Bound by Tension
88

~ 5 MONTHS LATER ~ ~ HAMES ~

My poor heart was beating really fast as Imogen was struggling to get Tristan's head out of her tiny hole, groaning and sweating. I felt helpless. I wanted to help her with the pain but all I could do was hold her hand really tight, muttering soothing words to her.

Her fingernails were digging into my skin. It was hurting but I knew the pain was nothing compared to hers. It felt like I could feel her pain, my heart was aching, I was very sweaty. "Don't worry, baby. Please stay calm." I continued to comfort her

"Hames," she cried, breathing heavily.

This was definitely the scariest moment of my life I was never going to forget. I hoped nothing terrible happened to her or Tristan in the process.

She wiggled her hand and I thought she wanted me to let go so I did.

"Hames, please don't leave me, the pain would worsen." She screamed.

I quickly held her hand again, rubbing it. "Don't worry, I'm here for you, I'm not leaving your side."

"We're never having a baby again." She said breathlessly, still struggling to get Tristan out. I didn't realize she was going to be in so much pain and there was nothing I could do to help her. The scariest part of my life continued till I heard the loud cry of our beautiful baby.

I felt like shedding tears of joy as our little Tristan was placed on Imogen's chest.

I knew babies were always small immediately after birth but I didn't realize he was going to be this small. Maybe the image in my head was probably the size of a 6-month-old baby.

A weak smile crept up to Imogen's face as she held him.

"Tristan," she called with her eyes letting out tears of joy.

My body that was previously dwelling in worry was now filled with extreme joy, I was almost shedding tears of joy to have my whole family with me right now.

"Tristan, he's so cute." I kissed Imogen's forehead and Tristan raised his small head to me. "Wow, he recognizes my voice." I grinned. Believe me when I say that I was the happiest man on Earth right now, my heart was swelling with pride and happiness.

"Your communication worked, I think." She chuckled.

"Imogen, I love you so much. You've made me the happiest man in the world."

***

~ IMOGEN ~~

"Hames, having a baby is definitely a lot of work." I sighed after changing Tristan's diaper for the umpteenth time.

He chuckled, taking a seat beside me on the couch. "It's actually very cute and amazing to me."

"I know but it's also hard; changing diapers, sleeping late. Nevertheless, I really love him and I'm certain I'll get used to it because he's too cute." I tickled Tristan's tummy with a smile. Oh yeah, my cute baby had a cute and small birthmark on his tummy.

"I knew he'd look like you. Take a look at those mesmerizing electric blue eyes like his mother's."

"He has your silky black hair, diamond face, and he looks a lot like you. He's going to be way hotter than you when he grows up. I can't wait to watch every moment of him growing up."

"Me too." He took Tristan from my arms, cuddling him.

The doorbell rang. Reluctantly, I rose to my feet to answer it.

"I'll get the door for you, you should rest."

"I won't just sit around because I've given birth, I've rested enough- one week!"

"Okay, okay, I was just trying to be a gentleman. You're probably not over your pregnancy mood swings yet."

I rolled my eyes at him, shambled to the door and opened it.

My face was shot with a smile after realizing it was Nikita And her boyfriend, Rob. Yes, I said it correctly, Nikita had a boyfriend. Who knew that could ever happen? No offence...

"Nik!" I pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Why wouldn't I be? I have to see little Tristan. I wanted to come right away the moment I heard the news but we were so busy."

"It's not a problem at all."

I led them in.

"Oh, hey Nikita." Hames smiled at her.

"Oh. My. God. I have never seen a baby look this handsome." She said with widened eyes, crouching in front of Hames, just staring at him.

The doorbell rang again.

"You're getting the door this time." I extended my arms for Tristan.

"Can I carry him?" Nikita asked.

"Of course you can."

She took him from Hames' arms, carrying him like an egg that she didn't want to fall, as she sat.

"I hope we have a baby of our own someday." Rob smiled at her and her face flushed red but she didn't reply to him.

"Wow, you're all here." Hames' voice caught my attention.

I gazed at the door and my smile grew as Trisha, Mia, Kade, Lila, Amanda, and Tyler, walked in. And yes, Amanda and Tyler were now together but like friends with benefits because she was too stubborn to admit she liked him. They all came to gather around Tristan.

"My God, he's handsome." Lila spoke first.

"I definitely agree with you." Kade commented.

"Why did you all come together? Was it planned?" Hames asked what I was wondering.

"No. I went to Mom with Kade but your Mom was with her, ready to see Tristan again, so we all came together then we caught Ananda and Tyler making out in a corner and they decided to come with us." Lila explained. "No, we weren't making out." Amanda retorted.

"Of course we were, sweetie." Tyler curled an arm around her waist but she slapped it away. "We're not a thing yet." She whisper-yelled. "YET', okay." He smirked.

"Except his eyes, Tristan looks a lot like Hames when he was a baby." Trisha said, collecting Tristan from Nikita with a broad smile. "It feels like I'm carrying baby Hames again. I can't believe I'm actually a grandmother, and he's truly my legitimate grandchild, not a bastard of a gold-digger." She said with wet eyes. "I love him so much."

"Trisha showed me Hames baby picture and I agree that he is a photocopy of Hames except his eyes, but he also looks like Imogen in a way, the way you looked in your baby photos. It's kinda confusing." Mia added.

"I hope he wouldn't be as stupid as Hames." Kade joked with his hands on Lila's waist. Possessive much.

Everyone except Hames laughed at that.

"I'm happy for you." Amanda sat beside me and whispered into my ear, "good thing I didn't come between you and Hames else Tristan wouldn't have come into this world. By the way, Tyler is better than Hames now." She laughed. "You wish," I scoffed, laughing too

We enjoyed ourselves then I breastfed Tristan till he slept and Hames helped me take him to bed.

We all chatted over lunch and celebrated Tristan's arrival. He was a great joy and a wonderful binding factor for our family. Tristan's arrival had also made it seem like mine and Hames' love had grown more and stronger.

I missed Faith a lot. She would've been so excited to see Tristan. I always remembered that she was in a better place now, her soul should be happy.

***

~ LILA ~

"Hi, Kade." I walked up to him, took a seat beside him and let my bunny slippers fall off my leg so I could place my legs on the couch.

"It seems like you're now changing for me. You're still here so late, you might have a sleepover." He simpered, tracing lines on my face with his index finger.

"Not in your wildest dreams. I'll leave soon." I rested my head on his shoulder, hugging his waist.

"You know you still want to spend more time with me."

"Of course I do, but sleeping over can cause temptation and I can't take the risk. Nothing till after marriage."

"I won't be tempted, don't worry. I've promised to respect your decision and I will. I'm not going to do anything with you till after our marriage, just kissing, cuddling, caressing. I can control myself for you like I've been doing for five months

now. It makes me appreciate you more and want to marry you immediately. You should trust I won't take advantage of you. Please sleep over." He said in a sweet baby-like voice that sounded very convincing.

I didn't want to be lured into it so I decided to change the topic. "Tristan is the cutest little thing I know, I've never seen a baby look so handsome."

"I agree with that, but you're not gonna change the topic, my sweetheart. We don't have to share a bed or a room, there are about ten thousand rooms here."

I pulled apart from him. "You were thinking about sharing a bed or a room? Oh my, I'm leaving right now." I rose to my feet.

He pulled me back and made me sit on his lap. "There are other rooms. It's been my dream to wake up and see your face first thing every morning. I love you, Lila."

"I love you too." I admitted for probably the first time, just kidding.

"Hearing you say that makes me the happiest man on Earth. Please say it more often and not just once in a year." He playfully rolled his eyes while I burst into laughter. "Fine, enough of the laughter, please sleep over." He pouted; it was weird but also very cute.

I gazed at him for a while, glancing around to think about it. It wasn't going to be a bad thing to sleep over, was it? I returned my gaze to him and was immediately convinced by his adorable face. "Fine, I'll sleep over." "Yes! Thank you so much," he pecked my forehead.

Oh no, was I making a mistake? I knew it was probably normal to other unmarried couples but it wasn't normal to me.

I hoped I wasn't committing any sin. I was sitting on his lap, which was also against my conduct. I was breaking my own rules for him, but I loved Kade and I could do anything for him. I was still so insecure.

I wanted us to get married so there were going to be no limitations but wasn't it too early?

Kade's phone started ringing from the center table.

"Gosh, who dares to interrupt me while I'm with you?" He groaned.

I chuckled and reached for his phone, handing it to him. He answered the call without looking at the screen and placed the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" He rolled his eyes but stopped mid-way, widening them.

He signalled for me to rise from his lap and I did so immediately, then he walked till he was at a considerable distance away.

I fiddled with everything my hands touched while waiting for him.

The call lasted for a really long time with him uttering angry words to whoever was on the other end of the line, before he returned to me with a gloomy expression on, tossing his phone away and dropped beside me. "Kade, what's wrong?" I asked but didn't receive any response. Instead, he lowered his face to his palms.

"Kade," I called again in worry, placing my hand on his shoulder.

He let out a deep sigh, rising to his feet. "I think I'll head to bed now. Goodnight. You can sleep in any of the guest rooms."

"Kade, who called you?" I frowned when he still didn't answer my question but staggered away.

I watched him in shock as he walked up the stairs, leaving my presence.

He had never not answered me this much. Kade was always trying to please me by paying excessive attention to me, something had to be wrong somewhere.

I slid my feet back into my bunny slippers, scurried up the stairs and to his room.

I knocked on the door but still no response. Annoyedly, I turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

He was shirtless and sprawled on the bed, not paying attention to the fact that I was in, even after I slammed the door.

I sauntered to him, taking a seat on the bed and held his shoulder again. This time, it made him flinch. How could he not notice my presence?

"Kade, what's going on?" I asked again in a very gentle tone.

He simply shook his head.

"You can't tell me it's nothing." I snapped. "Remember, I'm your girlfriend and best friend, you can share anything with me." I gently rubbed his shoulder and bare chest, maybe it was going to make him talk to me. "Are you trying to seduce me?" He chuckled sadly.

"No, I need you to trust me to share what's going on with me. Is it something I did wrong? What have I done?"

"It's not you, Lila." He sat up straight, holding my hands, "but it's also you."

"Uh?"

"I'm really sorry."

"Sorry?" Fear was instantly injected in me. "What did you do?"

"My Dad just called. He had already arranged my marriage. He's coming in three weeks and he wouldn't care if I have you as my girlfriend but would have to make me get married."

"Can't you say no?" I felt my eyes going wet. "This is the 21st century, who still arranges marriage for their children."

"Unfortunately, I can't say no. It has been planned with a wealthy man's daughter since we were children and when I was 18, I signed the contract to agree that I was going to get married to her, and I can't cancel it. I also can't say no to my father."

"Why can't you?" I asked with tears rolling down my face.

"It's a really long story but I'm unable to say no to him."

"This is very unfair. How can I possibly live again? You'll leave me too? This is wickedness. Is there no solution?"

"Of course I want you but..."

"So I've wasted this precious time of my life keeping my hopes in you? I'm not getting any younger, how can every man keep breaking my heart?" I wailed, burying my face in my palms.

"Lila, please stop crying." He held my shoulder, lifting my head by my chin. "I think there's a solution but I don't think it's possi-"

"What is the solution?"

"I cut him off."

"The only way to terminate it is for me to get married to you." He said and my face was lit with a smile.

"Really? That'd be amazing!"

"No, you don't understand... I'll have to get married to you before three weeks. If Dad comes and sees that I'm married, he won't be able to do anything. He might be mad at me forever for ruining everything for him but it'll be worth it." "In less than three weeks?" I nervously fiddled with my fingernails. Get married to him? It was something I wished for but wasn't it too soon? I was going to lose him forever if I didn't, I was never going to replace someone like Kade for me and that was certain, maybe till when I'm 50?

"No, you don't have to put pressure on yourself. I know you're not ready for this and I'm not going to force you to do anything of a sort against your will. I can think of another solution if-"

"Yes." I cut him off.

"Yes what?"

"Yes, I'll marry you in less than three weeks." I sounded so confident. A feeling was burning in me, a feeling of certainty. It felt like we had been together for ten years and we're finally going to get married.

"Are you sure? Marriage is a really big decision. Of course I want to get married to you too but I don't want you to have any regrets, will you think about it first?"

"There's no time to think about it. I'll get married to you, please."

A smile slowly appeared on his face. "Wow, you're the best. We can get married in two weeks if that's fine?"

"Yes, we can." I grinned.

"You've saved me from getting married to a witch, and I'll marry an angel in two weeks. I love you so much." He smacked his lips against mine for a long and passionate kiss, the best we had ever shared together... Oh my gosh, I was going to get married to my prince charming in two weeks? What a dream come true for me. I was nervous and excited but mostly excited.