Forty-Seven

"I promise, tomorrow I'll come back to work," Isabella had said as Tatum headed off to work. It had been another three days since Aaron had dropped by with the flowers and the Colombian had tried to come in the day before but had found herself unable to actually cross the threshold out of the house.

"Oh Izzy, why couldn't you come back today?" the redhead muttered to herself when she looked up from setting a pint glass in front of old Murphy and saw Aaron and Sean walk into the bar. Why today? She'd already had to put up with an aching back and more than once tonight she'd forgotten half of people's orders or almost forgotten to charge them for it. "I'm not in the mood fellas," Tatum tried to pre-empt them, coming around the bar to minimise the distance for her to shout and the chances of all her clientele overhearing.

"Oh, that's a shame, mood swings have started already, have they?" Aaron said now, only looking at her when he stopped in front of her. 

"Wha-what?" the redhead stammered as her throat immediately felt dry. He couldn't know, could he?

"Aaron, what are you-?" Sean asked confused as well. His brother hadn't told him why they'd come to Bellum; he'd just told him they had business in town.

"Nothin', nothin'," the older Miller said innocently, noticing out of the corner of his eyes that more and more of the clientele had started watching them. Good, his plan was working.

"Maybe we should go…" his younger brother tried, feeling very nervous about what was about to happen.

"No, no, I came here for a drink," Aaron gestured to him to calm down.

"Well eh... if you're still drivin', I can't serve you nothin' but soda or water," Tatum quickly pointed out, her hands clammy. "Wouldn't want you havin' an accident," she made the mistake of adding, knowing she had as soon as she saw the glint in his eye.

"No. No, you're right Tatum, we wouldn't want to have any accidents. After all, you know all about accidents, don't ya?"

"What accident?" Sean asked, feeling more confused by the second as he tried to make eye contact with her, wanting to know what his brother seemed to. She almost imperceptibly shook her head at him, trying to tell him to stop asking.

"What accident? The kind that comes from being a little friendly… of perhaps sellin' a little more than just alcohol in this… establishment," Aaron finally implicated himself with the rumours that had gone around the factory about her sexual relations, as he answered the question.

"That rumour came from you?" his brother asked, almost feeling a little betrayed.

"What rumour?" Tatum asked, not for the first time in recent weeks. Their stupid cousin had mentioned a rumour too, and she was getting sick of not knowing what it was. 

"That… you've been sleepin' with customers," one of the men sat at the bar told her uncomfortably.

She looked at her clients in horror. "What?!" she exclaimed, now turning back to the Millers. "You told people I've been sleepin' around?" she looked ready to faint, or throw up, her hand covering her mouth.

"I never actually said that," Aaron pointed out casually. "Besides, how else would you get pregnant?" he now said it out loud, gleeful when he saw her shoulders slump as she couldn't dispute that she was pregnant, even if it hadn't happened like that.

"You're pregnant?" Sean asked, himself looking like he might faint. The redhead glanced at the younger Miller, without being obvious, wanting to apologise for not telling him herself; her look was pleading and apologetic at the same time. Sean's blue eyes glanced at her briefly, noticing her look but not able to bring himself to look her in the eye.

She sighed disappointedly, knowing she should've told him earlier that she was expecting Kenny's baby, but the time had never felt right. She straightened up as she prepared to stand up to Aaron with no guarantee that Sean would still want anything to do with her. "You better get off your fuckin' high horse Aaron Miller, before I topple you off, coz it sure is a long way down," Tatum started to set him straight. "You know nothin' 'bout my life or how I got pregnant and it ain't none of your business neither. So, either you don't mention it again or I bar you from this establishment," she continued.

His brother's blue eyes took her in as he thought things through quickly while Aaron scoffed, trying to gauge how serious she was. "Yeah see if I care, you ain't nothin' round here," the oldest Miller said with disdain in his voice and stomped out. This wouldn't be the last she heard of him, no matter what she thought or how much he wanted Isabella.

His younger brother however nodded lightly as he put his Stetson back on. "Right you are Miss Tatum," Sean said as he inclined his head towards her with a tap to the rim of his hat. He managed to give her a small smile as he headed out of the bar.

Tatum looked after him desperately, wondering if she'd ever get a chance to talk to him again, about them. She took a deep breath as she blinked away a tear, she hated how emotional being pregnant made her as she wished that Sean could start standing up to his brother, that he'd forgive her for not telling him herself. 

"What was all that about?" Sean stopped his brother from getting behind the wheel of the truck. "You knew Tatum was pregnant and you waited until now to say anythin', to anyone?"

"What's the big deal, baby brother?" Aaron asked him, sounding patronising and not a little threatening as he squared up to him. "She dissed our cousin, if you remember?" he pointed out, revealing his main motive for doing what he'd just done.

Sean remembered; Vivian had come in almost screaming with anger at how Isabella and Tatum had thrown her out of the bar, whilst not being able to promise to stay away from Austin. "Yeah but…" he started to object, thinking that putting Vivian Miller in her place did not warrant her whole private life being thrown out into the open.

"No buts, Sean," Aaron now raised himself to his full height in front of him. "All is fair in love and war… and this… is… war," he reminded him of the feud and that nothing or no one was out of bounds.

Sean swallowed hard as he took a step back from his brother, conceding.