Page 38 of Mine to Keep

“Yes. She had a doctor’s appointment. I thought you’d take her, but she said you were busy, so she took an Uber.”

Jesus Christ. “Why the doctor?”

“She hasn’t felt well, and she was worried about the baby.”

He nodded. He didn’t like not knowing any of this. “Where’s my father?”

Betsy shrugged. “He went out again. He’s been gone a lot lately.”

Yes, he had. Roland had tried to find him a few times because he had questions about the night of the benefit, but he never answered his phone and was never home. He would eventually get his answers because he was suspicious about a few things.

Roland went back to his office and got back to work. He felt like his life was falling apart, and he didn’t know how to fix it.

“Roland,” Laila said by the door.

She was so quiet he barely heard her.

“I don’t want to bother you, but I thought you’d want to see the sonogram.”

She reached his desk, set it on top, and turned to walk out.

“What’s in the bag?” he asked, pointing to the small white bag in her hand.

“The doctor gave me vitamins.”

“You’ve lost weight.”

She looked down. “She, the doctor, said everything looked good and that I haven’t done any damage.”

His brows puckered. Damage? “What are you talking about?”

He saw her get even more pale.

“I need to lay down for a bit,” she murmured, ignoring his question.

He nodded but stopped her at the door. She turned to look at him.

“When you came in earlier, it was to tell me about the doctor’s appointment, wasn’t it?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry I interrupted. I promise not to do that again.”

He opened his mouth to tell her he wanted to know what was going on, but she had walked out the door. He heard her tired footsteps and thought to help her up the stairs.

Roland stood to go to her and caught sight of the picture she gave him. He picked it up and studied it. From what he could see of the baby, it was shaped like a bean with tiny arms.

He stared at it for several minutes. Jesus, he was going to be a father. He smiled. It was something he’d always wanted. His smile fell. When he had pictured his family, he and his wife had been happy. That couldn’t be farther from the truth now.

If he counted right, he had thirty-two weeks until the baby was born to turn his marriage around. He wanted her backin their bed and able to touch and fuck her whenever he wanted.

The next day, he went in search of his wife. “Betsy, do you know where Laila is?”

“I think she’s in her room. She doesn’t go anywhere but that room and outside.”

The cook stopped, and he waited.

“I’m worried about her. It seems she’s getting more dejected every day. She tries so hard to get food down, but a lot of the time, she runs to the bathroom, and then I won’t see her until the next day. I also haven’t seen her smile for a while now.”

“Is that normal?” he asked.

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