ENTANGLED IN DESIRE

CHAPTER FOUR; BETWEEN TWO FATHERS

A month went by and it seemed as though that night never happened. Chris kept to his word, he set Damien up, financing his dream company and added an additional benefit in form of a large deposit into their joint account.

Things was progressing pretty smoothly and Loretta could not be any happier, if only she didn’t start feeling nauseous every morning since two days ago. She had thrown up twice even though she could swear she wasn’t ill, she wasn’t stupid to not know what was happening, and Damien being a lot more conscious of her since what happened took notice of it.

She found herself in the hospital next to Damien as the doctor went through her test results. Her hands where clammy as she sat with unease, Damien wasn’t saying anything, his jaws remain clenched and only the doctor had his focus. It hurt, and it threatened to tear open a wound she had thought was healed.

“Well, don’t keep us waiting Dr. Harold, talk to us.”

Damien said almost too harshly, his tone expectant, nonetheless unsure. Dr. Harold looked up from the test results and scanned Damien’s expression, the light from the blub played a trick where it reflected off the doctor’s glasses, making it impossible for Loretta to judge his authentic expression as he said quite calmly,

“Well Mr. Montrose, your wife is a month pregnant.” Here he hesitated before he continued, his eyes searching their faces as he confirmed what they had suspected. “Congratulations you two.” He concluded with a professional smile.

Loretta smile was strained, as was Damien’s, both rose in unison, her hands wrapped around his as Damien thanked the Doctor and led her out and to the car. They where both silent the whole way, the entire walk was a blur for Loretta as her ears rang static, and all she could think about was the fact that she was pregnant. She was happy, worried and terrified all at once.

“It could be mine... Right?”

Damien voiced out uncertainly, his hand clenched the steering tightly as he stared at her. Loretta couldn’t meet his gaze, her eyes focused on her palms, and she whispered softly.

“Maybe.”

Loretta didn’t know either, and this uncertainty left her frantic, and Damien distant. They drive back home was filled only with the sound of ambiance, neither spoke a word to the other, and it took all her effort not to turn into a crying mess all the way home.

They got home and took separate showers, Damien took to the bathroom in the guest room. Standing beneath the shower, water and tears ran down her face as she sobbed silently. She got herself together, drying up and throwing on a bathrobe, she got to setting dinner.

Not long after she was done, Damien walked into the kitchen, a part of her was glad she didn’t have to call him herself. His expression looked vaguely unsure as though he wasn’t sure he to be in the dining room with her.

Dinner was had in terribly awkward silence, Loretta caught him stealing glances at her, there was love, as there was betrayal in his gaze and made her feel bittersweet and she wasn’t sure if she liked that feeling.

.....................................................................................

Seven months flew by, the Loretta and Damien had fallen into a kind of rhythm where the didn’t talk much about the baby growing in her belly, not entirely avoiding talking about it, but consciously in quite agreement, deciding to only bring it up sparsely.

Loretta was okay with it, she couldn’t bear to see the look on Damien’s face every time they talked about the growing baby, they hadn’t even gone for a gender check with the doctor. The pregnancy was a hard topic for either of them, but it was even harder with Chris.

Loretta had texted him a day after the doctor had told her she was pregnant, he had since then been possessive of her. Chris begun to show up at her workplace at the club, asking her out on dates. He had even begun demanding that she broke up with Damien and marry him instead.

Chris began to deposit five hundred thousand dollars in their joint account monthly. Damien had become very distant whilst another man actively and relentlessly tried to take his place in her life.

Loretta was dying to know whom the father of her baby was, and she hoped desperately that it belonged to her husband. She felt like she had cheated on him, as if she was a failure of a wife, even though Damien had let it happen.

She had brought it up to Damien a few times during several dinners, and breakfast, he never seemed to hear her, his face always went blank and he became quiet, and either finished eating in silence or left the table before he was done eating.

As the months rolled by, and the day her baby would see the world drew closer, Loretta lived in dreadful anticipation, only every so often, her husband would come to cheer her up, but he never stuck around too long. Damien had grown distant, she felt an invisible wall had grown between them, one she was unable to breach and Damien seemed content with it, burying his deepest feelings deep inside and going around with a forced smile.

The first contraction had met her in the hospital and ready, as she was admitted into the pregnancy ward two days before her water broke. In her entire life, Loretta had never screamed as loudly as she did while she gave birth. The pain was horrendous and she held on to Damien for dear life.

To his credit, he remained somewhat calm the entire time, his eyes reflecting his worry for her, as he held her hands, her fingers ripped at his forearms, he didn’t seem to feel the pain.

She gave birth after what seemed like eternity for, and she finally saw the gender of her child, a boy wrapped in soft baby blankets, her heart melted as she cried tears of joy. She looked up at Damien with a smile, tears at the corner of her eye as she said, “It’s a boy.”

Damien looked at her with a relieved smile.

“I’m proud of you.”

He said as he kissed her forehead.

“I’m proud of her as well, a boy for me, I’m quite pleased.”

Standing at the door of her private ward was Chris, looking quite pristine, a sharp suit and a predatory glint in his eyes, his smile, charming as ever.

Damien hissed with sudden rage as he growled, “that does it, I’ve been patient enough”. Turning to the standby nurse, he continued, “get the doctor in here for a p