Chapter 7
971 Words
"You!" My wife playfully swatted my arm, her voice warm with feigned annoyance. "All you ever think about is that?"
Even so, she caved in the end, her voice soft as melted butter. "Go shower first, okay? I'm going downstairs to throw out the trash."
I nodded heavily and quickly ran into the bathroom.
By the time she finished washing up, I was already itching to pull her into bed. We did not waste a second getting intimate.
As I gazed at my wife's smooth, slender waist, the words that woman had said a few hours earlier popped right into my head.
That tiny, pale pink mole looked cuter than ever to me right now.
So what if someone else had a similar mole? My wife was one of a kind, irreplaceable. No one in the whole world could ever take her place.
I brushed my finger gently against that little mole, and all my love and affection spilled out before I could even try to hold it back. "Honey, I love you so much," I whispered.
The second the words left my mouth, her whole body suddenly jolted. She twisted around to look at me, and her eyes slowly filled with tears.
"I love you too," she said, turning fully into my arms and pressing her face against my chest, sobbing openly.
"Honey, I really, really love you so much. I would never ever do anything to hurt you. You have to believe me," she sobbed.
Her tearful, broken words did not make any sense to me at the time. I did not overthink it, just figured she was overwhelmed with emotion. So I just rubbed slow, soft circles on her back to calm her down.
Ever since my wife had agreed we could stop using protection, we had gone without any for a while now. We had expected our baby would come slowly, like new buds sprouting in spring, but we never imagined he would show up this fast.
Staring at the pregnancy test result she handed me, I was too shocked to process it for a second. The question tumbled straight out of my mouth before I could stop it. "How come there were no signs at all? I never saw you throwing up, or feeling nauseous, or even tired and sluggish!" I blurted.
A flicker of unease crossed her face, gone in the blink of an eye. "That's because it happened when you were not around," she said.
Once the initial shock wore off, pure, unfiltered joy burst through me.
After all, becoming a dad was something almost every man dreamed of his whole life.
When it finally sunk in, I swept her straight up into my arms and spun her around and around the room.
But she did not share my excitement. Instead, her brows pulled together in a worried frown. "It came so fast... I do not even know if we can afford to raise this baby," she said.
What kind of nonsense was that?
Her unnecessary worry made my face fall immediately. I spoke a little sharply, irritated by her doubt. "What are you talking about? That is such a stupid thing to say. The money I make is more than enough to support you and our baby. We will have plenty left over," I said.
Afraid she would still be uneasy, I added quickly, "On top of what I earn, my parents left me a large inheritance when they passed. It is enough to last us our whole lives."
When she heard that, her head snapped up, her eyes wide with surprise. "How come you never told me about this before?" she asked.
I explained that we never needed to use that money anyway, and that it was always meant to be saved entirely for our future children.
My words finally let her breathe easily, and the worried look on her face slowly melted away.
From the second we found out she was pregnant, I started being extra careful with her body. Even though she wasn't showing yet, I knew we had to take every precaution we could.
Worried she would slip and fall on the wet bathroom floor, I offered to shower with her.
At first, my wife turned me down, but after I pressed her repeatedly, she finally caved.
I was washing her body when my hand brushed a sensitive spot. She slapped my hand away on pure instinct, and it was clear as day that she was terrified.
I chuckled at her over-the-top reaction, pinching her soft cheek gently. "What are you so skittish for? You are pregnant. I am not going to try anything, come on," I said.
She laughed too, probably realizing how overblown her reaction had been. She turned her back to me and tilted her shoulders, inviting me to wash her back for her.
My fingers glided from the top down, moving slowly until they reached the small of her back.
A soft "Whoa" escaped me as I noticed her skin was just as soft and smooth, just like I remembered... but where was that little pale pink mole?
I widened my eyes and leaned in even closer to double-check.
Nothing!
How was this even possible?
I had kissed that very mole not that long ago!
"Sean, what are you doing over there?" she asked, turning her head, confused.
The second our eyes locked, a cold, unnameable terror flooded my veins out of nowhere.
I froze solid right where I stood. All the blood in my body turned to ice. I could not force a single word out of my mouth; my gaze locked dead on that blank patch of skin where the mole should have been.
"You are not my wife..." The words burst out of me before I even knew what I was saying.
- Writer
