AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even Dr. Mathers’ kind eyes can’t drag that confession out of me.
It doesn’t seem possible that Yakov and I have only known each other a few weeks, though. We just met, but he’s become this fixture in my life. I can’t imagine a world without him in it. Which has made the last few days especially hard. Nonstop nausea and wistful pining are not a good combination.
“With pregnancy, you start counting weeks from the first day of your last period. You may have conceived three weeks ago, but you’re still six weeks pregnant,” he explains.
“That makes sense,” I say sheepishly.
“But don’t quote me on that. I’m a family practitioner, not an OB-GYN. I’d recommend you make an appointment with one as soon as possible.”
“Do you have any recommendations?”
“I can email a list to Mr. Kulikov,” he says, already packing up his bag.
I barely resist the urge to grab him by the lapels and beg him not to breathe a word to Yakov. But there’s no point. Yakov is paying this bill. He’ll find out about the baby eventually, whether Dr. Mathers tells him or not.
It’s fine. This is the push I needed to finally tell him the truth. He deserves to know that he has a child on the way.
I’ll tell him as soon as he can stand to be in the same room with me again.
66
LUNA
I’m not the only person Yakov is ghosting. His household staff has no idea where he is, either.
“Nikandr came by early this morning,” Hope tells me just after noon. “I haven’t seen either of them since.”
I loiter outside his office door for an embarrassingly long time before I work up the nerve to knock. There’s no answer. I listen at the door, but I don’t hear any sign of movement inside.
By the time evening rolls around, I’m wondering if Yakov might’ve moved out without me noticing. I’m sure he has plenty of other houses scattered across the country and globe. Maybe he moved into one of those until he can get rid of me. That’s what he said he wanted, after all.
Our fight in the kitchen hits me all over again. My chest aches like it just happened.
As I ball myself up in my nest of blankets on the sofa, the only upside is that I’m not doing it because I’m nauseous. The medicine Dr. Mathers gave me is already helping with my morning sickness.
The downside is that I’m still just as miserable.
Mariya jumps over the arm of the couch and lands with her legs crossed, nearly squashing Gregory. He hisses and darts under the chair. “Someone is grouchy,” she remarks in his direction.
“He’s been sensitive. I think he misses Yakov.” Gregory mysteriously goes missing for hours at a time. I can’t prove it, but I think he’s slipping into Yakov’s office. Apparently, Yakov is still on speaking terms with my cat, just not with me.
“My brother is in a bromance with a cat. I never would have guessed.” She chuckles and hugs a pillow to her chest. “Speaking of, Yakov hasn’t broken down the front door demanding answers or locked you in a plastic bubble yet. I’m guessing that means he doesn’t know about the baby.”
“Or he knows and doesn’t care,” I mumble.
“Definitely not. If he knew, he’d be here.”
I know Mariya is right. Telling him I’m pregnant is a surefire way to make him talk to me. The problem is I don’t want to force him into talking to me.
“How are you feeling? Should I scrap the plans to install a permanent vomitorium?”
“I don’t feel like I’m going to hurl for the first time in three days, so I’m doing great.”
“High bar you’ve set for yourself.” Mariya smirks before her smile slides into something more cautious. “How are you feeling otherwise?”
My stomach flips in a way that has nothing at all to do with pregnancy. “I’m… not sure. It’s hard to know when I can’t talk to Yakov about any of this.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
