Chapter 14
644 Words
This is twenty minutes past ten—why is she still asleep?
Windsor stood by the bed, staring at Elora with a faint crease between his brows. The room was too quiet, almost unnaturally so, except for her slow breathing under the duvet.
“She doesn’t miss work like this,” he murmured to himself.
He stepped closer and tapped her shoulder gently.
“Elora.”
She stirred.
Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first, then slowly sharpening.
“I’m tired,” she said weakly, turning her face away. “I feel sick.”
Windsor’s expression changed instantly.
“Sick?” he repeated.
Before she could protest further, he had already pulled out his phone.
“Get up,” he said firmly, though his voice softened a little. “Go take a bath. We’re going to the hospital.”
Elora groaned but obeyed.
Something about his tone didn’t leave room for argument.
The hospital was cold, sterile, and too bright for Elora’s headache. Windsor didn’t leave her side once—not even when they took her blood sample. He just stood there, arms crossed, watching every movement with an unreadable expression.
“Results will be ready in thirty minutes,” the doctor said.
Thirty minutes felt longer than it should have.
Windsor didn’t speak much while they waited.Elora noticed that. She noticed everything lately.
The way he kept glancing at her.
The way his fingers tapped once, then stopped, like he was holding something back.
The way he looked… restless.
Finally—
“Mr. and Mrs. Windsor?” the doctor called.
They both stood up at once.
The doctor smiled.
“Congratulations.”
Elora blinked.
Windsor stiffened slightly.
“Mrs. Windsor is two weeks pregnant.”
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Elora’s face broke into a smile—slow, disbelieving, then brightening with emotion she didn’t know she was holding.
Windsor exhaled sharply, something between shock and relief passing through his face.
Two weeks.
It was real.
It was happening.
“We’ll give you some guidance,” the doctor continued calmly. “And yes, marital intimacy is allowed in early pregnancy, as long as it’s gentle and careful.”
Elora immediately turned her head away, flustered.
Windsor, however, looked thoughtful.
Too thoughtful.
That evening, the Collins family was informed.
There were smiles, congratulations, laughter that filled the room like everything had finally aligned.
But Elora noticed something strange.
Windsor didn’t look as excited as everyone else.
He smiled when expected to.
Nodded when spoken to.
But his eyes…
Kept drifting.
As if something in his mind was running ahead of the celebration.
Later that night, back in their room, the atmosphere shifted again.
The door closed.
Silence returned.
Windsor sat on the edge of the bed, staring at Elora like he had been waiting all day to say something.
Then he leaned forward.
“Elora…”
His voice was softer now.
Too soft.
“I missed you today.”
Her heart skipped, but she looked away quickly.
“You’re being dramatic,” she muttered.
But he didn’t laugh.
Instead, he moved closer.
“I just want to be close to you,” he said quietly. “The doctor said it’s fine. We just have to be careful.”
Elora immediately shook her head.
“No. I’m pregnant, Windsor. You can’t just—”
“I know,” he interrupted gently. “I’ll be gentle.”
The way he said it made her pause.
Not because it was convincing.
But because it sounded rehearsed.
Like he had already decided.
Morning came too fast.
Elora woke up slowly, sunlight spilling across her face.
For a moment, she smiled without thinking.
Her hand instinctively went to her stomach.
She was pregnant.
Their bond had changed.
Everything had changed.
“I’m happy,” she whispered to herself. “Maybe this will make us stronger…”
- Writer
