“Obligated? Is that what you thought I would feel about my own baby? Christ, you do have a low opinion of me.”
“I don’t, I just didn’t want you to think that…” Amber suddenly stopped. Her hand went to her back and then moved to her stomach. “Shit,” she hissed.
Jake move forwards and kneeled in front of her again. “What’s wrong?”
Amber shook her head. “Nothing,” she managed to say through gritted teeth.
“Don’t lie to me Freckles, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
He reached up and stroked her hair. “Please, Freckles, you’ve got to tell me what’s going on.”
Another pain shot through Amber’s back and then she felt her stomach harden again. She slowly exhaled and looked up at Jake. “I’ve been having pains for the past three hours.”
“Three hours? Why didn’t you tell someone…tell me?” Jake’s hands cradled her face. “All right, sit tight and I’ll call an ambulance. Okay?”
Amber nodded and winced as another pain hit.
Jake stood up and put his hand in his pocket for his mobile. “Shit, I’ve left my mobile on the desk. Okay I’ll be one minute,” he shouted over his shoulder as he rushed through the room.
Amber gripped the arms of the chair as another pain flashed through her body.
“Okay baby,” she said, looking down at her stomach. “You shouldn’t be coming yet, but looks like you’ve got your daddy’s level of patience.” Amber gently rubbed her stomach. Tears rolled off her chin and onto her hands.
She was petrified that something could be wrong. The baby wasn’t due for another four weeks. The doctor had told her that everything was fine, and the baby was a good healthy size, and she had read that anything from four to six weeks early wasn’t too damaging to the baby, but fear still engulfed her.
Jake suddenly shot back into the room, with Marnie and Steph close behind.
“Okay,” he said, moving over to Amber. “The ambulance is five minutes away. Can you stand up?” he asked, putting his arm around Amber’s shoulder.
She nodded and allowed him to help her out of the chair.
“You should have heard him on the phone,” Marnie said as she moved to Amber’s other side. “They wanted you to get there by yourself, but Jake told them what they could do with that suggestion.”
Amber laughed and winced at the same time. “Yeah, he can be a bit bossy when he wants to be.”
“I am not,” Jake scoffed as he guided Amber towards the door. “I made it clear what I expected, that’s all. Plus, I told them that you’d been having pains since five last night.”
“Jake! That’s a lie,” Amber cried.
“Oh I must have misheard; I could have sworn you said five last night.” Jake gave a cheeky grin as he winked at Amber. He could see that she was frightened – he wasn’t exactly feeling too calm himself, but he knew she needed to try and relax.
“What shall I do?” Steph suddenly piped up.
Marnie turned to her and smiled. “You man the desk and dream about meeting your hero.”
Steph blushed and quickly looked at Jake. “Sorry for acting so weird before,” she said.
Jake shook his head. “Think nothing of it.”
“Okay, Freckles,” he said, landing a kiss onto her cheek. “Let’s go and bring our baby into the world. Okay?”
Amber nodded, grateful that he was here and that her mum had gone against her wishes. This was going to be a special time in her life, and there wasn’t anyone she would rather share it with than Jake.
“Excellent,” Jake replied. “Now let’s do this.”
Chapter 34
“Really, Amber it happens all the time,” the midwife said as she washed her hands at the sink. “No need to be embarrassed.”
Amber hid her face with her hands and groaned. “I should have known it was a false alarm.”
“Why would you sweetheart, if it’s your first.”
Jake’s eyes darted to Amber to watch her reaction. He couldn’t believe that the midwife hadn’t read her notes, and known that Amber had given birth before. He placed a hand on Amber’s shoulder and squeezed it gently.
“You okay, Freckles?” he asked.
Seeing understanding in his eyes, tears pricked at Amber’s lashes. She nodded and gave him a small smile.
“Okay Amber you can go whenever you’re ready. Just get yourself dressed.” The midwife said as she moved to the door. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Once the door closed behind her, Jake sat on the edge of the bed and took Amber’s hand in his.
“Right, don’t even think about arguing with me on this, but you’re coming back with me.”
Amber opened her mouth to protest and Jake shook his head.
“I said no, arguing. Apart from the fact that I need to know that you and my child are okay, we need to talk. And, as much as your mum makes a great cooked breakfast, albeit a bit on the big side, I don’t want to stay there until you give birth.” Jake took a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please Freckles, just humour me on this.”
“What’s there to talk about, Jake?” Amber asked in a small voice.
Jake’s eyes widened. “What the fuck do you think we need to talk about?” He pointed to Amber’s swollen stomach. “The baby that you have in there for starters, never mind the fact that you ran away.”
“I explained that to you,” Amber protested swinging her legs off the bed.
“Yeah, well I need to hear more.” Jake stood up and grabbed hold of Amber’s hand. “You are coming home with me, I will look after you and we will talk. Now get dressed, I’ll wait outside.”
As Jake left the room, Amber felt her heart flutter as Jake’s domineering tone reawakened her desire for him.
“Oh God,” she groaned. “I’m in so much trouble.”
When Jake’s car drove past the gates to Luke’s house, Amber turned and put her hand on his arm.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Jake gave her a dazzling smile before turning his eyes back to the road. “The house is finished…finally.”
“Really, oh wow,” Amber exclaimed. “I can’t wait to see it.” She gulped back the lump forming in her throat as she thought about Jake’s house. Once upon a time she had hoped that she would stay there with him as his girlfriend; maybe even live there. Now it would just be as a guest.
“Did you think we were going back to Luke’s?” Jake glanced at her again, his brow creasing into a frown. “I can’t stand the thought of you going into labour and me not being there. So, it has to be this way, I’m sorry.”
“No, its fine,” she said. “But I did think we were going to Luke’s. I spoke to him on the phone yesterday, and he was telling me about all the problems he’d had to deal with while you were in L.A. So, I just assumed it was still a mess.”
Jake gave a snort of laughter. “Yeah well, let’s say Andy and the boys have just put in an extra-long shift.”
As soon as Jake had left Amber at her flat to pack up some of her things, he had contacted Andy his builder and told him in no uncertain terms what had to happen. At that point, Jake hadn’t actually decided that Amber was going to stay at his house, but with the imminent arrival of their child he knew that it had to be finished. It was only once Luke had checked everything for him, and was satisfied, that Jake had made the decision to bring Amber, and eventually his child, here.
“Will Abbie be here?” Amber asked cautiously. “Only Martha told me that she’s been staying with you?”
Jake groaned inwardly. It shouldn’t have been down to Martha to tell her about Abbie staying. Wasn’t keeping quiet about his sister what had got them to this point in the first place? “Yeah, sorry Freckles, I should’ve said. She’s staying with me for a while. What else did Martha say?” Jake asked, knowing that he should tell her the full story.
“Nothing just that Abbie wanted to get away from Hollywood for a while.”
“Yeah, it’s not
a good place for her to be,” Jake replied. “You see what Martha hasn’t said is that Abbie has just come out of rehab. That’s why I had to go to L.A. and why I couldn’t tell you about her.”
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Is she okay?”
Jake smiled and his heart lurched. He wouldn’t have blamed Freckles if she’d had some residual dislike of Abbie, because of the situation; but she didn’t, she was concerned about his sister.
“She will be. But until I can be certain, I need her to be here. Is that okay?” Jake reached his hand across and gently squeezed Amber’s fingers.
Amber held back a gasp as his touch lit up her insides and sent her mind reeling. She’d missed the feel of his hands on her body, she’d missed his hugs and cuddles. She’d missed him.
“Of course it is,” she stammered, dragging her senses back together. “It’s your house, Jake. She has more right to be there than I do. We’re only going to be there for a short time.”
Jake’s heart dropped to his stomach at her words. The mixture of emotions that he was feeling was tearing him apart. His anger and hurt was slowly dissipating, but he still wasn’t sure that he could move past the fact that she’d kept the baby from him. Plus Freckles evidently didn’t even want his help, and that caused a pain in his chest. It felt as though he had a block of concrete constantly weighed down on it, making it difficult to breathe.
Turning his concentration back to the road, they continued the last mile of the journey in silence. When Jake turned into the pebbled driveway, Amber leaned forward in her seat and gasped. Everything had changed so much since the last time she’d been here. The muddy, building site was now a carefully manicured lawn either side of the curved drive, with a beautiful white, stucco house standing pride of place at the end. The roof tiles were dark grey, with matching window sills and either side of the front door were two bay trees in dark grey pots. The whole effect was stunning.
“Jake, it’s gorgeous,” she said as she looked up through the car window. “They’ve done a brilliant job.”
“I know,” Jake replied as they drew to a stop. “Eventually.”
He beamed with pride, glad that he had leaned on Andy and offered him ridiculous amounts of money to get it finished. Despite being constantly on Andy’s case, Jake knew that not all of the six month delay was due to his builder. There had been issues with the drains; the electrics had blown due to a faulty part in the pool filtering system and the company providing the oak flooring for upstairs had gone bankrupt. However, once Jake knew about the baby the house had to be finished no matter what the cost or whoever was to blame for the problems.
“I’ll get your stuff out,” Jake said as he unclipped his seat belt.
Amber simply nodded, unable to speak due to the ball of emotion stuck in her throat. She knew that if things had been different, this beautiful place may have been her home too.
As Jake lifted Amber’s case from the back of the car, Amber went around to the boot to collect the case with items for the baby in it.
“Hey no,” Jake said as he shut the car door. “I’ll get the rest once we’ve got you settled.”
“I’m fine Jake,” Amber protested.
Jake’s eyes narrowed, a look that left Amber in no doubt that he didn’t want to argue about it. “Okay,” she sighed.
As they moved toward the front door, it suddenly burst open and Abbie rushed towards them with open arms.
“You’re here,” she cried hugging Amber to her chest. “It’s so great to meet you, I’m Abbie.”
Amber’s arms flailed at her sides as Abbie embraced her tightly.
“Abs, let her go,” Jake said with a hint of humour. “She needs to be able to breath.”
“Oh wow, I’m so sorry.” Abbie turned to Jake and clapped her hands together excitedly. “And is this my new niece or nephew?” She placed a hand on Amber’s stomach and then turned to Jake. “She’s so beautiful, Jake.”
Jake smiled at his sister and nodded. “Yeah, she is.”
“Come on in,” Abbie said as she took hold of Amber’s hand. “I’ve made some coffee and sandwiches. I guessed you’d be hungry after your journey. Are you allowed to drink coffee? I guess I should know, I played a pregnant woman in a T.V. movie once…” Abbie chattered on, animatedly, as Amber followed her into the house.
As she walked inside, Amber felt her heart start to drum rapidly. The hallway had been decorated just as she’d suggested. It was all white apart from the back wall which was a beautiful pale oatmeal, and in the middle was a round, glass table with a huge vase of lilies on it. When she followed Abbie into the main living area, Amber just about managed to stifle a sob. Jake had painted this to her suggestion too, white with hints of grey and turquoise in the soft furnishings and pictures.
Hearing Amber’s gasp, Jake rested a hand on her shoulder and bent his head to her ear.
“They were good ideas, Freckles,” he whispered. “Of course I was going to do what you suggested.”
Amber turned to him, leaving their lips inches apart. She gulped as Jake’s breath faltered momentarily. She was sure he must be able to hear her heart, it was drumming so loudly in her ears, how could he not? Jake licked his bottom lip and then smiled softly before giving a nervous cough.
“Do you need to freshen up before you eat?” he asked.
Amber simply nodded, as Jake’s gaze had stolen away her power of speech.
“I’ll take you up and show you your room then.”
Jake dragged his eyes away from Amber’s face and looked for Abbie to ask her to hold the food. She was leaning against the grey sofa, her arms crossed and a huge grin on her face.
Jake’s eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline as he asked her silently what the grin was all about. Abbie laughed softly and shook her head.
“You go and do what you have to do,” she said waving them away with her hand. “I can make a fresh pot of coffee.”
Jake hesitated, still wondering what she found so amusing.
“Go on, go.” Abbie smiled at her brother and walked away to the kitchen, leaving him staring after her.
“Oh my God, Jake,” Amber gasped. “It’s absolutely beautiful.” She stood in the middle of the baby’s room, pivoting around to take everything in. They had been on the way past to her room, when Amber saw it through the open door. She insisted that Jake show it to her before they went anywhere else.
The walls were a soft lemon except for one that was painted with a forest scene. It was full of detail and enchanting, with rabbits playing, while fairies flew above them playing a game of tag. In the middle was painted a pond, with two frogs perched on lily pads watching as an otter floated past them on its back, and through the trees Amber spotted a, turreted castle. There were also two horses rubbing against each other, while a Jack Russell dog that looked decidedly like Ernie, sat next to them. Amber’s mouth dropped open wondering whether Jake had been thinking of their first date when he had commissioned the mural.
At the windows were white shutters, and on the white, wooden floor a huge fluffy lemon rug. All the furniture was white, including a rocking chair with lemon, gingham cushions on it.
Amber swiped at the tear trickling down her cheek as she turned to Jake, who was leaning against the door frame.
“Jake,” she whispered. “I don’t know what to say.”
“The wall’s still a bit wet. Max, the guy who did it, only finished it this morning.”
“Well it’s beautiful, the whole room is. Our baby is very lucky.” Amber gave a contented sigh.
“I didn’t know whether you’ll want the baby in with you at first,” Jake said dropping his gaze. “So, there’s a cot in your room too.”
“Thank you. You’ve been so thoughtful.”
“Anything for my child,” he replied with an edge to his voice.
Amber coughed nervously knowing that keeping his child from him, had hurt Jake immensely. “So do you want to show me my room now?” she asked, trying to ease
the tension.
Jake sighed and nodded, standing back to allow Amber to leave the room first. As she passed him, Amber’s arm brushed against his. Jake’s body heated and prickled with longing. She looked so beautiful, her eyes were bright and cheeks lightly flushed, and those pouty lips of hers were driving him to distraction.
“It’s the next door on the right,” Jake said quickly. “I’ve put you in the room next door.”
Amber stared up at him through her lashes and nodded. “Okay, thank you. That’s a good idea.”
“Yeah, and I’m just opposite.”
Amber gulped, wondering how she would cope knowing Jake was only feet away every damn night.
Chapter 35
Over the next few days, Amber and Jake fell into a routine. Every morning they would eat breakfast together, followed by an hour or two reading the newspapers while they waited for Abbie to get out of bed. Once she was up and about they’d chat with her for a while before Jake went down to Luke’s where the band were working on some new material. If Amber didn’t go with him, she would stay behind and spend the day with Abbie. It was all perfectly pleasant and polite.
At no point however, did they have the discussion that they both knew was necessary. Despite it being something that he had insisted on, Jake was avoiding it more than Amber. He didn’t want them to argue and thus stress Amber out, plus he was finding it hard being around her, because one minute he wanted to scream at her for leaving him, and the next he was desperate to take her into his arms and kiss her.
Jake didn’t realise, but Amber had also silently decided to postpone their chat, for pretty much the same reasons. She was feeling equally as frustrated, but in a different way. Despite being only weeks away from childbirth, she was so hot for him that she felt as though steam was coming out of her ears. She had also been having erotic dreams about him; dreams that left her gasping when she woke up. Amber also knew, however, that despite her longing for him, if they talked they would end up arguing. An argument that would surely be so fierce and passionate that she had no doubt would lead her to beg him to take her to bed, and she wasn’t sure she could take the rejection. Jake only wanted her here because of their child; there was nothing more to it than that.
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