A Gift

He found her standing on the balcony that overlooked the hot streets of Manhattan. Smiling to himself, he took her in. She was beautiful, absolutely breathtaking. Sebastian couldn’t believe that the beautiful woman standing in front of him would be his future wife in just moment’s time; just the thought alone was enough to make his heart swell with tender love and happiness. He had spent all of winter and spring finishing up press tours and filming a movie that would be released later the following year. And it was now the beginning of summer and he couldn’t wait to spend it with the one person he had missed terribly throughout it all. Sebastian watched her turn towards him, his eyes trailing down the length of her body before stopping at her protruding belly. His smile only widened as a surge of anxiousness and excitement washed over him, it was only a matter of days before they would meet their bundle of joy.

“Come inside, comoară.” He murmured, “It’s way too hot for you to be outside.” Sebastian motioned for her to come in, it was reaching ninety degrees and even though the west coast beauty could handle the heat, the humidity was enough to make it very dangerous for her to be out too long. Closing the sliding doors behind him, he guided her towards the couch, knowing that standing for just a minute was becoming a harder task by the day. “How long have you been up?”

Elise gave a heavy sigh, her hand pressing against a sore spot, “Only for a few hours,” she glanced up at the man who stood over her, smiling as he bent down to press his lips against her head, “You were very istovit, dragă mea.”

Sebastian took a spot next to her, pulling her into his chest. He loved when she spoke his native tongue, it always sounded so elegant when she spoke it. Romanian coming from her lips was like sweet, sweet music to his ears. He could listen to it all day if he could. “You could have wakened me.” He placed a hand over her firm, hard belly, smiling when he felt faint movement underneath her skin. Sebastian was excited to start this journey with Elise, so relieved to have found someone that he couldn’t imagine living his life without. She was the kind of woman his mother told him about, the kind of girl that came into his life revolutionizing the way he saw the world and the kind that turned and flipped his life upside down.

“I couldn’t do that,” she glanced down at his hand, placing hers over top of his, “you looked too peaceful. And I know what it’s like to drastically switch time zones.” Giving him a quick peck on the cheek, she straightened up away from him. Chuckling at the disappointment that washed over his face, “Baby doesn’t like it when momma lies down like that.” She inhaled sharply at the pain that surged up and down her spine. Elise was due soon, her window was three days ago to two weeks from now and she was so ready to have her baby. The two had elected to keep the gender of their baby a surprise and it was killing her to not know what she was having. She was secretly hoping for a girl because there was nothing more heartwarming then to see Sebastian cuddle up with baby girl. Although, if she were to have a boy, it would be just as rewarding.

“You still could have waked me, comoară. And baby is going to have to get over it because-” He leaned over her, careful to not put any weight on her aching belly. “-I missed momma.” Pressing his lips against hers, he savored the feeling of her mouth against his. Sebastian knew he had found his soulmate because every time he kissed or made love to her, it felt like the first time. His hand flew up to her cheek, his thumb rubbing against her soft skin as he deepened the kiss.

Elise pulled away from him, her face becoming flustered and heated. She ran her hand through his dark brown hair, letting it glide through her fingers. She sort of missed his shoulder length hair but at the same time, there was something about his short hair that drove her crazy. “As much as I would like to see where this goes, I’m afraid I’m going to have to stop you there, you dezlana.” Elise had missed him terribly, partially upset that he didn’t get the chance to witness firsthand the changes her body went through. He had left shortly after finding out the two of them would be expecting and Elise knew the responsibility of the career the two had. She had just craved his touch when he was gone, wanting him to caress her, cradle, her and to feel his skin against hers. She was far too pregnant to engage in any kind of activity when she saw him walk through their front door and that was all she wanted to do, to be as close as possible to him.

Sebastian licked his lips, his normal blue eyes turning dark as his pupils dilated. “Vino aici,” his voice husky as he gently but firmly pulled her towards him. His head bowed down, his teeth scraping against the bend in her neck, smirking as he heard a soft almost inaudible whimper. Elise wasn’t the only one that wanted him to take her and make sweet love, he too wanted to run his hands over her body he knew so well.

“Seb, honey.” She giggled as he planted kisses up and down her exposed collarbone. Placing both hands on his chest, she playfully narrowed her eyes. “I love you, I really do but I am not having sex with you right now.”

He wiggled his eyebrows, “It’ll be different.”

“And weird,” she retorted. Elise shimmied her way out from underneath him, she struggled for a second getting off the couch, giving Sebastian a sheepish, thankful smile with his little boost and headed for the kitchen. Opening the fridge, she grabbed a bottle of water, eyeing him from her spot in their spacious loft. “I’m forty weeks pregnant and you’re trying to have sex with me, it’s weird.”

Sebastian shrugged, propping his arm on the back of the couch and leaning his head into his hand.

“You’ll always be dezirabil. And don’t they say it’s good to have sex around this point in time, it’ll help you go into labor.”

Elise rolled her eyes, her hand flying to grab the counter top as she felt another surge of pain ripple through her lower abdomen. Her free hand reached to press against the pained spot, she groaned. “I’m getting real tired of these fake contractions, they’re getting me all worked up for nothing.” Yelping out again as another ripple of pain coursed through her belly.

Sebastian jumped up, concern washing over him as he watched her hiss in pain. He knew that she had suffered from Braxton Hicks before, it had nearly scared him half to death when he had skyped with her; but he didn’t know that they were supposed to hurt that badly. “You okay, comoară?” He wanted to hold her but he knew his best option was stay where he was until she asked him to come near. It was something he learned from Scarlett when he had asked for some pointers when it came time for her to go into labor. She had advised him to keep his distance unless she calls for him or else it could get ugly and even though he had never seen Elise ‘get ugly’, he didn’t doubt she could.

She hissed out in pain, “I don’t think these are fake, Sebastian.”

“What?” He breathed, standing in shock at her words.

Elise’s head snapped up, sweat beading around her hairline. “You need to go into the bedroom and grab the bag.”

“Uh, what?”

“Honey-“she grimaced as another contraction rippled through her, “if you do not grab the bag from the bedroom and we aren’t out the door in the next three seconds, I’m going to have this baby on this kitchen floor. And I will be so upset with you for making me give birth to a child without any pain meds.”

Sebastian hopped over the couch, sliding against the hardwood floor, his hand reaching for the backpack that they had packed together for when the time came. His heart was racing, was he ready for this? Sure he had been saying he was but was he actually ready? Excitement surged through his body as he quickly ran back towards the pain stricken brunette. “Are you sure? Are you positive?”

Elise glared at him, “You’re really asking me this right now?” She motioned for him to hand her the bag, unzipping the front compartment, she pulled out a long sundress and a pair of panties. “So glad I just took a shower.” She mumbled as she tossed off her shirt and shorts, throwing on the dress, she stepped out of her underwear and into the new pair.

“Are you really changing?” He questioned, his brow raised. “You’re really changing.”

“Sebastian Stan,” she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before meeting his confused gaze. “My water broke so yes I’m changing because I’m not going to be sitting in your car with shorts soaked in amniotic fluid, okay?” Dragging her foot against her tshirt on the floor, she roughly dried up the small puddle.

“Amniotic-what?” He asked, his eyes squinting as he tried to repeat her word.

“Oh for the love of,” Elise scrubbed her hands over her face, wincing at another contraction, “honey let’s go, we’re about to have a baby and I can’t sit here and explain to you the entirety of what happens when a woman goes into labor. I love you so much but I so do not have the patience right now.”