Expired With Me

Chapter Seven

Iris

 "Ughhhahhhh!" I yell, flopping onto the bed. Jonas looks at me, laughing and shaking his head as he unbuttons his sleeves. I throw a pillow at his head. "And you don't feel like screaming?" He picks it up from where it landed on the ground and places a kiss on my forehead, following it with one on my lips.

"I supervise my siblings and nine children while we pretend to lead a country, occasionally even doing so. If I yelled like that every day, people would think I'm crazy." I roll my eyes, sitting up against the pillows. After Jonas finishes getting ready for bed, I rest my head on his bare shoulder.

"Are we sure today wasn't a dream? I mean, I'm used to the whole 'married to an alien thing,' but..."

"I'm not an alien," he laughs. "Just Amoris. I was born on Earth. And it's not a dream, my love. I'm living it too." Jonas pauses, picking at his bandage. His smile falls. "I almost told Colton today." I sit up.

"What? Jonas you..."

"I know. He knew something was wrong, and... I hate lying to him. I mean, what if he already knows? Erik and Andrew did try their best for that to be the case." I fold my legs on the bed, facing him.

"How could he know? Jonas, remember what he did to me? It took him over a year to be okay that I'm alive. What would he do if he found out that the Preeminence was Expired? And that he is supposed to be the one with that title?" Jonas wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him, before leaning back against the pillows, sighing.

"Remember when you found out I was Expired?" I nod, allowing him to continue. "And what I said about the timelines and how on our lines, we were supposed to die, but on everyone else's, we were always supposed to live?" Jonas runs his hand through my hair. "What if our child doesn't have a Date?"

"What do you mean?" I look up at him, my hand still on his chest.

"We were never supposed to meet, Iris. On either of our lines. So we definitely were never supposed to get married or have a baby." Jonas smiles, looking down at my stomach. "How can the baby have a timeline if both of ours were supposed to end?" I lay my head on his chest, as he lays the blankets over us. My hand plays with a lock of his hair, as he rubs circles into my back.

"I don't know," I say. We lay there, silent. I listen to his heartbeat, grateful it's there. Jonas holds me close.

"Are you sure you don't want to join me tomorrow?" He asks after a while. I nestle my head further into his warmth and nod. Jonas sighs, his lips touching the top of my head. "He misses you."

"I know," I say. 'I miss him too' is what I don't, because I don't know if it's true. I close my eyes, watching as the memories run through my mind. Some good, yes, but even those hold a mixture of grey. I open my eyes, looking into a sea of bright blue. "Why do you speak to him?" Jonas leans his head back, recalling some memories of his own. Memories long before I was even in the picture, of a man I never knew.

"He's my cousin. Before her, he was my friend." I link my fingers through his. "A friend that I want back."

"But he's gone, Jonas. Your friend. Erik's changed. He hurt me, you too. He's killed."

"I know," he sighs. "I know." Jonas kisses the top of my head. "But we've changed too." He sighs. "We've dealt with a lot today. Why don't you get some sleep? I love you."

"I love you too."