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“Am I pregnant?” I wasn’t sure either because of the way he asked me to say it again.
In a flash, I was thrown back on the bed, and Jaxon leaped on top of me.
“Jaxon, wha—” He put his lips on mine to stop me.
He kissed me hard and moved his hands all over my body. Without thinking, my hands slipped into his hair as I kissed him back just as hard. He kissed me so forcefully that I didn’t know if he was punishing me or what.
He didn’t let me take charge, so his tongue traced my mouth.
He only pulled back when we ran out of air.
He was still on top of me, holding himself up with both hands, breathing fiercely, and smiling so big that his eyes sparkled.
When he said, “I’m going to be a dad!” I cried.
“We’re going to be parents, Clara!”
“We will have our own baby!”
He kept saying, “I can’t believe I’m going to be a father!”
I was crying by now because I was so delighted for him. He saw my tears, and his smile dimmed. “Don’t you want it, Clara? Oh God! I’m sorry…if you don’t—”
“Why will I not want it?” I cut him off.
“Why are you crying then?”
“I’m crying because you’re happy. I thought you didn’t want it.”
“Me? I love kids, honey. They make me so happy!”
I was worried for no reason.
He took off my t-shirt in a second, and I was just in my bra when he started kissing my stomach.
He kissed my stomach, my b****t, my neck, and eventually my lips again for a few seconds.
“You make me so happy, Clara,” he said softly as he kissed my jaw. “We will be parents.”
“Yes, we are going to be parents,” I murmured back.
Point of View of the Third Person:
The lift dinged, and the doors opened to the floor of her office. Clara took a careful stroll towards her workplace so that Jaxon wouldn’t find out she was there.
Jonah got up right away and hurried to her when he spotted her. “Jaxon said you wouldn’t come today,” he remarked.
She shook her head lightly and replied, “That’s what Jaxon said, Jona. But I’m here because I wanted to go to the office. Ever since I told him I was pregnant, he won’t let me do anything, as if something will happen even if I take one step.”
“Vivian, he is just worried about you. He will be very angry to see you here.”
Clara knew that Jaxon would be angry when he saw her there, even though he warned her not to go and ordered her to remain home and recover this morning.
“I’m the CEO too, Jona. He is not my boss. I can make decisions.”
“But…” Jonah trailed off, and Clara was startled as his eyes got a little bigger as he peered at her shoulder.
She turned around because she saw that he was gazing at something behind her. When she did, she saw Jaxon standing there with his arms crossed and looked irritated.
“I think I told you clearly not to come to the office, Mrs. Dante. Didn’t I? Or was I speaking Spanish?” Jaxon said before she could say anything.
Clara was probably terrified since Jaxon’s tone was scary, and his rage was not a pleasant thing to observe.
Still, she said with confidence, “There is nothing wrong with working while I am pregnant.”
She opened her mouth to say more, but Jaxon grabbed her hand and started pulling her to his office.
She looked at Jonah and hoped he would help her, but he only shrugged in response.
Jaxon shut the door behind him and pushed her against it.
“I told you not to come.”
“Please, Jaxon, you can’t expect me to stay home all day and do nothing. I’m pregnant, for God’s sake! I’m not dying.”
When she said “dying,” Jaxon’s mood altered. The word brought back some bad memories he didn’t want to have again.
Clara saw it when he looked at her with blank eyes and thought about what happened with Julia. What if anything occurs to Clara because of the pregnancy or during the delivery?
Flashback:
Jaxon walked back and forth in front of Julia’s hospital room. He had been feeling guilty for two days since she had an accident.
He couldn’t even make himself meet her. If only he hadn’t told Julia how he felt, and if only she hadn’t left his house in a rage and driven back without thinking.
He somehow found the strength to go into her room after taking a big breath.
She was lying on the bed, looking pale. The girl who used to be so happy appeared so weak and boring.
She had her eyes closed, but when she heard someone come in, she gently opened them. Jaxon looked down and moved over to her. He discreetly perched on the stool next to her bed.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, tears welling up in his eyes.
“Why are you sorry?” she questioned in a shaky voice.
He looked up at her and saw that she was gazing at him. He couldn’t even look her in the eyes, so he looked down again.
“I’m so sorry. You got so mad because of me, and then you had an accident. I’m so sorry. I didn’t even have the courage to come meet you here. I’m so sorry,” he continued, and by now, tears were streaming down his face.
Julia didn’t say anything at first, but after a minute, she remarked, “It’s not your fault.”
He looked up again, but this time he didn’t look down. Instead, his eyes were fixated on her face, where he could see some hair sprouting.
He stood up and leaned over to her, brushing his finger over the hair that was sprouting on her face. He frowned and said, “What happened to your face?”
She had been gazing at him the whole time, but when he asked her a question, she glanced aside and tried not to meet his eyes.
“Julia?” He tilted her chin towards him and said, “You are hiding something.”
“I am fine,” she murmured, although she wasn’t sure.
“Please…tell me…” Jaxon said as he sat down on the stool and grasped her hand.
She muttered, “I have a tumor that is cancerous.”
Jaxon could only think of cancer.
He was so shocked that he didn’t expect her to say this.
“What?!”
“I have a cancerous tumor, Jaxon,” she added a little louder.
“How? How long?”
“Three years.”
“Three years? You never showed any signs!”
“It’s a rare cancer. The signs were my periods being irregular and the strange hair growth on my face that I was able to hide.”
“But…but,” he said, not knowing what to say.
Julia put her other hand on his and squeezed it lightly. “I’ll be fine… I’m getting surgery in a few days… I’ll be fine…”
But she didn’t. Jaxon watched as her casket was lowered into the grave. She didn’t live through the surgery.
The crying had stopped long ago… His tears dried up after he sobbed all night.
He lost her, his best friend, his love, and a part of himself.
He was numb all over, and the numbness was slowly spreading through his body and enveloping his heart. He felt empty of any feelings.
Kena felt nothing, even when he put his head on his forearm and cried.
She was gone…
Clara reached out and delicately caressed his face, bringing him back to reality.
“Jaxon?”
He shook his head softly and took a step back, but it didn’t help.
He went to his desk and took out a cigarette, but Clara took it from him before he could light it.
“Why are you smoking? You said you wouldn’t.”
“Give it back, Clara,” he said, but he didn’t want to fight.
“No. What happened to you all of a sudden?”
He shut his eyes for a few seconds to try to calm down, but it was impossible since the memories he thought he had finally forgotten came flooding back. Memories hit hard and more than once. Every time they hit, it stung.
He said softly, “Please, Clara… I need it…”
Clara flung it on the floor and hugged him, peering into his lifeless eyes.
“Tell me what’s wrong…”
He mumbled, “You can’t die, Clara. You can’t leave me. You are not dying.” He wasn’t even sure what he was saying.
At first, she didn’t see what he meant, but then she did. It devastated her to see him so weak and scared of losing her.
“I’m not going to leave you, Jaxon. Nothing is going to happen to me. I’ll always be right next to you,” she said softly.
Jaxon grabbed her waist and drew her forward, hugging her tightly in his arms because he was afraid he would lose her if he didn’t hold her close.