“She's pregnant”, I finally breathed out when this idiot didn't get it even after the multiple hints I gave him, then after I said that, a long, long silence followed afterwards

“Damon, are you still there?”, I asked as it seemed he hanged up on me and I heard him draw a breath

“Yeah, yeah”, he sounded like he needed a minute to process everything. “I just- I need to speak to Layla”

“Sure, hold on so that I can give her the phone-”

“No, not over the phone. I need to see her”.

“Damon, we talked about this man, not only will you be endangering her life, you're going to endanger all of our lives here”

“It's really important that speak to Layla, please”, he begged and believe you me, I was touched. It's not everything I get begged, especially by Damon, and he sounded desperate.

“No”

“No?”, his voice boomed at the other side of the line. “What do you mean no?”

“You'll see Layla when it's safe to see her”

“Troy-”

“I just wanted to let you know that she's pregnant”

“I just need-”,

I didn't even wait for him to finish as I hanged up. The nerve of this guy, trying to manipulate me into him getting what he wants, well then tough. There was a knock on the door and I went ahead to open it. The person turned his face to look at me as he was studying his surrounding when I pulled the door open.

“Sergeant Peterson”, I invited him in, and he walked into the safe house

“Mr Roberts”, he extended his arm, and we shook hands

“What brings you here?”, I led the way to the lounge

“I just want to deliver the good news in person”, he sat down on the couch and I sat opposite to him

“What good news?”

“Daniel and with his men have been arrested”

“How?”

“He ordered a hit on Quinton when he figured that he was involved in shipping Layla into hiding. Quinton chose to surrender himself wearing a wire, and he managed to get Daniel to confess that he was responsible for kidnapping Layla, that's how we nailed him”.

“That's awesome”, I grinned. “You mean it's now safe for Layla to go back home?”

“I wouldn't advise on that right now. Daniel is a man with connections and resources to his name. He can still get to Layla, even if he's still on the inside. So that's why we've decided to move you and Layla to another location, under witness protection surveillance. If that's okay with you of course”.

“I don't think it's going to be a problem”, I said, and he gave a short nod. “When can we move?”

“As soon as possible”, he gave me an envelope with the information about our new location and how to get there

“That's okay with me, I guess we should start packing”, I said playfully, and he cracked a side smile

“That's all Mr Roberts”, he rose to his feet and I stood up to shake his hand again before I escorted him to the door

“Be careful”, he warned as he stood on the other side of the door, I nodded my head and watched him leave. I took out the burner phone and dialed Damon's number.

“Yes?”

“I'm assuming the police have told you everything”

“The detective just left right now”

“Cool. About seeing Layla, I guess we can work something out”, I paused to think. “There is this old warehouse I used to work at, we're going to pass there on the way to the new hideout. All you need is to find a way to get out of the house without being spotted. Some of Daniels goons who are not on the inside are probably keeping a very close eye on you and the house so just make sure you're as invisible as possible. I'll send you the location, you'll find Layla and me there “, with saying all that, I hanged up. We still to apply the 3-minute call boundary, we still had to play it safe.

I jogged upstairs to let Layla know about our departure and I walked in her room unannounced, finding her staring at herself on the mirror, with both hands on her stomach, rubbing it in circular motion

“Layla?”, I leaned on the doorway, and she turned to look at me with a smile on her face, her eyes glowing with tears

“This was supposed to be the happiest moment of my life, and yet I can't be overjoyed about it because I'm good as dead “, a short sob left her lips before she regained a smile on her face once more and my heart dropped to the floor, I've never seen her like this in my entire life. This wasn't the Layla I knew and grew to love. This situation was surely getting to her, but she just had too much pride to show it, now with the pregnancy hormones thrown into the mix, she was visibly breaking and her cover was blown.

“Oh Layla”, I walked towards her to engulf her in a hug, and she sobbed onto my shoulder, I could feel her tears soak my shirt

“Everything is going to be okay”, I comforted while stroking her hair gently, and she broke away a little to look at me

“You promise?”

“I promise”, I smiled a little, and she rested her head on my shoulder again, and I ran my hand up and down her back slowly before pulling away to wipe the tears on her face and cupped her face in my hands

“I have good news”, her eyebrows rose. “Daniel has been arrested”

Her eyes widened before a smile played in her face

“This means I could go home? “, she asked excitedly, but I shook my head, and she frowned slowly

“Why not?”

“Became it's still not safe and for that reason, we're moving to another safe house. You should start packing your stuff”.

“Oh”, she sounded disappointed

“I have even greater news”

She wasn't as excited as before. “What?”

“We're meeting Damon on our way to the new safe house”, I said and her eyes started beaming with happiness, like she wasn't crying a few minutes ago before smiling widely at me

“Really?”, she hugged me excitedly when I confirmed it before turning in the direction of the bathroom but stopped mid-way and turned to ask me. “What was his reaction when you told him about the baby?”

“I couldn't exactly make that one out, but I guess that's why he wants to see you, he probably wants to personally show you his excitement”, I grinned nervously, even though I got the feeling that wasn't the case, I had to keep her hopes up

She slowly nodded her head turned to walk to the bathroom again as I breathed out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding in. It wasn't easy lying to her because she had that I know you're lying, but continue look, it wasn't much, but it was scary as fuck

I quickly texted Damon the location which he quickly texted back

I got it

I let Bucks know about our departure, and he prepared himself and bought the car around. Layla walked downstairs and she looked beautiful as always.

“What?”, she asked when she noticed me looking at her

“What?”, I laughed it off, and she smiled as she stood next to me

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Pregnancy looks good on you, you're glowing and beautiful”, I said and noticed her blushing before she tried to cover her face with her hand

“Thank you”

“You ready to go?”, I asked, and she nodded her head

“This place looks horrible “, she complained again when she observed our surroundings. We had just arrived at the warehouse and Layla was spooked, making it clear that she didn't like it the moment we walked in.

“How did you work in a place like this?”, she turned to ask me, but I just shrugged lightly. “It's scary”

“I know”, she made that movement, like her skin crawled or something and I laughed

“I'm glad to see that my fear amuses you”, she pointed out sarcastically, and I shrugged again

“It's the pregnancy hormones, I understand

“Are you always going to use that 'it's the pregnancy hormones' thing against me every time?”, she air quoted, rolled her eyes and I chuckled softly

“Like I said, I understand”, I grinned sheepishly, and she facepalmed

The door creaked open and Layla jumped to hide behind me and peeked to see a little. “What was that?”

“I believe that it is your husband madame”, I dramatically bowed, pointing out that Damon was walking in, and walking in he was but stopped to looked around him.

“What is this place?”, he asked disgusted as he too observed his surroundings. “It looks horrible”, he complained, walking towards us and I rolled my eyes.

Like husband, like wife

“We're glad to see you too”, I said sarcastically, and he threw me a glare. Layla walked up to him and threw her arms around him, he was taken aback by this and didn't show any movement. She realized this and pulled herself back as worry was evident on her face and Damon kept a cold face as ever.

For someone who was eager to see her, he has a funny way of showing it

“What's wrong?”, she asked as she looked at Damon, who turned his head to look at me

“I need to talk to Layla alone please “, he raised a brow at me and I shrugged as I turned to walk out to give them some privacy

“No, wait”, Layla called out, and I turned to look at her. “Don't go”, she said and Damon looked at her, formulating a protest, but she raised her hand at him.

“If you want to say something, you can say it in front of him too”, she said, and I believed that she sensed that Damon was going to tell her something and she didn't want to be alone with him when he did. I was still deciding on whether to stay or continue walking away but Layla looked at me, practically begging me not to leave her behind.

So I stayed far enough so that I could give them both what they wanted: Damon, the space he wanted and not to leave Layla alone there with him. Even though I was far from them, I could see them and hear what they were saying to each other.

Damon took her arms in his. “Are you okay?”, he asked, and she nodded her head. “I'm sorry you had to dragged into all of this”

“It's okay, I'm safe”, she placed one hand on her belly. “We're safe”, she smiled and a wave of discomfort washed over Damon's face.

“I want us to talk about this”, he said and Layla smiled as those words left Damon's lips

“I still can't believe I have a little life growing inside me”, she said excitedly as she placed Damon's hand on her belly, and he cleared his throat awkwardly, pulling his hand away and looked her straight in the eye

“We can't keep it”