For a few days now, Yan Ya Jing had been feeling sick. Mostly in the mornings, when she and Gao had breakfast was when she felt the worst. She scheduled a doctors appointment, had bloodwork done, and in ten days, it was confirmed. She was pregnant!
She sat listening to the doctor ramble on about vitamins and so on, then drifted into her own thoughts. Was she ready? Was her husband ready? She stared blankly into space for a while until the doctor snapped his finger in front of her face to bring her attention back to him.
"Are you okay?" he asked, concern on his face.
She nodded and smiled at him, even though she was worried deep down inside.
His eyebrows wrinkled up as he said, "I'm guessing you and your husband weren't planning to have children yet."
She didn't know what to say. The only thing running through her mind was that she was pregnant and was she really ready for this. She blinked at him and said nothing. She just took in the smell of rubber gloves and antiseptic and let it drown her senses.
He gave her an understanding look and suggested that she speak to her husband immediately. Together, they could talk about the future and prepare for the baby.
Yan Ya Jing waited for Gao to come home and after he ate and was relaxing on the couch, she told him what the doctor had said.
Gao leapt up from the couch and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her upper body a little too tightly that she gasped. He shouted and kissed her cheek at least five times, happily and in great spirits.
"You're not angry?" she asked when he dropped down onto the couch with her to cuddle and enjoy the moment.
"No! Why would I be?!" he said and kissed her cheek once more. "This is the best news in the world! I'm going to be a father!"
For some reason, she wasn't so happy. She had a business to run. How could she leave Gu Hai to do all that work? She felt bad. Running a busniess like theirs wasn't easy. It took dedication and sometimes late nights. Was she going to be too tired to help out? This worried her. She would have to talk to Gu Hai about it.
The next morning, she met Gu Hai in his office. He grinned up at her and when he saw the look upon her face, her became serious. "What's wrong?" he frowned.
She sat down across from him as usual and took out her notepad. She took a deep breath and said, "I have something to tell you, but I don't know how you'll react. I know we are very busy with so much things right now and it is important for us to stay at our best."
Gu Hai put his pen down and leaned back in his chair with a worried look. His friend looked very troubled and it bothered him. Was she going to quit because of the prank he had played? No. She wouldn't do that, would she?
She took another breath and composed herself. "I'm pregnant," she said, sounding out the last word in syllables.
Gu Hai's eyes went wide and he jumped up from his chair! He was pulling her to her feet and hugging her in the matter of seconds! He smiled from cheek to cheek and his eyes glistened as if he had tears in them.
She was stunned by his reaction and her body stiffened. Her hands stayed to her side and she was a bit confused. "You're not upset?" she asked. "I thought that you would be upset!"
Gu Hai shook his head and looked at her as if she were silly. "Why on earth would I be upset?! This is amazing news!" He sat on the edge of his desk and looked at her as she sat back down.
"I know we have so many important clients right now and I know that they need special attention from us. I was worried that you would be upset. This would affect our business relationship, wouldn't it?" she said, looking unsure.
Gu Hai gently took her hands in his own and said with all the love in his voice, "My dear friend, our business will be here no matter what. We are billionaires because of it. This doesn't mean that our lives have to stop. You are a wife now. You deserve to be happy, always. I am so happy for you. I don't have siblings, but you are my sister, and I love you with all my heart. When you found out that you are pregnant, that should have been all that you have to worried about."
Yan Ya Jing cried. She cried because all her life she had taken care of others. On this day, at this time, Gu Hai cared for her as a sister. He only wanted her happiness. She had cared so much about Gao and Gu Hai's feelings and the two most important men in her life only wanted her happiness. She had let how they would feel about her being pregnant overshadow the fact that she was pregnant, something that should have been the happiest day of her life. It only took Gao and Gu Hai's reaction to make her realize that she hadn't let the news sink in and that she should just be happy for herself. She was going to be mother. She was going to experience a child growing inside of her.
Gu Hai pulled her on her feet again and wrapped his arms around her. He let her cry on his chest. He let her finally enjoy the news that she was going to be a mother. He laughed.
"Don't laugh at me," she pouted and sniffled and lightly hit his chest.
Gu Hai wasn't laughing at her though. In his mind, he was already marrying his son to her daughter. Visions of the most expensive wedding in the history of human civilization was born in his head. Then he thought of Bai LuoYin's baby. "Two extravagant weddings," he whispered and silently wished her to have twins.
"Huh?" Yan Ya Jing asked, pulling away from him. She saw the lost look of a magical dream in his eyes and wondered what the hell he was thinking.
"Nothing," he said a little too quickly.
She eyed him suspiciously because he had a guilty look upon his face.
Jiang Yifei was feeling depressed. For two days, the security guard that she had a crush on hadn't looked her way. She sat with Ying Yue in the kitchen eating. She casually leaned back a little in her chair and tried to steal a glance at the sexy guard by the front door.
Ying Yue watched in amusement, but did not speak.
Jiang Yifei sighed heavily and pouted her bottom lip. She leaned forward and cracked the egg's shell as if she were annoyed. While she peeled it away slowly, she rolled her eye.
Ying Yue held in her laugh. Her friend was acting like a teenage girl and it was funny to watch.
There was chatter at the front door and they both looked to see what was up.
Bai LuoYin greeted the two guards and made his way into the kitchen.
The women looked at him from head to toe. He was dressed differently in short, bright colors and he had on slippers.
"Today, I'm going to do something fun with you two," he announced, excited.
Ying Yue frowned and Jiang Yifei chewed her food and gave him a blank face. They were oddly quiet and he wondered if they were having a bad morning.
"Where are we going?" Jiang Yifei asked. She bit down into the egg with a lazy look.
"Swimming," he said, flashed his teeth and putting his hands on his hips.
Ying Yue smiled at how goofy he looked.
Jiang Yifei looked as if he had insulted her. "How can we go swimming?! We're pregnant!" she shouted.
Bai LuoYin's eyes went wide. Were they really having a bad day, he wondered. He was afraid to move and stayed frozen in place. The chef behind them also froze in place. He was afraid to breath.
Ying Yue looked over at her friend and asked, "Are you okay? You sound like you're about to lose you mind!"
"I'm hungry," Jiang Yifei lied and pouted again. She didn't want to say the truth. The guard probably realized that she was pregnant and wanted nothing to do with her ever again.
"Do you want me to make something else?" asked the chef.
"No," she groaned and looked down at her plate.
"Let's go swimming," Bai LuoYin said. "I read that it is a very good exercise for pregnant women if it's done properly."
Ying Yue frowned, "Properly?" she asked as if she wanted him to explain.
"When I found out about this, I called Dr. Lee and asked if it was okay. He suggested hiring a personal trainer, one who works especially with pregnant women," Bai LuoYin said. "He said that it would be great for you two to be active in a swimming pool. I have hired the trainer and she is waiting at the establishment for us. I even bought you two something proper to swim in. Please say that you two will come and try it."
Jiang Yifei calmed down when she heard him say, please. His tone was so loving that she couldn't break his heart. Plus, she mentally agreed that it would be good for the baby. She agreed to go and went to grab a towel.
Ying Yue thought it was a good idea also and went to do the same.
When they were done, as Jiang Yifei was coming down the stairs, she heard Bai LuoYin ask her favorite guard to help escort them to the car, along with anything they wanted to carry.
"Wang Wei, please help Jiang Yifei with her things," he said pleasantly.
Jiang Yifei stopped in the middle of the staircase. This was the first time that she had heard the young man's name. When they had originally met, there were four guards and she wasn't introduced yet because they didn't know which guard would be taking care of them first. The guards were to be rotated in shifts. She was glad that Wang Wei was going to take care of her in the morning shifts and that his face was the first thing she saw when the sun came up. She ran her tongue along the inside of her mouth as she thought for a minute. How could she stay closer to this guy?
"Why are you blocking the way?" Ying Yue asked and brought her friend back to reality with a jump scare.
"Ooh!" Jiang Yifei screamed out.
Instantly, in the blink of an eye, Wang Wei, Bai LuoYin and the other bodyguard were running towards them and up the stairs. They had thought that Jiang Yifei had fallen! Wang Wei's eyes were wild and his breathing was intense. "Are you okay?!" he asked with his hands held out towards her.
"I'm fine," Jiang Yifei blushed.
Bai LuoYin also was looking at her with a frightened expression. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"I only startled her," Ying Yue said flatly, "she's fine."
Jiang Yiefi took hold of Wang Wei's hand and let him lead her down the stairs and through the front door as if she were a queen in high heels.
Ying Yue wanted to laugh. She could see the hearts in her friend's eyes and it was too funny. She shook her head slowly and Bai LuoYin gave her a puzzled look.
"Is she really okay?" he asked.
Ying Yue filled him in on Jiang Yifei's huge crush and his eyes went wide.
"She likes him that much?!" he laughed.
Ying Yue nodded. "That's why her mood was horrible this morning," she said.
Bai LuoYin made a face as if he just had a revelation. "Wang Wei was only hired to protect you two. He doesn't know about our relationship and our personal life. He probably thinks that me or Gu Hai is in a relationship with her!"
"Maybe that's why he is ignoring her," Ying Yue said. "He doesn't want to be disrespectful?" she added, sounding as if she were unsure.
Bai LuoYin nodded. "I think that's it! Why else would he stop flirting with his eyes," he said.
Ying Yue laughed and covered her mouth. "Listen to you!" she said through her laughter. She playfully slapped Bai LuoYin on the shoulder. "Flirting with his eyes," she said, "I never expected that to come from you."
Bai LuoYin looked embarrassed and scratched the back of his head. Throughout the years, he had picked up on Gu Hai's romantic side and it had bled out onto him. Flirting with his eyes, was something Gu Hai would have said.
"Come on," Ying Yue said and started walking towards the door, "we don't want to keep the trainer waiting."
When they arrived at the swimming pool and was introduced to the trainer, they began their lesson. It was fun and they learned a few simple techniques for women to stay in good health while being pregnant.
After thirty minutes had passed by, Bai LuoYin felt as if a familiar voice was calling out his name. He had been swimming near the women and was concentrating so that he remembered everything the trainer was teaching. He looked to the left and to the right, but saw no one. Then, he remembered that the building had two floors and looked up. Someone was waving at him. She had very long hair and was slim, but that was all that he could have made out from her appearance. The woman waved her way towards him, down the stairs, through some doors and finally on his level.
Bai LuoYin's breath was lost. The woman standing before him was someone from his past. Her hair had grown very long, but her face remained the same.
Shi Hui smiled at him and held her stomach proudly. "Bai LuoYin, how are you?!" she said.
"Shi Hui," he said and eyed her from head to toe swiftly. He immediately recalled his mother's deceit involving her and that day long ago when she had visited him at school.
"You look well," she said and eyed Ying Yue and Jiang Yifei, who had walked up behind him, also holding their bellies.
"You-are-here?" he said mechanically, not knowing what to really say without being rude.
Ying Yue and Jiang Yifei just stared at them without a word. The scene before them felt awkward and it was plain to see that Bai LuoYin was shifting back and forth uncomfortably.
Shi Hui was the one who spoke and made it easier for all of them. "I'm married now," she held up her hand so that they could see her beautiful and bright diamond ring. She told them about her modern Chinese husband and how rich he was. She had met him when she traveled to London with her parents and they had one other child together.
"This is my second baby," Shi Hui said proudly.
Bai LuoYin congratulated and introduced her to the surrogate mothers. He told her that Gu Hai and him were ready to have children of their own and were married and living in their own house together.
She had matured throughout the years and congratulated him as well. "We should get together and have dinner some time," she suggested. "I would love it if you and my husband got to know each other. He doesn't know too much people in China. His whole life has been spent in London and I feel bad that he doesn't know any other men here."
"You two moved here after marriage?" Bai LuoYin asked.
"No," she said, "we come here to visit my parents. We both live in London now."
"Okay," he said, "I'll let Gu Hai know and we will let you know when is a good time to meet for dinner."
For a second, he saw hesistation flash across her face, then she smiled and nodded.
Bai LuoYin exchanged phone numbers and they waved goodbyes as she walked away.
When Shi Hui was out of hearing distance, Ying Yue said, with her hands on her hips, "You two were long time lovers, weren't you."
Bai LuoYin blushed and nodded.
"Really?!" Jiang Yifei said. "She's really pretty!"
"Gu Hai is going to have a fit!" Ying Yue chuckled. She laughed and it made her cute little belly jump.
Jiang Yifei laughed as well and said, pointing to her belly, "Even the baby agrees! Gu Hai is going to be very jealous."
"Gu Hai is not going to be upset," Bai LuoYin said, sitting in one of the pool chairs. He sounded so sure of himself.
Ying Yue and Jiang Yifei gave him the same look as they sat down next to him. It was the look you gave someone when you know they knew better, when you know they were in denial.
"We've seen you two together enough to know that Gu Hai will care," Ying Yue said.
"It's kind of sexy that Gu Hai is the jealous type, but he has you already, why does he still act that way?" Jiang Yifei asked. She was truly baffled by men who acted that way.
Ying Yue shrugged and took a snack out of her bag to munch on.
"If Gu Hai thinks that someone likes me, he will spite them from the first meeting," Bai LuoYin said. "He has always been like this, even from the first day that I met him."
"He wants you all to himself," Jiang Yifei mumbled under her breath and her gaze drifted towards Wang Wei.
Ying Yue would have thought the same, but her husband had been like that once. The only difference was, after a while, he started hitting her. That was never the case for Gu Hai and Bai LuoYin. She felt slightly jealous, but shook it off quickly.
"So, do you think that you will have dinner with Shi Hui?" asked Ying Yue.
Bai LuoYin didn't actually know. What he did know was that it was going to be difficult persuading Gu Hai to go with him. They both were adults. Why couldn't they be civilized and cordial with old friends?
Now that was the billion dollar question.