Gabe came in early from outside to take care of me. He was acting sweet while I was sick. He held my hair back as I threw up. He kept his arms wrapped around me whenever I needed to walk to the bathroom. He brought me up meals from the kitchen so that I did not have to go down the stairs.

Over a week must have passed for me to stay in bed. My nausea had eased up, but Gabe and Jenny insisted that I rest in bed.

"The baby is getting stronger," Gabe had told me. "That's why you are sick."

"Your body is adjusting to a new set of hormones," Jenny had said. "This won't last forever."

I was sitting on the edge of the bed eating a bowl of stew that Gabe had brought me. He sat next to me with his arm around my waist. The bucket was still by my feet. Gabe was running his fingers through my hair as he watched me. Once I finished, he took the bowl and set it down on the nightstand.

"I have something to talk to you about," he said.

I raised an eyebrow, knowing that I was not allowed to ask a question. Gabe let out a deep breath and ran his hand over my stomach. He kept his hand resting there and without thinking I put my hand over his own.

"We need to have a boy," he said.

"I can't control that," I said.

"It needs to be a boy," he said. "We cannot keep it if it's a girl."

"Why not?"

I could not stop myself from asking the question. The nausea was making its way up into my throat and my heart felt like it was squeezing.

"We would have to kill her," he said.

I ripped his hand off of my stomach and stood up. I stumbled as I backed away. My eyes were wide as I looked at Gabe who was chewing on his bottom lip.

"That's disgusting!" I said. "How could you do that?"

"Lindsey." Gabe held out his hand. "You need to calm down."

"I'm not going to calm down," I said. "You kill your daughters?"

"We do it for you."

I opened my mouth, but was unsure what to say. Gabe stood and walked toward me. I backed up until I was up against the wall. Gabe put his hands on either side of my head, and trapped me in with his body.

"Baby girls are too weak when they are born into this family," he said. "If we don't kill them as soon as they are born, you will get attached and they will shortly die after. That will hurt you even more. We do this to protect you."

"Protect us?" I asked. "That is disgusting."

"You need to calm down."

My hands covered my stomach. I did not want this child, but there was no way that I would allow Gabe to kill our baby.

"You are not touching our child," I said.

Gabe lowered one hand and grabbed my chin. He angled my head up so that I looked into his eyes. He gave me a soft smile.

"I don't want to do it," he said. "But I have to. That's why I'm hoping it's a boy."

"You don't have to do anything," I said.

"Yes, I do. It's part of our traditions."

I squirmed in his hold as Gabe leaned down to kiss me. He pulled away and then pulled his shirt up over his head. I watched the muscles in his back move as he stretched his arms up over his bed. He looked over his shoulder at me.

"Get into bed," he said. "You need to rest."

I shook my head. There was no way that I could lie next to him in bed. I thought it was sick and disgusting that they murdered innocent people, but killing their own babies? That was even more repulsive.

"Linds, I'm not asking you," he said. "You need to lie down."

"Can I take a shower?" I asked.

"In the morning." He snapped his fingers and pointed at the bed. "Get moving."

I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a shaky breath. My hands did not leave my stomach. I could not imagine the pain of losing a child. Losing her to Gabe's cruelty was even more of an unbearable thought.

My knees shook as I walked toward the bed. I lied on my side and curled up so that I was facing away from Gabe. The bed shifted as he settled in beside me.

He turned off the lamp and we lied in the dark silence. I jumped when Gabe put his hand on my side. I curled my fingers into the pillow and my eyes burned as tears threatened to erupt.

"Sweetheart, everything I do is to protect you," he said. "I never want anything to hurt you. I will do things I hate to keep you safe and happy. It's like how we had to kill that man that hurt you. If it weren't for us he would have killed you."

"That's not the same as killing your daughters," I said.

"It is the same," he said. "We only kill to protect you. Only this time, instead of killing to protect your life we kill to protect your heart."

I blinked and a few tears rolled down my cheeks. His hand felt heavy on my side. My hand was still cradling my stomach.

"You will thank me if it happens," he said. "After it happens, you will see that it is to keep you safe."

"I love the baby already," I said.

Gabe propped himself up on his elbow to look down at me.

"You do?" he asked.

I hated being pregnant at first and I still did not like the thought of carrying Gabe's baby inside me. I always wanted to be a mother though. Finn and I talked about the future where we would be parents. We talked about raising kids. Now, I was having a baby but it was not with Finn. It was with Gabe. A man who was trying to take care of me in his own way.

Gabe slid his arm around me. He put his hand over mine on my stomach. He kissed my wet cheek before pulling me to his chest.

I could not sleep that night as I thought about the fate of our child.