His head jutted backwards and he gave me a curious look.
“It’s the kind of something that lasts for nine months,” was all I said before clamping my lips shut, letting the words I’d just shared ferment in his mind. It took a little longer than I thought, but I guessed that was what happened when you told your husband that you were pregnant for the first time.
I saw the exact moment he caught on. His face changed, eyes widened just a little and there was a glint in them that I’d never seen before. He pulled back and his hand went down to cover my still flat abdomen.
“How far along are you?”
“The doctor thinks I’m around six weeks or so. But I made an appointment with my Ob-Gyn for next week to confirm that.”
He sat up completely, eyes still glued to me.
I wanted more of a reaction. From almost day one of our relationship he’d been telling me about having children. To be more precise, that we’d have four children, all boys, who’d be a handful. If they wereanythinglike their father, I didn’t have a hard time imagining that fact at all.
“Are you going to say something?”
His brows spiked. “You need to eat.”
I frowned as I watched him quickly dismount from the bed, pull on a pair of running shorts, and head out of the room, presumably to get some food. Looking around the room, I saw the shadows of our clothing on the floor but still couldn’t make out what time it was. Robert didn’t believe in having a clock in the bedroom, preferring to let his body wake up naturally. I thought it was a ridiculous notion, but it worked for him. He woke up around five a.m. every morning, with no clock and no need to set an alarm. So I let it go.
I padded over to our shared closet and pulled down the silk robe he’d purchased for me a few months earlier. After slipping my arms into the light blue robe, I tightened the belt before heading out to go search for my husband. I found him in the kitchen; the smell of butter burning on the stove stopped me in my tracks.
“What are you doing?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Shit,” he growled when I began coughing from the smoke.
“Take that off the stove,” I told him, pointing at the frying pan he was using.
Upon moving closer, I could see that he’d sliced a few squares of the cheddar cheese I’d purchased earlier in the week. Next to the cutting board were a couple of slices of French bread along with the butter.
“I could go to the store to pick up some of that tomato bisque soup. Or Campbell’s,” he mumbled the last part, obviously hating the brand name soup I still had an affinity for.
I shook my head. “The grilled cheese is good enough. I’m not even sure how long I’ll be able to keep it down.”
I quickly finished what he’d started, making two grilled cheese sandwiches and plating them before carrying them over to the large table where he sat. Instead of finding my own chair, I opted to sit in his lap. His arm went around my back, leaving his other hand free to pick up his sandwich. I watched as he took the first bite, chewing and savoring it.
“Are you happy? About the baby.”
He paused mid-chew, his forehead wrinkling. He swallowed the food he’d been eating before leaning up and planting a kiss to my forehead. “Of course I am.”
That was all he said. However, as we ate our food in silence, I could feel something was off. I’d felt it from the moment I awakened to find him staring at me in the dark. There was a strangeness about the way he’d made love to me in our bed. As if he was questioning for the first time ever. Robert was the most assured man I knew. From the outset, he’d never had any doubts about our relationship. Not one. I thought the news about my pregnancy would’ve had him doing cartwheels down the damn hallway. But aside from insisting on feeding me, and a few questions, he was closed off.
I ate, without tasting, wondering for the first time if I’d made a huge mistake.
****
Present
Robert
“So you did doubt Mother.”
I frowned as I gazed at my youngest son. We were sitting in the offices I held at Townsend Industries. It didn’t matter that I was no longer CEO, and hadn’t been for some years now, this place was still like my second home. Aaron continued to seek out my council when he needed it, and I sat on the board of directors.
“No. If Father says he never doubted her than he never did.” That was Joshua. He also had offices here at Townsend Industries.
The three of us were having lunch together. Aaron had had a business meeting and Carter was halfway across the city at the fire station.
“Have you ever doubted your wife?” I questioned Tyler.
