Brad sighed and ran a hand through his hair this time as he looked down at her, “Maria. Countless times through our time together I have asked you to trust me and you have. I won’t ask that of you again this time, but I will tell you that I swear to you I will not get myself killed.” He cast his gaze from her to the window across the room, the moon just barely visible through the drawn curtains.<br/><br/>“I have my whole life ahead of me to share with you and I would rather not spend it hiding in the shadows and loving you from afar,” voice soft as he spoke into the silence of the room. “It will be hard, very hard, but I will get you out of here and we will be together. You and our child, I want us to live as a family. To do that I am going to have to play a game and learn all that I can from Ivor, so that when the time comes and it is right, we will get out of here. All of us together will leave this place and go somewhere that we can be together. I know that is what you want, because that is what I want. I just know that in your condition and with everything, I have to wait and plan,” he looked down at her now and caught her gaze with his own.<br/><br/>“I don’t want my child growing up how I did,” he whispered, his hand resting atop her stomach as he spoke. “I want them to not only know their father but have him there with them each and every day. Ivor will never be that kind of a man; once the child is born he is likely to care less about what happens to it as long as it lives. I want to teach our child to hunt, to track, to read, to write, to be the greatest person they could ever be. I want to raise them, and love them each and every day so that they grow up to be a kind and compassionate soul like their mother,” he smiled as tears of happiness and longing brimmed in his eyes though still had not fallen.<br/><br/>“I want to marry you and make you my wife, so that I can love you openly without fear or concern for anything happening because of it,” he kissed the top of her head once more.  “There is just so much I want for us, Maria…”