I groaned from the separation, wordlessly watching Aaron as he rounded the king-sized bed to head to the bathroom. A few seconds later, he returned with a wet, warm cloth, using it to wipe the evidence of our lovemaking from my body before tossing it on the nightstand.
I adjusted my body as he climbed back in the bed, his long arms reaching out and pulling me into his naked frame. I settled with my back against his chest, our breathing falling in sync with one another’s. I felt like I could breathe easier for the first time in three days. It always felt like that when he went away for business.
“You could come with me,” he said, his lips grazing my earlobe.
I frowned. We’d had this discussion at least a thousand times.
“I can’t just go with you on every trip.”
“Why not?”
I rolled my eyes. “Because we have four kids and someone needs to be here with them.”
“They can come, too. We’d hire a full-time nanny and teacher for them.”
“Aaron …” I didn’t say anything else because we’d been through this before.
His arms tightened around my waist and he was silent for a few moments before saying, “You came quickly.”
My eyes widened, not expecting that. I should’ve known better. He always noticed even minute changes. Whereas most men barely noticed their wife’s haircut, Aaron was keen to even slight changes in my mood, body, facial expressions, whatever it was. Like I said, the only reason I’d been able to hide this pregnancy for the last week and a half had been because of his travel.
“Did I?” I responded, lamely.
It obviously wasn’t a convincing response, as evidenced by the way he removed his arms from my body, sitting up to stare down at me. His eyes did that searching thing they always did when he was figuring me out.
“Aaron—” I started.
“Tell me,” he insisted, cutting me off.
I glanced out toward the corner of the room, unable to keep it together at the sight of the worry in his eyes. “It’s not bad—”
“Then say it.”
Pausing, I pushed out a breath before returning my eyes to his. “I’m pregnant.”
His jaw tightened and a scowl covered his face. He began shaking his head. “No,” he insisted, pulling back to stand.
“Aaron—”
“Don’t Aaron me. How the hell are you pregnant?”
I sighed, glancing around at the wrinkled sheets of the bed we’d just made love in. “Uh, the sex might have something to do with it.”
“Don’t fucking joke.”
My shoulders slumped. “I’m not joking. This is good news.” I tried to sound cheery.
“Good news? How, Patience? How is it good news that my wife could possibly—” He cut himself off, slicing his hand through the air, shaking his head. “No. You’re not doing this.”
My eyes widened and I rose to my knees, allowing the sheet to fall completely from my body, exposing my nudity. “It’s already done.” I held out my arms but bit back the smile when I saw his cock jump as he stared at me. Even in his anger he couldn’t turn his bodily response off.
“You almost died. Do you remember that?” he questioned, outraged. “I thought you were on birth control.”
“Of course I remember. And I am … was. I missed a couple of days, and well …” I shrugged. Taking a pill at the same time every day while chasing after four children was a bit much. I’d forget for a day or two, and before I knew it, it’d be a week before I took a pill again. And hell, Aaron and I were like rabbits even with our crazy schedules. He was as much to blame for this as I was.
“You’re not having this baby!” His face was set in stone.
I moved from the bed, standing before him, now almost as angry as he was. “What did you just say?”
