Aris listened as closely as I did as the doctor reassured me, then glanced in Aris’s direction. Finally, he nodded at us both before leaving.
Once we were alone with Kandi again, she stood up from her chair. “Looks like you’re in good hands now,” she said, glancing between me and Aris. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. “I’ll call you later.”
“Okay,” I promised, squeezing her back.
“And you,” she said, pointing at Aris, “take good care of my girl.”
Aris nodded. “Always.”
With a final pat on my shoulder, Kandi grabbed her purse. “I’ll drop off the stuff you bought tomorrow. Try not to drive each other crazy in the meantime.” Then she was gone, leaving Aris and me alone.
The silence stretched between us until I couldn’t stand it. “You were right, Aris, and I’m sorry. You’re entitled to information regarding your children. You’re their father.” When he continued to say nothing, I added, “I’ll speak to my attorney in the morning and ask him to ensure you’re granted medical rights over our babies.”
“You are ready to leave, yes?” was all he asked.
“Yeah.” I reached for the bag of my belongings, but he was already there, gathering everything.
As he helped me to my feet, I realized being right didn’t make him any less angry. And being sorry didn’t erase his hurt.
The silence lasted all the way back to my house. Once inside, I watched Aris quietly arrange my medicines by time and date, along with my new monitoring equipment.
During dinner, the chef served us a meal that met all my new dietary restrictions, but Aris barely spoke. When I asked about work, he gave me one-word answers. When I brought up potential names for our son, he nodded.
The man who usually couldn’t stop talking about his plans for our future was giving me nothing but silence. And it bothered me, but I didn’t know how to fix it.
Well, I knew how, but marrying him just to get him talking again would be crazy. Besides, I couldn’t give him what he wanted unless he asked me.
I wasn’t waiting for a ring or a speech or him on one knee. I was waiting for a question mark. One single question mark at the end of a sentence, instead of the period he always put there like my answer was already decided.
We went to bed without saying a word, and he didn’t kiss me goodnight as he usually did. When I woke up with a start hours later, he wasn’t beside me.
I told myself to calm down. He had to be somewhere in the house. I found him easily enough, following the sound of tapping keys coming from the living room.
He looked tired. “When you coming back to bed?” I asked.
“I am not, no,” he answered without looking up. “Go back to sleep.”
That stung, especially since he was flipping the script on me. Our relationship had always been on my terms. Could I handle it the other way around? Nope.
I moved forward, took the laptop from his hands, and set it aside. Then I took its place, straddling his lap where the computer had been.
“You still mad at me?” I asked, leaning in to kiss his neck and face without waiting for an answer.
My tongue traced his jaw, feeling his stubble.
Aris pulled away. With one firm hand, he removed my arm from around his neck. “No, Deanna.”
“Deanna?” I whispered. He never called me that unless we were in the presence of our family.
He didn’t look at me. “I am working.”
“You’re still angry.”
“The anger, it has nothing to do with this. I have decided to abstain from further sexual activity until marriage, yes.”
It was so unexpected and ridiculous that I laughed. “Is that right?”
Aris didn’t crack a smile. “Yes.”
