A day later, I was feeling much better. Our large family could barely fit in the room. Mrs. Nuro was feeling more like herself, though she did smack for always putting myself in dangerous situations.
I noticed a strain in Richard and his father’s conversations, and my dad seed to start regretting the arranged marriage. Trust , Dad, sotis I do too. No one said anything about Sam, and I didn’t bother to ask yet—I’d ask Richard when we were alone.
I didn’t know how much everyone knew. There were so many things said that day, so many things to catch up on. Every ti I shut my eyes now, the events of that night all those years ago replayed in my dreams. But this ti, I could see his face—smiling down wickedly at .
Dr. Sanders entered the room, her gaze sweeping over the balloons, cards, pillows, and blankets. I think I received more gifts than I did for my wedding—though those were mostly cash gifts.
"Okay, everyone, my patient needs rest."
"Oh, please don’t send us away!" my mother whined.
Dr. Sanders chuckled. "You can co pick her up tomorrow. I’ll have her discharge papers ready so she doesn’t have to spend one minute more here than necessary."
"That’s fair."
I received kisses on my cheeks and forehead from everyone before they filed out of the room. I missed them almost imdiately. I hated the sll of hospitals and the weird, ghostly-looking patient gown.
Richard stood by the door, looking like he wanted to escape at any mont. He hadn’t been himself since I ca to, and I didn’t bla him. He’d just found out that all his life, he’d been betrayed by his best friend/cousin/brother. Could family complications be any worse?
"How are you feeling, Mrs. Nuro?"
"I’ve felt better, but I’m okay," I answered, glancing at my husband once more. "I think you should check on him, though. He looks like he might pass out any minute."
I got a small smile in return from him as he pushed himself off the wall and ca to sit beside .
"There’s sothing you need to know, and I’d rather be the one to tell you—not Dr. Sanders."
"Is everything okay? Am I dying? You said I could go ho tomorrow, right?"
"No! No! It’s nothing like that. It’s good news, actually—at least for ." He continued, holding my hands in his and kissing them.
"Richard, you’re spinning this way and that. What is going on?" I looked from him to Dr. Sanders and back to him.
"We’re going to have a baby. You’re pregnant." His face was caught between a smile and uncertainty.
I chuckled—once, then twice. I looked at Dr. Sanders, who nodded in agreent.
"How? I never missed my pills. I took them religiously. Why would... Richard... tell her!"
"Nita..."
"I cannot be... Dr. Sanders... You don’t understand. I cannot have a child. I cannot have his child!"
"I should leave you both to talk," Dr. Sanders said, making to leave the room.
"No! You don’t get to escape. You assured ..."
"Nita!" Richard shouted, gripping my arms and turning my body to face him. "I switched your prescriptions."
I switched your prescriptions. The words echoed over and over again—it was like a slap to my face. How dare he?!
Dr. Sanders made her quiet escape, leaving the room as silent as death. I sat there, frozen in place, looking at my husband. Since I had let down my walls with him, he had constantly hurt —first with Gwen, and now with this.
All I’d ever done was love him and protect him, and he pulls this stunt.
"How dare you?" I gritted out, my anger spilling over. "How dare you, Richard? Who do you think you are?!"
"I did what I had to do."
Is soone listening to this? Or am I not hearing him right?
"You were making plans for a life without . I made plans for a life with you. A child would fix that."
"What the fuck are you saying?" To , all he was saying was gibberish.
"I’m saying that I love you. I don’t want a divorce. I want to stay married to you. I don’t want to lose you. You are the air I breathe, Nita. Life without you would be empty."
"So I should be grateful that you do? Your love for gives you the right to make decisions about my body without my consent? Tell , how are you going to manage being a father to two children by two different won? Or rather, your wife and baby mama? What? Let guess—you’ll spend weekends at her house and weekdays in ours? Did you think about and what I want at any point?"
"This happened before I found out Gwen was pregnant too!"
But he knew he had no excuse—no justification for what he had just done to .
"We’ll announce it to the family at the sa ti. Maybe we’ll get our babies matching onesies! Oh no! One will grow up hating his brother for taking everything away from him. What the hell have you gotten into, Richard?"
"Tell , isn’t there a part of you that wants to be with ? Not for just a couple more months but for the rest of our lives?" he asked, pain in his eyes.
"I do love you. How didn’t you see that? You’re the first man to make love to . The first man I’d allow to co close to . The only man to break down my walls. I love you like I can’t even breathe. It hurts, but I still want to love you."
"My heart breaks when you’re with Gwen. It killed to find out she was pregnant with your child! But if you’d just told how you felt, Richard, instead of throwing an innocent child into this madness, we could have figured it out together."
"Nita, I swear I didn’t know—"
"I need you to leave. I can stay by myself. And please, don’t co back."
"Don’t do this, Nita."
"What will you do? Take that decision away from too?"
"I’m sorry."
"It seems like you’ve been saying that a lot lately. Shouldn’t that tell you sothing? Just go."
I lay on the bed, my back turned to him. I waited until the door closed to run a hand over my stomach.
Hello there, little one. I’d rather be the first to tell you—your father is a dumbass idiot. I’d hate for you to be born and end up being shocked.
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