January 2008

Their relaxing movie night was soon interrupted with a sudden door knocking at the entrance of their apartment. Intrigued, Changsun got up from the couch, walking up to the main entrance and once he opened the door, sudden suited men were barging in, taking in Changsun while others went for Stefanie.

Sudden shock took over her as she jumped out of the couch and tried to run away while letting out a scream. Changsun fought with the man that had a hold on him as they bumped wall by wall, breaking items in the process. He finally got out of the grip and knocked the man unconscious before going straight to his wife the moment she was slapped across the face from the other man, making her fall on the floor.

“Stefanie!” He took one of the plates that was on the coffee table and quickly hit it against the man’s head, making him fall as he knocked him out. He picked her up from the floor and quickly ran out of the apartment as they made their way towards the staircase until they reached the underground parking of the building.

“The keys! We forgot the car keys!” Panic struck through her voice making them slow down with Changsun looking back at his wife.

 “We don’t need keys-”

“I can’t run Changsun.”

“Wh-why? We have too!”

“I’m pregnant!”

He looked at her with his eyes ready to pop out. It took him a moment to take in what she just said and in the spur of the moment, he pulled her against his chest and crashed his lips against hers. The sweet yet rushed kiss over, they pulled away with Changsun her cheeks, happy to hear about the news, despite the situation they were in.

“We can talk about it later, but we really need to hurry. Changsun, I know who those men are, we need to get out.”

He quickly nodded his head and took her hand before leading her out, discretely so they wouldn’t get caught in case others were waiting for them. “We’ll take a cab to the hospital.”

“Why the hospital?”

“To check if you’re healthy and if our baby is healthy too-”

She breathed out with a faint smile appearing on her face while shaking her head. “Let’s go then. You should call that friend of yours, we might need his help.”

“Mhmm.”

They were now out of Paris, away from any sign of danger as they were now living in a small town in England, Bibury, a small village situated in the west of the country’s ground.

A few months have passed since the incident but even if things seem to have calmed down, tension was still around their new home as it was settled between the married couple. With Stefanie at home, Changsun was constantly out of the house, always trying to find a way to get back the perfection and quiet life they had.

This caused some kind of rupture between them, stressing them out along the way. Nothing seem to be good enough anymore for Changsun and this annoyed her a lot, especially with the condition she was in.

She was standing by the window of the living room with her hands over her stomach, softly her belly while she was looking outside waiting for his car to come by the driveway. She stood like this for a few minutes until she gave up and left her spot.

She made her way to the bedroom and laid down across the bed, trying to fall asleep.

Since she couldn’t do much, she was confined inside the house. With the incident, Changsun became more protective and more on the edge about anything that could harm her from simply cooking while holding a knife to even stepping outside, simply in front of the house.

It did upset her but she knew that he meant well and that he was only afraid something might happen to her.

Overreaction or not, she didn’t want to upset him any further and decided to comply to his ‘orders’ even though, deep inside, she felt like she was suffocating.

She turned from one side to the other, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in but the being practically five months pregnant was making it difficult. With a sigh, she got out of the bed and went back to the living room, finally deciding to go outside for some fresh air. She changed into warmer clothes and put on her coat along with her boots, her hat and scarf before she walked to the backyard and sat on the wooden bench that was situated on the porch.

While she was admiring her view, she heard her name being called and saw her husband opening the door with his head going through the crack. “Yah, what are you doing outside? It’s cold!”

“Then come and warm me up!” She giggled while giving him an innocent look. He walked to her and tried to grab her hand but she hid them behind her back making him sigh. “Please, it’s not good for you, you’ll fall sick-”

“Like staying inside is any better? I just want some fresh air… Changsun, it’s so nice out here with the sun; I’m sitting here and enjoying it. You either join me or go back inside.”

Without a word he walked back inside only to comeback a few minutes later with a heavy blanket and two mugs of hot chocolate. He knew that things have changed and how he was starting to treat Stefanie differently since their old home in Paris got wrecked but especially since he found out that she was pregnant.

He wanted to take care of her the best way he could with everything going on and the only thing that he could think of was letting her stay inside, afraid that if she ever goes out, everything he tried to preserve would go to waste.

She smiled at her sight and quickly took the blanket from his shoulders as he took a seat next to her while she covered their laps with the blanket. He gave her one of the cup containing small marshmallows in them while he had the one without any.

“No marshmallows? Since when?”

“Mhmm, since today.”

“Oh, I see~ there wasn’t any left, was there?” She chuckled at his smile and took out a few of her own to place them inside his mug, letting them float over his drink. She scooted herself closer to him while he placed his arms around her shoulders, making them both lean back against the bench, enjoying the warmth of the sun.

She had her head leaning on his shoulder and had a kiss placed on the top of her head. She turned up with a smile on her face and leaned in for a quick peck before going back to rest on his shoulder.

“We’re good here, aren’t we?”

“Mhmm…”

She felt his hold slightly tighten around her shoulders making her look up at him. “Promise me that it’s going to stay this way for a long time. That we’ll see our baby grow up on these grounds? I’m tired of running away Changsun-ah. We need a home. A proper home. We’ve been jumping from one city to the other and-”

“I-I know… I’m sorry. It’s just… I’m trying my best to keep you safe and I’m afraid that he’ll find us-”

“If you keep looking for him, he will find us. Just stop and have your friends do it. That’s their job right? I don’t want to have to constantly worry about you… I barely see you and I just… I’m scared that he’ll get to you and that I’ll lose you in the process. Babe… Our son needs his father, like every boy does-”

“Son? We’re having a boy?”

Just then she realized that she had accidentally slipped up the of the baby as she wanted to keep it as a surprise from him. Biting her bottom lip, she shyly nodded her head with a huge grin spreading across Changsun’s face, letting it glow out of happiness.

“And he’s perfectly healthy~”

“God, I love you so much right now.” She giggled and let him kiss her while he brought her closer to him. As he pulled away, he stuck his forehead against hers and kept showing her his smile, not being able to make it go away. “I promise you Stefanie, I’ll do everything in my power to protect you and our little boy; we’ll be a family, a happy family. And we’ll do it here: this is going to be our new home.”

“Perfect. Now let’s drink before the hot chocolate isn’t hot anymore!”

He chuckled at her enthusiasm and took a quick sip from his drink before looking back at the front of their backyard where the early flowers of spring were already blossoming.