Drew drove them to her apartment and followed her up the stairs. He'd tried to carry her but she put her foot down. She wasn't an invalid who couldn't walk. He'd caved, when she agreed to walk very slowly. She gritted her teeth but walked slowly up the stairs.
As Drew looked around the tiny room, he was grateful the new place would be ready soon. If they were going to be under house arrest he'd go insane being in the tiny space for too long. He had newfound sympathy for prisoners.
"Sit down and I'll get you something to eat," he told her. For once she actually listened, without arguing. He was off to a good start. He made her a sandwich and some soup and sat down with her on the couch while she ate.
"This is good, thank you," she told him. She was starving, after the horrible hospital food.
"I need to talk to you about some things," he started. She looked at him quizzically. He knew the conversation was going to be a battle and did not want to raise her blood pressure any more than necessary.
"Go ahead and spit it out," she said with an encouraging smile.
"I bought a new home. It's pretty close to Derek and Jasmine," he started with.
"That's great, you must be excited. You really don't have to stay here and babysit me if you want to get settled in," she told him.
"I bought the place for us," he said, while looking her in the eye. Her cheeks flushed and her eyes widened in shock. He had to remember to keep calm, so not to raise her blood pressure. He was going to be firm but he could keep his temper in check.
"I … you … we aren't a couple," she sputtered at him.
"Trinity, we are a couple. We're sexually compatible. We enjoy being together and to top all that off, we're having a child. We will get married but I'm willing to give you more time to get used to that. But you're on doctor's orders to not be alone and for complete bed rest. This place is too small for two people to stay in comfortably so it makes sense for you to move in with me now," he told her.
"I'm fine in my own place," she told him, as she crossed her arms over her chest. Drew blew out a breath of frustration. He knew she was going to be difficult but it still frustrated him.
"Look, I don't want to be a jerk, Trinity but you're not safe here, which means my child isn't safe. Are you so selfish you'd endanger our child for the sake of your pride?" he asked her. He watched her suck in a breath in shock. He wanted to take the words back but he needed to get her to move and he couldn't figure out any other way other than force. He really didn't want to go down that road.
"I love my child, Drew," she finally said to him.
"I know you do Trinity and that was a crappy thing to say, I'm sorry. How about a compromise? You're going to be on bed rest for a while, most likely the rest of your pregnancy," he said. She gave him the courtesy of at least listening to him. "Stay with me until after the baby is born so I can help take care of you. If we haven't managed to work things out by then, we can reassess our situation. You know this apartment is far too small for a baby anyway," he tried to reason with her.
She really couldn't find anything wrong with what he was suggesting. She was far too attached to the man already and it would be really hard for her to keep her distance if they were living together but he was trying to be a good father. That was more important than anything else. She was still unsure, though.
"I don't think I'm ready for this, Drew," she said, though she was starting to cave. Drew could see she was fighting herself as much as him, which gave him confidence. He sat back with a smug smile.
"I can't stay in this place, it would drive me insane, so you can either move into the large house with me, where you'll be waited on and completely pampered, or I'll move in and you'll have to go back to the hospital because the doctor said you weren't to be alone," he told her with too much confidence.
She glared at him for several minutes, trying to break him down but she knew he was well aware of how badly she hated that hospital. He was blackmailing her, plain and simple. She'd much rather be anywhere other than the sterile hospital room. She was considering it though, just so he couldn't have his way but then she'd only be punishing herself and that didn't make either of them winners.
"Okay Drew, I guess I'll move in with you but when I'm better we'll talk about this again," she told him with reluctance. He threw his arms around her with excitement and grabbed the laptop so she could see the house. She was definitely impressed. It was beautiful and larger than anything she was used to. It would be hard to leave there once she'd lived in it. She'd try not to get attached.