Lady K
The table was quiet, really quiet. It was the first time ever, her first time.
Natalie had woken up to a shock that morning. She could have sworn that sitting on the couch was the last thing she remembered before she closed her eyes but she had woken up in his bed without him by her side and when she walked down the stairs to look for him, she could smell the pancakes. They smelt really good. She walked into the Kitchen and got the surprise of her life.
There was the man she was looking for, preparing breakfast for the both of them. That had never ever happened since she got married to him. Christian never made his own breakfast before not to talk about breakfast big enough for them both, not like he had anywhere to go, he still wasn't allowed anywhere near Benoil.
She remembered how he turned back to smile at her and encouraged her to freshen up while he set the table. It felt like a dream, like a really good dream. Never in her life did she think she was going to see the day that was ever going to happen. What had changed? Something was definitely up. Was Christian changing?
She couldn't take her eyes off him even as she watched him eat slowly on the table. Everything still felt like a dream. She had her plate filled with enough food she could eat but the shock on her was just too much to. She watched him take a sip from his orange drink before she let out a shaky breath, lowering her hands to her belly and gripping on it tightly the moment she felt a sharp pain there.
She drew a deep breath, and then let it out, pretending to keep a straight face. She reached for her tea cup and took a slow sip, the pain got better every time she did.
"Are you okay?" She raised her head immediately and her eyes met his. He had noticed how uncomfortable she was even with her failed attempt to act like she was okay. Natalie rubbed her belly. The pain had started again but she forced a smile on her face.
"I'm fine." She lied. Christian frowned. She looked everything but fine. Even when she tried to force a smile on her face, she still looked like she was in pain somewhere. "My belly is just acting up again."
She was talking about the once in a while belly pains she had been experiencing for the past one week that had just gotten worse. "It's just stress." She wanted to make him less worried than he already looked. "It's nothing my drugs won't fix."
He dropped his fork immediately and took off his napkin from his shirt.
"Where are they?"
"Huh?"
"Your drugs?"
Natalie bit on her lip.
"You don't have to." She faked a smile. "I'd just get them myself after breakfast."
Christian got up slowly, pushing his chair back too.
"It's fine." He volunteered before she got up. "Where can I find them?"
Wow!
Who was this man in front of her? Natalie refrained from getting up. Was he really trying to be nice to her? To someone else, it wasn't a big deal but to her, it was. It was more than a big deal. She exhaled. That morning couldn't be full of more surprises.
"It's in a small yellow box in the left compartment of my topmost drawer. The one with the dressing mirror." She made sure her description was detailed. She watched him nod twice before he turned to go.
She still had her eyes glued to him, noticing his features. The way his entire body were in sync with each other and his shoulders, those strong broad shoulders. She was almost starting to drool till he was out of sight. She let out an exhale and then turned to her food letting out a tiny scoff. She couldn't believe that it took him to almost lose the company to see this side of him, the side she didn't think existed. For some reason, she was having butterflies in the belly that used to hurt her. She was happy, extremely happy and could feel her cheeks redden.
You're over reacting Nat...
She had to remind herself. For all she knew, everything could probably get back to how it used to be in a minute, but still, it felt so good to be cared for by the one person you loved most in the world. She had prayed for a moment like that and it was starting to feel like God was finally done with what he was doing and paying attention to her needs. The signs were little, but they were enough.
She turned back to her tea and then took another sip. She dropped it back on the table and then took a deep breath. She really felt so refreshed now.
Talking about answered prayers...
Natalie frowned immediately she remembered, immediately an image flashed through her head. She had totally forgotten about the thing no one was supposed to see, the thing he wasn't supposed to see, at least not yet. She hadn't really had the chance to think to him or anyone about it so she just threw it into her top drawer, the same drawer her drugs were in, the same drawer she had just sent him to.
Shoot!
Natalie jumped from her seat immediately and started to hurry as fast as she could towards the stairs, hoping she made it in time to stop him before he saw it, before he saw the one thing she wasn't sure she was ready to share with him yet. She could feel all that adrenaline rush through her and before she knew it, she pushed herself into her room and then froze.
He was there, standing in front of the mirror with his back against the door.
He was still, really still and didn't even move a muscle. Was that it? Had he found it? Was that why he was that way? Natalie drew a deep breath. She hurried as fast as she could to where he was standing with the paper in his hands and then grabbed it from him immediately. Christian slowly turned to her, his hands were still in position like he still had the paper in them and his jaw was slightly dropped, his eyes were glossy too. He watched Natalie fold the paper neatly, she was trying as hard as she could to avoid eye contact with him. Christian took a deep breath.
"Is that-"
"It's nothing." She cut him off immediately, raising her head to look at him. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with."
"Natalie that's a pregnancy test result."
"It's not mine."
"It literally has your name on it." He caught her right in the middle of her lies. Natalie let out a frustrating sigh, how could she have been so sloppy? She was just as speechless as he was. She looked away as fast as she could. Where was he taking this?
"Are you pregnant?"
Natalie scoffed. What on earth was he asking? Didn't he already read the result?
"Are you pregnant Natalie?"
"Yes." She turned to him immediately. God she was tired of the questions. Her eyes were getting really watery too. It was her hormones acting up now. She was sick of hiding it and playing dumb anyway plus there was no use lying, he already found out. He already saw the paper. "Yes, I'm pregnant Christian." Her voice broke. She was getting irritated for no reason at all. Maybe it was just her anxiety and fear kicking in coupled with her pregnancy hormones. Yup, she was scared, scared of this moment and what was going to happen after it.
"How on earth did this-" Christian started and then stopped immediately he remembered. Flashbacks from the night he and Natalie had sex fueling his memory, Natalie scoffed. How could he even ask that?
Christian was confused. His head was all over the place. He had no idea what to say next. Natalie watched him. She was trembling from head to toe and dying of anxiety. She tried to read him but she couldn't. How did he take the news? This was not how she wanted him to find out but he did and it didn't look like he was okay with it. Was he angry? Irritated? She never really got the chance to talk it through with him. It came out of the blues and she wasn't even sure if it was what he wanted.
Christian lifted one hand to his hip and the other to scratch his brows.
His silence was killing her.
"Why?" He finally raised his head to meet hers. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't know, I just found out myself."
"What?" He squinted in disbelief. "You're pregnant Natalie, you should have told me the moment you found out."
Was he serious right now? Was he really going to start an argument with her because of this? Was the fact that she kept it from him so important? Natalie exhaled.
"I was going to tell you-"
"When?" He cut her off. "When Natalie?"
"I don't know." Her voice broke as she lifted her hand to rub her head.
"You don't know?"
"I don't know Christian!" She raised her voice and then stared at him, her heart was racing. She was becoming overly emotional now. "I don't know anything anymore. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how. It wasn't like you made it easy for me anyway."
"What are you even talking about?"
"Everything! I'm talking about everything! I'm talking about how awful you've treated me ever since I got married to you." She yelled at him. "I'm talking about how you hated it when I spoke to you about anything or spoke to you at all, how you always got extremely upset and disgusted whenever you saw me even back at the university, especially after you found out we were going to get married. You treated me like a pest, like a parasite. You knew you didn't like me and you were never going to like me but you still got married to me and made me feel like you were doing it for me, like you were doing me a favor. We got married to help each of our families Christian. I didn't want this marriage just as much as you didn't but it happened." A tear fell from her face as she sniffed. Now she was at the brink of all of her emotions.
"Do you have any idea how the past few years have been for me? Married to you? Did you know how hard it hurt to realize that I was in love and married to a man that was never going to love me back? How it felt waking up to another day and just knowing that it's going to be another lonely day for where we not going to see eye to eye? Getting married to a man that was going to love me and want to be with me forever was all I had ever hoped for, all I had ever prayed for and when I got married to you, it was the exact opposite of what I wanted. It hurt me to know that I was never going to get that. I was never going to go out on dates, celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and have him tell me how beautiful I was. I was never going to hear anyone say the words I love you all my life. Do you think it's been easy for me? Getting that company is everything that has ever mattered to you, and at the time I found out I was pregnant you were trying to kill your brother just to get your father from his custody. How on earth was I supposed to tell you? To tell you that there was something else that was just as important, more important than the company you were willing to die for? You've barely been a good husband, how on earth was I supposed to be sure you were ready to be a father? To be a good father? I'm just as scared and confused as you are because I don't know if I'm ready either. I don't know if I'm ready to bring a child into this world, into a world where her parents can barely look at each other or tolerate each other? How can we show our child that we love her no matter what when we can't even say and show those exact same words to ourselves so tell me Christian, tell me what exactly I was supposed to do? Tell me what I'm supposed to do because I have no idea what I'm doing right now or what you want from me!"
She sniffed. Why had she said all of that? Where were all those emotions coming from? Why on earth was she crying and why was she so upset? She sniffed. Christian had his eyes on her. He didn't know what to say, he couldn't say anything. He knew she was right, he knew everything she had said was the truth. He sniffed and then nodded his head.
"Fine." He told her. "What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know,"
"What do you want me to do, tell me what to do Natalie and that's what I'm going to do."
"I don't know."
The both of them exchanged glances. The room was cold for a minute, it felt empty and had a strange sad atmosphere . Christian was getting teary eyed. Everything was happening so fast.
"I want to be better." He told her. "I'm going to be better." He nodded his head as he told her. He took a step to Natalie who had her eyes squinted in surprise as she heard those words. "I want this baby Natalie. I want her or him and I want to be a good father to them. I want to be better, to be a better husband to you from now on."
Natalie sniffed. Was she seeing and hearing things now?
"Please just give me another chance." He continued. "Give me another chance to make it up to you, to be better to you, to make up for everything, for all the mistakes in my past."
Where was all this coming from?
"Christian-"
"Please." Christian grabbed her hands immediately, he wasn't joking. "Please, let me." This could be his only chance to redeem himself. To prove to everyone and to himself that he wasn't far gone. Having this baby with Natalie, fixing things with her, this could be the redemption he needed.
Natalie shut her eyes again.
"Christian," her words were shaky and she grabbed on hard to his hands, it was her belly. It was hurting again, this time, ten times worse than it usually did. She groaned and took a sharp breath and she bent slightly towards him, still holding on tightly to him.
"Natalie?" Christian bent over so he could see her. He had to check if she was okay. It didn't look like she was, her grip on him tightened. "Natalie what's wrong?" He could hear her fast breaths.
"My belly, it hurts."
"It does?"
She placed her head on his chest as she groaned again and it terrified him. He was really scared now.
"Can you walk?" He asked her. "We should go to a hospital."
She nodded. She wanted that too, the pain was terrible. She needed to see a doctor and she needed one fast. Natalie froze when she felt a tickle down her legs. She didn't move, she didn't make a sound.
"Natalie." Christian whispered when he saw it too. She slowly retreated from his chest and with shaky hands, she bent her head down so she could see the blood that pushing itself from under her dress, down her legs and to the ground. She forgot everything else at that moment. She forgot the pain or the tears in her eyes. At that point, the only emotion she could feel was shock.
"My baby." She whispered and then fear rushed into her. Everything was static now as she watched the blood flow faster. She couldn't hear a thing, a drop of tear fell from her face and then another. "My baby," she whispered again and those were the last words she remembered before she fainted.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Jeremiah
I ran as fast as I could into the garden, scanning around it to see if I could find her on one of the benches. A little smile formed on my lips when I did. I always came running like that whenever Kora called me. This time, I ran even faster because she sounded like it was urgent on the phone but there she was, sitting still on one of the benches with her gaze lost in the small group of kids that played with flowers a few paces in front of her. I let out a relief exhale. She was okay, or at least she looked like she was.
"Hey." I sat close to her without even asking if she needed me to, like I even needed to ask. I kept my smile as bright as ever and I watched how she slowly turned to me and smiled right back. "Got your text what's up?"
She shrugged her shoulders like she didn't know what to say. I scoffed.
"Don't tell me you called me here because you missed me." Now I was trying to make jokes. I always loved to make a joke or two when I was around Kora. I liked it when she pretended to be upset whenever I did. "Yes, you must have since we haven't really seen each other since the meeting." I clicked my tongue. "I'm sorry, It's my fault. I've been really busy lately."
She pursed her lip at me. Something felt off. She was awfully quiet. Why?
"What happened at the meeting must have shocked you a lot didn't it?" I just wanted to brighten up her mood a little bit. "Don't get upset with mum for hiding what happened to you, she didn't know Dad was awake until the night before. No one did except Manny and the doctors. Looks like Dad and Manny knew exactly what was going to happen on the day he was shot. He came prepared in a bullet proof vest so the bullets couldn't penetrate. He also ordered the doctors to lie to us about him being in a coma all along. Manny took turns to look after him every time Mum had to take a bath or do anything so he ate and then pretended to be asleep again. Such a drama king, I know. To be honest, I don't know if I should be mad at him for doing that or just grateful that he's okay, but I kind of understand why he did what he did anyway, and I feel sad for him. He had his entire family turn their backs on him the moment something bad happened to him, no one gave him a chance to recover. He took a bullet to the chest and all everyone could think of was his wealth. He had a wife that tried to kill him and manipulate both his sons to fight for his company-"
I exhaled. Words couldn't explain how I felt at that point. I was somehow still in shock too.
"I'm worried about everyone else, Nick and Christian most especially. Dad sent Luke to the states and Christian no longer works for the company. He had to give up ten percent of his shares too. There's good news anyway, Dad isn't going to come in between me and my Mum anymore. He said it's me and mum's reward for helping him all that time. He has promised to let us be around each other and even asked her to move into the mansion and live with us. I mean I still can't tell anyone she's my Mum and she won't ever leave the mansion but it's better than being in hiding. I get to see her everyday, she gets to eat well, live well, be happy. She gets to have everything she wants. Baby steps isn't it?"
I paused and then drew a deep breath. I was so excited that I hadn't realized how fast I was talking and how much I was talking. I had barely even remembered that I was sitting beside Kora. I was just too excited about everything else that I had forgotten she was sitting right next to me and listening too. She had a smile on her face, a smile that didn't look like the smile I remembered. She looked like she was happy for me but her eyes said something completely different. Something was definitely wrong with her. I could see the tears that welled up in her eyes even as she stared into mine.
"Hey." I frowned and then pushed myself closer to her. "Kora are you okay?"
She shook her head and it made me frown even worse. Why? What was wrong with her? The tears in her eyes even got more visible now.
"W-why?" I had to ask. "What's wrong?" I was really worried. I hated to see her like that, it always broke my heart just like it was doing at that moment.
She sniffed as I placed a hand on her face to clean off the drop of tear that fell from it. She wasn't fine, she was anything but fine. Kora was crying.
"I just found out who my father is Jer." Her voice broke as another tear fell from her face. I froze, I didn't know what to say. I wasn't even sure I heard her right. "My mum had been lying to me all along, he wasn't dead. I don't know what to do or how to feel, I don't know if I'm supposed to hate her for what she did. I can't go back home. I can't go back there, I can't see her right now. I don't want to see her right now or anyone at all."
"Hey." I slowly reached for her hands. She shook her head as more tears began to rush down her eyes. She pulled her hand away and then grabbed on to me immediately, hugging me so tightly than she ever did. She was crying really hard and I was too numb to help her. I didn't know what to do or say. My heart was spinning, my head too.
"It's okay." I whispered to her softly, wrapping my hands around her and rubbing her back gently, giving her all the comfort I could but she didn't stop. Her heart was broken into pieces and I could feel it, so was mine.