Page 134 of Aching for His Discretion

Looking back over at him, I laid my forehead against his as I shook my head.

“I should say no... We’re supposed to be going slow. I should be mad at you for bringing this up as we work on fixing our relationship. I should be mad at you for spending so much money on me. I should be mad at you for so many things, Mr. Amante. But…” I whispered, and he hummed as I felt his hand run through my hair.

“But...” he muttered.

“But all I want to say is yes,”I whispered, and I giggled at his eagerness as he placed a kiss on my lips and pulled me even closer to him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I sighed blissfully as he rubbed his hands up and down my waist.

After a moment or so, he spoke. “Your father was the first to know about the ring,” he said, and I furrowed my eyebrows.

“How long has he known?”

“Years… but he never gave me his verbal blessing,” he started, and my heart fluttered as he picked up the ring from the box and slid it onto my left ring finger. “The day we left their home after Christmas was the same day he told me I’d gained his trust and his respect to be with his daughter.”

“Is that why you had that dust in your eye when you came back to the car? You know, when you were tearing up?” I teased him, and he put his face in the crook of my neck as he sighed.

“You’re going to have to let me live this down someday, Tesoro…”

“Hmmm,someday,but today’s not that day,” I laughed as I ran my hand through his hair lovingly as he tried to hide his smile.

Many Months Later

Sitting in the bathroom, I remained relatively still as Levi continued knocking on the door. We were back in my apartment in Maryland as I obviously had to come back to work.

Levi had been staying in my apartment for the time being and occasionally flew back and forth to New York as much as his work needed his presence. I only had a few months remaining to complete my residency training, and Levi had recently shown me his rather expensive plan for the next two or three years.

The plan involved buying our dream home and starting my private practice. As much as I tried convincing him that I would be fine working in the hospital for the first few months or years out of my training, he, unfortunately, was having none of it.

Eventually, I found myself caving as he made excellent points about not wanting me to be overworked and having the freedom to provide care to families without worrying about costs and expenses.

However, I noticed I’d been a little off lately. This morning, I woke up with severe nausea and fatigue. I’d thrown up a fewtimes in the last few hours or so and found myself to be more moody lately. I would have noticed it sooner if I hadn’t taken my frustration out on my very compassionate and understanding fiancé and future husband. He acknowledged and supported each of my increasingly irrational mood swings. He never once criticized my feelings or told me I was being unreasonable.

But I caught myself last night before I started an argument and had an epiphany early this morning. As an OB/GYN, one would think I would have the most self-awareness of my own body, yet the three consistent positive pregnancy tests that sat on the sink counter said otherwise.

As a result of the shock, I’d been stuck in the bathroom, unable to face Levi, who was growing increasingly worried on the other side of the door.

“Tesoro. If you don’t let me in, I am going to fucking break down this bathroom door,” he seethed, and I contemplated whether or not he was telling the truth. Not wanting to risk the damage, I walked over to the door and opened it slowly. He looked down at my tear-filled face and caressed the side of it.

“Tesoro... baby, tell me what’s wrong.”

I shook my head as I sniffled softly. “I didn’t mean to yell at you yesterday when you brought me the wrong cheese from the grocery store.”

“Amore... You could stab me in the chest, and I wouldn’t be upset with you, let alone when you rightfully get angry with me for buying the wrong thing.”

“I wasn’t the only one upset,” I muttered, and he looked at me, confused, as I placed his hand over my abdomen softly.

“Silas or Eden were more angry than I was,”I cried as I wiped my tears, and he froze for a moment as his eyes left mine and landed on the three positive pregnancy tests. Keeping one hand on me, he picked up a test and let out a small smile as he read the results.

“Silas or Eden,” he whispered, and I nodded as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He hugged me gently and shook his head.

“I love you so much, Tesoro,” he whispered, and I placed a kiss on his shoulder.

“I love you more, Levi.”

Chapter fifty-eight

Teegan

Ten Months Later

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