She made a sad smile at my words. "You know what I thought before I fell asleep?"
"Hmm?"
"That you were actually a loving, sweet man. Had it been you that I fell for, I think I would end up being a happy woman." Her voice held melancholy, reminding me of the woman from last night crying herself to sleep on my lap.
"I don't want to be your enemy. I hope you realize that."
She nodded, breaking eye contact. "I know," she whispered. "I've known all along."
To me, she seemed complacent, as if she'd had an epiphany or something. The old Amelia would never converse with me this way, or let alone, admit any of this. And even though last night had shocked me to no end, I must admit that this new version of her was likeable. If co-parenting was in our future, I would feel much more comfortable leaving our child in her care.
After our light breakfast, we immediately started getting ready to leave for the doctors after Amelia's quick call to make sure that they knew she was coming. Leaving the hotel, Amelia's chauffeured car took us to our destination.
Anticipation and anxiety invaded me to no end. You see, this would be the first ultrasound I'd ever been to; back in the beginning, I had acted like a spoilt bastard.
Feeling remorseful for my past actions, I quietly vowed that I would go to as many appointments as I could, even if I had great doubts about the child's paternity. Either way, I decided that I'd rather deal with this situation as delicately as I could. If the child turned out to be mine, then that would be lovely. If it weren't, then at least I wouldn't have to deal with regrets. My life as of late had been filled with them, one after the other.
Shifting my face away from the window towards Amelia, she somehow looked pale even with her tanned skin and red lipstick. "Are you feeling better?" Reaching out to her, I gave her arm a light squeeze, as if wanting to transfer some of my strength to her. She looked like she needed it somehow. She blinked a few times as if she was bringing herself back to the present, like her thoughts were somewhere far off, before she glanced at me with confusion. "Are you all right?" Her behavior was starting to worry me. "It's going to be fine. I'm going to try and be here for every appointment from now on, okay?"
She barely acknowledged what I had just said, which threw me off a tad because, before her mini breakdown, this would've been quite a big deal. Right at this moment, though, she simply brushed it off, asking, "When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow before lunch," I informed her, not taking my eyes away from her odd reaction. "We can go baby shopping later in the afternoon if you're up for it." Which only made me wonder again, "Have you bought any baby furniture and the lot?"
"Last month, I purchased tiny, pink lace booties." Her voice was hollow as she looked away, glancing towards the window.
I supposed that was a start. "Well, we can go ahead and add more to the collection if you're willing. I wouldn't mind walking about and being surrounded with pink frills and all those baby things."
"Sure." That was all she said.
It looked like she didn't want to be bothered so I let her be, leaving her in her own world while my thoughts lingered on last night and how her feistiness had turned into something that I wasn't accustomed to.
Ten minutes later, the driver stopped in front of a private clinic.
Pushing down the lump in my throat, I stepped out of the vehicle, wondering what it would be like to see the baby for the first time. People did this sort of thing on a daily basis. There was nothing to be nervous of, surely.
Striding over to Amelia's side, I opened the door for her, offering my hand to help her out of her seat. She didn't hesitate to take it, and when she did, I was surprised to find her hand was freezing cold in the hot, Spanish summer. It was beyond strange.
"Goodness, you're cold. Why didn't you say so? We could've gotten you a light wrap to put around you," I said with worry, my brows furrowing at her, wondering what the bloody hell was going on with her.
"I'm fine," she quietly said, nodding towards me to follow her inside the glass doors. "Come on."
Taking a mental note, I made sure to remember that I needed to address a lot of things with her tonight before I left back to England tomorrow. Before, I wouldn't have cared about what Amelia did, yet for some reason, after last night, I somehow felt the need to look out for her.
It was a peculiar feeling, especially when it came to her. Life was full of punches and surprises. I could attest to that.
Chapter 14
Toby
The kind looking nurse ushered us into a dark room with one beaming light coming from a blank screen before quietly closing the door behind us, leaving us there.
Amelia strolled forward before placing her purse on the white table against the wall while my eyes scoured for the light switch.
"Don't. I want it this way," she said behind me the second I was about to press the switch.
"Of course. Whatever suits you best," I replied, clearing my throat as she slowly took her dress off, then her undergarments came next. Transfixed at the naked sight of her with the baby bump, I watched as she took the hospital gown splayed across the medical table before casually putting it on without giving me a glance.
"The baby looks bigger … " Compared from last night, my mind blurted out. "What do we do next? Just wait for the doctor to show up, then?" This was my first time, after all. Naturally, I was curious to know how these things worked.
"You can bring a chair and sit next to me if you like," she offered as she stepped next to the medical chair and slid on it, situating herself on top of the paper covered recliner before closing her eyes.
Moving towards the side of the wall, I took a chair and quietly placed it at her side. Just when I was about to sit on the cushioned seat, the door cracked open and an older, male doctor with salt and pepper hair came in.
"¡Hola, Señorita Mendoza! ¿Cómo vamos?" he greeted as he strode inside the room, stopping in his tracks when he found me sitting next to Amelia. "Hola, Señor Watson. It's time you join us, sí?" He gave me an approving smile as he continued towards Amelia.
They quietly exchanged words in Spanish, and since I wasn't fluent with the language and could only manage around the country with knowledge of the basics, I ended up trying to figure out what they were discussing. Based on his tone, he seemed to be asking her questions like, what her daily diet was usually, or if she had been meticulously taking her pre-natal vitamins, to which she responded that she was taking them a few times a week instead of on a daily basis.
Goodness, what had she been doing? She seemed to be misguided when it came to taking care of the baby in her womb. I didn't even doubt that she would unintentionally skip meals, leaving the unborn baby with no nutrition for quite some time. I needed to speak to the chef, Leta, that used to make meals for us in our marital home. When I left her, I hadn't thought about reminding the staff about making sure that she was taking small meals even if she didn't feel like it. I had assumed that they, the staff, would gradually put that into their routine. Unfortunately, I had been wrong about that.
My ears were still trying to tune into the conversation when my phone beeped, indicating a message. Shifting to my side and away from their view, I checked who it was. Blake Knightly.
Two missed calls, a voice message and one text message, all from the bloody man himself. Bastard, did he miss me that much? I smirked at the thought of it. Opening his virtual mail, my eyes scanned the message.
Heard you were in Madrid. Everything all right? Sienna and I are back in London. Call me if you need anything, even if it needs me to fly out there. I mean it, Watson.
Sienna says hello. She also had to make sure I typed that in. Oh the joys of married life.
Call me when you can.
The joys of married life, my arse. The bloody fool couldn't function without Sienna in his life. He loved her beyond obsession. Beyond reason. Beyond life. And I couldn't be any happier that he had finally found someone that made him sink to his knees, worshipping the woman who loved him the same way he loved her. Their love was a ball of tragedy, beauty and intensity.
Like what I had with Lucy …
Thinking about her brought a heavy tightening in my chest before I slowly coached myself to breathe without feeling the sharp burn in my nostrils. Clearing my throat and my lingering thoughts of the lost love I had, I slipped the phone back into the pocket of my dark jeans before focusing on the two people before me.
Amelia was nodding, submerged in what the doctor was telling her. He was wearing a heavy frown, lips thinned as he nodded, looking down at her with worry in his eyes.
With her awful habit of skipping meals and the pre-natal vitamins, I was almost sure she was doing a lot of things that she wasn't supposed to be doing. No wonder the doctor didn't seem too pleased with her answers.
It wasn't long before the doctor addressed me and said we would start the check-up, and he'd try to explain as much as he could. He also informed me that, if I ever had any question, I could go right ahead and ask.
Amelia's feet were on the stir-ups before the doctor lifted her gown and stopped right above the swell of her stomach. Using two fingers, he was pressing about the womb, asking her questions about pain and if she'd had any instances where there was cramping at all. She answered him with a small shake of her head.