“Anything else?” Ruby asked.
“We still have that pistachio ice cream?”
“Yes.”
“A bowl of that would be great.”
“I guess this means you are feeling better,” Ruby laughed and went to get the ice cream.
Aileen smiled at her, but it faded into anxiety while she was gone. When she returned, Aileen practically inhaled the ice cream and announced she was going to bed.
“Okay,” Ruby said. “Are you sure you are okay?”
“Yes. I’m perfectly fine,” Aileen responded before leaving to return to her room.CHAPTER NINETEEN“Yakov, I need to talk to you,” Aileen told him as soon as he returned from wherever he had gone.
“Can it wait? I have some things I need to take care of,” he said, dropping his bags by the door.
“Sure,” she replied, almost grateful that it was delayed at least a little bit longer.
“Great. I’ll let you know when I have a few minutes,” he told her.
More angst. She had spent the last two days fretting over what to do. The thought of just quietly taking care of it had crossed her mind, but she didn’t have it in her to do that. Still, it created a serious complication to both of their lives. After some careful thought, she realized that this was just her fate. She was an Omega and the universe had conspired to insure she fulfilled her destiny as a mother.
So, she would tell him that she was pregnant and endure whatever anger he felt, as a result. She would require nothing of him. Instead, she would honor her obligations there and then they would go their separate ways. He could be a part of his children’s lives or he could elect to have no part of it. She was fine with that. Once things were done here, she would use the money she was being paid to buy a bigger house and give up the one she had leased. It saddened her to think she couldn’t finish even decorating it, but there was no point. It would never be big enough to accommodate a large family.
“You want some ice cream?” Ruby whispered from nearby, after he had departed.
“You have no idea how much I’d love some ice cream,” Aileen replied, following her to the kitchen.
“What flavor?” Ruby asked.
“What goes well with anxiety and dread?”
“Anything chocolate,” Ruby replied without missing a beat.
“Surprise me.”
Ruby nodded and went to the pantry, returning with a tub of triple chocolate chip and another of white mocha fantasy fudge. Aileen smiled broadly. She was going to have to stop eating this stuff so much or she was going to be wearing maternity clothes for reasons other than being pregnant, but right now, she couldn’t think of anything else that might soothe her ravaged soul. Ruby made her a large bowl filled with half of each and pushed it across the counter.
“You’re not having any?”
“Oh, no. Not with Mr. Seputre at home. I’ll be fired.”
“You really think he would fire you?”
“Yes. He is very clear about not breaking his rules. He likes order and things that don’t fit into his plans send him into a tizzy. I’m surprised you’ve not seen it yet.”
“I’m sure I will soon,” Aileen replied.
In fact, she was sure that was going to be something she experienced in the very near future, just as soon as he had time for her to tell him about the latest development. Ruby seemed to sense that she was lost in her own thoughts and excused herself, leaving Aileen to eat her ice cream and stare into the empty space around her. When she was done, she sat her bowl in the sink and returned to her room to wait for Yakov to call her. It felt like torture to wait, but when he finally came, she suddenly found herself almost frozen in place as his knock sounded on the door.
“Come in,” she said, trying to sound halfway calm.
“What’s up?” he asked as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
“I need to talk to you about our situation here. Can we have a seat at the table?”
“Hmm. That doesn’t sound good. What’s the problem?”
Aileen exhaled slowly. Even after having thought about this for days, she still wasn’t sure how to approach this with him. Instead of the carefully worded delivery she had anticipated, she found herself just blurting it out.
“I’m pregnant.”
For a moment, there was silence. He looked as if she had struck him, hard. Then, it seemed as if he was confused by it.
“How far along are you? Who is the father?”
Now it was she that felt confused. She screwed her temple up in an expression that must have relayed this as she spoke again.
“What? I’m like a few days along and you’re the father.”
“No. That’s not possible. I pulled out to keep this from happening and how could you possibly know so quickly?”