DRAMA NOVEL ONLINE Chapter Chapter Eighteen: Pregnancy
Chapter Eighteen: Pregnancy
Erin and Maine squealed at the image on the ultrasound monitor. A speck, almost like a small nugget, could be seen from a bunch of black and white stuff on the screen. The Ob-Sonologist confirmed Hyacinth’s pregnancy.
“Congratulations, Mr. Bismarck. Ms. Sinclair.”
Max smiled at Erin while pointing at the tiny lump on the monitor. “That’s you, kiddo.”
The Ob-Sonologist gave them a questioning look. The poor doctor must’ve overheard Max’s statement and is now confused about what he was talking about.
“Erin—I mean, the baby is super tiny.” Maine Bismarck sighed dreamily. “I want my own baby, too!”
The doctor printed the results and the ultrasound image while the entire Bismarck family chatted about baby clothes and the brand of diapers. Max suggested a brand of diapers that Maine used when his sister was a baby. He said that Maine didn’t have rashes with the diaper brand.
Maine suggested shopping for girl clothes, even if the doctor said that they didn’t know the gender of the baby yet. Maine answered the doctor with, “I have a gut feeling it’s gonna be a girl. Stop entering the family’s discussion, doctor.”
Hyacinth smiled as the doctor snorted at Maine, definitely annoyed by the young woman’s disrespectful answer. Before the doctor chastises Maine, Max raised a hand to silence the doctor. The sight caused Hyacinth’s blood to boil. Max is being an ass by indulging his sister to be disrespectful to someone older than her.
“Maine, apologize to Dr. Lowell. She’s gonna be my Ob-Sonologist during my pregnancy and she’s stating facts. We don’t know the baby’s gender, right?”
Maine bit her lower lip, realizing that Hyacinth is hinting that only the Bismarcks knew of the baby’s gender. “I’m sorry, Dr. Lowell.”
The doctor’s face lit up. “Apology accepted, Ms. Bismarck.” Then, the doctor asked them to leave the room so that they can have privacy.
Maine went to Hyacinth’s side, followed by Max and Erin. “How are you feeling? Can you feel Erin kicking in your stomach?”
She answered Maine by shaking her head. Max stood in front of her and regarded her with a smile that almost melted her spine. “Are you feeling well? Do you have cravings? According to the internet, pregnant women have cravings and they tend to sleep a lot and get tired easily.”
Oh, he even researched for her and the baby’s sake! How sweet of him.
“I will be fine, thank you.”
Max’s brows furrowed. “Are you supposed to be standing on a cold floor? You need to wear your shoes.”
Hyacinth rolled her eyes. The draconian Maximillian Bismarck will be the cause of her stress. “I will be fine,” she assured him once again but, this time, it was in a firm voice.
“You should stay in my ancestral house in Trudor Square. Remember the place? It’s peaceful there and you’ll have a personal maid to tend to your needs. We moved there a week ago for Erin. And, there’s also a nutritionist—”
She lifted her hands as a sign of helplessness. “Woah! We’re moving too fast. First, demanding me to marry you. Second, dictating me about where should I live and what should I eat. I’m not a robot, Bismarck.”
Erin and Maine excused themselves and immediately stormed outside the room to give them some privacy.
Hyacinth was about to continue her tirade when Max spoke. “Sorry.”
She was dumbfounded. Did he just...?
“I forgot that these tactics won’t work on you. Well, consider every single thing I dictate as suggestions from now on. You are free to say ‘no’ and I respect your decisions. You know that, right?”
Hyacinth nodded, realizing that while Max is a dictatorial brute, he never ignored her protests and rejections of his demands. He persuades by highlighting the pros and cons of his offer and, sometimes, arguing the cons out of the picture just to get a ‘yes’. She bets that he keeps a pro-con list on his head when negotiating.
Returning to reality, Hyacinth waved the hands she raised as if sweeping Max’s autocratic behavior under the rug. “Forget it. I’ll agree, anyway. I was planning on being with Erin until...you know, the day we disappear.”
Max sighed, “Don’t say that. Erin will be fine. You will be fine.”
Hyacinth faked a smile. “That’s sweet of you. Finally thinking about someone else other than your family business.”
He smiled at that. Hyacinth noticed that his eyes smiled first before the corners of his lips moved upwards. A familiar warmth touched her heart within her chest.
He cleared his throat and invited her to sit on the edge of the hospital bed; Hyacinth obliged. Max reached for her hand and massaged her knuckles. The gesture doesn’t feel awkward at all. It’s more like a loving touch from someone who emotionally values a person. It is as if he’s pondering on something and her presence helps him think. Her physical presence helps him weigh something inside his complex mind.
“Will you spend the rest of your years having me as a husband?”
Her heart ached at the question. It is as if he’s implying that her time here on Earth is counted. Of course, she knew that she’ll disappear sometime in the future but she doesn’t know what was about to happen yet.
“Don’t ask that as if I’m dying—”
“No,” he interrupted her. “I am simply asking you to give Erin a chance to be with you while you can.” He gripped her hand, making her feel his determination. “We can be a family, Hyacinth. Erin deserves to experience having a mother and... if the future is already certain, that I’m gonna be miserable after you and Erin disappear, don’t I deserve to find out why? Don’t I deserve the two years and eight months having you beside me?”
Hyacinth bit her lower lip, thinking about how to say ‘no’ to his gentle request.
“You said you wanted to enjoy life with me. You said we both deserved it. Then, I’m giving you a chance to do so.”
Max lifted her knuckles to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss there. That gesture flooded her body with a warmth that she never felt before.
“We’ll have a family vacation. We’ll enjoy ourselves. Let’s spend every day of our lives as if it’s our last, Haya. With Erin and Maine, we can all be happy.”
“Max—”
“Being with you makes me happy, Lilian Hyacinth. Please, say yes.”
She can’t help the traitorous tears anymore. They fell on her lap like rainfall. “I’m scared about Erin, Max. What if she’ll never comes back? What if we fail and be stuck inside her ability forever?”
“Don’t think about that. You’re clever, Hyacinth. I know you’ll help Erin get through this.”
She nodded as she touched her belly with her other hand. “I’ll try...”
“Sorry for bringing this up today. I can’t just leave this room and waste time, now that I know how little we have left.”
“I can be a mother to Erin without marrying you.”
“I want you by my side, Hyacinth. For Erin.”
How can she say ‘no’ to that? How can she reject him after knowing that he’ll spend a decade miserable after she and Erin vanished? Hyacinth knew with every fiber of her being that she wanted to be with Max. To experience having a family. To experience peace. Happiness.
To not worry about the future.
Hyacinth knew the consequences of altering the thread. Max knew of it, too, yet they chose this path. They chose Erin. And, now, Max is determined to not waste his time on the sorrow that comes with altering the thread. He wanted to spend more time with Erin.
He wanted to know Hyacinth. To figure out what had pushed his daughter to explore her abilities.
Maximillian Bismarck is a curious man. That’s not even a surprise anymore.
What’s the use of denying what her heart desired? She knew how precious every single drop of the sand of time was. Hyacinth wouldn’t want to waste that on ‘ifs’. Deep inside her, she wanted to agree to Max’s proposal.
To enjoy life.
They can face anything that comes on their way afterward.
She nodded and laughed, “Did you happen to bring a ring to seal the deal?”
Max grinned with satisfaction and fished something out of his pocket. “Yes, and it’s a pearl.”