Page 48 of Sheikh's Unexpected Triplet Babies

Chapter Seventeen

The day faded and turned to night. Bedelia kept herself occupied by reading up on multiple births, by learning of what she could expect, and occasionally by watching television, but the day stretched out endlessly until it was over.

She paced in the living room restlessly, looking up at every sound. She heard the guards outside the door change shifts, speaking quietly to one another as one pair left and another arrived. She found herself strangely envious of them, with lives that looked so simple from where she was sitting.

She contemplated doing another set of exercises, but if she went through the same motions again that day, she thought she might scream.

The hands on the clock ticked to eight. Then to nine. They hit ten, and she felt something soft and small inside her quiver and shake with pain.

When the clock struck eleven, Bedelia had to hug herself against the pain.

He's not coming back here,she thought, and she tried to stop the pain that raged inside from destroying her. She kept her tears back as best she could, but a few escaped anyway, running down her face where she brushed them aside angrily.

Silly little fool,she thought viciously. Did you think it would be so easy? Did you think that someone like you could simply seduce a man like him into doing your will?

She wondered what was in front of her now. Would she have the courage to chase him? That had been her plan, but now that she thought of it, she wondered if she had the stamina to do so. Her heart wanted to keep chasing him, but when she glanced down at her growing belly, she wasn't sure.

Multiple pregnancies meant an increase in the amount of fatigue she was going to feel. She knew that, and now she could feel that. If Jahin wanted to get away from her, then he absolutely would, and there would be nothing she could do about it.

She winced away from the image that she presented, the unmarried mother chasing after the man who had abandoned her. Her pride wailed in protest, but her heart, her foolish wounded heart, could not see any other way.

No, I'll find him,she thought. Not tonight, I need to sleep or I will be utterly destroyed tomorrow, but I will find him.

Despite her resolution, she found that she couldn't go to bed. She dressed herself in a long, embroidered cotton nightgown, and instead of going to the guest bedroom or Jahin's master bedroom, she stayed in the living room. Perched in one pale wing chair, she looked out over the city, which twinkled with a thousand bright artificial lights. The stars above were canceled out by the lights below, but she knew they were up there. They had held silent witness the first time she and Jahin had made love. She wondered what they thought now.

Bedelia rested her hands on her belly. Even in the last few days, it had felt rounder, firmer. After the initial shock had set in, it had become all too believable that there were children inside her. Well, she understood in her mind, at least. She suspected that it would probably take a little longer before she truly understood in her heart that she was carrying three children.

"Hey kiddos," she said softly, cupping her hands over her belly. "Some of the articles that I read said I should talk to you. No time like the present to start, huh?"

She paused as if she expected them to reply somehow, and then she chuckled at herself.

"So even if I'm just vibrations to you right now, I bet you can feel some of what's been going on lately...and babies, I am so sorry. I am so sorry that this is happening, and I am sorry that you are feeling it the way that you are."

She felt her voice wobble, and she kept the tears back.

"Life...life isn't always this sad or this scared, okay? I promise. I promise that I will do whatever I can to make the world as good for you as I can. Your daddy will too, I know that."

Even as her heart ached, she knew that was true. If his children needed anything, Jahin would move heaven and earth to get it for them.

"Let...let me tell you a story." She could feel herself getting sleepy, as she did so easily these days. Bedelia knew she should get up and go to bed, but the chair was so comfortable, and if she got into bed, she would have to realize all over again that she was alone in it.

"Once upon a time, there was a foolish young girl who crossed the ocean and ended up at a horse fair. The horses were all so beautiful that she lost her way and ended up menaced by a pair of wolves. They were going to catch her and eat her right up when a bold sheikh rode up on his jet-black horse and saved her.

"They...they fell in love, and for a while, the sheikh showed her the treasures of his land. They laughed, and they ate, and they cared for each other so much that it was like a burning brand in their hearts. If this was another story, this is where they would live happily ever after..."

She wiped her eyes, but right now, she was more tired than sad. It occurred to Bedelia that this was how love died. One day you were in love, and then the next you were heartbroken. That was all the songs ever told you, but the truth was that after heartbroken came tired, so tired. She could barely keep her eyes open, but she kept talking. There was something soothing about the words of their story, hers and Jahin's and their children's, falling into the familiar cadence of a fairytale.

"But the girl got scared. They were having such a good time, but they both knew that they couldn't be together forever. At first she thought she could be all right with that, but then something happened, and she knew she couldn't be.

"So she ran. She climbed on the back of an enormous flying bird, and she tried to fly away, but the sheikh was a great hunter. He sent his two fine hunting falcons after her, and when he brought her back, he was so angry that he locked her in a tower."

Bedelia paused for a moment, taking a deep breath.

"She thought the tower would have been fine if he had stayed there with her. She could live in a cave as long as the sheikh was there with her. She got so lonely that even though she was carrying three children in her belly, she chased after him. Perhaps if she chased after him hard enough, perhaps if he saw her, spoke with her, touched her, he would remember what they had."

She was on the verge of drifting off to sleep on the couch when a quiet voice broke in.

"Did it work?"

---