Forever Young

I thought pregnancy was supposed to be a beautiful thing. Mother and father wanting to share every moment together. Growing belly which resulted in a glowing mother. Even planning for the baby, or constantly worrying about the baby. But Ember did none of those things. She was cranky, she didn't want anyone, not even me, to be protective of her; discussing the baby didn't even seem like an option and I realized when she fell, she didn't seem to have many concerns for the baby's health.


I was bothered, to say the least.


Maybe it was just from watching too much television, but I assumed she would freak out over the fact that she took a fall and wonder if it had any impact on Baby Barakat. I do understand that it must be hard to be in her shoes. Having people freak out over her every two seconds, that's gotta suck, but it's no excuse to shrug off the child just because she doesn't want to deal with the worry. Truthfully, I think I was just as frustrated with her, if not more, than she was with me.


Even the simple things - Eating, working, trying to avoid stress - She seems to be walking straight into all of the things she's been advised not to do. Too much heat can get to her faster than the rest of us since her blood is doubling, but she goes right out into it without a second thought. She'd rather eat junk food with the rest of us instead of eating something healthy, which the doctor gave us a list of. When it comes to stressful things, she takes someone asking her a small question as us hovering over her. She's even bitching at her friends and it's honestly exhausting just to be in the same room with her.


I'm starting to fear that maybe she doesn't want the baby, or maybe she just doesn't want to be viewed as the pregnant girl anymore. Regardless, she's being destructive to herself and the rest of us. I think that's why, over the last week, we've all backed off. If Ember wants to go, we let her go. That's the new order of things. No one questions how she's feeling anymore. No one checks to make sure she's taking her vitamins anymore. It's all on her, because that seems to be all she wants. I've even gotten to the point where I'll only rub or kiss her belly when she's asleep.


Sure, she probably doesn't intend to come off the way she is, it's probably just the hormones.. But fuck. We can only take so much. Between her and the whispers going around about her soon-to-expand-belly, I'm about to rip my own hair out. I've started calling my therapist everyday and I even went ahead and told my mom about the baby, partly because word would most likely get back to her, and partly because I needed to know what I was doing wrong to push Ember over the edge.


It scares me because I see a different person in her now, the same way she saw a different person in me.


"Look, there goes daddy now," a voice caught my attention as I was making my way to our signing, wondering where Ember was but too afraid I'd bother her if I sent her a text to ask. "Must be fun living with a pregnant chick. You even sure it's your kid?"


"You know what really humors me," I turned on my heel to face the same son of a bitch that made Ember's stress level sky-rocket. "You act as if she's got some kind of illness. She's just the same as she was before. She's not a different person, or even a fragile person. She's pregnant, what's the big fucking deal?"


"I just think you're both idiots. A pregnant chick on the road? Come on, man."


"Yeah, because pregnant women can't travel. That's never been heard of, has it?"


Alan furrowed his brows and started thinking of something witty to say in return, but I took this as my chance to walk away from him before I decked him in the jaw. Talking shit to me is one thing, talking shit to Ember is another. But talking shit to Ember about our child earns you an ass-kicking in my book. The only reason I haven't jumped him yet is because I'm trying to keep Ember from stressing too much. What's best for her has to be best for us.


I made my way to the tent and slid into my seat, the rest of the guys already talking to fans that were in line. Alex could tell by my face that I wasn't in the best of spirits, so he slipped me a water bottle and leaned in close so we could speak without anyone else hearing.


"We have a few days off after this," he sighed, sending a wave to a fan. "Just hold out until then."


"I'm not sure a day off is going to help anything."


"Yeah, I know, but it's a start. Maybe you and Ember could get a room and take a break from the world for a while."


"Maybe," I shrugged, opening the water. "But if we do that she might actually strangle me for asking her what she wants for dinner."


Alex chuckled and pointed his finger in the direction I'd just come from. My eyes moved to see Ember and Matt headed our way, neither of them looking happy. My first instinct was to stand up and ask why he had her working today, but it was obvious he didn't want her working anymore than I did. Plus, it'd get me nowhere but in the dog house.


So, I instead started signing posters and flashing half-hearted smiles, barely paying any mind to Ember. This was going to take a lot of getting used to.

Notes

Long day = Short chapter. I'm sorry.
But at least we're getting a little 'uh-oh' from Jack's side of things. Starting to heat up, eh? lol. <3.