Kelvin was nervous. Leila could feel the waves of anxiety rolling off him as he got on the phone with the doctor. She tried to calm him but she was a big ball of nervousness herself. What if she wasn’t pregnant? What if she was? Maybe she got off the pills too soon.They would be seven months old in a few days. But were they really ready for an addition to their family? Her husband dropped to the sofa, he beckoned her with a finger for her to sit beside him but nervousness made her sit opposite him on the single sofa. She wanted his call to end first. Kelvin frowned but didn’t force her to join him. He spoke some more into the phone and sighed.“He wants to know when your period was supposed to come,” Kelvin murmured with a hand over the speaker of his phone. “Has it been up to a week?” “Two weeks,” she confirmed. Kelvin blinked. She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. Allowin

The test was negative. Leila turned the paper over, willing the word negative written in red ink to fade away. But it didn’t. Kelvin snatched the paper from her to stop her from staring at it. She had been expecting this but it broke her heart even more.Leila searched her husband’s face for a sign. A sign of anger or disappointment but there was none. He placed a kiss on her forehead, said something her brain couldn’t process to the doctor and they left.Inside the car, he didn’t say a word to her. Instead, he pulled her to his laps and kissed her. Tears soaked her cheeks and his tongue stuck out to lick them. Her eyes fluttered to his face, he kissed her nose and she managed a giggle. “I’m sorry,” she muttered. His brows shot up. “For what?” “For giving you false hopes.” Kelvin shook his head. “Don’t do that.” His thumbs wiped the re

The couple were about stepping into Tech Valley when Kelvin received a call. Leila pecked him and walked further into the building alone. The elevator opened and Leila’s humming died down. It was not empty. Leila offered Mike a smile and he waved awkwardly, moving to the other end of the elevator. She gripped her bag, lips pursed as the elevator began its ascent.The silence was suffocating. She felt Mike’s eyes on her a couple times but said nothing. When she couldn’t take it any longer, she snapped. “What is it?”Mike jumped back. “Nothing. Nothing ma.”“Ma?” she queried. “Sorry. I mean, Mrs McKenna.” He knew. How did he know? But she didn’t voice out the question. Mike swiped his palms over his trousers. “My apologies.” Leila drew out a breath through her lips, she offered him a tight smile and marched out of the elevator as soon as it stopped at her

Kelvin was missing his wife. He had stopped himself from calling her so many times but with each passing second, it became harder. He wanted to be with her every second of the day and he didn’t care how creepy or obsessive it sounded. Amara was still trying to brief him about the meeting they would be having in a few minutes. He should pay attention as this meeting would be big but he couldn’t shake off the bad feeling that settled over him. Was Leila okay? “Sir?” He looked up to his assistant. She had dropped the files to the table and was no longer reading from her tab. The details on her tab were the same on his but he had stopped paying attention long ago. He leaned back into his seat, hands running over the armrest. “Should I come back later? You seem…”“Distracted?” he finished for her. Amara didn’t reply. “Yeah. I think you should. In about… ten minutes. I n

There was no improvement yet. The doctor confirmed Kelvin’s mother-in-law’s vitals were under control but she needed to stay in the hospital for a few more days. Kelvin watched his wife from the door. Leila had not moved from that position since she came in from work a while ago. She lifted her head only when she wanted to find a comfortable spot. Her hands remained on her mother’s feet and she rested her head on the bed. His mother-in-law’s bruises had faded but the questions remained unanswered. Neil was working on it. They had gone through the CCTV camera of his apartment but it wasn’t helpful. Minutes passed and he flexed his fingers. The meeting Amara handled for him had been a success but he had to look through their conclusion in preparation for the next meeting. He knew better than to interrupt Leila but night had already fallen. They needed to leave. “Leila,” he called out to her b