Obligation
“You loved her.”
“No, makamae.” He runs his finger down the bridge of my nose. “I cared for her. She’s a good person, but I never loved her. Love is an obsession that, no matter how hard you try, you can’t fight. I love you.”
“I hope that she finds that,” I tell him.
His face goes soft and his fingers skim along the underside of my jaw. “I hope so too.”
He takes my hand again and leads me down the street to the doctor’s office. Once inside, we head straight to reception, where we’re given a form to fill out before being taken back to one of the exam rooms. As soon as I’m settled on the table, the doctor comes in with a smile on her face. She’s short, about five one, with jet-black hair that sits at the edge of her jaw, making her already striking Asian features stand out even more.
“Myla.” She pats my leg then looks at Kai and mutters, “Hi.”
Did I mention that she hates my husband? Okay, hate is a strong word; she strongly dislikes him. During my first visit, Kai freaked out when I started spotting after the internal exam. He threatened to have the clinic shut down. That did not go over well at all. I swear I thought the small woman was going to murder him. It took ten full minutes to get Kai calm enough to listen that I was okay and it was normal.
“How are you?” I ask her.
She smiles then looks at Kai and glares. “I’ve been good.”
“That’s good,” I mutter, squeezing Kai’s hand hard enough that I see his skin turn a shade lighter in color.
“Let me get stuff set up for the ultrasound,” she says quietly, walking over to the sink to wash her hands.
“Sounds great.” I put on my cheerful voice, and her face softens some, but then it goes hard when Kai moves and reminds her that he’s still in the room with us.
When she comes back, she feels around on my belly for a moment then squirts the clear gel onto my skin and begins moving the device that looks like a remote control around on my stomach. The swoosh, swoosh sound comes before the rhythm of a quick heartbeat fills the room.
Kai’s hand tightens around mine. This isn’t the first time he has heard our baby’s heartbeat, but even now, I can see the look of wonder in his expression as he searches the screen in front of the doctor.
I was scared when I realized I was late for my period, but the more I thought about it, and the more I thought about who the father of my child is, the more excited I became. I knew that Kai and I still have a lot to learn about each other, but I also knew there was no one else I would want to have a family with. I knew that Kai would always do everything within his power to protect me and any children we have together, and really, when you’re looking for someone to be the father of your child, I think that is the most important quality there is.
“I need you to sit up a little for me,” she says.
My back comes slightly off the table. Her hand presses around on my stomach before helping me lie back down.
“Let’s see if that helped.” She begins rolling the device around on my stomach again before looking up at me and smiling. “There you go.” She gets a strange smile on her face then looks at Kai. “You’re having a boy.”
“I know,” Kai tells her.
She narrows her eyes then looks at me like, What the hell are you doing with a jerk like him? All I can do is shrug, ‘cause the way I see how Kai comes across to everyone else is not at all how he is to me. I can count on one hand the amount of times he’s even slightly raised his voice at me.
“He’s been saying for weeks that it’s a boy.” I smile, looking up at him.
His eyes come to me and his face lowers as he presses a kiss to my lips before he stands to his full height again.
“Would you like some pictures to take home with you?” she questions, ignoring my last comment.
“Yes, please,” I whisper.
She begins clicking away on the screen as I try to see more. Once she’s done, she prints off a few of the pictures and hands them to me before making her way out of the room without even saying goodbye.
“I think we’re going to have to find a new doctor, or you’re going to have to find a way to apologize to her somehow so that she doesn’t make it uncomfortable for me to be here.”
“You’re uncomfortable?” he asks.
I look up at him and wonder if he’s oblivious to what just happened. “Yes, I’m uncomfortable! It’s awkward to be in the same room with you two.”
“I’ll apologize,” he promises, taking the towel I was using to clean the gel off my stomach away from me and cleaning me up.
“I didn’t even get to enjoy the moment,” I pout. When his eyes change slightly, I immediately regret saying anything.
“Do you want her to come back and to do it again?”
“No.” I shake my head frantically. “Just apologize to her.”
“Told you I would,” he mutters, but I can see it in his eyes that he doesn’t want to.
“Good.” I slip off the table and fix my pants, my mind finally focused on what the doctor said. “We’re having a boy,” I breathe, adjusting my clothes. “You’re really not surprised that we’re having a boy, are you?”
“No. I knew.” He kisses the top of my head and opens the door.
“How?” I ask, pausing in the hall to search his face.
“Don’t know. I just knew it was a boy.”
“Strange.” I shrug and begin walking again.
His arm goes around my shoulders, and we make a quick stop to schedule our next appointment before heading out to the car. We don’t talk on the way back to the house, but our hands stay locked together on my lap, the fingers of my free hand running over his skin.
“Thank you,” I tell him, looking down at our entwined fingers when he pulls up to the house and puts the car in park.
“For what?” he questions, confused.
I lift my head and look at him, thinking about all the things I want to say. “For giving me everything.”
His eyebrows pinch, and I soften my voice.
“For marrying me, for loving me, for giving me a child. Even if I was never expecting any of this, I’m still thankful for all of it.”
“The gods had written you into my destiny a long time ago, makamae,” he says quietly. His face softens as he lifts my hand to his mouth, where he places a kiss on my ring.
Chapter 14
Explosion