Frost Heart (Reboot w/ Denali)

While it warmed her heart to hear that he was prioritizing the safety of their children, Claire became a little concerned when he mentioned the custody papers. Of course, because of how attached she is to Grace, she was certainly scared of the little princess being taken away from her. Next when her husband said she was still beautiful, she smiled, even more so when he kissed her forehead. Claire then grabbed his hand to place it on her belly, mainly because she wanted Arianna to stop kicking.

As he spoke about the dilemma of the Photographers, Claire felt reassured. "Well, I don't control my emotions or my body. Too many hormonal changes. And let me enjoy my moments on the couch while I still can't fit into my pants." She responded, pouting when he said that they didn't need her giving into her cravings.

Finally, she just leaned into his shoulder, pecking his neck with her nose as she kept his hand on her swollen belly, finding it comforting. When she felt more kicks, Claire sighed in a frustrated manner. "Alright darling, you're gonna have to talk to Arianna, these kicks need to stop. I've been dealing with them all morning..." She groaned.

Meanwhile, school was just getting out. Tristan was waiting outside for his little sister so that they could board the bus and finally go home. He did have a reasonable amount of homework to keep him busy, but he would also be okay with helping Grace with hers.
 
Christian focused his attention on Arianna for awhile and rubbed his wife's bump soothingly. "You will have time to do so even after you give birth. You will need time to heal afterwards." He noticed her reactions to the various topics and always made sure to keep her happy.

He lowered his head and spoke to her trying his best to make her calm down. "Did you eat anything yet?" He asked knowing sometimes that helped. "I'm sorry she's been fussy all morning."

Grace stepped out of her classroom and saw Tristan waiting for her. "I thought we were getting picked up by Claire or dad." Whining a bit. Grace had her fair amount of work to do as well. She got onto the bus and sat down next to Tristan.
 
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"Aside from three days in the Hospital, yeah, I'll be resting for about a week or two, aside from doctor's visits. But I also won't be getting very much sleep after the baby is born." Claire pouted. "As if I already have trouble sleeping as it is too." However, she did soften up a little as Christian rubbed her belly in a soothing manner to calm Arianna.

When asked if she ate anything, she nodded. To her dismay, her stomach growled a few seconds after he apologized about their unborn daughter being fussy. "Well, I might not be hungry, but...she seems to think otherwise." Her cheeks then turned red as she frowned.

"Not today. You know how busy Dad can get."Tristan frowned as he boarded the bus and sat with his sister, allowing her to sit by the window.
 
"Don't worry. I'll help you take care of you. Even if it means losing sleep so you can sleep." He said as he held her and continued to rub her bump. "Everything will be fine. Let me handle most of the stress and you just take it easy. We can't have anything stress you out too much."

He chuckled and stood up to go to the kitchen and started to make her some toast and grabbing her some water to drink. Christian walked back over to her and tossed on a favorite movie to watch. Looking at the time, he realized the kids would be getting out of school soon.

"I know. I just hope Claire is feeling better today." Grace said as she looked out the window. The ride home wasn't that bad. Once they were at their stop, they got off and Grace ran up to the door. "Daddy, Daddy." she called out.
 
"We're both gonna be having sleepless nights when Arianna arrives, darling. Surely you learned that when Grace was born." She smiled as he held her and felt his hand on her belly.

Sadly, he wasn't wrong when he said that he wanted her to take it easy and not get too stressed out. "A Stress-free pregnancy is only something a mother can dream of, sweetheart. And with everything going on, that's impossible." She frowned before looking down at her belly as he got up to go to the kitchen.

When he came back, he had handed her a glass of ice cold water, which she drank gracefully. If anything was important, it was her hydration. Claire relaxed when Christian put in a movie for them to watch. Granted two-thirds of the way through, Claire ended up falling asleep.

On the way home, Tristan hoped that his Mom was doing better, knowing that the pregnancy was taking its toll on her, so that's why he always tried to be a good son, like spending time with Grace, doing chores and spending less time on the videogames. When they got off the bus, Tristan grabbed the key from his backpack and opened the door so that Grace could get to their Dad. The first thing Tristan did was take his shoes off and helped Grace get her shoes off before heading into the Living Room to greet his Stepfather, and to see that his Mother was sleeping. "Hey Dad." He said, greeting him with a smile as he watched Grace to make sure that she didn't slip or fall.
 
"I haven't forgotten that. I just know I'll be enjoying my sleep whenever I can up until then." Chuckling a bit. "I know it is, but I'm going to try any way, okay?" He said softly.

Seeing her fall asleep, made him smile. He placed a blanket over her to keep her warm while she slept. He turned the movie off and focused on work for a bit. He had to distract himself until the kids got home. Christian wanted to nap but he couldn't his mind was still fixated on the custody battle.

"Hey Tristan, Grace." He said softly not waning to wake Claire up. He hugged Grace tightly when she came over to him. . "How was school you two?" Grace was all excited to be home and when she saw Claire sleeping, she tried her best not wake Claire up. "School wasn't that bad today. Learned some fun things. My teacher almost blew up something during science." She said and sat down on the floor to watch something.
 
Tristan started giggling when Grace said something about her teacher nearly making something blow up during science. Given what grade she was in, Tristan did become a little concerned. "School was good. Hard to believe that Middle School is coming up after this year." He said, knowing that it was his last year in Elementary School.

Since Grace was probably not ready to jump into homework yet, which she normally doesn't touch until after dinner time, Tristan took the opportunity to go do his homework to get it out of the way so that he can help Grace later on. Quietly, he just walked up the stairs and into his room and opened up his binder to get started on his homework. Unlike most students, Tristan often found peace in doing his homework. He took his phone out and plugged in his earphones so that he could do his homework in peace. The only way to get his attention during this time was to actually go into his room.

One hour later, around 5PM, Claire woke up. After straightening out her hair and her dress, she slowly got out off the couch and stretched her arms before waddling into the kitchen to cook something...which became a great idea after her stomach growled. "Mmmm, what to make for dinner tonight?" She asked, looking at the crock pot and then opening the fridge.

When her stomach growled a second time, she sighed before opening the pantry to quickly grab a chocolate bar, hoping to curb her hunger until after she was done cooking.
 
"I know. It's going to be so strange without you." Grace said with a pout as she tried her best not to think about it. She loved her step-brother and school was going to be so different without him. While Tristan was doing his homework, Grace was playing with her toys and doing other activities. She hated doing her homework right as she got home it was hard for her to focus. Feeling bored of playing with her toys and watching something, she came into Tristan's room with her homework and sat down next to him. She got as much as she could before having him help her.

While she slept, Christian was emailing his lawyer regarding the current events that had just taken place. Stepping away he went into his office to make a phone call which lasted about fifteen minutes just in time for when Claire woke up. He came back down and saw that she wasn't on the couch but in the kitchen starting to make dinner. "Love what if we order out I'm sure the kids will like that unless you want a stew. The crock pot will take some time." He told her helping her pulling out ingredients and helped her make dinner.

Once dinner was ready, Christian went upstairs to see if they were done with their homework. "Dinner time." He said and came back down to serve their plates. Just as they were about halfway through their Jane arrived and rang the door bell a number of times getting impatient. "Christian I know you're in the open up!" She said banging on the door loudly. It was as if most of the neighborhood could hear her.
 
Tristan was heavily concentrated on his homework, that is until Grace came into his room with her homework. Since he was good at multi-tasking, despite his mother discouraging it. But by the time that Grace came by, he was only reading a book, so he had no issues with setting it down to help her with whatever. However, Tristan remained reasonably impressed that Grace got a majority of it done before coming to him for help. Naturally, he was more then happy to do so.

As she took a bite out of her chocolate bar, she heard Christian approaching her. "Babe, you know how I feel about eating out. Home-cooked meals are so much better. Otherwise you'd lose this." She said, setting her chocolate bar down to give a feel of his abs. "And I don't want that. Especially with this handsome face." Claire smiled. "Why don't we just make some Mac & Cheese tonight, with Chicken, Bacon and Broccoli. We can use the crockpot for that...Just need to time everything." She said before picking her chocolate bar back up when her stomach growled a third time.

It didn't take long for him to start taking out the ingredients. She found the cooking relaxing, very relaxing. While the Mac & Cheese cooked in the crockpot, she had to make the fried chicken, broccoli and the bacon separately. Soon the food was done and with Christian's help, she portioned out the food before putting any extras into the Refrigerator. When Christian went up to get Grace and Tristan, Claire took the liberty of setting up the dining room for her family. She took her usual seat as the family arrived and they all together quietly and happily.

Dinner was enjoyable up until there was banging on the front door. She then heard a woman's voice, calling out Christian as she rang the doorbell multiple times. She then wondered if any of the neighbors had called the police. "Alright, kids...Just go ahead take the rest of your dinner upstairs and I don't want you leaving your room until after Daddy comes upstairs to get you. Tristan, lock your room door and don't come out unless you have to use the restroom, but do not come downstairs, period. Understand?"

Tristan nodded before picking up his plate and Grace's before ushering her up the stairs with their drinks, closing his room door and locking it behind him. "Okay, while waiting for Mom and Dad to deal with whatever, we can finish your homework, eat and then...rest." He said, trying to keep Grace's attention away from whatever was going on downstairs.

Angrily, Claire waddled to the front door. As she opened hte door, she saw an equally angry woman, whom she recognized as Christian's Ex-Wife, Jane. "Oh...Its you...What the fuck do you want now?" She asked, mainly disgusted.
 
Christian couldn't argue with her about that. He wouldn't hear the last of it he lost his abs or muscles and he didn't want to deal with that. "Alright, we won't eat out. But sometimes it doesn't hurt to. Get out of the house for a little bit. Eases the stress just a little." He said kissing her cheek. "That sounds good." After helping with dinner, he turned the TV on for a bit sitting with her as their meal cooked. When it was time he sat down, talked with the family before hearing the banging and his name.

Grace nodded and immediately went upstairs following her brother. She sat down next to him where they continued to eat and do their home. As she was being distracted. She heard yelling from downstairs and she didn't like it. In fact it scared her.

Before he had a chance to stand up, Claire was already moving to answer the door. "To talk with my ex-husband about money and Grace's upcoming custody battle." She said and smiled, admiring Claire's bump. "You're glowing Claire and very beautiful." She reached out and touched it. Christian looked out from the table and heard Jane's voice seeing the two about to have a dispute. He walked over and glared at Jane. "Did you forget the restraining order?" He asked with his arms folded over his chest as he stared at his ex wife. "If you're to ask about the money. Yea I called the bank to have them close your accounts and transfer everything back to me. You can tell you drug dealing boyfriend that he has no more money coming from me." He told her. "As for Grace, she's staying with me from now on. No more weekend visits until the custody battle is over." He said escorting Claire to sit down and take a breather. "Now you're causing my wife stress and she doesn't need this right now. So please leave. If you want to talk in mannerly fashion let me know. Because this is absolutely absurd."
 
At Jane's response, Claire was naturally disgusted. If she had known, she would have called the Police, aware of Christian's restraining order against her. Then again, it was just a piece of paper. Unknown to Christian, because of how she knew Jane was, Claire had considered the idea of buying a firearm or a couple so that she could have a better chance of protecting both her husband and her children, especially the one inside of her. Next, Claire was not very moved when Jane had commented on the fact that she was glowing. While she wanted to retort when the woman said that she was very beautiful, but chose not to. However, when Jane placed her hand on the bump, out of protective instinct, Claire grabbed her wrist. "Hands. Off. My. Princess." she growled as her husband came up from behind her, going on a tirade of his own.

By this time, Claire could feel her anxiety rising due to the fact that she felt like Arianna was threatened. As she started thinking about what her husband was saying, it seemed almost as if he was knowingly funding a drug operation, granted he was now putting that to an end. If this was brought up in court, he could always claim that he didn't know that it was where the money was going. It also felt as if he was paying alimony to his Ex-wife, something Claire didn't exactly like the idea of. "If she doesn't leave within the next minute, I'm calling the Police." She threatened, waving her phone which already had 911 dialed. All she had to do now was press the call button.
 
Jane sighed and started going on a tirade of her own and immediately backed down when she mentioned the police. "Fine. I'll go. We'll talk another time." With that she left and drove off. Christian closed and locked the door behind her. He sat down next to Claire. "You okay? Now you understand why I left her. Always controlling me." He told her as he kissed her cheek. Before he went upstairs he had to make sure she was okay and calm.

Grace could hear yelling and tears from downstairs but didn't bother finding out what. "Do you think Mommy is okay?" She asked Tristan as she finished her homework and dinner. She sat with him watching tv and her head turned towards the door when she heard the knob being turned.
 
"That's what I thought...Stupid bitch..." She then closed up her phone before setting it down on the coffee table. Claire felt reasonably shaken up after the whole ordeal. "I'm fine, darling...But if she comes back, it won't be pretty." She growled. "But yeah, I can see why you left her. I'll never be like that." She started cradling her belly as he kissed her on the cheek before going upstairs to check on their children.

"I think she's fine, Grace." Tristan answered, assuming that she was asking about Claire. By the argument's end, their plates were empty and sitting at the corner of his desk. Grace had finished her homework and so did he. Since he wasn't playing videogames, he let Grace watch TV and decided to read his Harry Potter book, currently on book four, the Goblet of Fire. But when he heard the door knob turning, Tristan looked over at the door, wondering if it was his Mother or Stepfather on the other side.
 
"Deep breaths and relax." Seeing her tense as she growled. "I know you won't. But it's over and dealt with. I can't let you stress because of the baby. Just lay back and find something to watch." Christian said softly.

He stepped into the room and noticed they finished their dinner along with their homework. "It's fine now. You can come back downstairs." He told them as he picked up the empty plates and glasses. "Now don't you two worry bout a thing. Things might get a bit stressful around here but it's adult stuff. Okay? I think Claire could use a hug from the both of you." Walking out of the room he followed them back down and began to do the dishes.
 
Claire nodded as she slowly took deep breaths, to help calm herself after the encounter with Jane. "Babe, I'll be fine. You know I don't stress too easily. And believe me, I'd love to have a stress-free pregnancy, but that's currently impossible." She then stretched out her legs on the couch, but kept the TV turned off so that she could enjoy and relish the peace and quiet.

Then Christian went to go check up on their two children. When told that they could go back downstairs, Tristan nodded. But when his stepdad said that they were dealing with adult stuff, he just nodded. "I'm not too worried. If I ask, Mom is just gonna tell me that I am too young to understand and that I shouldn't worry about it." He said before organizing his desk after Christian removed the empty plates and glasses.

When he noted that Claire could use a hug from them, Tristan only frowned, before looking at his Stepsister.
@Denali
 
"I know. I also know how you get when someone unexpectedly touches you. Hey, she makes life complicated try not to worry about her right now. Just relax." He kissed her forehead letting her have some time alone while he goes to get the kids. In fact, Christian was trying his best to keep Jane out of their lives.

"She might. All I can say is that Grace's mom is making life for us a bit more difficult than it should be. Things are handled regardless. Not worry." He said and gave him a hug seeing the frown. "No frowning your mom is fine. If you heard yelling it was because I was protecting us." He looked to his daughter. "Everything his fine."

Grace had a worried look on her face when he spoke of Jane. She knew of things but rarely spoke of it. Following Tristian she went downstairs and cuddled next to Claire. "Figured you could use some time with us." Grace said softly.
 
Claire's face lit up a little when their children came downstairs and snuggled up next to her. Even though Grace was not her own flesh and blood like Tristan, the young mother still treated her as such. If there was anything both her and Christian can agree on, Claire was a much better Mother to Grace then Jane could ever hope to be...Not that she had the heart to tell Grace that to her face. However, the young child would understand it as she gets older. As Grace and Tristan both hugged her from both sides, as she was sitting in between them, Claire started feeling much more relaxed. "I could always use some time with my children." She replied to Grace, as she returned a hug, wanting the little girl to feel loved.

Tristan was mostly quiet, but still showed love to his Mother nonetheless. Naturally, he was mindful of her belly and tried his best not to touch it, knowing how she got whenever people touched her belly without asking, as one time she lashed out at someone in front of him. Other then that, it was just awkward to him, although she often told him that he'd understand one day. To be in a big happy family now, Tristan couldn't wish for any better. While yes, he missed his own Father, he still maintained a wonderful step-son to stepfather relationship with Christian, otherwise Claire would have bigger issues.

As nightfall came, Tristan just went to go take a quick shower and help Grace get ready for bed. By this time, Claire was already in bed, relaxing as she gave her belly undivided attention, fixated on her unborn daughter, Arianna.
@Denali
 
Christian smiled as he watched the children cuddle against her for a while. Letting her spend time with him he cleaned the kitchen up from dinner. Dishes were washed, dried and put away. Food was placed in the fridge and counters were wiped down. "Alright bed time. School in the morning." He said as grace kissed her goodnight and followed Tristian upstairs.

He helped his wife off the couch and followed her into the room. "You must be exhausted." As he pulled out a pair of pajamas for her and kissed her cheek. Christian enjoyed spending time with her. He took a shower, brushed his teeth and put a pair of silk pajama pants and crawled into bed next to her cuddling her as he put something on to watch.
 
Claire only nodded when he commented on her being exhausted. When he pulled out some pajamas for her, she only smiled at him before he ran off to the restroom to change and take care of his hygiene. Taking off her dress and throwing it into the laundry basket at the other end of their bedroom, she quietly put on her pajamas, which were a bit more comfortable. Afterwards, she made herself comfortable in bed again, still quietly caressing her belly, her eyes fixated on it as she waited for Christian to join her. As he cuddled up with her, the young mother relaxed. However once he turned on the TV, she turned off her lamp and just got comfortable. Sighing, she turned to her left side so that she could sleep more comfortably. It was already hard enough for her to sleep as it was.

In her sleep, around midnight, she started tossing and turning a bit, even groaning. However, it didn't take long for her to start talking either. "Nooo....Noo! NOO!" she said rather fearfully. "Please, please, don't hurt little Ari..." She said pleadingly in her sleep.

"No no nooo. NO! NOOOOO!" She then yelled, holding her belly protectively. "Please, I'm begging you, don't hurt my baby!" Claire then started squirming.

Luckily for them both, Tristan and Grace were in deep sleep and their rooms were practically on the other side of the house. After about of an hour of tossing, turning and even yelling, Claire woke up as her eyes shot open. As she got up a little too fast, she felt a little disoriented. Taking a few deep breaths, Claire then lifted up her shirt, looking down at her bare belly, which wasn't often shown as she wore dresses frequently. Only time she usually flaunted the baby bump at all was during an ultrasound or relaxing in her undergarments and her bra, which was almost never, not with those stretchmarks. Her eyes then started getting watery as she placed one hand on her forehead, having quite the headache after what she had just endured. If these nightmares kept up, she would have to consider therapy.
@Denali
 
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