Chapter 27

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Unedited, please excuse the oopsies

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"When can I go on maternity leave because I am tired," Natalia moaned. "Why isn't unlimited maternity leave like a human right, what the hell is wrong with your country?"

Gabe smiled around his coffee cup, his evergreen eyes twinkling in amusement in Natalia direction. He maneuvered the truck out of the drive-through Starbucks and back onto the highway. He stayed silent, which was rather smart of him. Natalia oscillated between wanting to be a working mum and staying at home...hourly.

Some days she was so energised and ready to take in the world and other days she wanted to crawl under her duvet and never come out again, she called it being baby-polar.

In fact, they had already discussed this at length several times. Gabe preferred it if Natalia stayed at home, of course he would, he didn't say it but she could see it in his eyes. If he could wrap her in cotton wool he would but the choice was entirely hers he'd reassured her.

They were privileged in that they could afford her not going back to work for an extended period of time, if ever. Natalia could see the benefit in that. She liked to imagine that picture of idyllic domesticity; home cooked dinners, arts and crafts at the kitchen table, having the time to garden and bake. When she had been young and had often retreated into her head, that's what she imagined her adult life would be like.

Growing up she had lived in a cramped two bedroom highrise flat. With the four of them, her mum and two brothers, they were always in each other's pockets. It was a rough council estate, or what they called projects in the US, sprawling with vibrancy and violence. It was tucked away in the North West of the city, skirting on the edges of real poverty with grand opulence just a stone's throw away. London was just like that, a city of extremes.

Her mother, a nurse, was always pulling double shifts, night shifts and bank shifts. Now that she was grown, Nat often wondered if her mother had even needed to work that much or if she had thrown herself into it to escape the crushing humiliation of her failed marriage. She had only been around six when their father had left the house never to return again.

Her mother had lain stoically in bed for months until one day she got up like nothing had happened and went back to work. No one had ever explained where their father had gone and they never said his name again. That's just how things were done in the Burton household.

Nat was realising that she was more like her mother than she had previously thought, the closer she got to motherhood. She could now admit that in the silent safety of her own thoughts. The impulse to run, shut things, people and emotions out, she had been doing that for the last decade, that was her modus operandi too. Only Lima and Gabe had managed to thaw her defences.

Nat and Nick had been left to their own devices a lot. Ashley, who was four years older than them sometimes played a supervisory role, more often than not he was out of the house, studying or with friends.

Nick had fallen in love with football at an early age and Nat, always had a book tucked under her arm as she cheered on her twin on the field. That was her job, and she relished it. She didn't need friends, she had Nick. He was her rock, her constant. Until she didn't.

"Hey, where did you go?" She felt a warm clasp around her hand bringing her back into the present with a jolt. In the time that she had been thinking they had arrived at the Mall, Gabe had parked, helped her out of the truck and was guiding her along the entrance of the mall, making sure no one jostled her.

She didn't answer, still feeling the haunting tendrils of her thoughts. She often went away, into her brain, thinking until she stumbled upon painful memories and then she retreated back

She squeezed his hand back, letting her fingers roam the rough, hardened skin at the junction where his palm became his fingers, to ground herself. She let herself be led around the mall, following Gabe's sure long strides, more than half a year she'd been in Texas but she'd only been to this particular mall twice. It was still unfamiliar, not like the malls in Dubai — huge indoors things that she could traverse with her eyes closed.

They had some things to pick up for the nursery so that Gabe could finish converting it and Natalia was tagging along. She loved decorating especially when she wasn't doing the work nor paying for it.

She stopped, when she spotted the smoothie bar in the middle of the walkway. Gabe paused too, looking behind him when he noticed she was no longer moving. Amber was sitting in the seating area with another woman, her back was to them but the pixie cut and her smooth, gleaming dark skin were unmistakable.

Gabe sighed, "Go on," he said, resigned. Natalia hadn't been able to speak to Amber since that eventful day in their living room. She had spoken to her brother plenty who had reassured her that he was stepping up to the plate for his child but Amber had remained elusive and out of reach.

"Wait..." He drew her back by their still clasped hands, and then cupped her elbows in his hands, until she was in the circle of his embrace and she was looking up at him questioningly and impatiently.

"What?" Natalia.

"I just wanted to let you know that you're my best friend."

"I should hope so, since you knocked me up."

Gabe let out a pained chuckle at her retort. "I mean, you're a great person and anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend. Whatever she says remember that."

"Now I'm tearing up, again. Damn hormones."

Gabe pressed a kiss to her open palm, watching her with concerned green eyes before she shuffled off to approach the woman that was going to have her brother's child. He was so protective of her, even her emotions. Sometimes it got him into trouble but for the most part it turned out well. It was nice to be taken care of without question and unconditionally. Maybe monogamy made some points, Natalia thought.

"Amber, hey! What a surprise bumping into you like this?" Natalia heard her own tone and winced internally, she sounded like she was on the purest crack.

"Hey..." Amber said hesitantly and Natalia could feel herself faltering. Why had she come over? What has she hoped to gain. She could feel herself smarting with the feeling of rejection and wanted to remove herself from the situation but she had already committed to it now. In the past she'd always had buffered, for example Lima to cushion rejections like these. She hated rejection so acutely. "How have you been? How's...everything going?"

"Well," Amber said briefly.

"Okay, that's great!" Another internal wince and then Natalia turned to the woman she was with, the South East Asian woman gaining her interest.

"This is my friend, Robin," Amber introduced after another long, pregnant pause. She could feel the fog of awkwardness surround them all.

"Hi Robin, I'm Natalia, nice to meet you." Natalia held out her hand and they shook hands like they were diplomats at a United Nations meeting. Natalia could see some sort of private conversation taking place between the two, Robin had bumped her shoulder into Amber, to which she had received a deathly glare from the petite Black woman.

"I'm having a baby shower and I'd love for you to be there."

"Oh really?" Natalia was taken aback but jumped at the invitation. "I'd love to!"

"Okay, I will text you the details. I have your number."

Natalia was puzzled by how she had her number since she had refused to exchange numbers the first time they had met, but she was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Your brother gave me your number," Amber filled in.

"Ah okay. Well. Great. Okay. I'll see you then."

"Awesome, have a great evening," Robin said. She was enjoying this, Natalia could tell.

"I'll leave you guys to it, bye. Thanks again for the invite."

"You're welcome," Amber said and Natalia forced herself to walk away before she said any more unnecessary words.

When she looked around, she had half expected Gabe to have gone ahead to the hardware shop but he was still at the same spot, he had been watching the whole interaction.

"How'd it go?" He asked, tucking her under his arm when she had rejoined him.

Natalia shuddered, "It was so awkward."

Gabe laughed. "I know, I could tell."

"How?" Natalia asked haughtily.

Gabe performed a series of awkward hand movements with his free hand that were eerily very similar to what had just taken place when Natalia had waved goodbye to Robin and Amber.

Natalia groaned and hid her face in the crook of his elbow. "I absolutely hate it here."

"Aw, my awkward best friend. Don't worry, you still got me. I don't know how you did that but you did," Gabe teased, pulling her closer and dropping a kiss on her head.

"Shut up, if anyone is punching up it's you."

"It's that so?" His eyes glittered with humour. When her gaze did a sweep over his angled scruff covered jaw, the jut of his perfectly cut cheekbones, the vibrant green of his eyes, and those wide masculine lips she couldn't remember the point she had been making anymore. He adled her mind on a good day, let alone days like today.

"That's what I thought, baby. And if you're a good girl, I might show you all the ways I am not punching up, as y'all Brits say."

"I, umm — " Natalia said, flustered and then scowled as he chuckled. She was going to shop extra hard as revenge but if she was honest with herself the bottom of her stomach had almost fallen out at his words. She was still so susceptible to his flirting, even though they were engaged with a baby on the way.

Just then her phone chirped in her pocket and it was a message from an unknown number. With an address and a date and a graphic of an invite with more details. Natalia inhaled sharply, she hadn't expected her to stay true to her words, in England "we have to hang out" sentiments were really just to fob people off but she was pleasantly surprised.

Gabe peered over her shoulder at the screen of her phone. "That's nice of her."

"You're coming with me right?"

Gabe was always self-assured in any situation and she felt like she could take anything on when she was with him, like it was a quality that rubbed off. He took the air and tension out of any room he entered, calming everyone and everything down.

Gabe looked pained. "I don't think..."

"Some best friend you are," Natalia pouted.

"I walked into that one, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. I jump, you jump," she said grinning widely and paraphrasing the Titanic. Gabe pulled a face looking down at her, and Natalia stuck her tongue out at him knowing that she had gotten her way.

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Whew chile, you guys had so much to say about the last two chapters. I was shook! *crying emoji* you know me guys I'm here for the dramz. We all need a bit of tension and conflict, I hope y'all have forgiven Gabe.



























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