Page 33 of Daigo

"I already did."

"How's the stomach?"

She rubbed her hand over the mound of her belly absently. "Not so bad."

"No lifting. You promised."

"I did and I'm sticking to it. You're such a nag."

"And proud of it. I love you."

"Love you more," she murmured and hung up.

Sitting at her desk, she eyed the daybed and shook her head. The space had been cramped before; it was even more so now.

"A sleep chair would have done the job," she muttered.

Rising, she went out to the store and did her rounds. She was slowing down. Her staff and now the customers who came in knew she was pregnant. It was not something she wanted to advertise, but what could you do? She had started showing. She was slender, so the roundness of her curves, the mound of her belly and her breasts were pretty obvious.

The only thing she hadn't shared was the fact that she was carrying triplets. She had mentioned it to her staff and demanded discretion.

There had been wide eyes and shocked looks and several questions, which she had avoided.

Yes, she was slowing down. She was no longer lifting anything at all for fear of jiggling something loose. And she was doing everything by the book: eating her vegetables, drinking the dreaded milk (that was the hardest!), taking walks, meditating, listening to the classics and doing her checks every week. The doctors were very vigilant. She had told her friend that money screams. And her husband was very intimidating.

She appreciated the fact that he accompanied her to every appointment even when he was busy. She was also aware that he was putting off going on his business trips in case she needed him. That was something she did not care for, but no amount of arguing would budge him.

"I don't want to be the cause of you neglecting your business," she protested.

He had simply given her a look that spoke volumes. "Don't be stupid. I'm the father of those babies you're carrying, not some random stranger. I'm sticking close to home."

And he meant it. He would only go on trips that took him a day, and he would check in constantly.

And fingers crossed, she was approaching her second trimester, and everything was going very well.

Please God.

Putting a smile on her face, she went to greet a longtime customer and resigned herself to a long and detailed conversation.

*****

"She's sleeping, sir." Maxine was always nervous when it came to her boss's husband. The man was simply terrifying. She would have called him cold, except she had seen the way he looked at his wife. Her middle-aged heart sighed whenever he came into the store. A rich man like that, not afraid to show his love. And so handsome too. Of course, her employer was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen and not in the least bit stuck up.

"I don't want to wake her. She looked so worn out, so we persuaded her to take a nap." Maxine fidgeted with the scarf she was arranging on the shelf. "If you want, I could..."

"No," Daigo said abruptly. "Just have her call as soon as she's awake. Are you certain she's all right?"

Maxine's heart sighed again at the note of concern in his voice. "As far as I can tell. Don't worry, Mr. Nakano, we're looking out for her. We love her and will not allow her to overdo things."

His voice altered drastically when he responded. "And I appreciate that. Have her call me."

"Yes, sir."

Putting the phone down, he wandered over to the window. He was being paranoid, he knew, but he was there for all of it. So far, it had not been so bad. The nausea was alarming and so were the mood swings. She cried at the drop of a hat and peed a lot. She was also incredibly horny. He smiled at that and decided it wasn't a hardship – he could live with that particular symptom.

She would be on him as soon as he entered the room. One night she had been particularly... eager. Tearing off his clothes, ripping at his tie, and ruining his shirt. The lovemaking had taken on the heat and ferocity of animal mating. He had left marks on her skin, and she had left bite marks on his chest and shoulders. The climax had been brutal. When they were finished, they had been shaken to the core.

Thinking of it now was making him hard. He had been worried that he had torn something loose.