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"What the bloody hell were you thinking, you absolute dimwit?"

The speed at which he had so suddenly changed to incredibly protective and angry, surprised us all.

"You do not kick a ball at my pregnant wife!" He was murderously glaring at a very regretful-looking Felix.

If Theo hadn't grown so incredibly protective of me since I told him I was pregnant, he wouldn't have been standing right next to me now and been very quick to react when Felix had passed me the football we had been casually kicking around.

If Theo hadn't been beside me, the ball from the professional football player would have hit my protruding stomach at a great speed, and in the worst case scenario I could have lost our child.

"Listen, I'm sorry," Felix called over to me from the goal by which he was standing.

Theo was holding my hand with an extremely firm grip, while the football was in his other hand.

"Sometimes it slips my mind how you're not a professional, your passes are so good..." Felix was offering me a small smile, which I returned.

"How bloody stupid—" Theo was very angry at Felix, and him having become so protective explained his reaction.

In only two weeks our baby was due.

"Felix, it's fine!" I cut Theo off, not wanting to have our barbecue at Justin's and Emma's ruined.

My husband glanced at me with furrowed brows and narrowed eyes, his jaw clenched in frustration.

I blamed my crazy hormones for how much I loved this sudden protective side of him; it was such a primal need to protect your wife and child, and I found nothing more attractive.

"Do you not understand, Scarlett? We could have lost our baby," he turned to face me after smoothly kicking the ball back over to Felix, "what if I hadn't been here, hm? You're not taking this seriously..."

"I am taking this seriously, and I do understand," I assured him gently, "but the ball didn't hit me, everything's fine..."

"You don't know how to stop a football flying like that, I haven't taught you yet... I don't understand what his fucking problem is, his complete disregard for your safety..." Theo frowned, now simply shaking his head, "and I don't understand why you thought it was such a bloody great idea to come here."

His shoulders were very tense, and I wanted nothing more than to relax the wonderful man.

"They're our friends, there's no reason why we shouldn't spend time with them."

Theo huffed and ran a hand through his hair, "you're too pregnant to be around anyone but me."

There was vulnerability in his dark and intense eyes, but I couldn't help but smile. He placed his free hand onto the side of the baby bump – on the spot we often felt the baby's kicks – and seemed to relax from the feel of it, reminding himself our baby boy was okay.

"Am I a safety hazard, or something?" I tried to lighten up his mood, but received nothing but another sigh from his lips.

"You have no idea how scared I am by the thought of something happening to you. I hate it that you're so energetic and happy," he murmured.

I gave him another smile, this time a more reassuring one, "it was a mistake, honey, they happen. I'm fine, the baby's fine. Thank you for being here, you're going to be the greatest father. Just please, don't brood over something that didn't happen."

He huffed out a minty breath and ran a hand through his hair, his gaze very intense, "why can't you be a pickle-craving and stressed out pregnant woman? I hadn't been expecting you to be so happy and wanting to meet friends and so on... it just creates more risks..."

"I'm so happy because I'm having a child with the man I love, who loves me equally in return," I leaned in to kiss his cheek, taking some of the worries written across his features away, "am I not supposed to be happy?"

Theo just shook his head dismissively and glanced over at Felix, who was now carefully making his way toward us. Theo's body tensed up again, and his glare returned.

"Look at me," I told him gently, and he did, "don't get yourself so worked up about something that didn't happen, and won't happen."

"Is everything okay? I'm sorry, really..." Felix's voice had us both turning to find him standing a step away from us now, the ball bouncing between his hands.

"Felix, everything's okay. Don't worry about it," I gave him a smile and a quick nod, my hand moving to gently brush against the front of Theo's white tee shirt to lessen the tension in his body.

He was glaring at poor Felix, who sincerely seemed to regret his laps of judgement.

"What's up?" A brightly smiling Red arrived by us, his arm immediately hooking with his boyfriend's. He took in Theo's expression though, and his smile faded.

"Theo..." I tried to warn him not to say anything, since the urge to pee made me not want to spend much more time here calming down my husband.

"Your bloody boyfriend could have just hurt Scarlett and the baby," he gritted out, his hand leaving the side of my baby bump.

I sighed in defeat and pinched the bridge of my nose, avoiding Red's horrified expression.

"What?" He looked over at Felix, who frowned.

"I'm sorry..."

"Felix, stop apologising, please. Nothing happened, everything's fine, can we all just— oh," my eyes widened a little at the sharp pain, and my hand immediately flew up to place itself on my stomach.

"What? what? Scarlett, are you okay?" In a fraction of a second, Theo was cupping my jaw and searching my eyes with his, Felix leaving his mind completely now.

"I-I'm fine," I breathed out with a slightly nervous smile, "I just need to use the bathroom..."

"Yeah, okay," he nodded and managed a small smile in return, "I'll come with—"

"No, I'll be fine. Talk things out with Felix, Theo. Be civil," I gathered myself and assured myself that I couldn't be going into labour yet. There was still two weeks to go.

"Scar—"

"Theo," I raised my brows at him and spoke with finality. He glanced over at Felix and Red, before his hands left my face and he sighed deeply.

"Fine," he muttered and turned to them.

Before he could speak, he scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.

Theo's protectiveness wasn't anything new to any of our friends, whom we'd been able to see often during my pregnancy. I knew they all understood his reactions to certain things, yet I still wanted him to apologise now to Felix.

Before turning around to waddle towards Justin's and Emma's house, I leaned up to place a gentle kiss onto Theo's cheek.

__

Emma was preparing dessert in the kitchen.

"Why are everyone such master chefs these days," I laughed gently when she gave me a smile, noticing I was nearing her, "the food was delicious."

She shrugged, and her smile widened, "thank you, Lettie. I can't believe that next time when we'll all be getting together, you'll have a baby with you..."

I had to lean against the kitchen counter for a moment, feeling out of breath and in need of support.

"I can't believe it either," I let my hand move over my stomach, feeling a feisty kick underneath my palm. The harshness of it made me wince a bit. He wasn't even born yet, but somehow I knew he would exceed in football, just like his father.

"Where's Justin?" I asked her as she turned to face me, the gorgeous floral dress, which she was wearing, swaying with movement.

Emma's smile wavered a bit and she glanced away distractedly, "he's taking a business call in his office."

"Is everything alright?" My brows furrowed. I had to bite my tongue at another sharp pain.

She shrugged, clearly not too happy about whatever it was, "do you remember when Theo moved to Spain?"

"Yes..." I let out a deep breath, mostly because the pain was growing more intense and frequent.

At first it had started by my lower back, but had now migrated to my front as well, and—

"Scarlett! Oh, God! Your water broke!" Emma was staring wide-eyed at the floor beneath my feet, her arm reaching out for me.

The next thing I knew, Emma called over Theo, who then proceeded to panic while dialling Alfred's number.

I hadn't said a word after Emma noted that my water had broken, feeling like I was in a small state of shock. The baby was early, and that made me nervous.

Emma had gone outside to inform the others of the situation. Theo, after calling Alfred to get here as soon as possible, had called the hospital, where he made sure everything was ready. He had organised for me to have a completely private area for when I gave birth.

All through this, I remained leaning against the kitchen counter, not knowing what to do.

"Theo..." tears were brimming my eyes by the time the man pacing in front of me was done with his calls.

His head snapped towards me. I knew he was also nervous, but I was unable to hold back my tears.

"Hey, hey... everything's okay, why are you crying? Where does it hurt?" In a mere second, Theo had made his way to stand in front of me, searching my face.

"I'm fine," I sniffled, wiping a lone tear away from my cheek, my heart racing for so many reasons, "is the baby okay? I'm so confused.."

"He's fine, love, just a little early," he gave me a reassuring smile, thumbs brushing gently underneath my eyes to wipe away tears, "the hospital bag's just at home... but you have nothing to worry about, alright?"

I sniffled again and managed a nod, concentrating fully on his beautiful dark brown eyes.

"I'll go fetch it as soon as we get you to the hospital, yeah?" He continued, smile widening as his slight panic subsided and excitement set if, "we're going to have a baby today, birdie."

"Please, don't leave me," before I could stop it, a small squeak and sob left my lips.

Even after all the childbirth classes and books, my mind filled with everything there was to know about labour, delivery and so forth, I felt like I was blanking completely right now.

I knew it was anxiety concerning the actual giving birth part and the fact that I was fearing for our baby's safety now and in the years to come, but I couldn't stop it or help myself.

"No, no, no," Theo was quick to shake his head, "I'm not leaving you. I'll just send Alfred to get it, how's that, love?"

He searched my eyes again, his happiness growing with each passing minute.

"Yes," I breathed out shakily, trying to calm myself down, "okay."

"Scarlett! Oh, my God!" Red was suddenly rushing up to me. He slipped past Theo and hugged me, "you're in labour? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I managed a small smile, not missing the slight look of disapproval Theo sent the back of Red's head, "he doesn't have very good timing, we haven't had dessert yet..."

Red chuckled and nodded, deciding to hug me again. I relaxed a little and hugged him back.

"Alfred's here, Scarlett," Theo cleared his throat from a few steps away, looking over from the screen of his phone when Red pulled back again, "we need to leave."

"Okay," I nodded, my mind still not managing to wrap itself around what was actually going on right now.

Red took a step back and Theo moved closer, close enough to speak so that Red wouldn't hear. Red seemed to understand we needed privacy right now.

"Emma's packing an overnight bag, we'll follow you to the hospital and see you there. Love you!" And then he was gone.

"I'm scared," I told Theo honestly, trusting him more than anyone else in this world, "about the baby not being okay or something happening to him."

Another contraction slowly built up and made me squeeze his hand. They hadn't reached the point where I couldn't be at least somewhat functioning.

"Don't worry about anything, birdie, everything's taken care of," his words and voice calmed me immensely.

I sighed and gave him a nod, incredibly in love, joyful, anxious and excited.

"Can you walk? Do you want me to carry you to the car?" Theo was then wondering, a slow and sexy grin tugging at the sides of his lips while he brushed my hair back behind my ears.

A surprised laugh left my lips before I shook my head, "I can walk, but thank you for the offer."

A/N: P.S second book coming soon (: x

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