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Limelight	By : HobNobsAndTea Category: Individual Celebrities > Tom Hiddleston Views: 2495 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: All events in this story are completely fictional, have never happened. We recieve no money from this story, and wrote it simply for the joy of writing it. Enjoy!

Chapter List
- 6
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- 8
                You fidget nervously with silver covers over the plates. You could hear your mom and Tom's mom chatting and laughing. Luke had showed up with Ellen as well. That had been a laughing and crying surprise orchestrated by your love. The biggest surprise though was Stephen arriving for the dinner party WITH Luke.
                Emma peeked her head in. "You ok?" You looked up and smiled. "Yea, just a little nervous. I'm not used to this kind of thing."
                "Tom likes to go all out. He's big on family."
                "I've noticed." A wave of nausea hits you. "Excuse me." You dash through the living room.

"Shel?"
                The bathroom door is closed. "Oh no. No. No. No." You knock on the door. "Emergency." Tom's father opens the door. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Hiddleston."
                "It's alright, love." You shoo him out of the bathroom. Getting the door closed and locked, you make it toilet just in time. The porcelain feels cool against your face.
                A soft knock at the door. "Kitten?"
                "I'm fine, baby." You flush the toilet then rinse your mouth. Tom is waiting when you open the door. He hands you a hard candy.
                "I found these in Canada." The wrapper has 'Preggy pop drops' printed on it. "They're supposed to help with the sickness."
                "I'll give it a try." Everyone looks up as you walk in. "Can we please get this over with before I throw up again?"
                "Alright."
                The group moves to the dining room. "Shelia and I worked together on a surprise for you all. Go ahead and lift the trays."
                In a wave, the family lifts the trays. You blindly reach for Tom's hand. His fingers wrap around your hand. His arm wraps around your waist when he feels you shaking.
                Ellen's excited squeal joins your mom's crying. Emma jumps up and hugs you both. "I can't believe it."
                Tom's dad holds up the sonogram printing. "What am I looking at?"
                "Your grandchild."
                He squints. "She's pregnant?"
                Tom's mom looks at your mom. "Shelia, is your mother alright?"
                You glance at Ellen comforting your mom. "She's fine. I kind of expected this." Tom squeezes your hand. "Are you alright?"
                "Will you two be getting married?"
                Tom clears his throat. "We haven't discussed marriage. Shelia is working on her citizenship. And I've got filming most of the rest of the year."
                "And what about this baby?"
                "The baby will be born before I start filming in Louisiana."
                Your mom finally stands from her chair and pulls you into a fierce hug. "I'm so happy for you, peanut. I just don't have the words." She falls into tears again.
                Tom's mom looks down at her hands. "My only objection is to the two of you not being married. But I know things are different from when I had you and your sisters." the excitement settles down and the meal goes off without a hitch.
                "Tom, uh, Stephen and I have been working on a surprise for you. He didn't know it was for a nursery."
                "Shel?"
                You open the door to the nursery. The smell of baby powder overlays the smell of paint. You flip on the light. Tom's face lights up at the mural. He doesn't bother to stop the tears in his eyes. "Surprise."
                "Oh, Kitten." He breathes. His arms are warm and strong. He lifts you up, crushing you to his chest, and spins you around. The kiss is sweet and full of love. His eyes are sparkling with joy and tears when he pulls away. Any regret at telling the families vanishes in his face.
                "It's beautiful. You're beautiful." He leans down and kisses your stomach. "And you're beautiful." He cups your face and kisses you tenderly. "I love you."
                Stephen clears his throat. "And on that note, Luke do you think you could give me a ride home?"
                "Of course."
                The family disperses to hotels. Tom drags a mattress in to the room. The two of cuddle under the blankets. His fingers combing through your hair. "I've never been happier than I am right now."
                Tom opens an eye seeing that you were still wide awake and his hand starts rubbing your shoulder again. “What’s wrong?” He questions.

                You sigh softly, “So what do you think is going to implode first? Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr?”

                “Don’t worry about that love. Gossip is always going to be there. Realistic fans who know they might never even have the chance to meet me will be glad that I’m happy. Then there are others that are just going to be jealous and angry and then move on to the next piece of eye candy that catches their fancy.” He says kissing your head.

                Furrowing your brow you raise your head looking at him, “Hey, I’m supposed to be the cynical one.” You can’t help but smile. “Or am I starting to rub off on you?”

                He grins mischievously wrapping his other arm around you, “Darling, you can rub all over me if you’d like.” You laugh sticking your tongue out at him playfully before he leans forward and captures it between his lips and stealing a kiss.

                “It’s possible that your positivity is starting to affect me because I’m carrying your baby.” You tease.

                He wraps his other arm around you, “If that’s the case I guess I’ll just have to keep you pregnant all the time won’t I?” Tom grins kissing you once, then again a bit more deeply than before. You smile up at him hardly able to believe you could love someone so much, even harder to believe that someone could love you so much. “So now that it’s painted, we can start ordering furniture and toys, yes?”

                “Really?” You say arching a brow knowing how anxious he was about all this. “Only 12 weeks in and you already want to finish the nursery?”

                “No, not finish. Just add on.” He says with a grin. You study him for a moment before smiling and shaking your head. “What?”

                “You totally already ordered stuff didn’t you.” He smiles sheepishly. You shake your head and kiss him resting your hand to his face before sliding your fingers through his red locks.

                “We also need to talk about your moving in. As soon as possible.” He says seriously.

                “No.” That rejection came out a little faster than you meant it to.

                “Why?” He questions his smile vanishing.

                “Because, this is your house. Your house that you’re hardly ever in. I’m not going to take over your house like that.” You say seriously.

                “But you’ll be here when I come home. And this is a gated community with security. I’d honestly feel better about your being here then living in that apartment on your own.” You sigh sitting up wrapping your arms around yourself. Tom sits up wrapping his arm around your waist resting his chin to your shoulder looking at you. “Would it make you uncomfortable living here with me because we aren’t married?”

                “You know, I had a feeling that was going to start bugging you as soon as your mom said it.” You say with an irritated sigh. He furrows his brow not quite understanding why that would upset you. “I am not going to railroad you into a shot gun wedding just because I got pregnant.” You say wrapping your arms further around yourself turning away.

                Tom slides closer to you turning towards you. “Where on earth is this coming from?” He questions seriously. “It never even crossed my mind that you would want that.”

                “Good. Because I don’t.” You look at him, “This wasn’t intentional. I didn’t do it on purpose. I was willing to go straight into the doctors the day after they told me to have it taken care of.”

                “Darling.” Tom says taking a breath, “You know full well I don’t like you talking like this. We want this baby, both of us. Don’t speak like it’s an unwanted pregnancy either of us is being forced into. A surprise one to be sure, but I never once regretted it or wished it didn’t happen.” He studies you for a moment before reaching over and wrapping an arm around you rubbing your shoulders. “So what prompted this?”

                It was something that you had seen in a passing comment or two when you were still working together on the Coriolanus production. One of the less happy ones about You and Tom seeing each other mentioned that you were probably some kind of gold digger or opportunist that would get knocked up just so a classy guy like Tom would feel obligated to marry you. Then of course others latched on to it and it grew from there. Some bitter old woman whose blog was the byke or something or other.

                “Hmmm.” He says reading your face, “Are we going to have to suspend your internet connection love? Because if it upsets you this much, I’m not certain I want you surfing it.”

                “I haven’t read the hate stuff since the Coriolanus production closed.” You say seriously. “Yeah, the gossip does bother me sometimes, but . . .” You didn’t want to bring up again, or remind either of you what happened or how Tyler found you in the first place.

                He rubs your back a bit, “Come here.” He says pulling you into his arms holding you close. “Talk is just that, talk. They don’t know anything about me or my real life other then what’s printed in newspapers and magazines and I can assure you that I do not tell them hardly anything about my personal life. I don’t put any stock in the gossip columns and neither should you. It’s just . . . elementary school play yard rubbish. Thanks to media it’s on a global scale, but we can deal with it the same way you deal with it when you’re a child. Just ignore it.” He kisses your cheek.

                “You really have to leave tomorrow night?” You say looking at him.

                “Filming resumes on Monday morning bright and early.” Reaching up he strokes your hair back from your face over your ear. “But it’s just a few more weeks. Then I’ll be home for a while love.” He promises. “But I’ll call you every day. So keep your phone handy.”

You mumble something he can’t quite make out and he dips his head slightly looking at you. “I’m going to be fat when you get back.”

                He grins, “I hope so. I can’t wait to see it.” You give him a look. “Alright, if you’re that worried about it. Take a picture of you naked everyday, when you wake up or after you get out of the shower and send it to me. That way I can see the way you grow until I anxiously get to hold you and see you in person.” You smile playfully smacking his chest. He knew you weren’t going to take naked pictures of yourself for any reason. But he got you to smile and that was what he was aiming for. He chuckles and kisses your head holding you close.
                The doorbell of your apartment rings and you call out, “Hold on! Just a minute.” You take off your gardening gloves and wiping the dirt from your face off the balcony. “Hold on, hold on.” Hurrying to the door you pull the bolt back on the door and open it. Your eyes going wide, “Oh, hello Bene . . . er Mr. Cumberbatch. Please come in.”

                He and his girlfriend Sophie Hunter are standing on your doorstep and then come inside when you open the door a bit further. He smiles kissing your cheek, “Don’t be silly dear, no need to be so formal. Ben is quite sufficient.” Sophie is carrying a small flower pot with a miniature yellow rose plant.

                “Tom said you liked roses. Is yellow a good color?” She asks handing it to you.

                “Oh yes, I love all the colors.” You smile taking it, “Thank you. I’m sorry I’m such a mess, I was working on what I call a garden.” You close the door and walk over putting the plant down on the table. It was just a small 2’x5’ flower box but you certainly made use of it.

                “I suppose the proper thing to do would have been to call first, but we were in the area and I’m afraid we didn’t have your number.” Benedict says sheepishly. For some reason, you didn’t by that for a minute and motioned for them to have a seat on the couch as you sit in the chair on the opposite side.

                “Tom isn’t here though; he won’t be back from Canada for another week possibly two.” You say softly.

                “Actually, we were coming by to see you.” Ben said. You looked at him suspiciously. “Umm . . . We were wondering if you’d like to go out to dinner with us tonight. Nothing fancy. Maybe the cinema afterward is you’re feeling up to it. Just to get out and away for an evening.”

                You knew it. “Hmm.” You give a nod, “Tom asked you to come by and check on me didn’t he.”

                “He’s worried about you Shelia.” Sophie said. “You haven’t really been out since the production at the Noel Coward closed.”

                “I’m fine.” You say with a smile, “Really. The Donmar has another production coming up soon and they already have me on the roster for stage work. Everything’s fine.”

                There’s a pause as Benedict and Sophie look at each other. “You also haven’t been to Tom’s house since he went back to Canada.”

                “Well, he isn’t there. So there’s no reason for me to be there. He has a house keeper, she comes in and cleans twice a week.” They fall silent again as though they had been disarmed, but there was more to this then they were letting on. “What?”

                “He was worried, because . . . well because . . . .” Sophie paused not certain if they should be intruding like this.

                “Because of the argument you had with Emma a few days ago and the fact you haven’t been returning his phone calls.” You sigh leaning back in your chair resting your hands over your middle. You weren’t showing terribly yet but there was definitely a bump there.

                “Did he tell you what it was about? It wasn’t just hormones or me flying off the handle.” You say in your defense.

                “She just wanted to take you shopping, didn’t she?”

                “For MATURINTY clothes.” You say throwing up your hands.

                “Well,” Benedict starts, “You are pregnant darling.”

                “Those clothes are meant to accentuate the fat belly, not hide it. I prefer to hide it.” You say in frustration crossing your arms.

                “I would think they would be more comfortable to wear . . . .” He looks at Sophie, “Wouldn’t they?” She smiles a little and pats him on the shoulder.

                “Go smoke on the balcony honey.” He was thankful for the escape feeling like he was just digging himself into a hole there was no way out of. He took the hint and stood up heading out through the kitchen onto the balcony closing the door behind. Sophie movies on the couch closer to you, “They don’t get it.”

                You sigh resting your hand over your eyes a moment before looking at her, “I’m not ashamed. I’m really not, I just . . . .” You didn’t know what was wrong with you.

                “You think people will treat you differently if they can actually see that you’re pregnant.” She says.

                “YES!” Finally someone got it. “They’re already treating me differently, Tom treats me like I’m made of glass, . . . . and the Donmar has already said they’ll make allowances for my ‘condition’ and make sure I have someone shadowing me if I want maternity leave.”

                “Shelia.” She leans over and takes your hands looking at you, “Everything is fine. It’s just for a little while. You have to think about you and the baby and what’s best for you. Yes people are going to treat you a little differently for a while, but that isn’t a bad thing. It honestly isn’t.” You sigh and look down. Sophie smiles a little, “You know Tom adores you. Every time we hear from him he gushes about you, and the baby.”

                You smile a little, “I know.”

                She squeezes your hands a little, “What if we go out shopping, not necessarily looking for maternity clothes, but just for comfortable things that will fit better? Hmm? We’ll even avoid pink and annoying pastels.” You weren’t sure if that would be a good idea after you had shut Tom’s sister down so hard. “I’ll talk to Emma. Don’t worry.”

                “Not exactly ingratiating myself to his family am I.” You say softly.

                “These things happen. Don’t worry. I imagine its stressful enough being here by yourself so much with Tom away. We’ll have a girl’s day out. Me, you, possibly Emma if she wants to join us.” She says with a smile. You give a reluctant nod and she smiles squeezing your hands again.
                There was another reason why you hadn’t been returning phone calls, actually it was the same reason no one was getting in contact with you. You had shut your phone off and jammed it in a drawer before you and Emma even had the argument.

                Someone, you didn’t know who, was calling you repeatedly under an unlisted or blocked number and just listening to you as you asked who was calling. At first you handled it like any other call and just assumed the call was dropped or someone realized they were dialing a wrong number and hanging up when they didn’t know who it was that answered. However the call kept coming, even after you’d let it go to voicemail. You would pick up and say hello and ask who it was but they wouldn’t answer and just breathe. And it soon expanded from one unlisted number to three different unlisted numbers that would call over and over and over again. No one had this number, Luke had opened the account under a dummy name and only Tom, your family, and certain members of his family had the number.

                It had been going on for two days before it finally freaked you out enough you couldn’t deal with it anymore and shut off your phone throwing it in a drawer in the kitchen and leaving it there. You hadn’t told anyone, and you were actually afraid of opening the damn drawer. It was like something from a horror movie. You didn’t want to tell anyone, and certainly not Tom who was worried enough about you as it was. But calls were going unanswered and it always went directly to voicemail when it was turned off. Of course Tom was under the impression you were ignoring or avoiding him. You’d always answered when he called before, no matter what time of the day or night.

                You were going to continue to keep it to yourself, it was just a stupid prank caller. Nothing to worry about really. But it was still quite unnerving when you lived alone and Tom was so far away.
                 You enjoyed yourself immensely and you'd even let Sophie and Emma talk you into some belly revealing shirts. Your belly was a developing a cute little bump.

                You open the door to your apartment, feeling light and airy. The morning sickness had finally passed. You pull up short. "Tom!"
                He hugs you tightly. You hug back but when you start to pull away, he won't let go. He holds you tighter. "Tom?" His shoulders tremble. He drops to his knees and presses his face into your belly. He looks up at you, tears tracking his face.
                "Don't you ever do this to me again." He stands and grabs your shoulders. "I've been worried sick about you. You haven't answered my calls or texts for almost 2 weeks."
                Guilt twists your gut. "What are you doing here?"
                He pulls you into his arms. "Guillermo knew I was worried about you. He rearranged shooting to give me a break."
                "I'm sorry, Tom. I never meant to worry you." You drop to the couch.
                "Where's your phone?"
                "In the drawer."
                "Why?" You shrug, not wanting to worry him. "My 16 week pregnant girlfriend has been ignoring me." He combs his fingers through his hair. "Answer me, Shelia."
                You hug yourself, not really liking his tone. But you can't really blame him. His nostrils flare in agitation. He goes in to the bedroom.
                "700 missed calls. 700! Not all from me." He stands over you, fuming, absolutely fit to be tied. "There's Ellen. Who's been calling me three times a day. Your mother. Who has threatened to move in here. Stephen. Luke. Emma. Myself. And this number." He rattles it off. "This number the most." He scrolls through. "Is that why you haven't been answering calls?"
                You sigh. He flew all the way home because he was worried about you. "It started with a call. Then they were happening almost hourly. I turned the phone off because I was scared."
                He sighs and sits next to you, taking both your hands in his.
                "I know you're uncomfortable with being at my house when I'm not there but in light of this, I want you to move in."
                "Tom-"
                "No. Shelia. I don't think to have any idea how worried and scared I was." He cups your face in his hands. "If anything happened to you or the baby, I'd be gutted. I love you. And our baby."
                You stare into his face. Selfish. "I've been so selfish. I just. I'm used to hiding." "You don't have to hide anymore. I'll do whatever it takes to protect you."
                You sit looking at the monitor. "A boy?"
                "A boy." The doctor points to the fetus's genitals. Tom squeezes your hand.
                "A boy! We're having a boy!" He kisses you deeply. The baby kicks the sonogram wand. "Ok ok, my darling, I've gotta run. Flight leaves in two hours." He kisses you again. Emma's waiting to take you home. As you're in the car headed home, your new phone goes off. Luke had gotten you an encrypted line on Tom's plan. No one could find it.
                "Oh my god. He tweeted it."
                "What?"
                "Emma, he tweeted the picture of the sonogram." Your head thumps back.
                "It's not so bad. You just have to pick your battles. Just ignore them. I'll have one of Luke's people fix your settings so that the crazies can't contact you."
                "Thanks, Emma. I just. I'm used to be alone and hiding. Being out in the open, it's just not in my comfort zone."
                Standing on a step in the nursery you finish putting up a shelf for supplies next to the changing table. The only place in Tom’s house you felt comfortable spending time in was the nursery. There was still a lot to be done, and now that you knew you were expecting a boy there were certain bits and bobs you could add.

                The cell phone started to ring and you put down your tools getting off the step and quickly pick it up answering it. “Hello darling.” Tom says, “How are you today?”

                “I’m fat and unattractive.” You answer simply.

                “Well that’s completely impossible.” You can hear him smiling and can’t help but smile yourself. “So my flight is due in Thursday night. Luke’s arranged to have me picked up and brought home.”

                “Why did he do that? I can pick you up.” You say picking up the curtains that you’d finished sewing earlier that day.

                “We don’t touch down until after midnight, love. You shouldn’t have to be out so late at night.” He says.

                “Still not made of glass, Tom.” You say with a sigh.

                “I know sweetheart, I just . . . . I want you to be safe. Both of you.” Of course he was concerned and you had picked up that he had been feeling a bit guilty that he’d been away for so long even though it was his job and he was cast long before the two of you were ever seeing each other.

                “I know.” It was impossible to fault him for that. So many guys out there would have bolted once you came up pregnant. Even more still would have probably offered to pay for the abortion on the way out. You were extremely lucky, and you couldn’t deny that.

                “Did you have another scan today? You didn’t send it to me.” He says.

                “I know, the battery on my phone died. It wouldn’t send. I’ve had it on the charger since I got home, it should be able to send now.” You take the phone away from your ear a second before giving a nod, “Yup. I’ll send it to you as soon as we hang up.”

                “What did the doctor say?” He questions. There’s a long pause as today was the first bit of news that there might have been a problem. “Shelia?”

                “Uh, yeah. He said that everything looks good. Me and the baby are very healthy, good progress, excellent development, normal growth . . .”

                Tom could tell you were dancing around something, “What is it?” He asks.

                You pause again wishing that he hadn’t have asked and you could have just talked about it when he got home. Rubbing your head slightly you lean against the wall, “The doctor thinks that I might need . . . that the baby might need to be delivered by Caesarean.”

                “What? Why? What’s wrong?” You can hear the worry in his voice.

                “No, Tom. Nothing is wrong. We’re both fine. There’s just concern because of the scar tissue that there might be complications if I try to deliver naturally. They don’t want to take the risk.” You hear him sigh and then a pause. “Please don’t worry. C-sections are common place now. And this will work better anyway. We can actually schedule the day and time the baby is born, which with your work schedule is pretty handy.”

                “Alright sweetheart.” He concedes.

                “You sound tired.” You say softly.

                “I am. It’s been a great run, and a wonderful experience. But I’m ready to come home now. I miss you.” He says gently.

                You smile a little bit, “I miss you too.” You hesitated a moment knowing that it was going to sound silly but you had to say it, “I miss sleeping with your arms around me. When you rest your cheek against mine and your all stubbly from the day.”

                He smiles, “I miss hearing the way you giggle in your sleep.”

                “I do not!” You laugh.

                “Yes you do. Sometimes, like someone told you a joke that you can’t keep yourself laughing from. Or maybe someone is tickling your feet, just around your little toe.” You blush a little covering your mouth with your hand to suppress a giggle not realizing he knew that was one of your most ticklish spots on your body.

                You move to the rocking chair in the corner next to the window sitting down. “I miss the way you would kiss me just behind my ear when we settle in to sleep, and lace your fingers with mine over my chest.”

                There’s a pause as the two of you just listen to each other’s breath for a moment, smiling softly. “I can’t wait to see you again my darling.” Tom says gently and you can hear the longing in his voice.
                Tom hadn’t gotten in until almost 2am, and was extremely exhausted from his flight. However that didn’t stop him from wanting to go for a run first thing when he got up. While he was gone, his agency called and wanted him to come in to sign a few papers. He was a little irritated to be called away but had every intention of making it the shortest meeting ever so he could get back and spend time with you.

                Getting out of the shower you dry off combing out your hair and twisting it up into a clip. Pinking them up you frown realizing you’d grabbed the wrong undergarments to change into. Your old bras didn’t fit very well right now considering your belly wasn’t the only thing that had swollen so large. Shaking your head you slip your head out looking around to make sure you weren’t streaking in front of anyone before sneaking out to the dresser and opening your drawer getting the right ones out and quickly going back into the bathroom. You start to pass the full length mirror but stop walking back.

                “Oh lord.” Putting the undergarments down on the counter you stand looking at your naked body. Shaking your head in disbelief you turn to the side seeing how big your belly had gotten. It had been weeks since you had seen each other as he had to go back to finish filming Crimson Peak. What a horrible thing to come home and see. You sigh resting your hands on the large swell. “Like a beached whale.”

                “You’re beautiful.” You jump hearing Tom’s voice reaching over and snatching the towel wrapping it around you turning and seeing him leaning against the doorway having been watching you for a few moments. You face blushes red in embarrassment. He smiles and walks over gently pulling the towel away and tossing it aside then turns you back to face the mirror. Standing behind you, he wraps his arms around your middle and rests his hands over yours holding you tight. “Even more gorgeous then when I left.” He whispers placing a tender kiss behind your ear, before resting his cheek to yours admiring you in the mirror.

                “You don’t have to say such nice things to be Tom. I look like a dairy heifer.” You sigh leaning your head back against his shoulder. “You can be honest.”

                “Hmm, alright.” He says turning you to face him as he takes your hands in his looking you over very seriously. You prepare yourself for the worst as you look at his eyes and he begins to nod. “Nope, definitely no denying it.”

                “What?” You say cautiously.

                “I think that we need to make a new rule. You aren’t allowed to wear clothes whenever we’re home.” You stare at him wide eyed a moment. He grins pulling you close, “You’re too beautiful to be covered up, I don’t want anything blocking my view.” Rolling your eyes slightly you giggle and he grins seeing that he’d made you smile. Wrapping his arms around you he leans down kissing you anxiously, having wanting to be able to do so for weeks. Kissing him back, you almost feel lightheaded not knowing how much you truly missed him, missed his kiss, missed his strong embrace until you were in his arms again. You kiss again, then once more, and then a third time before you both pause to catch your breath grinning against each others lips. You start to lean in to kiss him again, but he stops, “Are you feeling alright?” He asks softly. “I thought we’d go out to dinner tonight if you were feeling up to it.”

                “Okay.” You say with a nod.

                He smiles and kisses your cheek his hands rubbing your back. “Get dressed and I’ll go get changed.” Then he kisses your forehead and turns walking out of the bathroom closing the door to give you some privacy. Your smile fades a bit when he leaves. This was something that had started since before he’d gone back to Canada the last time. You look back into the mirror looking yourself over. He must have just been trying to be nice, because that’s the third time since he got home that it seemed like the kisses and hugs were going to go further only for things to stop cold and end with a kiss on your forehead. He said you were beautiful, but it felt like he didn’t want to have sex with you anymore. Even though you were still exercising and going to the gym, you didn’t feel attractive. You were pregnant, but were a fit pregnant. Picking up your clothes you pull them on glancing into the mirror one more time. You sigh shaking your head, “I wouldn’t want to sleep with that cow either.”
                Twenty-one weeks pregnant and you could still rock a pair of hip-hugging jeans. The silky lavender shirt made your enlarged breasts look even bigger. And your little basketball belly barely stuck out. It wasn't unless Tom smoothed your shirt out and kissed your stomach that people really took notice. He couldn't keep his hands off your belly. And the baby answered each kiss and touch with a foot, fist or elbow.
                Several people you'd met with Tom stopped to congratulate you. You smiled but you were frankly fucking sick of people touching your belly.
                You sat at the table. "Tom, please stop drawing attention to my belly."
                "I'm sorry. I'm just so proud of you and our boy."
                You squirmed. "Please stop. I'm uncomfortable and insecure enough."
                "About that. I heard what you called yourself."
                You frowned into your water glass. "Are you going to lecture me again?"
                "Christ, Shelia, I'm trying to be supportive and loving and you keep hamstringing me."
                "You are going to lecture me."
                "I know you're emotional and hormonal. I'm doing the best I can to be the best I can." He pushes his chair back. "I just wish you'd stop calling yourself fat or derogatory names. You're beautiful and you're carrying my son." His voice grew louder as his frustration did. You met his concern with an irritated frown. People at surrounding tables turned to glance. Which increased your unease.
                "I'm not hungry anymore."
                "You need to eat. You've barely touched your food."
                "I want to go."
                Tom sighed and wiped his mouth. Laying the napkin down, he leveled a glare at you. "I'm sorry to have upset you but you're upsetting me. I've only a few days in London and I'd like to spend them making love to you and lavishing your belly with as much affection as you can stand." He takes your hand, holding slightly tighter when you try to pull away. "Please. Relax. Crimson Peak is almost wrapped. We'll go to Tahiti and spend some time away from London and social media and nurseries and filming."
                 You frown at him for a moment longer but his eyes are pleading with you. Love me. Love yourself. Love our son. Stop being such an ass. Ok, he's not calling you an ass but now you feel like one. Shit. You're crying. Fucking hormones.
                "Kitten." He gets up and comes around the table. He crouches and takes your face in his hands.
                "I'm sorry I'm just a fucking mess."
                "Hush, love." He takes your face his hands. His thumbs smooth your lips. His soft lips kiss away your tears. Closing your eyes, you momentarily forget you're at a restaurant, surrounded by people.
                "I love you so much, Tom. I don't want to fuck this up."
                "You won't, Kitten. Shush."
                A waiter clears his throat. "Everything alright, sir?"
                "Yes, she merely got upset. Could we get the check please?"
                "Of course, sir."

                The blades of the ceiling fan spin lazily. The last tingling warmth of your orgasm radiates through you. Tom wraps his arm around you and spoons his body against your back. "God I have missed you." He nuzzles his face into your neck.
                "I've missed you too." You lay your hand over his. He shown you how beautiful, sexy, desirable he still thought you were several times. Making you scream his name until you were hoarse.

In a few more weeks, this would be your home. Tom and the baby your family. It didn't feel real. Even with him snoring softly behind you, it didn't feel real. God, you didn't want to pack again. And where would you put all your stuff? Sleep finally made your brain turn off just before sunrise.
                The annoying sound of your phone ringing pulls you out of your comfortable blissful slumber and you reach over picking up your cell. With one eye open you see it’s your mother calling you. You press the button picking it up, “Hi mom. Did you forget the time difference again?” You yawn in a sleepy voice.

                “Heather, Ellen is in the hospital.” Your eyes open wide as you sit up in bed.

                “What? Why?”

                “She had a headache that was getting worse and then when they did some tests they found out it was meningitis.” Your breath catches in your throat as you pull the covers back and stand up. Tom sleepily lifts his head feeling you move.

                “Oh my God.” You start to pace. “How is she? Is she going to be alright?”

                “Darling? What’s wrong?” Tom says sitting up looking at you in the darkness.

                “They have her on meds and treatment, she’s in quarantine, they’ve given preventative medication to everyone she’s been in contact with.” There’s a pause and you can hear your mom choking back tears. “I knew you would want to know.”

                You look at the clock, “I’m on a plane. Right now. I’ll be there soon.”

                “Heather, don’t. You can’t risk it, not with the baby.” She says quickly.

                “Mom! When I got hurt you and Ellen were right here. I’m coming back. Right now. I’ll call you when the flight touches down.” You hang up the phone not willing to argue about it further. You immediately go to the closet getting out a duffle bag and you start throwing clothes in it.

                Tom reaches over turning on the light getting out of bed walking over to you, “Sweetheart, what’s going on?” He questions.

                “Ellen, she’s sick. She’s in the hospital.”

                The flight arrives the next evening and you take a cab directly to the hospital. After you explained the situation to Tom, he was wary of letting you come at all. However you made it quite clear that you were going to go no matter what. He had wanted to come with you but he had a meeting with his new director that couldn’t be put off. But as soon as that was done he wouldn’t be far behind you.

                You find your mom and several others of your friends waiting in the waiting room. “Mom.” You hurry over as she stands and hugs you tight. “How is she?”

                “She’s still with us. If they hadn't caught it in time, she'd already be gone.” She says with tears in her eyes, “We’re still waiting to hear what the doctor says, but they don’t think she’s contagious anymore.”

                “Can we see her then?” You question.

                “Not yet honey, but they’ll tell us soon.” She says softly. “How are you feeling? Is everything alright?”

                “Yeah. I’m fine.” You smile a little before she hugs you again. You hadn’t seen her or Ellen since you and Tom had told them about the baby and she’d been worried. “Tom’s taking good care of me.” You say hugging her back.
                Sitting in the double chair in the waiting room, you had pulled your legs up underneath you and were asleep with your coat pulled over you to keep warm. You hadn’t slept on the plane, and you hadn’t been to the hotel yet. You couldn’t bring yourself to leave the hospital until you got to see Ellen and talk to her.

                Feeling a hand on your shoulder, your eyes open slowly as you look up to see your mom standing close. “Honey, the doctor says Ellen’s awake and you can see her. But just for a few minutes, she’s very tired.” You nod and quickly stand putting your coat aside, seeing the doctor waiting at the door.

                Before going in, they put a germ mask and gloves on you not wanting to take any chances considering your condition. Going into the clean room you sit on the chair next to Ellen’s bed. Her eyes open and she smiles seeing you. “Hey bitch.” She says in a soft tired voice.

                You can’t help but smile scooting closer. “I’m supposed to be the Drama Queen. You’re hogging my spotlight.” You keep your voice low not wanting to wake her or hurt her head.

                “Had to find some way to get you to come see me.” She responds. “How long have you been here? You look like hell.”

                “I flew in last night. You weren’t showing improvement until this morning. You scared the hell out of us girl.” Reaching up you quickly wipe the tears away from your eyes. She was going to be alright, but you’d been holding your breath since your mother first called scared that the worst was going to happen. “The doctor says that you’ll be up and about soon. As long as you behave and do what they tell you.”

                “Puft. Where’s the fun in that?” She says sticking her tongue out at you. “Did you see my nurse? God he’s hot. With my luck he’s probably gay.”
                You grin reaching up and wrapping your gloved hand around hers holding it tight. Even having almost died, she was still the same old Ellen.

                “Miss Garrison.” You turn seeing the doctor standing at the door. They said you could see her for a few moments, but it seemed your extremely brief time was already up. “Get some rest goofball. I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

                She nodded as you stand, “You better do the same. I see those black circles around your eyes when I wake up, it’s going to be my foot in your ass.” Leaning down you kiss her forehead through the mask before turning and leaving the hospital room.
                You sit next to Ellen in the bed, not unlike she'd done with you. Tom sat in the chair dozing.
                "The doctor said that when I'm done with this round of antibiotics I get to go home."
                "I'm just glad it was bacterial."
                "Me too." She sighs. "There's something I need to tell you."
                You stiffen. "What?"
                "It's nothing bad. I was going to call but I got sick."
                You relax only slightly. "Ok."
                Tom cracks open his eye and watches the two of you.
                "You've met my friend Steve." You nod. "Well, he's not exactly my friend."
                "I kinda figured that. He was the only other person aside from myself that looked like they'd die if you did."
                "You were the other." You shrug. She'd been your rock for years. It was the truth. Well partially. You had Tom and the baby now. "Shelia. He's my husband."
                You jerk. "What?"
                "He asked me to marry him and we didn't want a long drawn out engagement so we did a court house ceremony. We'd just got back from our honeymoon."
                Your mouth forms a silent 'O'. Tom makes a noise then stands and stretches. "I'm hungry. I'll go down to cafeteria and get us something." He leans across the bed and kisses your forehead. You close your eyes and enjoy the kiss. "Love you, Kitten." You watch him leave.
                "Shel, this doesn't change anything. I'll still be there for you whenever you need it. For anything. Steve knows and understands." You try to process the information. "He's coming with me in October when the baby comes."
                You take a deep breath. "I'm glad you're happy. You deserve it."
                Steve knocks softly on the door frame as if on cue.
                "Is it safe?" You and Ellen look at each other and laugh.
                "You're safe. But know this. If you hurt her, I watch Discovery Investigation. No one will find the body."
                "I wouldn't expect any less."
                You try to slide out of the bed and can't quite do it. "Your little belly is so cute."
                "I feel like a house."
                "You look beautiful. Remember when my sister in law was pregnant? Now she was a house."

You had to admit you we taking excellent care of yourself. It was paranoia. "Thank you." Steve helps you off the hospital bed. "I'm just sick of complete strangers thinking it's ok to walk up and touch me."
                Steve's hand hovers over your belly. He closes his hand and pulls it back. "Have you settled on a name?"
                "I'm shit at these things. That's a question for Tom."
                "What's a question for me?"
                "The baby's name."
                "I was leaning towards Benjamin Thomas."
                Ellen sits up. "Oh oh! Auntie Ellie can call him Benji! It's perfect."
                Tom wraps his around your middle, resting his cheek on yours. "What do you say, Kitten?"
                "Benjamin Thomas it is." You half turn to him. "Where's pregnant lady's food?"
                "It was closed. They had some questionable looking over priced sandwiches but I thought I'd take you out to lunch."
                "Sounds good." You kiss Ellen's cheek and leave her with her husband.
                You stood in the airport. This sucked more than you can imagine. You hated leaving everyone you loved and returning to London alone. But Ellen was home with Steve and Tom had to get back to filming. Guillermo had been an absolute peach over this, giving Tom an extra three days to spend with you.
                Tom suddenly turns to you. "Come with me."
                "What?"
                "Come with me to the set. We've got a two weeks left to film. You can come with me to LA to handle some business then we'll go to Tahiti."
                "I don't know."
                Tom takes your hands. "I hate the thought I'd you returning to London alone. I hate leaving you alone. At least with High Rise, I won't be so far away."
                "Ok."
                "Ok?"
                "Ok." You smile up at him. His answering smile stole your breath away.
                "That was far too easy. I had a whole speech prepared."
                "I'd just be lonely and moving from my place to yours. This way I get to see you every day."
                "Alright. Wait here. I'll transfer your ticket." He kisses you then bounces off. You look after him, noticing a couple of girls watching you.
                Once Tom is well away, the girls that had been whispering and giggling seemed to elect one that was bold enough to walk over to you. “Hey, are you Shelia Garrison?”

                Oh here we go. “Yes.” You answer simply looking in the direction Tom had disappeared in hoping to God he was going to come back soon.

                “And that’s Tom Hiddleston, Right?” She said. You look at her a little wary before giving a nod. She turned back towards her friends giving them a sign that seemed to make them squeal like a heard of pigs. “So, you guys are together? Like, living together and stuff?”

                “Maybe. I don’t know. I haven’t checked Tumbler or Facebook in a while.” A trite reply probably wasn’t the way to go, but at the same time you could feel a huge sense of panic starting to rise deep inside of you. “Excuse me.” You pick up your bag and start to retreat back to the next section of the waiting area.

                Unfortunately the subtle ‘go away now’ hint wasn’t taken and she follows you. “So you guys are having a baby right? When is it due? What are you going to call him?”

                “Uh. He’ll get here when he decides to get here.” Actually it would be the day you scheduled with your doctor but you definitely weren’t going to share those details with the population. You didn’t share any details with the public, you left it up to Tom to share what he wanted share while you tended to stay completely mum on the matter.

                “Are you going to name him after Tom? Because that would be so cool.” She continued. You sat down in the chair in the corner and the girl plopped down right next to you. “You’re really pretty. Is it true you guys met while he was playing Coriolanus?”

                “Traveling is really hard right now, could you maybe . . . . you know, go back and join your friends?” You suggest becoming more uncomfortable by the moment. You knew on occasion when Tom was out and about in public he got mobbed by fans, but you had spent your entire relationship in the limelight and you preferred it that way. Not anyone’s main focus.

                “Oh they’re fine!” She says obviously very excited. “I like your shoes. Are they new?”

                “If you go back to your friends now, I’ll send Tom over to you when he comes back.” You say quickly.
                The girl suddenly send to realize she's made you uncomfortable. "Oh I'm so sorry." She tries to get your attention. "It's not so bad. Most of us fans are generally polite. We love Tom. We want him to be happy. And you've made him the happiest I've seen him since I became a fan." She starts to reach out to touch your hand then thinks better off it. "There are some crazies but most of us are super cool." She stands. "Anyway. Have a safe trip."
                The girls giggle add their friend returns. You watch them out of the corner of your eye. "All taken care of, Kitten." He leans down and kisses your lips softly. You forget the girls in that moment. Their giggle is so loud. You look at then warily. He glances in the direction you're looking. "Did they bother you?"
                You sigh. "No. In fact, she was very nice and polite. I just don't feel comfortable around strangers." This is going to take alot of getting used to.
                Tom sits next to you. "I know, my darling. And you're doing marvelously. I'm so proud of you." The PA announces the first boarding call. "That's us."
                He helps you to stand, subconsciously putting a hand on your belly.
                On the flight to Canada, you fall asleep your head resting to Tom’s shoulder, holding hands your fingers laced together with his. He’s reading a script that his agency had sent to him to look over. He decided already he was probably going to pass on it as the story wasn’t interesting him very much.

                Tom looks over at you and smiles leaning closer kissing your forehead gently. You hadn’t hardly slept since you left England to go see Ellen. Paying for a round trip ticket pretty much wiped out what little savings you had, but you couldn’t not go to her. She could have died, quickly and painfully.

                Reaching over, he moves a stray strand of hair away from your eyes tucking it behind your ear, before gently resting his free hand on your belly, gently stroking it with his thumb. His favorite thing in the world was to feel the baby kick. It was fascinating, and exciting, and the most wonderful feeling experiencing the life that you had created together.

                As he looked at you know, he couldn’t understand why you thought you were ugly. But he knew you grew up in California, probably close to LA where the one thing that was advocated most was being supermodel skinny. God forbid a woman was pregnant. You were never supper model skinny, but everything was in all the right places and your body was soft and pleasant and fit perfectly in his arms. He found you even more sexy now knowing that you were carrying his baby inside of you.

                He smiles to himself remembering the day he took you to the Globe. You bright smile, the wide eyed wonder that sparkled in your eyes, the pure excitement and awe you experienced. He’d been there many times in his life, and seen many plays but it was never as fun and wonderful as the day he took you there for the first time. He wanted to do that again. Maybe not the globe but perhaps somewhere else. He noticed your fascination with the coliseum, and Italy was definitely a beautiful place. Perhaps after the baby arrived a trip to Rome was in order. He knew that you hadn’t traveled very much and there were so many places he wanted to take you, wanted to show you, and before long he’d have a son with the woman he loved more than anyone or anything. The three of you would be a family and could go on all sorts of adventures together.

                High Rise was being filmed on location in Ireland, which was much closer then Canada. You would be able to come up and stay with him some of the time, provided you were feeling well enough and could travel that far. He gently leaned his head against yours closing his eyes just cherishing you. He never knew he could feel this way about anyone, but every since the two of you worked so closely together at the Domnar, he was in love from the start.

                He looked at your left hand that rested across your middle imagining what it would look like with a beautiful diamond ring that he’d given you. That you wore proudly along with his name. Yet at the same time, something was holding him back from asking if you would wear it and take his name. If he asked you right now, you would assume that it was just because you were pregnant. He didn’t want that, and it wouldn’t be true. Even if you weren’t pregnant, he still wanted you to be his. Always and forever. Perhaps once the baby was born, you would stop thinking that he thought you were trapping him. He wished that thought had never been put out there, and that it never entered your mind.

                He closed his eyes a soft smile to his lips, imagining how beautiful you would be in a satin and lace white dress, your hair done beautifully with flowers woven into it, a rhinestone tiara to hold your veil in place, and your hands wrapped around a large bouquet of roses and baby’s breath. He imagined hearing the music as you walked down the aisle approaching him, then the two of you holding hands as you made vows before your family and friends. It was such a lovely day dream that he hoped and prayed could be made real one day. God knows both your mother and his would be beyond thrilled. As happy as they were that they were getting a grandchild, he knew they wished that you’d been married first.

                You stirred and whimpered slightly in your sleep, and he kissed your head tenderly and whispered “It’s alright my darling. You’re safe with me. You’ll always be safe with me.” Gently he kissed your ear and held your hand a little tighter as you settled back to sleep. He closed his eyes and sighed wishing he could take all the bad things that happened to you and make them disappear forever. When he was so far away from you in Canada, he had had many nightmares. Nightmares of that night he’d come to your flat finding you tied down, beaten and bleeding by that sadistic bastard. It was like a scene from a horror movie made flesh. What exactly was his intention for you wasn’t clear. But the thought of what would have happened had he not come when he had stung his heart.

                What was infuriating was that aside from being deported back to the states, nothing had been done. It was like he had gotten away with it and probably laughing about it. At least when you were in England, you were safe. He couldn’t hurt you because he wasn’t allowed in the country anymore. But it didn’t feel like enough. There should have been some consequences for what he had done to you. Like being thrown in jail to rot for the rest of his miserable existence. Tom shook off those thoughts as they only upset him. It was clear there was nothing he could do about it except be thankful that maniac couldn’t get to you again.

                The nursery was finished and looked absolutely marvelous. You’d done an exceptional job in his absence and had begun to sew small outfits for his son using material that you’d found with Jungle Book print. You’d made curtains and even several baby blankets. He was thankful and glad that you were happy about the baby coming too. He was proud of you for doing everything possible to keep both yourself and the baby healthy. Followed every single rule and bit of medical advice to the letter.

                There were still a few hours before you would touch down in Canada. Closing his eyes he rested his cheek to your head holding your hand a little tighter, his free hand still resting on your swollen abdomen as he soon drifted off to sleep happier and more content than ever.
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