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I frown.I’m not sure I do, either.“Have you told him about this?”
“No.”
“Good. Can we keep it that way?”
His eyebrows spike downward. “Emma…”
“Please.” I fold my hands together in prayer. “I just fainted. Do you really want to bring about a relapse?”
He chuckles. “The fact that you’re threatening me tells me you’re feeling better.”
“So you can tell the doctor not to come?”
The chuckle falls flat. “No chance.”
I groan and let my head collapse back onto the pillows. “Maybe I will catch a break one of these days. But today is not that day.”
Kirill offers me a small smile. “Listen, Em, I think it might be a good idea to bring in some reinforcements where the kids are concerned.”
I squint up at him.Guess I can add Kirill to the list of people who think I’m a terrible mother.“Like a nanny?”
“Exactly like a nanny. That way, you can rest a little more and you don’t have to worry about them quite so much.”
If only…“If we’re talking nannies, then I’d rather have Amelia here than anyone else. She knows the kids and they love her.”
Kirill purses up his lips. “She’ll have to be vetted.”
“I know, I know. The process takes two months.”
He blinks in confusion and shakes his head. “Um, no, it mostly takes a few weeks. Or less. Usually less.” I can only shake my own head in disgust.Of course it does. Ruslan was just being an asshole.“But I can try and speed it along.”
I reach out to grab his hand in my weak grasp. “Kirill, seriously: don’t tell Ruslan about this.”
“Why not?” He sighs, clearly frustrated. “He deserves to know about this, Emma.”
“I’m not sure aboutdeserves,but we can come back to that. I’d just rather not have him involved.”
“He’s the father of your child.”
“He’s also the bane of my existence. And I don’t want him to know about this!”
Kirill pulls back a little. I wonder if he can see the truth on my face. And the truth is, I don’t want to give Ruslan another reason to think that I can’t take care of these children, including the one in utero.
Kirill still hasn’t agreed to keep my secret when Dr. Owens walks in. The doctor fixes me with that kindly smile of his, which, to my surprise, does make me feel marginally better. He gives me a standard examination, checks my pulse and my vitals, all while Kirill stands off to the side like a watchful guard dog.
“Well, Doc?” Kirill asks when the doctor finishes jotting down his notes.
“Everything seems to be alright,except—” I cringe internally as I await the imminent bad news. “—your blood pressure is far too high.”
I have to repress a snort.Gee, I wonder why that could be.
“We’re gonna have to monitor that carefully,” he continues. “High blood pressure can be very damaging to both mother and child.”
And I thought keeping this baby safe would be easiest while it was inside me. Apparently, I can’t even manage to dothatright. Sienna didn’t have high blood pressure during any one of her pregnancies. She’d coasted through all three in high spirits. Leave it to me to screw the simple part up.
Bad guardian.
Bad mother.
