Page 40 of Sheikh's Unexpected Triplet Babies

Chapter Fourteen

The townhouse was beautiful.

That was the first thing that Bedelia thought upon walking in, and then immediately thereafter, she felt guilty for having such a shallow thought when there was so much in chaos all around her. She wrapped her arms around her body, wanting desperately to do what she could for her children, but for now, all she could do was wait in this strangely beautiful place.

It wasn't an aggressively modern living space like the penthouse was. She had loved the penthouse, with its angular grace and spare elegance, but the townhouse was something else. There was something classic about it that put her in mind of Victorian buildings, with a certain grace and charm to the furnishings and the space that were designed to delight. With the hardwood floors, the beautiful scrolled ornamentation, the velvet drapes and wool rugs, it looked almost like a movie set, a place she was too nervous to really live.

However, the couches were pleasant places to sit and nap, and the bookshelves were filled with modern works of literature as well as the classics. And when she opened a cabinet, she found a cunningly hidden flat screen television. There was no shortage of things for her to do or to entertain herself with, but there was also no escaping the fact that she was a prisoner.

She learned the first day that while she could surf the Internet to her heart's content on the new phone someone had left in the townhouse, she couldn't send out any information. When she wanted to go for a walk, one of the guards at the front door went with her, and from time to time, she could see them patrolling the walled courtyard around the house. Whether she liked it or not, she was someone who was being kept away from the rest of the world, and for that alone she could have cried.

She did cry for most of the first morning she was there. She woke up in the violet bedroom, a lovely space with soft lavender walls and a charming purple rug, thought about where she was, and simply started to weep. It was all too much, and if she didn't let off the steam somehow, she was going to die.

Then, after a while, she cried herself out, and she felt better. Bedelia got up, put some cold water on her face to bring down the swelling, then went to see what food had been left for her in the refrigerator.

This is my new reality, she thought grimly. If I just mope and cry, that can't be good for the kiddos in my belly. I need to be productive. I need to do something.

Before this had all started, she had been a researcher, after all. So she started to research her pregnancy. She was startled to realize that she knew so little about it, and by the end of three hours of reading, she was firmly impressed by what her own body could do. A single birth alone was fascinating. The fact that she was going to be giving birth to three sounded beyond fascinating.

She realized that the doctor had been right, that things would likely go well enough as long as she was carefully monitored. There was a good chance that she would deliver early, and she might get symptoms more strongly than women carrying one child at a time, but beyond that, it was not so terrible.

"I wish you were here," she said quietly to empty air.

At odd moments, she found herself missing Jahin. When she learned something new about multiple births, when she wondered what her pregnancy was going to be like, she looked to one side as if a part of her expected him to respond.

She thought about him a great deal, but the man himself didn't show up for another two days.

That morning, she received a call as she sat down to eat something made of bran, more than a little bland but apparently very good for pregnant women. She was just dubiously poking the dish--it looked a bit like oatmeal--when the house phone rang. Despite their situation, she found her heart leaping when she saw that it was Jahin.

"Yes?" she asked, barely able to keep the excitement out of her voice.

There was a pause, and then a slight chuckle.

"So eager to get out?" he asked, but before she could respond, he continued speaking. "I'm going to be coming by in a few hours. I am ready to tell you what is going to happen. Be ready."

She started to make a tart retort about his overbearing tone, but then he hung up on her. She stared at the phone in disbelief, and for the first time in what felt like a long time, she felt something more than the quiet despair that had been hanging over her. Previously, she’d had to fight to feel anything at all, but right now, it was easy.

She was furious.

All right,she thought. You know what's going to happen? Well, maybe I do as well.

***

Bedelia's clothes had been brought to the townhouse, not only what she had in her luggage but also the sumptuous clothes from the penthouse. She thought about shunning the clothes he had bought for her and wearing only her own, but why should she? Jahin was already paying for her imprisonment, he might as well pay for her clothing as well.

She went to her closet like a warrior choosing her armor, and she found a severe, dark red dress that felt right. It was cut to accentuate her curves, and it was just barely on the decent side of risqué. She had not had a chance to wear it for Jahin before their relationship went up in flames, and now he was in for a surprise. She left her hair loose, applied a bit of lipstick and blush to accommodate her rather pale skin at the moment, and when he came to the townhouse, she was ready.

She waited for him, standing at the parlor’s mantle place every inch as if she owned the property they were in. She saw his eyebrows go up at the figure she cut in the long red dress, saw his mouth open slightly. She felt his gaze on her figure as if it were hands, and when he closed his mouth with a click and a glare, they both knew where his mind had been.

When Jahin took his seat in one of the wing chairs, she took a seat as well, and after taking another glance at her form in the close-fitting dress, he began to speak.

"I have made a decision about what is to come," he said, and she narrowed her eyes.

"I can't wait to hear it," she said acidly, and he glared at her.

"You are going to stay here. If for some reason the townhouse is not to your liking, you are welcome to try any of the other properties that I own until you find something that suits. The only prohibition is that you cannot leave Muneazil. Other than that, you may go where you please."

"Thank you so very much," she murmured sarcastically, but he wasn't done yet.

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