Love's Fate (Love Trilogy #1) (22 page)

When his first painting sold, I felt relieved and less guilty about stealing his time at my shop. Our lives had fallen into perfect order.

Spending Sunday nights with Amy, Dan, Charlie, and Claire had become part of our happy routine. We usually used my apartment to host our dinner parties, because my kitchen was set up to accommodate cooking for everyone, but we always went back to Michael’s apartment after we ate because he had the larger living room.

“You guys should just build a staircase between your apartments and make it two-stories.” Charlie laughed one night as we all trekked up the stairs to Michael’s place.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Michael commented, “Although I’m not sure the landlord would be too happy about it.”

Everyone laughed, but suddenly their voices seemed far off. My head started swimming and I felt dizzy. I broke out in a cold sweat as I reached for the banister to keep from falling backwards.

“Katherine, what’s wrong?”  Michael was instantly at my side supporting me. I leaned against him trying to make the room stop spinning.

“I’m not sure.”  I whispered collapsing against him.

Amy grabbed my other arm as they helped me up the last few stairs. I didn’t even remember walking the rest of the way to Michael’s apartment. I felt so strange.

I was aware of a cool cloth being placed across my forehead and realized I was laying on one of Michael’s couches. I could hear everyone talking around me, but couldn’t concentrate on what they were saying. Suddenly my stomach heaved and I jumped off the couch and ran for the bathroom. Luckily I made it just in time.

Michael was right behind me, holding my hair back for me as I leaned over the toilet expelling everything that was in my stomach. When I finished I felt better, aside from the extreme embarrassment I felt at having him watch me.

“Are you okay?”  H
e asked as I rinsed my mouth out at the sink.

“I think so.”  I told him taking inventory of how I felt.

Whatever it was seemed to have passed just as quickly as it came.

“Maybe you should
lie
down.” He said still looking very concerned.

I agreed and allowed him to lead me to the bed. Amy was standing in the bedroom looking anxious.

“Katherine?” S
he asked coming to sit on the edge of the bed “What happened?”

“I don’t know.”
I told her “I felt fine and then all of a sudden I felt horrible, but I feel okay now. Maybe it was something I ate. How do you feel?”  I asked her trying to make sense of what had just happened.

“I feel fine. I don’t think it was the food. We’re going to leave so you can rest.” She said and I didn’t argue, I was exhausted.

“Okay.”  I smiled and closed my eyes.

Michael walked her out and said goodbye to everyone and then came back to check on me.

“How are you feeling?”  H
e asked sitting down on the bed.

“Just tired.
” 
I told him and quickly drifted off to sleep with him watching over me.

The next morning I felt fine when the alarm woke us up. Michael watched me closely as I dressed for work. I felt perfectly normal. We went to work and the day passed without further incident.

As we cooked dinner that night Michael finally seemed to have accepted that I was fine. He chopped the vegetables and passed them to me to sauté. Then all of a sudden the heat from the stove felt overwhelming and the smell of the food repulsed me. I ran for the bathroom, this time closing the door behind me. I became sick again, violently heaving as I hugged the toilet bowl.

“Katherine!”  Michael called anxiously from the other side of the door “Can I come in?”

“No!”  I shouted.

I didn’t want him to see me like this again, once was bad enough. Finally my stomach stopped turning and I sat back leaning against the wall. I couldn’t unde
rstand the cause of the illness,
I had felt fine all day.

After a few minutes I felt composed again and got up to brush my teeth. When I walked out of the bathroom Michael was waiting for me.

“I’m taking you to a doctor.”  H
e insisted.

“I’m fine.”  I told him, and really I was.

Just like the night before once the initial nausea passed I no longer felt sick.

“No you’re not. Don’t argue with me.”

The look in his eyes told me there was no point in arguing. I grabbed my purse and let him take me to the 24-hour walk-in clinic. Once there he explained the events of the last few nights to the nurse while I sat quietly wishing we hadn’t come. I felt fine again and I felt stupid for coming.

When Michael finished telling her the story the nurse looked at me with a weird smile. She asked Michael to excuse us and he looked at me nervously.

“I’ll be fine.” I assured him and reluctantly he left the room.

As soon as he did the nurse began her round of questions. Most were standard questions that anyone would expect: how old was I, had I been running a fever, any other symptoms. Then she asked a question I didn’t expect. She wanted to know if I was sexually active. I thought it was a strange question and wasn’t sure how it related to the current situation, but I told her that I was. Then she asked when my last menstrual cycle had been. Immediately I realized what she was getting at. How long had it been? I tried to think back but couldn’t pinpoint an exact time frame.

“I’m not sure
.”
I answered honestly and she smiled again.

“Are you on any form of birth control?”  Her last question confirmed my suspicions as to where her line of questioning had been going.

“No
.”
I answered quietly.

I realized I hadn’t even thought about that. When I was with Michael I didn’t think rationally, I hadn’t thought to take any precautions. The nurse drew some blood and left me alone in the small room to contemplate the new possibility that was forming in my mind. I didn’t have long to dwell on my naivety. The nurse returned after a few minutes smiling and holding my test results.

“Congratulations.”  She started “Y
ou
’
r
e
not dying and your morning sickness should pass after about another month or so.”

“Morning sickness?”  I repeated.

“It’s not really an accurate description. It can
hit any time of day really.” S
he explained “You’re pregnant sweetheart.” She added, just in case I hadn’t understood.

I didn’t know what to say. I just stared at her for a minute. Her smile faded.

“I take it this was unexpected
.”  S
he assumed.

I nodded.

“Is he the father?”  S
he asked gesturing toward the waiting room where Michael waited.

I nodded again.

What would he think? What did I think? I didn’t know. My mind was racing.

“Wo
uld you like me to tell him?” S
he asked looking a little concerned.

“No.”  I said finding my voice “Can I go?” I asked.

“Of course.” She looked a little flustered now. Obviously my reaction wasn’t what she had expected.

She walked me out to the waiting room and Michael jumped up as soon as we entered. He looked from me to her nervously.

“Well, is she ok
ay
?”  He asked the nurse after neither of us said anything.

“She’s fine.”
The nurse replied professionally. “You will need to
follow up with a… specialist.”
She told me handing me some papers.

I took them silently and walked to the door. Michael beat me to the door and opened it for me. I walked into the cool night air and the breeze felt good against my face. We walked to the car without talking.

“What is going on Katherine?” he asked as soon as we were in the car.

“I’m pregnant.” I said staring out the windshield.

He was quiet for a minute and I was afraid to look at him. He hadn’t started the car yet. We just sat there in the silent car and finally I turned to face him. He was smiling a little.

“What are we going to do?”  I asked shaking.

I felt the tears building up.

“We’re going to have a baby.” His smile widened and my tears broke free, but I was smiling now too.

“We’re going to have a baby.” I repeated smiling through my tears. He leaned over and wrapped his arms around me.

“Why are you crying?” H
e asked still holding me.

“I don’t know.” I laughed and wiped my tears away.

We drove home silently, both of us deep in thought. We went back to my apartment and again I felt exhausted.

“I’m ready for bed.” I told him as soon as we got inside.

“Okay” he said still smiling “I’m going to stay up for a
while.”

I kissed him goodnight and stumbled to bed. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

The next morning I woke up before my alarm went off. I felt rested and ready to take on anything. I lay in bed for a few minutes thinking over the revelations from the night before.

I was happy. I was nervous, and surprised and unprepared, but more than anything I was happy. I climbed out of bed quietly trying not to wake Michael. I noticed an easel in the corner that hadn’t been there before. I realized he must have brought it down from his apartment after I’d fallen asleep. A cloth was draped across it so I couldn’t see the painting. I walked quietly across the room and started to lift the cloth.

“No peeking
.
” Michael’s voice surprised me and I turned around quickly.

He was still lying on the bed propped up on his elbow.

“It’s a surprise.” He told me
smiling
.

“I thought you were still sleeping.” I said strolling back over to the bed.

“How
are you feeling this morning?” H
e asked as I slipped into bed next to him.

“Good as new.” I told him gently stroking his chest and letting my hand linger at his waist.

He leaned over and kissed me tenderly. I pulled him on top of me, but he kept his weight supported on his arms barely touching his body to mine. I kissed him more passionately but he still restrained himself.

“I’m not going to break.” I teased him.

“I know, but…” he trailed off looking down towards my stomach.

“It’s fine.” I told him “From what I understand it takes at least a month before a pregnancy test would be positive, so that means I’ve been this way for a little while now.”

“Yeah, but now that we know…” again he trailed off, he seemed torn between his desire and his concern.

“I was pregnant last week, before
we knew…” I paused meaningfully
remembering our love making over the last week and knowing he would too. “and I still am.” I finished.

This seemed to convince him and he kissed me softly, but still didn’t release his weight against me. We made love slowly, tenderly. When the alarm went off, we ignored it.

We were late getting to the shop that morning, but we were able to pull things together quickly and open the doors on time. Michael watched me like a hawk, insisting that I lifted nothing heavy and begging me to sit and rest during every break. This was going to get old.

“Michael millions of women have had babies, I’m not the first.” I told him as we ate lunch.

“I wasn’t in love with those women.” He told me seriously. “I don’t want anything happening to you… or the baby.”

“I’ll be fine, and so will the baby. I’ll take it easy I promise, but it’s going to be a long 9 months if you’re watching every move I make.” I told him

“I’m sorry.” He apologized and I felt bad for having chastised him.

“I’m going to make an appointment with an obstetrician, you can come with me if it would make you feel better.”

He beamed at my offer.

“When are we going?” he asked excitedly

“I’ll call now.” I said getting up from
t
he table.

I made an appointment for 2 o’clock on Friday and realized I would have to close the shop early that day. I started thinking about how having this baby was g
oing to a
ffect my life.

Surely I would be able to work through most of my pregnancy, but then what? What would I do with the bakery? I decided I had plenty of time to figure it out, so I wouldn’t worry about it yet. But now that I’d had the thought, it stayed naggingly at the back of my mind.

Katherine and I spent every day together in the bakery and every night together in each other’s arms. I couldn’t imagine anything that would make me happier than I already was. Then Katherine told me she was pregnant and I discovered new levels of happiness, and also new levels of worry.