Page 24

I glanced across the room and saw Katie taking a deep sip of her coffee and yanking on her jacket. It was raining outside, so I grabbed an umbrella from the closet and walked over to her. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

I handed her the umbrella, and she smiled as she took it. “No, you have a meeting with the guys, so you need to go to that. Besides, I have Roxanne, who is stopping in and helping me today, so I won’t be alone.”

Ever since the blow-up with Ashley, it seemed word had traveled fast that I wouldn’t stand for anyone saying anything about Katie. People had been more helpful with her and kinder at the lab.

She walked closer and leaned up, placing her hands on my chest. “I will be just fine without you. I’ll be home this evening, and we can have dinner.”

Our relationship had seemed to shift slightly since the attack. We had both opened up to each other and were spending more time together. We were finding hobbies to do together when we were home. We often found ourselves reading before bed.

“The meeting won't take me all day. I can stop in this afternoon. We could go grab something for lunch.”

Katie shook her head. “No, you do what you need to do. You don’t have to worry about coming down to the lab.”

She leaned up and placed a kiss on my cheek before she slipped out. “I’ll see you when I get home.”

I heard the door open and shut. The house fell silent, and I sighed. I glanced at the time, seeing that the meeting with Kyle and Kent was in an hour. I decided I might as well head over.

I arrived at City Hall and went into our normal meeting room. I took a seat and glanced at my phone when Kent walked in.

“Someone’s early.”

I glanced up, raising an eyebrow at Kent. Half soaked from the rain outside, he shook his head, spraying water all over.

“Hey, watch where you're shaking.” I leaned back, not wanting to get more wet than I already was. “And I’m early because Katie went to work, and I have nothing better to do.”

Kent took a seat. “Is someone missing his wife?”

I rolled my eyes. While I was, I wasn’t going to say those words. I’d never hear the end of it.

“No.”

“You’re such a shitty liar.” He said as he pulled his jacket off, throwing it over another chair. “You are a love-struck puppy.”

I sighed, knowing I couldn’t deny my feelings. I knew that I loved Katie, but I didn’t know if it was right to say that. We were getting along, and I didn’t want to scare her away.

“Do you know where Kyle is?” I asked, wanting to change the subject.

“He should be coming. I spotted him in the parking lot. Though he was lip-locked with his girlfriend, so.”

Just then, Kyle strolled into the room. His eyes instantly went to Kent, and he scowled. “Did you have to bang on the window?”

Kent smirked. “I wanted to make sure you were aware you were still in public, and anyone could look into your window and see what you and your girl were doing.”

Kyle rolled his eyes, taking a seat next to me. “Jesus, we were kissing. It wasn’t like she was giving me a blow job.”

Kent shrugged. “Just wanted to make sure.”

“I think you did it because you were jealous.” Kyle quickly grumbled back and sighed. “Can you find him someone so he can quit ruining my life?”

I laughed and suddenly found I had missed this. I had been spending so much time with Katie that I hadn’t been able to really see the guys or talk with them.

“So, how are things between you two?” Kyle asked. “Are things better?”

I nodded. “Yeah, we’ve been getting along and spending lots of time together. But I wish I could do something to make her trust me more. Make her feel more at home.”

“What do you mean?” Kent asked. “Isn’t she comfortable there?”

“Yeah, but Katie’s never decorated or made it her own. She’s hardly home as it is. Even the bedroom she was using only has a few photos of her and Sam.”

“Why don’t you redecorate it then?” Kyle asked. “You have the spare time.”

He wasn’t wrong on that. I leaned back and tried to think of what I could do.

When I bought my house, I hadn’t really used half of it.

There were two empty bedrooms on the other side of the house that I never really used.

One was an office that I may have used twice when I was sick and didn’t want to travel out of the house.

The other room I had been using for storage.

Maybe I could do something with them. I always told myself I would, but I never did. And I had a huge open basement that I never touched. Suddenly, a few ideas formed in my head.

We started the meeting and went over the different topics the guys had concerns about.

There had been people worried about the darkness and wanted some more information on how to protect themselves.

I told the guys I would start a letter to be put out, to hopefully help calm the nerves.

The meeting was only an hour long before I was heading home.

I was stopped at a red light when I noticed a sign on a lawn. Someone was selling a piano. An idea sparked. I quickly turned, taking a right, pulling over.

Hours later, Katie came home. I was in the back room when I heard the front door open and shut. I headed down the hallway and found her staring at the piano in the entryway. She looked at me. “What’s this doing here?”

“I bought it today.”

Her mouth hung open slightly. “But why?”

I shrugged. “Well, I figured I should have one since I know how to play, and you said you wanted to learn. I can't teach you.”

She looked shocked as she walked over to it, placing her fingers down on a few keys. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, before you say anything, how about you come down and let me show you the back rooms.”

Katie walked towards me, and I took her down the hallway to the left back room. Katie’s eyes widened as pieces of wood were all over the place. “What am I looking at?”

“I’m putting bookshelves in. I’m making you an office.”

Her eyes snapped to me. “What? Why?”

“Because this is your home, too, and you should have a space to call your own.”

She looked around the space. “You’re making me an office?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I was trying to put some bookshelves together, but the directions aren’t great, so it might take me a few days. I also called a contractor to get some stuff done in the basement.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to make you a lab down there. I thought of redoing my office, but I figured the basement would have more space, and we could also soundproof it. So, you wouldn’t have to always travel to the lab.”

“Henrik, you don’t have to do all of that.”

“I do,” I said, correcting her. “Because this is just as much your house as it is mine. I want you to feel comfortable here. And if you aren’t home to make these changes, I will.”

“That’s so sweet,” she said as she stepped closer, wrapping her arms around me. “This is so nice.”

I pulled her closer. “I’m glad you like it. It’s going to take a few weeks before it’s all done, but hopefully you feel more at home here then.”

Katie looked around the space. “This is the nicest anyone has ever done for me.” She turned back, leaned on her tiptoes, and kissed me on the cheek. “Thank you.”

I pulled her back and gave her a kiss on the lips, letting her sink into it. I held her tightly against me, feeling her nails dig into my shoulder. She leaned back, breaking the kiss. She waved a hand over her face and blushed. “Wow, you know how to catch a girl off guard.”

I chuckled. “Good. That was the plan.”

She leaned back slightly. “As much fun as this is, I’m starving. What are we doing for dinner?”

“How does pizza and a movie sound?”

Her eyes sparkled. “Sounds amazing.”

We had dinner with a movie and were in bed a couple of hours later.

***

The next couple of days, Katie went to work, and I worked in the office.

The bookshelves took two days, and I got her a big desk and put it near the window.

I added curtains to the room and a large blue rug.

The room was a deep purple color that she picked out with gold curtains.

The room was filled with different shades of colors, which gave an energetic vibe.

I was putting a lamp together when I heard the front door. I glanced at my watch, seeing it was only eleven.

I left the room and headed towards the front. “Katie?”

“In the kitchen,” she called.

I headed into the kitchen and found her looking through the cabinet. “What are you doing? Did you leave the lab early today? Did something happen?”

She looked over at me, and I could see she was paler than before. She looked like she’d been through the wringer.

“I don’t feel great. I have a headache, and my stomach has been twisted up all morning. I threw up and decided I should probably go home.”

I walked over to her and pulled a hand up, placing it on her forehead. Katie was hot to the touch.

“Maybe you should go see a doctor.”

She shook her head, looking back into the cabinet. “No, I just need some sleep.”

“Katie, you don’t look good. And I know there is a lot of stuff going around with the weather changing like this.”

She shut the cabinet and glanced at me. “Sweetie. I have a degree. I know it’s probably just a stomach bug. I’m going to go take a nap.”

I frowned. “You have a degree in science, not a medical degree. They aren’t the same.”

She scuffed and turned down the hallway. “Potato potahto, same thing.”

I watched her head down the hallway to the bedroom and decided to pause the projects.

I didn’t want to make any extra noise, so I grabbed a book and went into the living room.

I worked on some paperwork and started making dinner when Katie came back down the hallway.

She paused and leaned against the wall, looking worse than she had before.

She placed a hand over her stomach and started to wobble. I rushed over to her, quickly catching her before she could fall. “Katie, sweetie, you're not well. We need to take you in.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

I hoisted her up and hurried her out to the car. I drove us to the hospital, where we were quickly taken to a room. Katie lay on the bed and rubbed at her stomach. A nurse took some of Katie’s blood and left, leaving us alone.

“You okay?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I feel the need to vomit, but I have nothing in my system. And I'm dizzy.”

“Have you had water today?”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t keep it down.”

So, she was probably dehydrated as well. The door opened and a doctor stepped in. “Evening, I’m Doctor Luis. Seems that you're experiencing some illness?”

We both nodded. “She probably has a stomach bug.”

Luis nodded. “It’s going around. But we are worried about how pale and dizzy you’re feeling.

The nurse said it was pretty hard to prick you, so you’re dehydrated, and coupled with your inability to keep anything down, we're going to start you on an IV and get you some fluids. I’ll be back with the blood work, but you just need to get comfortable and let that IV sink in for now. ”

We thanked the doctor, and I looked back at Katie. “I’m sorry you're feeling so crappy.”

She gave me a weak smile. “I’ll be fine. I’m sure it’s just a bug. The girls in the lab next to me all had it.”

“How sweet of them to share,” I said as I reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Maybe you should ask them to share other things.”

Katie laughed. “Well, at least they share with me now.”

I laughed, placing a kiss on her hands. “Is that IV helping?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

We sat there for a while before the doctor came back. He gave us both a bright smile. “Well, good news is it’s not a bug.”

“That’s the good news?” Katie said. “What is it then?”

“You’re pregnant.”

My eyes widened, and Katie looked stunned. “What?”

“Yeah, you’re probably a month along now. I’m going to prescribe you a medication to take when your nausea is this bad. But it should hopefully subside in the next couple of weeks.”

I sat stunned, doing the math. She had to have gotten pregnant from the first time we had sex.

I couldn’t help but feel excited because this was what we aimed for. We wanted this, but Katie looked like she wasn’t excited about the news. If anything, she looked defeated.

I frowned, realizing that I had never known what she wanted most in life. Had Katie even wanted to be a mother to begin with? Had she just gone along with this because she was forced to rather than because she wanted to?

The fact that I didn’t know the answer made this moment hurt. We should have been jumping up and down with joy, but my stomach twisted up violently.