Chapter 221 - Angela Who? (2)
She studied Desmond as he ran a hand down his face before looking at her like he was at a loss.
"Zaria,"
"Don't." Her voice broke. "I just wanted to know who she is. You didn't expect me to ever find out, did you? Is that why you are shocked?"
"What? No." He was even more shocked. "She is my ex-girlfriend of five years ago and to be honest, I didn't think she would ever come up in any conversation."
"Is that why you are shocked?" She asked. She obviously didn't believe it.
He shook his head.
"The fact that she managed to get through to you is what shocked me. You would never learn about her on your own unless you went digging." He placed his hands on the table nervously, knowing where this had emanated from. "And if you went digging, you would not think that there is something between her and me."
She blinked in confusion. "What does that mean?"
He stood up and circled to her side, crouching beside her chair and cupping her face. "Angela and I broke up five years ago and since then, we have not had any contact. Absolutely none."
She looked at his serious face and unconsciously trusted him. Seeing the relief in her eyes, he was relieved too, but he remained in the same position caressing the sides of her face. "How did you even find out about her—in a way that made you think we were still together?"
She explained the email and the photos, which made him frown. She knew he was holding back his anger even though he didn't say a word to express it.
"I promise you, I have never been with any other woman since we got together. I'm telling you this because it's an Angela now. Next time, it could be a Bertha or a Chloe. Heaven knows, whoever sent Angela to find you might also be thinking that if she fails to sow discord between us this time, they could send a Rosaly to do the same job."
She puffed out a laugh. "Are all those women your ex-girlfriends? There are so many of them and it's remarkable that you remember all of them."
"No. These are random names." As long as the point was home. He was relieved when she didn't look angry about Angela anymore, so he took his seat.
"It does make sense." She thought of only one woman who might know many or all Desmond's exes, her, and also know that she often handled his emails. It had to be Alyssa.
He was thinking of the same person because he facepalmed. "She will only ever give up when she has exhausted all her tactics unsuccessfully."
"I will not let her get to me." She reached out to caress his face. "I'm sorry for jumping into conclusions so fast."
"Don't be. I'm relieved that you didn't break up with me."
She found his words odd. "Break up?"
He bit the inside of his cheek, still feeling some of the nervousness he had been feeling all week. "You have been ignoring me. Then the morning after your outburst that made you break your phone just because I called you, you asked me out for dinner and arrived looking like you wanted to kill me." He complained. "I thought you didn't love me anymore and had decided to call it quits."
"Can you not?" She gazed down at the man who was now kneeling on one knee, playing with her hands as if that was supposed to change her mind in case she had the mind to leave. He sounded like a toddler clinging to his mother who had just returned from a long day of work, pleading with her not to leave him again.
"Zaria,"
His tone made her feel guiltier about the childish way she had acted all week.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't understand what was wrong with me either. I just couldn't be in the same room with you without wanting to burst into tears." It sounded even more childish when she said it out aloud.
He looked like he had question marks all over his mind at the peculiarity of her statement.
So, she smiled and took his hand, which she slowly slid up to her knee.
"This is not the best time, place or way to say it but I can't have you continue to think that we are breaking up." She pulled his hand further under his confused gaze and only stopped when it landed on her stomach. "I think I might be pregnant."
She fell silent as she watched the news sink in. He let go of her stomach and stood up.
"You're pregnant?"
"I think so?" Her heart sank.
"You're pregnant!" He punched the air in excitement.
"I haven't…"
"Woohoo! I'm going to be a dad!" His happy dance erupted before she could tell him that she was yet to have a test. She gazed at him as he danced around and hoped that the test would be positive. She couldn't imagine how hurt he would be if he learnt that he was not becoming a father. She didn't have the heart to burst his bubble. Not when he returned to his previous kneeling position and pressed his ear against her flat belly to listen to his child kick. Excitement had made all the knowledge from his health classes fly right off into the air.
When he finally stopped dancing and jabbering on about how happy he was to be a father, they cuddled on the couch in the living room and she finally had the chance to ask him, "Don't you dislike kids?"
He was evidently taken aback. "Huh? Since when do I… wait. What makes you believe that I do?"
"You said it." She frowned at how fast he had forgotten. "When we had just started dating and you talked about Leo, you said that he was still mad at you for not attending his daughter's third birthday, and that you didn't go because you couldn't stand the thought of a gazillion little girls all around you."
He chuckled. "That's because Leo was probably trying to invite the entire city's worth of kids. He loves children a little too much." He pulled her even closer to him, so her back was pressed against his chest. "But no matter how much I dislike having so many kids together, that doesn't mean I will not enjoy playing princess dress up with my daughter and her friends, hosting her birthday banquets—I mean, parties—or dropping her off for camps and sleepovers.
She played with his fingers which were dangling before her. He was way too excited. "What if it's a son instead of a daughter?" She was curious.
"Then we can play 'knights' and drive his cars and trucks all over the place. We will turn the house upside down with all the sword fights." He could almost picture a little boy as he imagined it.
That was her cue to take the test. She knew that if she let his belief that they were having a baby strengthen without being certain of it herself, it would be unfair to both of them. So, she ordered a test kit and had it delivered at her house.
Desmond wanted her to stay over but she insisted on going for the sake of the test. Besides, she had to tell Ximena and Theodore what Desmond's reaction was or they would be worried sick.
It was not surprising in the slightest that she found both of them sitting in the living room. Theodore was playing with Des while Ximena idly threw darts at the target she had set up near the window.
"Zaria's home!" She jumped when she heard her footsteps.
"Hi." Zaria laughed as her friend collided into her in the form of a hug.
"I saw the test you sent over. Are you finally going to do it?" Ximena asked, earning a playful smack on her shoulder.
"You checked my package, didn't you?"
"It's the delivery service! Why am I to blame when they wrapped the package in a see through film?" Ximena pointed at the console table where a box of pregnancy test kits lay.
"Uh…" Zaria cringed at the said privacy that the store promised.
"Hurry up! Pee on the stick!" Ximena grabbed the box in a flurry and shoved it into her hands before dragging her towards the staircase.
"Okay! But you don't have to be so crass about it." She shook her head and headed upstairs. Behind her, Ximena crossed her fingers and while Theodore didn't say a word, she was certain that he was silently praying and hoping he was going to be a grandfather soon. If her mind was not making it up, even Des looked happy, as though he was looking forward to welcoming a new human in the house.
If she was being honest, she hoped for a positive more than anyone. She had never thought about wanting or not wanting kids but after putting everything into consideration, she couldn't wait to be a mother either.
She hurried up the stairs and only stopped when she entered the bathroom with the kit in her hand.
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AN
Sorry for the late update. The next chapter will be up in 24 hours and 5 mass release chapters will be published on Sunday.
—Do you love adorable kids? Check out another of my books, [The Ultimate Chance] and give it a try.. Tap the 'about' info of this book and scroll down to 'Author's other books' to find it.
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