Chapter 3: Five Years Of Waiting for This Day

Mary's life passed by peacefully, while Dennis took advantage of his time off work to immediately return to his wife's side.

When Mary heard the sound of her husband's car returning, she ran outside and laughed and cried at the same time. Dennis was alarmed and quickly got out of the car to embrace her.

"What's wrong with you?" Dennis wiped away her tears and asked with concern, "Don't scare me like that."

Mary's hands trembled as she called out to Dennis, choking up as she said, "Dennis, I'm pregnant."

Dennis couldn't believe it. He hugged her face and exclaimed, "What are you saying? Say it again to me."

"I'm pregnant." Mary repeated.

Dennis laughed and hugged Mary tightly in his arms. Though he was laughing, tears streamed down his face. They had longed for this day countless times.

Dennis released Mary and asked, "Really? Is it true?"

Mary nodded, and he wiped away her tears before his own. "Don't cry. You can't cry. Our child will cry with us."

Mary laughed and wiped away his tears, saying, "Don't cry either."

Dennis hugged Mary into the house, reminding her to be careful on the doorstep. "Have you eaten? Are you feeling sick? Sit here while I pour you some water. Do you want to eat anything? Are you uncomfortable? What would you like to eat?"

Dennis was frantic with questions, running back and forth in the house to pour water and get a pillow for Mary's back. Mary could only laugh.

"Sit down, you're not tired," she said.

Dennis carefully examined his wife's face, kneeling down on the floor and holding her hand. Face to face, he asked, "I've learned that pregnant women get very tired and have cravings they can't satisfy. Are you feeling tired? I'll call the doctor to come and check on you."

Mary shook her head. She had always thought that Dennis didn't care about having children, but it turned out he was very attentive.

Mary laughed and said, "It's just the beginning."

Dennis nodded and said, "I heard that pregnant women are very sensitive. If there's anything you need to tell me, don't hide it. Whether it's good or bad news, you have to tell me."

Mary reluctantly said, "I want to sleep."

Dennis immediately picked her up and said, "Let's go to bed."

In his arms, Mary fell asleep immediately. Dennis whispered in her ear, "I don't care about having children. I only care about the person who will have children with me, and that's you."

Mary was very happy. Dennis stayed home to take her to the doctor instead of going to work. He was even more careful than her, always reminding her to be careful and holding her hand when they went to the hospital, afraid she might fall.

Before he went down to the kitchen to find something to eat, Dennis whispered, "Mary, thank you."

The doctor carried out a series of necessary procedures. After that, he concluded: "The fetus is healthy at six weeks. When it reaches twelve weeks, come to the hospital for screening tests for congenital abnormalities. Congratulations to both of you."

Dennis held Mary's hand tightly, his eyes fixed on the white dot on the ultrasound screen, unable to look away, until Mary pulled his hand and Dennis came back to reality, repeatedly thanking the doctor.

Mary was truly pregnant, and the joy was so overwhelming that Dennis wanted the whole world to know he was going to be a father. A small being had arrived, the most important gift that fate had brought to his wife and him.

Dennis laughed continuously, and Mary looked at him and said, "Are you running too slowly? The car behind is honking impatiently, hurry up."

Dennis smirked at her, "You're pregnant, be careful, better safe than sorry."

"Do you even know how to drive? Have you got your license yet? You run slower than a turtle!" A man cut in, swearing.

Dennis didn't get angry, he boasted, "My wife is pregnant, do you know how happy I am? My wife is pregnant! Ha ha."

Mary pinched his arm hard.

"My wife is pregnant, and yours is about to give birth! What's the big deal? You crazy person."

Leaving the cursing aside, the man disappeared in a hurry.

Mary knew he was overjoyed to the point of going insane. She herself was happy too, rubbing her belly, silently praying that the baby would always be healthy no matter what she had to sacrifice.

Dennis took care of Mary very carefully, hiring two helpers to take care of her, one to manage her diet and one to clean the house. She was bored and did nothing but read pregnancy books and sleep.

Mary watered the plants in the garden and suddenly heard a cheerful voice.

"Mary, my girl."

The woman hugged Mary, who smiled and pushed her away, "Elis, can you be a little gentler?"

Elis stroked her long hair and said, "Seeing you, I forgot I had to be gentle."

After Elis finished speaking, she stood up straight, with a graceful and feminine gesture, reaching out to shake Mary's hand, "Hello Mrs. John, how are you?"

Both of them burst out laughing. Elis saw Mary in a loose dress, and she raised her eyebrows curiously, "Are you pregnant?"

Mary stared, "How do you know?"

"That radiant complexion, the plumper belly, do you really have a baby?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"Why would I joke about that?"

When Elis heard Mary say she was pregnant, her attitude changed immediately: "Come on in quickly, you need to rest. My precious gem is finally happy. It's so good, too good." Elis spoke while holding

Mary's hand and taking her into the house, attentively waiting for Mary to sit down on the sofa.

Mary was dissatisfied and complained: "I'm just pregnant, don't make such a big deal out of it."

Elis ignored Mary's complaint and smiled: "Be careful, it's been a few months already."

Mary replied: "It's been six weeks."

Elis nodded: "It's still early, so be careful."

Mary saw that Elis was thinking just like Dennis, and she smiled and nodded: "I know."

Mary asked: "How have you been recently?"

Elis waved her hand: "Nothing's changed, I'm still busy with work. I escaped from my boss today and came here with this one, I'm so busy that I'm almost dead."

The servant brought a plate of fruit and left. Elis leaned in and whispered in Mary's ear: "Does your mother-in-law know yet?"

Mary pursed her lips and shook her head.

Elis raised her eyebrows: "She's making things difficult for you like this. Now that you're pregnant, she should be happy. How do you plan to tell her?"

"That's up to Dennis to handle, I'm not that close to them."

Mary was afraid that they wouldn't be happy to hear the news of her pregnancy.

Elis saw that Mary was a little sad and asked: "Is there something you haven't told me?"

Mary breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Two months ago, my mother-in-law came to find another woman for Dennis..."

"What?"

Before Mary could finish speaking, Elis angrily interrupted her: "Is she crazy?"

"But it's important that Dennis didn't agree." Mary chuckled.

Elis was still angry: "She knows how much you love each other, why would she want to tear you apart? That's so ridiculous."

Mary took Elis's hand: "She's just going through a hard time."

"You're too kind, when you meet me, she'll be done for."

Mary picked up a fork and offered Elis a piece of apple, "Eat it."

Elis opened her mouth and bit into the crispy, sweet apple. "You should eat some too, to supplement your vitamin C."

They chatted for a while longer, but Elis received a call and had to leave. Before leaving, she reminded Mary: "You have to rest well, take care of yourself, and call me if you need anything! I'll come over anytime."

Mary saw Elis off at the gate and was urged to go back inside.

"Goodbye."