Sighing, she resigned herself to the long night ahead and turned the shower on. She waited for a minute for the water to get hot and when it did, she placed her hand on the wall and carefully moved to climb in the tub. She placed her foot on the bottom of the bathtub and-

Slipped.

She barely managed to get out a startled gasp when she found herself falling forward and-

Suddenly in the arms of the man that she loved.

“Shhhh, Tinkerbelle, it’s okay,” he said, brushing his lips against hers.

She opened her mouth only to sob and shake her head, because it wasn’t okay. She was exhausted, but that’s not why she was crying. He was standing. Danny was standing and holding her in his arms.

He was also completely naked.

“I was trying to surprise you,” he said with a rueful smile as he carefully turned with her in his arms and carried her into their bedroom.

“Well, you did,” she said around a sob that was borderline hysterical as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

“Dad suggested that I should wait until I got the all clear from the doctor tomorrow, but I couldn’t wait,” he said, pressing a kiss against her forehead as he laid her down on the bed.

“I’m glad,” she said with a watery smile as she forced herself to release him.

“Now,” he said, sitting down by her side and placing a hand on her belly, “I get to take care of you.”

*-*-*-*

“I don’t need anyone taking care of me,” she said with the most pathetic sniffle that he’d ever heard. “I’m fine,” the little liar said.

“Too goddamn bad,” he said, carefully lying down next to her and biting back a wince when his legs and back protested, but not enough for him to notice, not when he was able to crawl in bed with his wife for the first time on his own and pull her into his arms. “Go to sleep, Tinkerbelle.”

“But-”

“Sleep.”

She stubbornly shook her head and tried to sit up, but he wouldn’t let her, not when he knew that she was planning on babying him. He appreciated everything that she’d done for him, more than he could ever say, but those days were now over. He wasn’t a hundred percent yet, but he was at the point where he could say fuck it and take care of his wife.

He didn’t give a rat’s ass if rushing this meant that he would never be able to run again, or that he would have to accept that job offer from his uncle to be a field supervisor because he’d rushed this and fucked up the bulging discs in his back and couldn’t pick up anything heavier than a gallon of water for the rest of his life. She was exhausted and she needed him. She needed him to step up and put his own shit aside and take care of her and that’s exactly what he was going to do.

“Go to sleep, Tinkerbelle,” he said, gently guiding her onto her side so that he could curl up behind her.

“But, I need to go to the store and get your medicine and-”

“No,” he said, pressing a kiss between her shoulder blades, “you need to rest, sweetheart. Just rest.”

*-*-*-*

“Which bedroom am I taking?” Duncan asked as he ripped open another box.

“You can have the master if you want,” he said, pressing a hand to his back as he walked stiffly towards the kitchen counter where Jodi kept all his medicine. He ignored the major painkillers and grabbed the bottle of Advil liquid gels and swallowed four dry.

“Are you sure?” Duncan asked, glancing down at the bottle of Advil, but he didn’t say anything.

“Yeah, we’re not going to need it for a while,” he said, walking over to the refrigerator and grabbed one of the ice packs that his wife kept on hand for him and pressed it against his lower back. “I don’t want her climbing the stairs.”

“Good idea,” Duncan agreed with a nod as he grabbed another box to unpack. “Why don’t you go lie down for a while?”

He hated how much he needed to do just that, but he knew that if he seriously fucked up his back that it would only make things worse. “Call me if you need anything,” he said, heading for the kitchen door, pausing along the way to pull his little brother into a one armed hug. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Duncan said, returning the hug. “Go get some rest. I’ve got this.”

Nodding, he released his brother and continued the long journey back to his bedroom. When he walked past his wheelchair where he’d left it against the wall, he forced himself to keep going. Biting back a groan, he pulled his shirt off and pushed his pants and boxers down. He slowly crawled back into bed and curled up behind his wife.

He wrapped his arm around her, kissed her shoulder and slowly exhaled, forcing his mind away from the pain.

*-*-*-*

Two months after that……….

“You don’t have to wake up,” she informed him as she shifted, careful not to fall over thanks to her very large belly, and slowly impaled herself on his erection.

Danny chuckled sleepily, reaching for her as he slowly opened his eyes. He gently cupped her hips to help guide her. “Couldn’t wait?”

Licking her lips, she shook her head as she reached down and grabbed onto his arms to steady herself. “You were taking too long,” she moaned, using her hold on him to raise herself only to slide back down.

He felt so good….

Over the past two months she’d been able to get more rest, her stress was practically gone, Danny was doing so much better and she’d finally been able to enjoy being pregnant. She ate whatever she wanted, slept whenever she wanted and did this whenever she wanted, which was admittedly a lot.

She’d quit her job at the library, which had actually helped quite a bit with her stress. Okay, so she hadn’t so much as quit the library as Danny had been called in to come get her, because she wouldn’t stop crying The realization that hated her job had been…..kind of depressing. When she’d earned her Master’s degree she’d never thought she’d have to use it to decide between French roast and Arabian roast coffee to sell at the coffee bar that she was forced to manage so that the library could generate some income for the City Council.

She’d hated it….just hated it…..

When Danny had come to get her a month ago, he’d sighed heavily and quit for her. She’d been so happy to finally be free of that place that she hadn’t argued with him. She’d allowed him to bring her home, tuck her into bed and curled up with him and spent the next two days sleeping. When she woke up at the three in the morning two days later she somehow found herself at her desk, writing that historical romance novel that she’d been toying with in her mind for years, but never really seriously considered.

Now…….

Now she couldn’t imagine doing anything else and thanks to Danny, she didn’t have to. He’d been amazingly supportive about this. He’d even bought her a MacBook so that she could work wherever she wanted. He’d turned the large old den that he’d been planning on turning into a game room into an office with a large comfortable sitting area and play area for the babies so that she could continue to work after their children were born. He was such a sweet man, a wonderful husband and she knew without a doubt that he was going to be an incredible father.