The-Wrong-Bride-Ares--Raven’s-story-(Maura,-Catharina)_bibis

happened, but that’s as much as I’ll give you. You’re done running, beautiful. No more avoiding me.
That’s not how we deal with our problems, remember?”
I look up at him as he carries me back to our home. He’s only gotten more and more handsome
with age, and with each passing year, I’ve fallen for him harder. But is my love enough? Is it enough
to see us through the struggles we’re about to face? The media attention, the ridicule, the co-parenting.
I’m not sure if I can withstand Hannah’s continuous hits for years on end.
I tense as we walk into our house, worried Hannah might see us. I’m his wife, yet I still feel like
I’m doing something wrong by being in his arms in our own home. Is this how I’ll always feel?
Ares puts me down in the middle of our room, and I take a step away from him, feeling conflicted.
“Raven,” he whispers. “Can we talk, please? All you’ve done is work or run off to Sierra’s. You
once asked me for honest and open communication, and I now ask the same of you.”
I glance at him and nod hesitantly. “Ares, I just don’t know what to say. That’s all it is.”
I run a hand through my hair and walk to the bathroom, expecting him to drop it, but he follows
me.
“I’m not asking you to tell me pretty and calculated words, Raven. I’ve never once wanted that
from you. I want your raw, unfiltered truth. Tell me every single one of your fears, so I can take them
all away.”
I take off my dress, the sound of fabric hitting the floor disrupting the silence that’s fallen between
us. I turn the shower on as I try my hardest to articulate the thoughts that haunt me.
“You want the truth, Ares?”
I step underneath the shower stream and inhale shakily as the warm water hits my skin. I wish he
hadn’t followed me in, so I could fall apart in private. I don’t want him to witness my pain.
“I hate who I am around Hannah and you. I hate the thoughts I have, the things I feel. I’m not a bad
person, Ares, yet more than once, I wished the child Hannah is expecting didn’t exist.”
Ares’s hands wrap around my waist, and I gasp as he joins me in the shower. He pushes me
against the wall and cages me in. “So have I,” he admits, his forehead dropping against mine. “I know
the child is innocent, Rave. Of course I know that, but I’ve also wished that she wasn’t pregnant. The
happiness we found was so hard-fought, and the last thing I want to do is allow something to threaten
that. Is it wrong that your happiness matters more to me than my unborn child does? Perhaps so, but
that is my truth. I’m not a horrible person either, Raven, and I have no doubt you and I will both love
this child beyond measure once he or she arrives… but we’re only human, baby.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and he steps closer to me, until our bodies are pressed together,
the water raining down on us.
“I’m scared I’ll have to watch you fall for her all over again. I don’t want to watch you care about
her and celebrate each pregnancy milestone together. I don’t want to hear about scans and cots and
fucking pregnancy vitamins. I don’t want her to have everything that I wanted with you.”
He presses a kiss to my forehead and inhales shakily, his pain apparent. “I’ll do what I can to
minimize that kind of thing. With Grandma forcing us to welcome her into our home, that is more
complicated than I’d like it to be, but we’ll make it work, Cupcake.”
I tighten my grip on him and hug him tightly. “But you shouldn’t have to, Ares. This is such a
beautiful experience, and if not for me, you’d be enjoying every second of it.”
He buries a hand into my hair and tightens his grip. “There’s no point in wondering about whatifs,
my love. You are my wife, my everything. You always will be. No matter what.”
“I’m scared that just isn’t true. I’m scared I’ll lose you to her all over again. How do I compete
with the history you two share? The child you’ll share? The bonds between you are endless, and no