Chapter Eight.

It was the weekend already. Everyone in the Caldwell family had come together from far and near. To celebrate one of their own.

They hosted the gathering in Ethan's grandfather's penthouse. It was cozy and big enough to contain everyone present.

Everyone was sitting around the wooden mahogany table, Juliet sat at Damian's right side. While her Aurora sat to the left. Ethan sat opposite Aurora, all the chairs were filled with family members. 

Ethan was not enjoying anything about the gathering, his Mom had forced him here. Not like he couldn't say no and not come, but he didn't want his mother's tantrum. So he just obeyed. And there was another reason…he'd developed some likeness for his brother's wife. Though he had not said anything about it.

Quiet conversations and clanking of cutleries filled the room. The food tasted like cardboard, but he managed to swallow it. He didn't want any unnecessary care or attention from his mother. He kept throwing glances at Aurora but she didn't notice.

Maybe no one in the room saw it, but he noticed that she wasn't so comfortable. He turned to his brother and he was busy chattering with his best friend. While his wife was alone, all to herself. 

Ethan clenched his fists and he didn't even know when he slammed it on the table. It was when heads turned to him that he saw he had drawn attention to himself.

"Are you okay, Son?" His mother asked.

"Yes, I am," Ethan unclenched his hand and withdrew it from the table, flashing them a plastic smile that screamed 'I'm okay'.

His mother wasn't fully convinced, but she let it slide. When he turned his gaze back to Aurora their eyes met, they stared at each other briefly before she looked away.

She didn't want anyone to see her looking at him like that.

"So, my dear, what were you saying?" Ethan's mother nudged Juliet.

"I followed him to the house and I saw it was our maid's place." She was talking about her Divorce.

"Thank God you divorced that son of a bitch," One of the older uncles on the table chimed. 

"I tell you," Ethan's mother shook her head.

"That wasn't even the worst part, I confronted him that day when he came home and he asked me to stay away from his business." Juliet fake-cleaned tears from her eyes. "She was even pregnant, I couldn't take it anymore." 

Ethan watched them with a straight face, he was unaffected by Juliet's 'sorry' story. It even irritated him. He'd had his share of fights and quarrels with her in the past, unresolved conflicts that bred bad blood between them. Even as adults, they could never tolerate each other.

Ethan calls her 'Great Actor' because he sees through her plastic smiles, and his brother never saw through any of it. Ethan couldn't understand why no one saw through her act and lies, it made them tag him 'the violent kid' when she used to come around.

Right now, at this table, he just couldn't understand why his brother didn't give his wife attention. He laughed at every joke, frowned at every pity story she narrated, he didn't even spare his wife a glance and this was the same attitude he had when they were kids.

"He doesn't deserve you. You deserve someone better. Like Damian," another one of his uncles added. 

Whatever that meant, it didn't sit well with Ethan. He glanced at Aurora and she was just there eating silently.

He noticed she was struggling to swallow the food in her mouth. He continued to watch her intently, he had a strong urge to speak but he was watching to see if his brother would turn or notice that his wife was struggling. But he didn't.

Aurora placed her hand over her mouth and excused herself from the table. Domain still sat where he sat, he didn't even ask where his wife was going. 

Ethan dropped his spoon and followed her.

By the time he went through the hallways she passed, he didn't see her. His instincts told him to check the nearby toilet and as he entered he saw her puking inside the porcelain sink.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ethan asked, freeing the door handle he ambled towards her.

"Yes," Aurora managed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She raised her head, stealing her spine. Her stomach rumbled again and she started puking.

Ethan was confused. He held her hair up so it wouldn't be soiled with her vomit. He wanted to rub her back but he was fighting between maintaining boundaries and giving his brother's wife the help she needed. Plus, he didn't want her to think wrongly of him or suspect his motives. Even if he liked her, only he should know about it.

Once he saw she had stopped vomiting, he gradually let the hair fall. Aurora turned on the tap and started washing her face.

"Stay here, let me get my brother," Ethan said.

"No, don't call him." Aura countered.

Ethan's eyebrow quivered, as he wondered why she didn't want him to call his brother when she needed help. "Why?" 

"Nothing. I'm fine, I can handle myself." Aurora said with a flick of her hand but she had to do more than that to convince Ethan that she was alright.

"No. You're not, you need help. You need a Doctor." Ethan was insistent.

"Damian would call me pathetic if he comes here and sees this." Ethan's features softened. "I don't want to wrench him away from his best friend. Please. Keep this between us." 

Ethan was mad, but he could save that for when he went out, right now there was someone he wanted to give more attention to.

"Why don't you want to tell him you're sick?" 

"I'm not sick, I'm pregnant. Vomiting is amongst the symptoms of early pregnancies, but it will stop with time." 

Ethan's eyebrow pushed his hairline "My brother is not aware?" 

"No." Aurora wiped her face with her palm. "I tried to tell him many times but he was focused on her. And we've been fighting ever since she came to our house." Aurora felt weak, so she faced her back to the wall for support.

Ethan's chest rose and fell, that gesture pushed every emotion that rose in his gut towards his brother.

"I'm sorry," Ethan said, softly. His voice was strained. It was not his place to say that, but that was how he felt at the moment.

"It's not your place. But thank you. I feel better." Aurora smiled. That was the first time she smiled since that day. 

Ethan felt pity for her, he wondered what she would be growing through emotionally because of her brother's behavior. Even as a child, he felt resentful towards his brother when he neglected him because of Juliet. 

The urge to pull Aurora onto his lap and pet her was so strong. But he wasn't going to take advantage of this moment, he would try to behave. 

Ethan closed the door knob that he was holding and pushed it back to the hinges.

Aurora slid her back on the wall till her butt hit the floor, Ethan could see the tiredness in her eyes. He started to wonder in his mind 'Is this what all pregnant women go through' 

A voice in his head said, 'You can see for yourself,' 

He made a mental note never to joke with women anymore, much less get a woman he doesn't love pregnant. He'd gotten a girl pregnant before, and she aborted it. He wasn't ready to be a father, that's why he asked her to remove it. 

He hadn't thought of what she went through. He was young then and he didn't particularly like her, but now looking at Aurora he vowed to apologize to her whenever they saw each other again.

Ethan walked up to Aurora and squatted in front of her, "So what now? Are you going to sit here all day?" 

"No." Aurora looked up at him. He looked just like his brother, but the younger version of him.

"So, how do you recover from this state?" Ethan was genuinely intrigued about pregnancy hormones for no reason.

The door flung open and Damain marched inside. Ethan slowly rose to his feet. Aurora's heart sank.

"What are you doing with my wife?" Damian barked in a thunderous voice.

"If you had eyes you would have noticed she wasn't okay?" 

"And you're her Doctor?" Damian's lips thinned. Aurora stood to her feet. Afraid the brothers were about to throw fists.

"Are you done with your whore bestie?" Ethan fireback. 

The 'whore bestie' triggered something inside Damian and he threw his fists in his brother's face.

Ethan did the same. Aurora's eyes flared with horror. "Stop!" She shouted at the top of her voice. But her voice seemed miles away like a distant echo.

The brothers held some bitterness towards each other that they wanted to lash out. They kept exchanging blows.

Aurora was frightened, she wanted to go call someone but she was scared before she would get anyone to come here one of the brothers must have killed the other.

She jumped in between them when Ethan was about to launch a heavy blow at his brother, when Ethan saw her his hand froze in the air. 

"Please, stop fighting." Aurora with her palm up pleaded. Ethan already sustained a cut on his face. 

Ethan dropped his hand, "You better pay more attention to your wife and leave that liar bestie of yours." Ethan warned, stepping back from his brother.

His blood was still boiling but he had to give Aurora some respect. "...if not, you'll be contending for her attention." He added, before slamming the door shut as he left.

Damian grabbed her arm, "What was he doing to you? What did he tell you?" 

"Nothing. Nothing." Aurora shuddered.

Damian sized her up, nose flaring. 

When he didn't see anything suspicious he threw Aurora over his shoulder heading to their room.