The In Between

"Are you freaking serious, Della?" Caine shouted behind her in an irritated tone, as she quickly left the room. She was paying him no mind at all and he knew it. She had obviously heard him, though, because she giggled loudly from the kitchen.

"What?" she shouted in a very guilty voice,

"It's not like I packed her in my suitcase or anything, she snuck in my bag," she said, trying to justify what they both knew she had done. She definitely was not going to mention the fact that she had discovered the little stow away in her bag at the airport before they had ever left to come home. She figured that some things were better left alone.

She returned a few moments later with a cup of coffee for them both and a sweet smile on her face.

"Besides, we're going back for our wedding in a few weeks, how much trouble could she be until then?" She asked him with pleading eyes and a soft tone in her voice.

"That is an insane question Della, did you forget where she came from?" He asked her sarcastically. He knew that she was playing dumb, and that she also knew exactly how much trouble that damn little creature could really be.

He tried to stay firm, but she was already looking at him with those big doe eyes, and he instantly knew that he had been beat.

"I guess we don't have any choice now," he said with a defeated sigh.

"But please don't let her be seen. I don't know how in the world we would even begin to explain her to anyone here," he told her more quietly as he put his lips gingerly to the side of his cup and pulled in a long slow draw of the deliciously hot liquid.

Suddenly a strange smile slowly crept across his face, like he had just come up with the best idea ever. Della noticed it but she didn't point it out, she just sat quietly and drank her coffee as if she didn't feel him staring at her like a crazy person.

After a few minutes she couldn't take it anymore.

"What are you looking at so hard?" She finally asked him with both a sheepish look on her face and a playful tone in her voice.

Caine laughed a little and he said,

''You silly," and he brushed her hair to the side with his finger. His fingers gently moved across the frame of her face, causing her to turn her head and look at him. They locked eyes for a moment and the room seemed to fill with electricity around them. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears and she couldn't help herself but to lean in and kiss him.

She closed her eyes and she let herself be pulled into his embrace, she had almost forgotten how good it felt to be alone with him. She was trying so hard to hold on to the moment as long as humanly possible, so she wrapped her arms all the way around him and she pulled him into herself as quickly as she could, and more frantically than she ever had before.

Caine was surprised by her sudden naughty behavior, but he sure as hell wasn't going to complain.

He had missed her so much over the weeks that she had been taken from him. It was still so hard to believe that her own father could have had her kidnapped, but what a wild turn of events. Not only did he save his girl, but he owns the whole damn castle now, too. That thought made him smile, even though he was trying not to.

He decided right then and there that he would not, no...he could not let anything ever happen to her again. He silently vowed to himself and to God that it would be his life's work to protect her and that precious little baby that she was carrying inside of her. He was filled with so much love and grief and anger and regret all at the same time, that he thought that he may actually die right there in that bed with her, wrapped in her arms.

He knew that he had a responsibility, but more than that, he really loved this woman with all of his heart and soul. He already knew that he would never forgive himself for letting her get taken in the first place, he knew now that he never should have put that damn club first back then. He knew deep in his heart that if had stayed at that ballroom event with her, where he belonged, that she never would have been available to take to begin with. He damn sure wasn't planning on ever letting it happen again, and that was for sure. He planned on spending the rest of his life making it up to her, and watching over her and the child in her belly with everything he had.

Caine did his best to take it slow and to take it all in, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't contain himself. He crashed into her as hard as he could one last time, and then he fell into her arms and allowed himself to be enveloped in her love. They fell asleep together, just like that, still entwined in each other for what seemed like forever.

The pair got so lost in their own personal heaven that they didn't wake up until the next morning. Caine blinked his heavy eyes open to see the little fairy sitting on the dresser blushing and giggling while she pointed at him shamefully. Caine giggled, too, and then he woke Della by gently kissing her face.

"Get your pet under control," he said with a laugh. The fairy instantly became insulted by Caine's label as a "pet." she wondered just who in the hell he thought he was talking to. She was a grown ass woman and she damn sure wasn't anybody's "pet." She got so pissed off at him that she flew at him as aggressively as she could, over and over again. She went at him like an angry, cursing little fly.

He laughed even harder while putting his hands up and covering his face, which pissed her off even more. How dare his big ugly ass laugh at her? What gave him the right to not take her seriously? She was so sick and fucking tired of being treated that way just because she was small.

"Hey, hey, okay I'm sorry," Caine told the fairy, while giggling like a child, but she kept attacking him until Della sat up and snatched her from the air with one quick swipe of her hand.

"No ma'am," Della told her sternly,

"we have to be nice to him," she said with a mischievous glint in her eye,

"He pays the bills around here little lady," she warned playfully, while wagging her finger at the cute little creature. The little fairy took a deep breath and crossed her arms while she sat pouting in her hand, causing Della to throw her head back and laugh joyfully out loud.

The little lavender lighted fae quickly gave in to Della and she began to snuggle her lovingly, as she lit herself up in a soft, happy glow.

"That's better," Caine said with a light hearted chuckle,

"I'm the boss of this house, and don't you forget it," he told her, as he pointed at her playfully.

"You need a name," Della told the little fairy,

"or do you have one already?" The fairy shook her head yes.

"Of course you do," Della said with glee.

"Can you tell me what it is?" She asked. The fairy emphatically shook her head yes and she flew to Della's ear. She told Della her name in a teeny tiny voice.

Caine watched as Della's face suddenly lit up, he couldn't help but to smile watching his love being so happy.

"Ella you say? Your name is Ella? That's so funny. Our names are so close!" She mused at the tiny figure. Ella giggled into her small hands and she gently lit herself up in a dim display of friendship as she snuggled Della some more with a sweet smile still on her face.

"Okay lazy bones," Della said as she nudged Caine out of the bed.

"You need to get to the club and make me some money while I get to the doctor and call my sister. We have a wedding to plan after all," she said playfully. Caine rolled over reluctantly and he stretched his long arms around Della's neck and he pulled her to him again.

"No sir!" She said as she pushed him away and ran to the shower.

"Come on Della, are you really gonna leave me like this?" He protested as he pointed southward to his very big problem.

"That's your issue sir, not mine, not this morning," she shouted at him through the bathroom door.

"Fine, I'll just see if I can hire someone else to handle this for me then," he teased her back, as he slowly got up and started gathering his clothes for the day.

"That's ok, I'll pay the bill," she teased him back from behind the locked door.

"Can you give me a call when you leave the doctor please?" He asked her as he pulled his pants on and buttoned up his shirt.

"Yes dear," she laughed.

"What a good dad you are going to be," she said as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in her own comfy robe. It wasn't the angora robe they had her wearing at the castle, but it was hers, and she felt at home in it no matter where she was when she put it on.

She came back into the bedroom to get dressed just as Caine was headed out. He stopped and gave her a sweet kiss as he happily made his way towards the door and towards the beginning of the rest of their lives together.

He was filled with hope and happiness, and he was really looking forward to it all. Especially now that Della's father Robert was gone away with the sprite queen, and her mother Joy had found a love for him that neither of them ever thought was possible.

Della was just as full of the same light and hope and happiness. The mood between them was as wonderful and as healthy as it ever had been before.

Once Caine had finally gone to work and was out of her way, Della proceeded to get herself ready while she started making phone calls to her mother and her two best friends Deena and Cat. Afterwards, she sat down and called her newly found sister Rebecca, queen of Castle Free Sky.

Her mood was slightly put off when she heard from Queen Rebecca that their father was still skulking around the castle grounds. It was no surprise that he was still trapped in that disgusting sprite body and was still up to the same no good crap as always.

She started to wonder out loud if she should actually be doing this. Going back to the castle still kind of felt a little crazy, but her sister quickly reminded her that Mister and Pearl were dead and that she and Caine actually owned the castle now. That put her mind at ease and she decided to go through with it anyways, even though it was against her better judgement.

She told her sister about the fairy that had followed her home. Queen Rebecca told her that the fairy could not be trusted, and most likely the sneaky little Fae was probably a spy for Robert and ol' stinking ass Queen Lacey Losedraws, and that she was probably up to absolutely no damn good.

Della looked at her cute little friend and she highly doubted that she could be evil. Little Ella smiled back at her because she knew that she had done her job well and hidden her true agenda from her new best friend.