinity was actually excited to get out of there because the space was far too small for her and Drew. He was everywhere and the more she was around him; the more difficult it was to remember her reasons for not being romantically involved with him. She was also incredibly edgy, not being allowed outside. He promised her he’d set up a lounge outside at the new place so she could get some fresh air.
She sat on the couch while he packed all her possessions. She felt a bit self-conscious as he went through everything she owned but he approached it like she was sure he approached business. He was methodical as he packed up her things, labeling each box before moving on to the next.
“I’m actually glad to have this to do because I’ve got to tell you, being locked in this closet of an apartment is starting to drive me crazy,” he said as he finished another box.
“You can leave any time you want,” she snapped, a little irritable herself.
“I’m dealing with it and it’s only for one more day,” he said, choosing to ignore her bad attitude. “I called the Salvation Army and they will be here early in the morning to pick up the furniture we aren’t keeping,” he finished.
“I think it’s perfectly fine furniture and I don’t see why we can’t use it,” she snapped at him. Her feet were swollen once again and the place didn’t have air conditioning and she was ready to bite someone’s head off. Poor Drew happened to be the only person around.
“I’m not trying to put your furniture down Trinity and you know that but come on, nothing matches and a few of these pieces have duct tape holding them together,” he said to her, with far more patience than she deserved.
She wasn’t going to fight him too hard on the matter because she had bought the furniture second hand, at an excellent price and was sure she could pick up more if she needed it but she didn’t like him putting her things down. It was simply a matter of her pride.
“You know I’m not going to be a kept woman don’t you? Just because we made a child together, doesn’t mean you’re going to take over my life,” she snapped. He grinned at her. He found her ill temper amusing. He also loved how independent she was and that she wasn’t afraid to call him on his arrogance. There were too many people afraid to talk back to him. He wouldn’t be falling in love with her if she was like the masses of other people in his life.
“I’d never think of you as a kept woman,” he finally managed to say without laughing. She could still see the smile in his eyes and glared all the more at him for it. He turned away and started on another box. He heard her grumble something but chose to ignore it. She had been trying to pick a fight with him for two days and instead of it angering him, it was incredibly amusing. He knew they would both feel better when they got into the new place and had a bit more space. He knew it would be helpful to have Jasmine visit with her so the women could do the girl talk thing he simply didn’t understand.
“I think it’s time to start packing up your clothes,” he said. He was looking forward to that. Her cheeks turned pink at the thought of him going through her intimate clothing.
“I can do that on my own,” she grumbled.
“The doctor said complete bed rest, so you can lay in bed and direct me,” he told her with a wicked grin and a waggle of his brows. That caused her to turn even more scarlet.
“You can help me with my closet but I’ll take care of the dresser,” she finally said with a glare. There was no way she was going to have him go through her panty drawer. He looked like he was going to argue some more but he finally seemed to realize she wasn’t backing down. He shrugged his shoulders and they headed into the bedroom.
She laid on the bed and her eyes started to get heavy and before long she fell asleep, with him quietly moving around the room. Drew tucked the light blanket around her and gently kissed her on the forehead, then headed out to let her rest.
The moving company was coming in the morning and most of the house was already packed up, so Drew headed into town for a while. He had to get out of the apartment. He called his cousins and the three of them met at their favorite furniture store. He found he was enjoying himself as he picked out furniture. He normally left all decorating for his resorts up to his decorators and rarely picked his own pieces out but he’d wanted to furnish his home, himself.
He grabbed some catalogs, so Trinity could pick out the drapes and decorative type stuff. He was mainly focused on getting furniture so they had a place to eat and sit.
They walked into the children’s section and he stared around at all the baby furniture, completely clueless. He had no idea what to buy for his new daughter. Derek got on the phone and called Jasmine. She rushed down there, more than happy to help. Within an hour of her arrival they had a fully stocked nursery.
He stared down at the crib, picturing his tiny daughter asleep in it and had to fight the emotions welling up inside him. He couldn’t believe in a short amount of time he was going to be a father. It was coming so fast. The doctor didn’t think she’d make the full forty weeks. He was hoping for her to make it to at least thirty six.
He stopped for some take-out and headed back to the apartment. Trinity was just starting to wake when he walked in the door. She came out to the living room, groggily rubbing her eyes.
“Something smells heavenly,” she said, as her stomach rumbled with pleasure. Drew laughed as her cheeks turned pink. He loved how easy she was to read.
“I can’t wait for this child to be born so I can go back to eating like a normal human being. I’m hungry all the time,” she said a bit sheepishly. She may have been embarrassed but she still grabbed an egg roll and started eating it hungrily.
“According to the doctor, you’re not eating enough,” he said, as he piled her plate with food. She shook her head at him and began to eat from the plate. She didn’t see how she wasn’t getting enough food, when it seemed to her she was eating all the time. The baby was taking up all the room in her stomach though, so she couldn’t put as much in there. When she had only finished about a quarter of the plate, she pushed it away, causing Drew to look at her with disapproving eyes. He pushed it back closer to her and she decided to just ignore him. She couldn’t force feed herself and besides, she knew she’d be hungry again in about an hour.