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I ran my hand through her silky hair and kissed her forehead. I wanted to wake her, but she looked so peaceful that disturbing her would have felt like a crime.
Gently, I lifted her off my chest and placed her on the bed beside me, having decided to let her sleep. After all, it wasn’t goodbye this time, and that felt good to know.
I climbed out of bed and gathered my clothes from the floor, quietly slipping them back on. As I headed to the bathroom, I heard her cell phone chirp. I stared for a moment, but the sound hadn’t woken her. Ignoring it, I continued on my way to the bathroom, to make myself look more presentable before returning to the office. All the while, her phone continued to chirp.
I poked my head through the bathroom door, only to find that she was still sleeping. The poor girl must have been exhausted. I really did tire her out.
Still though, the way her phone was blowing up, I worried someone may have been trying to reach her for something important. The last thing I wanted was to accidentally let her sleep through some kind of emergency.
I stood in the doorway of the bathroom for a moment, feeling torn as I stared at her phone while it continued to buzz with incoming messages.
I contemplated checking the phone for her so that I could determine whether or not I needed to wake her, but I thought that might be overstepping my boundaries. She may have been pregnant with my children, but we still didn’t know each other very well. Plus, we had just mended our fledgling relationship and I certainly didn’t want to mess things up between us again so soon by invading her privacy.
She’s the mother of my children though, I reasoned. I should be able to check her phone. What harm could it really be? She’ll understand that I just didn’t want to wake her if it wasn’t necessary. She’s clearly tired. She might even be annoyed if I wake her up.
I carefully crossed the room and took her cell phone from the nightstand. But just that instant, my own phone buzzed. I pulled it out from the pocket of my blazer, which was balled up at the foot of the bed.
It was a text from my sister: Just checking on u. Everything OK?
I walked over the dresser and leaned against it, replying: Yeah. Thanks again for the advice.
You’re welcome. Does that mean you’ve talked to her? she replied.
I glanced over to Scarlet in the bed, still sleeping soundly. Yeah…Everything’s good. We’re on the same page now, I typed back with a smile.
Joanna responded with a thumbs-up and a clapping emoji. I chuckled, wondering if she had bothered to keep my secret. Fingers flying across the screen, I typed: U tell Anderson yet?
Should I? she replied.
Before I could respond though, I received another message. I changed screens, seeing that Libby had just texted me.
I had been so preoccupied with Scarlet and the baby news that for the first time in forever, all thoughts of work and the firm had been pushed from my mind. I frantically tried to remember if any deadlines had passed that I had forgotten about, but my mind drew a blank.
I opened Libby’s message with baited breath. It read: Did you run the numbers on the latest reports yet?
Of course I hadn’t. I sighed, struggling to even remember what the last reports were. I then began to feel slightly panicked regarding what would become of my multibillion dollar business firm once the twins were born. Biting my bottom lip, I glanced toward Scarlet again, who had changed positions in her sleep, but still hadn’t woken.
If Anderson and Joanna were being kept so busy with one baby, what on earth was I going to do with two? Libby had been helping me out tremendously, but I didn’t want to put too much stress on her. There was no way she could do everything on her own once my time was soon thoroughly consumed with sleepless nights, changing dirty diapers, and keeping up with feeding schedules and doctors’ appointments.
I guess you’re busy…Libby wrote when three minutes had gone by without my response.
I stared, trying to figure out what to tell her.
It occurred to me that I was going to have a lot of explaining to do in due time, and that was going to be an absolute headache. It had been awkward enough having to let Joanna know what was going on. Not to mention I hadn’t even directly told my own best friend yet. So, what was I going to do when it came time to tell my co-workers and colleagues? This whole thing had been so abrupt, and with the exception of my secretary, none of them even knew anything about Scarlet yet.
I could already imagine the gossip and the way it would circulate around the office. Did you know Mr. Gentry knocked up some woman he hardly knows? It happened when he was supposedly out of town on a business trip…
I rubbed my temple, feeling a headache coming.
Across the room, Scarlet’s phone buzzed again. And like each time before, she continued to sleep through it.
I glanced back down at my own phone, hating to keep Libby waiting. Finally, I replied: No, not yet. I’ve been busy. Don’t worry. I’ll get to them soon.
She wrote back instantly: I can do them for you.
You don’t have to, I quickly typed back, feeling guilty.
It’s not a problem. Just give me a few days, she replied.
