Atticus was waiting outside when we got home and he wasn’t alone. The whole house staff and security were present and they were all waiting. Well, some were just standing there while others were pacing dramatically.
The car rolled to a stop at the entrance and Atticus walked briskly to the car and opened the door for me. I rolled my eyes at how dramatic they were being but it warmed my heart that they were worried for me.
It reminded me of when Dad was alive and how he would worry over every little thing. Then, it used to make me so mad when he was always up in my business, telling me what I should or should not do but now that he wasn’t here, I missed him so much and his worries.
Every night before I sleep, I would find myself thinking of the smallest things he did that I didn’t appreciate but now yearn for and it made me angry at myself for getting mad at him when all he wanted was to make sure I was fine.
Now, I realized the true meaning behind the saying, you never truly appreciate what you
have until you lose it. Not that I didn’t appreciate him back then but as a child, we all get angry at our parents when they stick their noses in our business and now he is gone. I wanted him to not only stick his nose but his whole body in my business and it won’t happen again.
“Hey, what are you doing out here with everyone? You guys are being too dramatic, I am fine”
I took the hand that Atticus held out and allowed him to help me out of the car I was capable of getting out of on my own.
“I didn’t call them. They overheard our call and were worried. The security team is already on the matter and soon we’ll have feedback on whose car was following you today” I looked around to see everyone’s eyes on the both of us and they were all worried.
“I am fine guys. It was just a little scary. Please go inside and rest, I am sure you had a long day” I told them and they hesitantly began to leave. Lorenzo scanned me from head to toe and only left when he saw I had no injuries if I guessed right.
Someone slammed into me and I didn’t have to look twice to know it was Lily. Her obnoxiously loud cries were enough to tell me she was the one. I laughed and wrapped my arms around her for some seconds before pulling her away from him so that I could see her face properly.
“Why are you crying so loud? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” I teased but she only kept shaking her head and crying like a baby.
“I was so scared. I thought something happened to you. Who would I gossip with if you had been hurt?” she wailed and I could not help but burst into laughter at her reason. I am not surprised at all. Only Lily would cry for the wrong reason.
“Oh wow, so that’s all I am worth to you? Sharing gossip? Real smooth Lils, real smooth” I folded my arms in front of my chest to act as if I was angry.
“You know what I mean. Now that I see you are fine, I'm going to sleep now. I can barely keep my eyes open for much longer” It was visible that she was exhausted, she even had bags under her eyes.
Lily was a college student studying psychology part-time. I was so surprised she was working and schooling but then she told me Atticus paid for her education too. Apparently, he saw her college acceptance letter in the trash and picked it up.
She told him she couldn’t go to college because she couldn’t afford it and he offered to pay for her, kind of like a scholarship. I didn’t know he could be so sweet.
“I can see that you need it. Go to bed okay? We’ll talk in detail tomorrow” I pushed her lightly in the direction of the staff building. She waved me goodbye before walking down the path that would lead her to the house.
Finally, I could focus on the chaos that was happening behind me. Justin was explaining what happened to Atticus and Nathan. I walked over to them and without even looking at me, he pulled me to him and wrapped his hands protectively around me.
I leaned into the familiarity of his arms and worry washed down on me and became a second skin. Reality dawned on me now that I was at home. I leaned in further into him and his arms around me tightened in response.
“What’s happening?” I whispered into his ears so that I wouldn’t disrupt their conversations.
“We are trying to figure out what to do. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you before” He whispered back as Justin and Nathan started talking heatedly to each other.
“It’s fine. Shouldn’t we take this inside? I don’t think it is appropriate for us to talk here in the open like this” I gestured towards the two who were still arguing about what I had no idea about.
“Let’s go inside and please bring the argument to a minimum” Atticus' voice was hard and had a warning to both men. They both gave him a clipped nod and waited for us to move past them before following behind us.
“You should go up and rest. I’ll be up shortly, I promise” He spoke again when we were in the living room. I was too tired to argue otherwise so I just gave him a small nod before I left the living room.
The moment the bedroom door shut behind me, I felt like I could finally breathe again. I dropped to the bed with a loud thud and just laid still.
I tried to not feel like what happened today was dangerous. It could have ended in the worst way possible especially since we had no idea who they were or what they wanted.
My body felt icky with sweat so I stripped and stepped into the shower stall to wash today’s event off myself. I had stopped using my shower products the moment I moved in because I loved the way he smelled.
I took my time washing myself. As I lathered myself with soap, I paused at my midsection and rubbed my belly in circular motions. “I wonder what would happen if I fell pregnant. I don’t even know if he would want a baby”
I jumped back in shock as a hand wrapped around my waist “Hey, It’s me” Atticus whispered before I could scream in fear. I turned around to smack him across the chest “You scared me. Why didn’t you warn me that you were coming in?” I whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” He mused instead of answering my question.
“That’s not the answer to my question” he chucked and wrapped his arms around me to pull me closer.
“I called you a few times but you were so lost in thoughts so you didn’t hear me. What were you thinking so much about? Was it what happened today? I’m sorry about that” He placed his palm on my cheeks and rubbed it gently making me nuzzle his palm.
“I wasn’t thinking of the incident that happened this evening, I was thinking of something else” I removed myself from his arms so I could put some shampoo in my hand. This wasn’t the first time we were bathing together so we were past the stage of being shy and awkward when nude.
“What were you thinking about then?” He allowed me to wash his hair, his eyes closed as I massaged his scalp
“Nothing much, I was just thinking of what it would be like if I became pregnant” His eyes flew open and he stared at me with confusion.
“Are you pregnant? Why are you suddenly having such thoughts?” I dropped my hand from his hair since I was a bit startled by his reaction. He looked alarmed as if I just dropped a bomb on him.
“You don’t have to react so negatively, I am not pregnant. Like I said earlier, it was just a thought so you don’t have to worry” Since I was already done showering, I rinsed my hands and made a move to step out of the shower.
“Heyyy…you are getting me wrong. I don’t hate the idea of you pregnant. Jesus, Hazel, what do you think of me? I was just worried that you went through what happened today while you were pregnant”
“Oh, are you sure or you are just saying it so I won’t be angry anymore?” He was holding me and stopping me from walking out of the bathroom in anger.
“I don’t mind having a child especially if they would be coming from you” He tugged me back and this time I allowed him since he clarified things the way I wanted to hear them.
“You made me scared for a minute there even though I wasn’t pregnant because it means that I have nothing to do here if you won’t want a child from me”
"I wonder how you come up with the thoughts that flow through your head sometimes. You think things too deeply way more than they are, you need to ease up”
“I can’t help it, It’s just the kind of person I am”