Page 30 of Daigo

Shelby was going to look back on that time and shake her head. She had no idea that after that, her life was going to be turned upside down.

The pregnancy gave her a break over the holidays, and exactly when she hit the two-month mark, things started happening.

The awful nausea came, crippling her until she felt as if she was dying a slow and painful death. She just woke up one snowy morning in mid-February and felt as if her entire stomach was being raked by nails. She could not keep anything down. When she bolted from the bed and rushed into the bathroom, Daigo came rushing after her. He made it just in time to grip the ends of her hair in one hand, and with the other, he held her around the waist.

After the bout of vomiting, she couldn't move but just sat on the cold tiles and laid her head back on his chest.

"I guess it's starting," she said weakly.

"I guess so. We need to call the doctor."

She nodded. "They did warn about this. Just hold me."

"The floor is cold."

"I feel hot and feverish. So it's heaven right now."

He pressed a hand to her neck and forehead. "Baby, I think you're running a temperature."

There was a note of concern in his voice.

"My throat does feel scratchy. Great! A flu is just what I need to top it all off."

"Let's get you up. I'll get a cold rag for your forehead. I cannot give you anything without consulting the doctors."

"Tea," she whispered.

"Coming right up."

"I love you." She laid a hand on his cheek.

"Love you right back." He placed her on the pillows gently, as if handling something extremely fragile. "I'll be right back."

She made a noncommittal sound deep in her throat and closed her eyes.

When he came back several minutes later, she was fast asleep. Putting the tray on the side table, he sat on the edge of the bed and stared at her. She was glowing. Even though she had just puked her guts out, she was still glowing and had never looked more beautiful. And he had no cause to be worried. This was natural.

The doctors had warned them, and he had read enough literature to realize that this was the starting point. There would be rough days ahead. It was no use having regrets or giving in to fear. He had to be there for her.

Touching her face lightly, he noted with relief that she was not as hot as she had been before. The fever was abating. And she was sleeping peacefully. He wondered how many peaceful nights she would have in the coming months.

Deciding that now was not the time to think about it, he slipped in beside her and pulled her close.

*****

She was determined to celebrate Valentine's Day, and she went all out: strawberry-covered chocolates, dinner for two at Lainey's, a trendy new restaurant in the uptown area, and a brand-new dress. She was two months pregnant, and the symptoms had started with ferocious quickness. The nausea, the dizziness, the aversion to anything fried or even baked had proceeded rapidly. On the plus side, as she had wryly told her friend, was the fact that her hair was growing by leaps and bounds and her skin looked even more amazing than ever.

She was going to have to take the good alongside the bad. So she was determined to have this romantic evening with her husband. At least she could still fit into her clothes. The dress was a cross between bronze, orange and red, with thin glittery straps and a plunging neckline. A jeweled brooch pinned the waist into place. Her hair was shampooed and deep-conditioned and ruthlessly tamed by gel to fall down her back.

"How do I look?" she asked, meeting his eyes in the mirror.

"Naked." His eyes narrowed as they took in the shimmery material and the curves of her breasts. "Christ, Shelby-Anne, what the hell were you thinking? You're going to start a bloody riot in that outfit and force me to beat up a lot of people, specifically of the male persuasion."

Her tapered brows winged up, and he looked resigned when she looked pleased. "That good?" She preened in front of the mirror and studied herself closely. "That's what I was gunning for." She met his eyes again, and predicting his next words, she rushed on. "In a month or so, I'll be as big as a house and sick as a dog. I just want this one night to feel like I'm still a beautiful woman who can attract her husband."

He glared at her, knowing exactly what she was about. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what again?" She fingered the necklace he had given her for Christmas that nestled between her breasts.