Mila, Aaron and Shae
Aaron wasn’t completely unfamiliar with these panic attacks Mila had, they cropped up sometimes. He always felt woefully underprepared to help her through them, but he did his best to keep her grounded when she needed it. Aaron wrapped both arms snugly around Mila’s small frame, cradling her to his chest, and swayed them gently back and forth. “This is all real, and we’re standing in Charlie and Gavin’s kitchen ... though it’s probably mostly hers, don’t think he cooks much,” Aaron said, giving a soft chuckle. “I see ... three dog bowls with crumbs from breakfast left in ‘em, an oven timer shaped like an apple, some actual real apples in a bowl ... Charlie’s got like, an obscene amount of fridge magnets.” Aaron gave a little huff, one hand moving to stroke the back of Mila’s hair. Sometimes when she needed him to talk he didn’t know what to say, so he just picked out things he could see and hear and smell, like that I Spy game. “I can kinda smell weed? Must be from Jasper downstairs. And your shampoo smells good like mangos. But you always smell good.”
Mila sunk into the sound of Aaron's voice and the gentle way he swayed them back and forth. Horrible images of where she had been kept threatening to surface, to overwhelm and take control, but she stayed focused on Aaron, of the simple things he was pointing out to her. Magnets, apples, weed. Mangos. Pressing her nose against Aaron's chest, she could smell the very faint scent of the laundry detergent and beneath that, the soap he'd used in the shower. "And the baby is okay," Mila murmured, slipping one hand down to press it against her stomach. "We're both okay." There were days Mila wanted to tell Aaron what she knew, but it was still so early and she didn't want to worry him. They both wanted a healthy baby and while her appointments had gone well, it was hard to completely forget what had happened after the first pregnancy.
“We’re all okay,” Aaron assured her. He pulled back enough to kiss her forehead, then slipped one arm back around her shoulders, the other hand moving down to cover Mila’s where it rested on her belly. “Our daughter is safe and warm and getting cuter by the minute.” He kept rocking them, willing to stay right there and keep saying soothing stuff to her for as long as Mila needed him to. Aaron pressed a few more slow kisses against Mila’s head. “You’re here and you’re okay. This is all real -- my idiot brother really is a lunatic who married a stranger.” Aaron gave a soft chuckle and rolled his eyes, hoping a little humor might help reassure her too. Could some evil tunnel even be funny? Aaron didn’t think so.
Despite the turmoil in her gut, Mila huffed out a soft laugh when Aaron rolled his eyes. "He really is an idiot, isn't he?" It was comforting, having Aaron's hand pressed against her own. She hadn't felt the baby kick yet, but it was only a matter of time. Once that started happening, she liked to believe some of these attacks would happen less frequently. But right now she held onto Aaron reassuring her that they were all okay and the baby was safe. And real. This was real. Her heartbeat had started to slow a bit but Mila held onto Aaron anyway, letting his presence calm her. "I shouldn't be mean to her, should I?" she murmured. "Caden's new wife. I just... feel like I'm betraying Roxy if I welcome her, you know?"
Aaron just hummed his agreement that Caden was an idiot and kept rocking them, idly thinking about how petite Mila’s hand was under his. He had no idea when babies started kicking in the womb, but he’d found that it was still comforting to have his fingers on that curve of Mila’s belly anyway. Aaron never knew if he was just imagining it, but he felt like he could feel their daughter in there. “Yeah, I get that,” he murmured to Mila, rubbing his thumb against her tummy. “You don’t have to be mean to her, but ... you don’t have to be friends either, you know? She’s just there now, for however long she lasts. All of us hated Olivia, so ... not like that’s a new thing in this family.” Aaron chuckled faintly.