He shook his head firmly, the guilt of upsetting her too strong to cause any more stress. "I'm fine, love." He wasn't, not at all. But she didn't need to know that. "Short of revealing her lies there's nothing to be done." Beau continued with a tone of finality, though the undertones spoke more to his fury. "I won't do that to him."

  

Eva knew fighting with him was pointless, if she was stubborn, he could make a job of it, honestly, but she just couldn't sit there idly.

"Please just let me fix it." There was no changing his mind on Odina, but maybe he would let her do just this. I don't like to feel idle either."

---

  

---

Bloody hell, she was being almost as ridiculous as Odina was. "You're not being idke," he protested hotly, adamantly refusing to remove his boot and show her his damaged toes. "You're pregnant. That's enough to focus on without this shit."

  

"Fine." Here they were back to square one every time.

Eva set her tea aside and pushed her rounded frame from the sofa with a little difficulty. "I'm not some fragile flower. I can grow a human and be a sympathetic wife at the same time. It's a flick of a wand and one incantation. I can do it in my sleep." But apparently he didn't think her capable.

"I'm going to go finish taking care of the chickens." She announced as she waddled toward the door, reaching for her scarf and cloak on her way out.

---

  

---

He didn't follow after her immediately, for a great many words were about to spill over that would likely irreparably damage their relationship. Eva didn't understand his concerns, he knew. She didn't carry the lifelong guilt of being the cause for her mother's death or any of the difficulties that followed. If he were to die tomorrow, she would have family to fall back upon. Her father, her cousins, the people at the zoo. Beau had Murphy, of course, but one man wasn't enough to keep Beau rooted. Without her, he'd be lost in the abyss once more.

Perhaps if he had had a normal evening Beau might've been able to suppress those fears as he'd successfully done for months now. Perhaps if Odina hadn't cut him out of every aspect of Toby's life, Beau might've been able to see past his own frustration to better tend to Eavan's needs. But, he was too wound up, too poised to explode, to do anything even nearing productive or supportive.

Ignoring the continuing pain in his foot, Beau found Eavan out near the chicken coop. "Do you remember our first night together? By the fire?" Beau asked from behind her. "I told you of my mother."

  

The cold, fresh air helped to soothe some of her frustration as she retrieved the bucket from where it had been left. Eva knew she had no right to be so aggravated right now, but she hated seeing him like this. The utter refusal to let her in or even to see that she was trying to understand angered the shit out of her.

She deposited the bucket back into the barn and looked around for someone else to do. Now that the chickens had been fed, she supposed it was trying to let them out to roam for a little bit. Beau could collect them later when she was "too tired" to do her least favorite part of owning chickens. She'd just reached the coop again when he resurfaced.

"Of course I remember," It was one of the first and most personal details he'd shared with her. Still, it did nothing to soften her reply or her tone. Though she had her mother for 20 plus years, she too had lost a parent in her life and knew the void was impossible to fill. He seemed to forget that.

---

  

---

"Are you truly oblivious as to why that might lead to me treating you like a fragile flower?" He asked a bit more harshly than intended. Eavan's hostile tone reignited the frustration he was working hard to suppress, leaving little thought for his exact word choice. "Do you truly believe I find joy anything less than the perfectly capable woman you are, Eavan?" All it took was one mistake, one hard call and he could lose them both.

He was going about this wrong, he was sure of it. All he wanted was for her to remain safe, why couldn't she understand that? Beau released a heavy sigh and leaned against the nearest wall. "Losing you would destroy me. I'm constantly afraid for you. How do you not know that?"

  

Ah shit. So this wasn't about Toby and Odina at the moment. She was about to eat a whole host of crow right about now. Sighing softly, Eva breathed out the frustration as she turned to face him. She didn't move toward him yet, however.

"I'm not though, you seem to forget I survived a hell of a lot before this. A crocodile, Australia, the Amazon, Arizona, you and your ups and downs. Pregnancy, even though it's my first one, with all of its weird symptoms and surprises, is a cake walk." She wasn't saying it to be argumentative and tried to even out her voice so that it was level, soft. She wanted him to understand that they were going to be fine.

"Did I get weirdly emotional back there? Yes. Am I stressed about it? A little, but mostly I'm just sad. I'm heartbroken for you and for Toby. Being sad is nothing short of being human and it's not going to hurt me. I'm not going anywhere, I am fine." Eva made a point to put one hand on her growing stomach. "We are fine." It was not in her nature to be idle and Winnie had assured her that she would be fine as long as she didn't overdo it. Eva knew her limits, had struggled with the fact that they were currently lower, but being active was good for her and the baby.

"You can worry all you want, but don't take it out on me, because I won't have it. I was on my own for years, I can take care of myself. And before you argue with me about that, it is exactly what you are doing to me right now." She gestured vaguely between them; him not letting her take a look at his foot was the same situation. "I know you do it out of love, just as I'm doing, and I can't stop you from doing it, but take it out on the fenceposts if it's going to come out like this."

---

  

---

He turned from her and pressed a hand to his eyes. If only he were attracted to meek women who weren't so fucking headstrong, then perhaps he wouldn't be confronting his greatest fear in an unsympathetic body. "You're one to talk. My fucking ups and downs." He muttered bitterly. As if she didn't break down and cry over every little thing. As if she wasn't stressful to be around now.

The last bit of her argument caused any restraint Beau had remaining to him to snap. "Is that what you would prefer then? To do this on your own?" He demanded hotly, turning back to face her midsentence. It would be fitting for her to want to leave now, to leave him wondering about a second child of his. "You're capable. A survivor. Fucking heaven forbid you depend on anyone. That's what Langley was asking for, wasn't it? To be included in the decision making process?"

"And what did you do instead? Fucking survived in Arizona on your own — which you weren't, if we're being clear." Eva had the protection and support of five capable men in Arizona, hardly a hard experience to survive. Hell, Beau couldn't really think of any particularly dangerous moments. Breathing heavily, Beau took a few steps back from her, poised and ready to storm through the house in a flurry of packing his things. They could work something out about the baby later, that was assuming she even let him near their kid. "You want to be an independent woman so badly? Say the word and I'll let you do just that."

  

Eva watched him, mouth agape, eyes wide as it all babe pouring out.

"The hypocrisy of this argument is unreal, at least I have a damn excuse." She managed through a tense jaw. For him to think— to bring Fletcher into this so casually. Fucking men. "That is the last thing I want and you know that. I wouldn't have come to you at all if I had wanted anything else but what we have. Even when it's like this." The tears were welling up in her eyes again, but this time they were bitter, angry. Eva forced them back with a deep breath.

"I'm not your mother, I'm not Odina and I'm not having this conversation anymore. When you're ready to discuss this as rational, reasonable spouses, you can find me at Da's. And don't you dare argue with me because you won't leave me here alone and you know it." He could pretend all he wanted like he would just up and leave her if she asked him to, but she knew better.

---

  

---

"Fucking go, then." Beau all but growled, not meaning it but not able to reign in his emotions. A part of him understood that there was a likely chance that everything would be fine with Eavan. She would pull through labor and delivery with the same ease she did everything else. The fear spoke of a gruesome misery. A long life of missing her. It was a difficult feeling to move beyond.

Without waiting to see if she left or followed, Beau turned on his heel and stormed into his house, slamming the bedroom door with heavy force behind him. Eavan would hopefully be wise enough to use the floo, though Beau knew the likelihood of her doing so was minimal.