🌷

"Of course. Have a nice day! Bye, Claire!" Ella waved at the young girl that was trudging away with her mom, slightly upset that she would no longer get to finish forming the puzzle that was in the waiting room.

The little girl didn't even turn around to wave at Ella. She was too busy being upset with her mom to even remember the nice doctor.

Once they were gone from Ella's view, Ella almost collapsed onto her seat, wincing slightly from how tender her body was today.

She didn't really dread her menstrual cycle these years; she had grown accustomed to it and seeing as how there was no other option, she would just push herself through her day, but today... today seemed to be a special shark week.

Tender joints, back pain, body aching cramps, and to top it off, nausea that had her on the brink of curling up into a ball at the corner or her desk.

Ella kept telling herself that this typically lasted a day, maybe two, and then she would be good to go. She had these symptoms rarely, so she was trying to push through.

"Uh," Ella moaned when she tried to get up but she would only get dizzy. Sitting back down, she felt saliva getting thicker, a well-known symptom of her nausea.

Ella didn't generally take pain pills, she liked her body to just fight it off since she could without much complaint, but today, she needed some. Unfortunately for her, since she didn't take them often, if ever, she didn't have any in her office.

Ella didn't feel like she would suitable enough to even drive right now, so she sat in her place, placing her head down in hopes that her symptoms would leave for just long enough so that she could finish her day.

They didn't, and she was having to walk very slowly to everything, and only speak in increments, which is just unprofessional and rude.

"Ms. Ella, perhaps you should just go home." One of her patients, Mr. Baron, who was a victim of PTSD after enlisting in the army, recommended while he helped her to her seat. "I've never seen anyone with this bad of a stomach ache. What if it's an ulcer?"

Ella couldn't help but to smile. She felt rather embarrassed to say it was her menstrual cycle, so she just said it was a stomach ache, which wasn't a complete lie.

"It's not an ulcer, Mr. Baron, don't worry." Ella tried to assure him, swallowing a groan a pain as she clutched the cushion under her tighter. "Just... let's just get started." Ella forced herself to get up on wobbly legs, allowing the older man to help her to her desk where she proceeded to give them therapy as best as she could.

After the session was over, Ella was on the brink on tears, trying to quell her stomach with some water, but that wasn't seeming to help.

"I'm calling an ambulance." Baron shook his head while pulling out his phone. Ella was turning a bit pale, squirming in her seat in obvious pain.

"No, no. Seriously, it happens..." Ella took a deep breath, feeling like her insides were being slowly and torturously tugged down. "Sometimes... it happens sometimes." She finished, breathing in deeply.

"Happens?!" Baron was alerted almost instantly, now really concerned. "Ms. Ella, I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure this isn't normal." He was dialing something on his cell when a knock resounded.

"Come in." Ella called out, checking the time. She couldn't even get up to open the door, but thankfully, it was just Damien.

"Hey, love. I was wondering..." Damien paused, looking at a different and stressed Ella. "What's wrong?" He stepped forward at a quicker pace, leaving a bouquet of roses on the desk Ella was slumped over.

"I think we should call an ambulance." Baron insisted, and Ella looking at Damien, pleading him with her eyes that he handle the situation.

"Okay, okay." Damien placed a hand on Ella's back, looking at the older man. "Thank you, sir. I'll take care of her now." Damien promised, and since Baron had already seen Damien around before, he knew that they were engaged, so he trusted that the young gentleman would take care of Ella.

As soon as Baron left, Ella groaned, clenching her eyes shut. "It's just my period." Ella explained to a confused Damien.

"Is it the cramps?" Damien asked, running hand through Ella's wavy hair.

Ella chuckled at his wording. "Yeah." Ella clutching her shirt tighter right above her stomach.

"Let's go home." Damien suggested, shutting off Ella's computer and grabbing her planner as well as her phone and purse.

"My planner," Ella sat up, looking for it since she didn't see Damien picking it up.

"I've got it, love. Can you walk?" Damien helped her, seeing how she seemed highly unstable.

"Yeah, I'm just... dizzy." Damien sighed, his heart thumping harder in concern. Ella had literally just gotten over her exhaustion and hurt ankle about a month ago, and now this. He didn't know if he would ever be able to stop worrying for her.

Doing the necessary procedure of turning off the lights and locking the doors, Damien was now helping Ella inside his car after deciding that they would later pick up her car.

"I don't remember it happening this bad, Ella." Damien commented on the way back to her house, noticing how her face would distort from her normally gorgeous, happy self to one of pure discomfort and raw pain. He wished he could take them away from her.

Ella didn't say anything. She felt that if she spoke, her cramps and nausea worsened.

Trying to even get out of the car was too much, too.

"Go ahead." Ella shortly dismissed Damien, trying to give him enough information so that he could understand her, but keeping it short so that she wouldn't suffer too much.

"What if I carry you? Do you think you can tolerate that much movement?" Damien had taken note how still she had been after finding a comfortable spot in the car seat, not moving even after the cold air from the car vents made her eyes dry.

Ella felt her eyes blur. She was just ultra sensitive, and Damien being this sweet was too much. She also felt useless, which wasn't helping her state of emotions.

"I can't let you just sit here, amore." Damien contemplated before stepping closer to her, bending down to slowly and very tenderly and gently hoist her lightweight form up against his. "I'm going to go up, okay?"

Ella nodded, hiding how her stomach constricted when Damien lifted her too quickly. She wouldn't make him feel any worse than he probably already did. She knew how much of a burden it felt for most guys when girls were on their menstrual cycle. Damien had never showed any discomfort about the topic, only being frustrated when he couldn't help Ella with her minor pain, but today was different.

"Alright. Do you need something?" Damien watched as Ella, upon curling on the bed, just stopped moving almost instantly.

"Advil, please." Ella closed her eyes, thankful that her nausea was starting to slip away now that she was on her comfortable bed. Nothing felt better than her bed and bedroom on a sick day.

By the time Damien returned, Ella was no longer on the bed.

"Ella?" Damien called out, seeing the bathroom door open, so he knew she wasn't using it. "Lo-" Damien stopped short, noticing her small figure bent by the bed on the floor. "Ella, are you okay?" Damien neared her, sitting on the bed beside her before placing a hand on top of her head, caressing her soft hair.

"I'm fine." Ella breathed out, still clutching her stomach. This position provided her better comfort than just lying down.

"Your pills are here." Damien shook the bottle gently, waiting for her to lift her head up.

Ella didn't even move an inch.

"Amore, your back is going to ache." Damien reached to rub her back.

"That doesn't matter right now." Ella whined quietly. "That feels good though." She sighed, and Damien continued patting her back.

After a while, Damien spoke up. "Is your pain getting better?"

"No. It's just that the pain nerve fibers are slower than the skin pressure ones, blocking out the pain signals to the brain." Ella mumbled from her position.

Damien paused, confused. "I guess you did do a lot of studying in school."

Ella kept quiet, eventually able to pass her pain momentarily enough to move and take her pills as well as a shower while Damien went down to get started on dinner.

"What are you looking at?" Ella was downstairs now, her hair still partially wet as she sat on the sofa, mindful of Damien's laptop in his lap so that she wouldn't shuffle him too much.

"Houses." Damien kept his eyes on the screen, lifting from his spot to scoot closer to Ella. "Look," Damien moves his arm behind Ella, pulling her closer to his side so that she could look at the screen too.

"I don't like the stairs." Ella mumbled while Damien scrolled through one of the houses.

"Too open?" Damien agreed. Rufus would have a hard time climbing them.

"Damien," Ella paused, cautious as to how to approach the sensitive topic.

"Mm?" His low hum vibrated against Ella's side.

"Do you want children?" Ella physically felt him tense up, his fingers seizing to scroll through the beautiful neighborhoods that were selling homes.

"Would you like to have children one day?" Damien reversed the question. He didn't want to be the one to steal a dream, especially not from her. She deserved it all.

Ella paused. She had dreamed of helping children, but did she ever want to birth one?

"I'be always wanted to adopt one, but... of course, this is a discussion that needs to be between the parents. It's not a one-person job." Ella scooted away from Damien to see him clearly. "I'm getting the impression that you don't really want some... or any at all." Ella mused, confused at the conclusion she had arrived. Damien had every right to feel what he wanted, it just was unexpected.

"I... if I'm being honest, I haven't considered it." Damien could see's Ella's eyes close off, her behavior turning a bit tense.

"That's okay. It's not really something to think about in one day." Ella nodded, understanding that perhaps he didn't want any children, and while Ella couldn't help but to feel disappointed, she wasn't going to dwell on it. She was willing to put that behind her. She could live her life as it was with Damien.

"Talk to me, amore." Damien pulled her hands towards him. "I'm... I would love for you to fulfill your dream of being a mother. I would actually love for you to be mother of my children; you'd be the best. I'm just... it's hard for me to imagine myself as a father. I can't imagine taking care of someone so little and just... I can't afford to screw it up-"

Ella threw herself against him, crying quietly.

"Hey," Damien clutched her with one arm, the other one reaching to catch their balance on the couch. "Why are you crying?" He suddenly felt alarmed, his hand instinctively going to her back to rub in hopes of soothing her.

"I just know you'd be an amazing Dad, Damien." Ella sniffed, tightening her arms around his shoulders.

Damien knew that he would give it his all, but what if his all wasn't enough?

Ella maneuvered her way almost completely into his lap, careful with the laptop that had falling to the side, still safely sitting on the sofa. "Life is unexpected, no one really knows what's the right thing to do all the time." Ella felt him grip her waist, lifting her slightly to adjust her on his lap, tucking her closer to him.

"You're right thing all the time." Damien bent his head, kissing her hoodie-clothed shoulder.

"Don't make me cry again." Ella groaned, reaching with one hand to wipe her eyes.

"You're falling apart today, aren't you?" Damien rubbed her back, chuckling softly as she sniffed, further proving his point.

"I'm sorry." Ella sighed, a small hiccup escaping from her previous sentimental session.

"I love you, Ella," Damien turned his head to kiss her temple. "You don't have to apologize to me; I'm glad you're trusting me to share this."

Ella clenched her eyes shut, urging her tears to disappear as she buried her face into Damien's neck, grateful for his strong arms that held her together when it seemed like her own arms lacked the strength.