CAL
The staff tells me you aren’t at home. Where are you?
I huffed. His army of cleaners and nannies and managers also doubled as spies.
DEENA
I’m at my place.
My phone rang. I swiped to answer, and Cal spoke before I could: “Why aren’t you at home?”
“I’m atmyhome, Cal,” I said.
There was a silence. “But why?”
Deep in my gut, a warning began to thrum. Cal was wonderful, and I was pretty sure I was in love with him…but he needed control. And in moments like this, that need was suffocating.
“There are too many people at your place, Cal. Sometimes it feels good to be left alone.”
“You can just tell them to leave you alone, Deena. They’ll do anything you tell them to do.”
Frustration spiked within me, but I didn’t want to start a fight. There was too much going on, and I needed time and space to figurethings out. “I just felt like sleeping in my own bed tonight. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Your bed is my bed, Deena.” His voice was hard. This was the Cal I’d first met. The man who barked orders at all his minions, who demanded to get his way.
The suffocating feeling increased, but I shoved it aside. Cal was Cal. I had to take the good with the bad. And there was so much good. He knew that I had to feel like my own person. He knew how important freedom and independence were to me.
And I knew what this was: His old demons were rearing their ugly heads. He cared about me, which meant he felt responsible for me. He was terrified of anything bad happening. Somehow, we’d have to figure this out. I wouldn’t be able to live a life feeling stifled.
But if he was this domineering now…how would he cope with a baby in the mix?
Dread tolled a big bell in my gut. My fairytale was slowly coming undone before my very eyes.
“I just feel weird about staying at your place when you’re away,” I finally said, which was the truth but also a total cop-out.
“That makes no sense.”
I sighed. “Cal,” I said gently. “Please.”
His own sigh ruffled the phone’s earpiece, and he relented. “I’ll see you next week. Make sure your door’s locked before you fall asleep.”
My annoyance faded, and a smile curled my lips. He cared so much about me, and there was something so precious about that. We could figure this out…couldn’t we? “I will,” I promised. “I’ll see you next week.”
We hung up again, and I left my phone on the bedside table. No more frantic googling. I’d wait for the blood test results and go from there.
I didn’t haveto wait long. The following day, the doctor called me. I was pregnant. I asked her about all the wine I’d had, and she said that the risk of harm was likely low as long as I stopped drinking from now on. That eased my fears a little, but my emotions were still a maelstrom. Ahead of me were scans and tests and checks and…and labor. Childbirth. Motherhood.
My God.
At least now I knew for sure. There was a baby on the way.
TWENTY-EIGHT
CALLUM
Normally,I enjoyed long business trips. They cut the monotony of everyday life, and they usually resulted in huge deals being signed. This one in particular, which had me zigzagging across Europe, should’ve injected me with energy.
But I missed Deena. I worried about her, especially in that tiny studio apartment of hers that didn’t even have a doorman to check who was coming in and out. When my plane finally touched down at JFK, I breathed a sigh of relief. My driver took me straight to her place.
