Must I Be Your Bride? - Chapter Twenty Seven

When I wake up, William still by my side, I can't help but snuggle closer into him, breathing in his mesmerizing scent. He chuckles and I feel him place kisses all over my head, not exactly letting me go back to sleep. So I look up at him, my eyes having a hard time adjusting to the bright light.

"I haven't slept this well for a while," I murmured.

"Neither have I," he says.

He leans in for a kiss, but the knocks on my door don't let him make it to my lips.

"Serene?" My mom says from the other side of my bedroom door. "Open this door."

By my mom's tone, it was evident that she didn't approve of me locking my door.

I sighed.

William leaned in to place a kiss on my forehead before standing up and rushing over to my window. For some reason I jerk up after him. Probably scared he won't come back?

"I'll be back," he says softly. And then he disappears out my window.

Feeling as giddy as ever, I make myself walk to my door and open it, my mom staring at me like any frustrated mother would.

"You're not allowed to lock your door," she says. "I don't trust you to."

I look at away, understanding her completely. How could she trust me after seeing me hanging out from my window? I don't think I would trust myself either. Not if William hadn't returned.

Her eyes softened and she sighed.

"Get ready. We're going grocery shopping and then taking Joshua to soccer practice." When she sees that I'm about to argue she says, "I'm sorry, but I'm not leaving you here alone."

"William was going to come over," I say hesitantly.

I can tell that she's not very fond of the idea. "You and William? Here? Alone? I don't think so. Serene, we don't even know this William or how you guys even met. I don't want you alone with him."

"He wouldn't hurt me," I say almost offensively. "You can trust him, especially if you don't trust me."

She looked at me for a long moment, her eyes not looking like they had changed their mind. "I trust you when it comes to boys," she says. "Am I doing the right thing?"

No. It was a little too late for her to ask this question. And now I am filled with guilt. That's just great...

"Yes," I say. "You can trust me."

I waited on my bed anxiously for both, William to get back, and my mom to leave. My mom left first, giving me her warning, yet somehow soft, glances as she left.

As I waited, I poured myself some cereal, first starting with one plate then two.

Okay, I'll admit, I was worried. I knew William was coming back, but I just couldn't suppress that hesitating thought on whether he could somehow go back on his promise.

And then finally, as I was about to pour myself a third plate of cereal, William is in front of me, holding a plastic bag in one hand.

"I wanted to try the fast food breakfast, but I can see you are no longer hungry," he says with a smile.

The thought of unhealthy food suddenly makes me hungry again, and I put the bowl aside.

Two pancakes and three eggs later, William and I go into the living room. Strangely he doesn't comment on how much I ate... but I guess we both know that eating was one of the last things on my mind when he was gone. As William scans through my DVDs, I take the liberty of sitting down.

"Not many choices to choose from," he says with a smirk.

"We've never been the horror-movie type," I admit.

"A romance then?"

"Do I need more romance in my life?"

He looks at me, finding my answer quite interesting. With a breath-taking smile, he stops looking at the DVDs and sits beside me, pulling me into a sudden kiss.

I'm surprised at first at the sudden gesture, but who am I to refuse? Of course I kissed him back. And of course, the kiss led to me wanting this to be more than just a kiss.

William notices when I start getting really deep into my desire, when I begin to push him down onto the couch. He stops me.

"We can't," he whispers. "It is a rule your mother implied."

I sighed, barely remembering through the fuzz in my mind. Right... he overheard. "A rule I already broke."

"Not in your own house."

I sighed exasperated and leaned in to kiss him again, but his smile practically didn't allow me to.

And then I have this sudden churn in my stomach, a churn I had thought of as I ate all that food. I am forced to leave William suddenly, without being able to tell him why I was jerking away, and run to the bathroom.

At first I just sat there in front of the toilet, and I thought it was just a false alarm, but then it happened. I started regurgitating. And it was one of the most disturbing moments of my life.

I was mortified when William walked in, mentally cursing at myself for not locking the door. But he just kneeled beside me and helped me with my hair, just like he did that night I had the fever. The difference between the two times is that last time I didn't exactly vomit. William looked away, respecting at least the sight, but to me it wasn't enough.

Finally, after countless times of thinking I was done and ending up just letting it all out again, I had finally reached the end of my vomiting.

The first thing I did - go upstairs and brush my teeth until the nasty bitter and sour taste was out of my mouth.

Once done, I lean against the bathroom counter, looking over at William, who was at the doorway of the bathroom, embarrassed.

"Guess I ate a little too much."

His eyebrows narrowed, and he slowly nodded. "I suppose."

Okay... so I guess it's normal for someone to find what just happened quite disturbing. The thought doesn't exactly help my still mortified nerves.

"I'm sorry," I say.

His soft gaze meets mine as he shakes his head, his lips slanting into a weak smile.

"If you think that I am now disgusted by you then you don't know me at all," he assures.

Hearing that, I let out a nervous laugh that sounds more like a sigh, and I make my way over to him.

"You just gave me that look," I say.

He looks at me confused. "What look?"

I lean on the door frame beside him. "The look you give me when you're thinking either about something that will cause us to break apart again or you know something I should also know, but I don't."

He looks away, shaking his head as if he was trying to shake out the thoughts in his mind. "Paranoia?"

"Why would you be paranoid?"

William slowly makes his way to my bed and takes a seat. I don't hesitate on taking a seat next to him, watching him intently.

"It's just... you don't get sick all of a sudden," he says with hesitation.

"No, I had to eat my heart out first, remember?"

I can't really tell what he's trying to say. Does he think that I have some sickness now? A sickness that makes me let out my food through my mouth and can be life-threatening?

"I'm fine," I assure. I take a hold of his hand and it only tightens around mine. This was enough to make me worry.

"William, I'm not John," I say almost frustrated. "I can't read your mind."

He's not looking at me. Why isn't he looking at me?

"This is the first time you have gotten sick?" He finally speaks.

"Yes," I say. "Now are you going to tell me what's going on?"

He finally turns to me, and then I see those troubled eyes again. From my view right now, looking at William, with the shafts of light from my window pointing directly at him, he looks just so breath-taking that I wouldn't have been able to snap out of my trance if it weren't for his pained eyes. His hair, it looked almost golden when the sun connected with it, and I just wanted to run my fingers through its softness like I did before.

"Serene," he says in a lower voice. "When was the last time you had your monthly cycle?"

That's when I froze. Now I know why he was worried; why he was asking me all of these questions.

Why did it never occur to me? Why did I never think of it?

I was too caught up in missing William. The depression, stress, the lack of eating some days, and then binging on the others - I thought that to be all because I wanted him.

But if it wasn't... then there was one only other reason. And it seemed to be confirmed with the answer I couldn't let out.

Of course I wouldn't notice. How could I not notice?

I felt stupid, angry, silly. How can I NOT notice this?

William looks away, not being able to look into my vacant eyes any longer. He's speechless as he gets to his feet, his fingers tangled into his tousled hair. I still don't move.

What was the most irritating thing about this was that it was evidently going to happen. With no protection, what exactly can you expect? The fact that it never even crossed my mind just frustrates me.

Was my mind still processing vampires and possibly believing it would be impossible for this to happen? I might have had a rough past month, but wouldn't the thought have somehow slipped through? While I was thinking about my night with William, wouldn't I have once considered what the results would be in the future?

"I'm so sorry," William says almost frantically. "I promised you the normality of one more year, and I completely failed it."

I don't reply, but not because I don't want to. My body just refuses to respond, still trying to receive the information it just got.

"I'll go with you to... extricate." He goes on with hesitation, still not able to look at me.

When I realize what he meant, my body finally wakes up, and there really isn't much to think over as I take a stand up beside him.

"I'm not killing our baby," I say with certainty.

William seems to flinch when I finally put into words on what this was all about. He gives a slow shake of his head.

"I mean, we're still not sure. Maybe..." I don't go on. There's really no other excuse for missing my "monthly cycle"... so why am I even trying to believe otherwise? I could also be sick... I suppose.

"You're so young," he says, barely loud enough for me to hear.

When he says that, I am even more irritated.

"Am I a little girl to you, William? Do I look like a little girl?" I snap. "Destiny is just getting in the way of your stubbornness."

He finally looks at me, his eyes still containing that pained expression I hate to see.

"I'm all grown up now," I assure. "And if you're willing to have this baby with me, then I will be the happiest wife and mother on earth."

The pain in his eyes softens, and his hands find my own. His forehead leans against mine and just stays there, without giving a sign of backing away. Then he hesitantly leans in to kiss me.

"What exactly do you plan to do?"

I let out a sigh of disbelief, shocked that he's finally willing to hear me out for once; finally realizing I have a right to make my own decisions.

"We tell my family," I say. William smiled slightly at my faltered voice and links his fingers with mine. "And we make you king."

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Author's Note

I know the idea sounds familiar, but let's be honest.... William wasn't going to budge any other way.

To "Your Reader": I know I could have made this story more interesting... but honestly I'm still working on my writing. And I know that I can't just spend forever trying to think on how I can make the story better because that wouldn't be fair to you guys. I always post after writing just one or two chapters and I know that's sort of bad idea because I don't exactly have the time to think the plot over. I did plan for Demitri to be more involved... but I guess I never acted on my ideas. I'm sorry if I disappointed any of you. I will make sure to think over my stories carefully next time.

To those who use "Mum": This is the first time I hear of people spelling "mum" instead of "mom". "Mom" is how we use it in California.

Me and writing: So I do plan to write a book one day (I've been thinking one over), but you see it will be a little different from what I post on here. My book won't only revolve around the two main characters and how they fall in love. There will be more action in it and I plan to learn more vocabulary before I begin to actually write.

As for the next story, I plan to post on here... I haven't really gotten any ideas lately. I don't like to come up with ideas while I'm right in the middle of a story because then I'll most likely finish carelessly while I'm hooked on writing the other story.

So I think maybe....One more chapter.... I might do two but that is only if there's something I decide to add. I plan on writing you guys an epilogue so I hope that'll work for you guys.

You have no idea how much I appreciate you guys! Reading every comment is like reading a new interesting story for me. Thank you guys for everything and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!