Free Web NovelChapter 506: Can We Not Keep This Baby?
After the call ended, Michael immediately phoned Milo. If Wendy had really gone to check if she was pregnant, she would probably go to Milo’s hospital. After all, his hospital was the biggest and was also close to their home.
Milo soon picked up the call. Michael skipped all pleasantries and said directly, "Check if Wendy went to your hospital today."
"You don’t know if your wife came to the hospital? And you want me to check if she did? If you don’t care whether she’s sick, aren’t you too negligent as a husband..."
Milo said.
Before he could conclude his sentence, Michael cut him off, "Cut the crap and get going!"
"Fine, I’ll check, Mr. Lucas!" and with that Milo ended the call. He told his assistant to check the patient records for the day. However, Wendy’s name wasn’t there.
Thankfully, Milo remembered that Wendy also went by the name Corrine, and got someone to look out for that name as well. Sure enough, Corrine’s record was found.
Milo happily called Michael, gleefully saying to him, "Congratulations, your wife did really come to the hospital today, in fact, she’s still in the hospital."
Hearing the word ’Congratulations’, Michael knew what was going on.
"Today, your wife came to see..." Milo had wanted to say that Wendy had seen the gynecologist and found out that she was pregnant. But before he could finish, Michael simply said that he understood and hung up.
Greeted by the beeping of the dial tone, Milo smiled, "You hung up so fast, but you will have to call me back and ask me where Wendy is. The hospital is so big, I don’t believe you’ll search every floor for her."
Michael already knew that Wendy was pregnant. They were discussing having another child the night before, but he didn’t expect it to become a reality so soon.
Michael was so elated that he was smiling from ear to ear. He gave an inward sigh and thanked the heavens for being so generous to him. Michael drove to the hospital as fast as he could.
However, he did not know exactly where Wendy was, so he called Milo again. Seeing Michael’s caller ID light up on his screen, Milo deliberately left him hanging and took his time to answer the call.
The ringing stopped when no one answered. Milo could already imagine Michael’s desperation at this moment. Just thinking about it made Milo laugh happily.
The cellphone rang for the second time. Milo knew his boundaries. If he didn’t pick up Michael’s call this time, Michael would be furious and he would surely suffer the consequences. Milo cleared his throat and answered the call.
"You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you." Michael knew Milo well. He then continued, "Why do you hold grudges? You’re pissed cos I hung up before you finished talking?"
"No, I went to the bathroom and wasn’t able to take your call. I picked it up as soon as I got out," Milo lied without batting an eyelid.
Michael didn’t bother arguing with him. He simply said, "Where’s Wendy?"
"On the left-most aisle, second floor of the outpatient department." Milo could hear the palpable anxiety in Michael’s voice, so he stopped teasing him and told him without delay.
Sure enough, once Michael knew the specific location, he ended the call immediately without hesitation. Afterwards, he ran quickly to the second floor of the outpatient department.
...
Michael sprinted as fast as he could to the corridor on the second floor that Milo had mentioned. Sure enough, he saw Wendy. Her head was bent low. She had her cellphone in one hand and her health report in the other.
Michael did not pause to think. He ran to her immediately.
"Wendy..." Michael stood in front of her. He looked down at what was in her hands and instinctively reached out for the report.
Wendy heard Michael’s voice and jumped.
When his hand reached over, she withdrew reflexively.
"Why are you here?" Wendy’s eyes looked frantic and she quickly hid the piece of paper behind her back.
She had only one thought on her mind now: Michael must not know about her pregnancy. Although she knew that she could not hide it, she did not know how she was supposed to face it.
"Why didn’t you tell me you were going to the hospital? I could have given you a ride," Michael said, unable to conceal his joy.
"I..." Wendy looked down and swallowed her words. She did not dare to look at Michael. freewёbnoνel.com
"That’s your health report in your hands, isn’t it?" Michael looked at Wendy’s hands that were behind her back. "Let me see."
Wendy took a step back and continued hiding her hands behind her back. "You don’t have to look at it. There’s nothing there," she tried to hide.
"Why would there be nothing to see?" Michael took a step forward.
"Let me take a look. Or are you still thinking of giving me a surprise?"
A surprise? Wendy looked up into Michael’s eyes when she heard those words. Did he know about her pregnancy? Wendy swallowed hard, she was panicking.
"Wendy, let me take a look," Michael repeated.
Wendy took a deep breath and shook her head, still unwilling to let him look at it.
Only then did Michael notice that Wendy was very somber, not at all like someone who was happy about being pregnant. Michael had thought that Wendy might have wanted to give him a surprise.
But when Wendy continued looking grim, Michael started to think of other possibilities.
"Wendy, do you mean you’re not pregnant?" Michael’s smile faded a little.
Concerned and fearful, he asked, "Is there a problem?"
"No..." Wendy did not know how to answer him.
"Weren’t you feeling nauseous? Zess told me that it could be morning sickness and so I thought you were pregnant," Michael asked urgently. "Are you sick?"
The heaviness on Wendy’s face made Michael very worried. "Wendy, say something.You’re scaring me."
Wendy bit her lip and closed her eyes. She knew that she could not hide it anymore.
Wendy took a deep breath and slowly, with a heavy heart, pulled her hands from behind her back and showed the report to Michael.
"Wendy, don’t worry. No matter what it is, medical science is so advanced now..."
Michael comforted Wendy while taking the report in his hands.
But before he could finish his sentence, Michael had already seen what was written on it. The report showed that Wendy was pregnant. Michael was stunned for a moment when he saw that. She’s pregnant? If she were pregnant, why did she still look so sad? freewēbnoveℓ.com
"Wendy, you’re really pregnant?" Michael asked. "You’re not happy about it?"
Michael studied Wendy’s expression. "You... don’t want this baby?" he asked tentatively.
...
Wendy heard Michael’s words and then looked at his face. She opened her mouth several times but no words came out.
She thought about Michael talking about having another child just the night before.
She also thought about how happy he was this morning when he asked Leah and Jake about having a younger brother or sister. How was she supposed to tell him that this baby might belong to Clement?
"Wendy, what is it?" Michael helped Wendy over to sit down. "Do you really not want this baby?" he asked her patiently and gently.
"Michael, can we not keep this baby?" Wendy took a deep breath like she was trying to give herself the courage to speak.
"Why?" asked Michael. "Are you afraid that Leah and Jake will be sad? Or is having Leah and Jake enough? I asked them this morning, you were there too. They are looking forward to having a younger brother or sister. If there is another reason, could you tell me, please?"
"I..." There was a catch in Wendy’s voice, and tears started streaming down her face.
Michael’s heart ached. He used his hands to wipe her tears away.
He stopped forcing her to answer and waited for Wendy to calm down before answering him. Michael held Wendy in his arms and sat with her. He patted her back gently. He sat there with her in silence, comforting her.
"Michael..." Wendy said after she had finally calmed down. She knew she had to tell him. "This baby, I don’t know if it’s yours, or if it’s his..."
"His?" After hearing Wendy’s response, it finally dawned on Michael why she was not happy about this pregnancy. Michael had only thought of having another child with Wendy. He had completely forgotten about what happened with Clement more than a month ago. He had not thought about that at all since then.
Some time had passed since that incident. If Wendy had not brought it up, Michael would not have made any connection to Clement. Michael studied the results written on the report very carefully.
Seven weeks pregnant...Seven weeks?
"Wait a minute..." Michael tried calculating the exact time and said, "Seven weeks does not match with what happened that night."
That night should have been one and a half months ago. So that should be a week after she became pregnant? But Michael was not in Rheinsville City seven weeks ago. Of course, Michael did not suspect that Wendy was sleeping with another man.
He was simply confused.
"Seven weeks. Is there a miscalculation?" Michael asked again. Wendy knew that as a man, Michael was unfamiliar with such things. "The length of pregnancy isn’t calculated from when the egg got fertilized, but from a woman’s last menstrual cycle," she explained.
"So what does that mean?" Michael still did not get it.
"That means, this baby could be yours, and could also be..." Wendy’s voice trailed off.
Then, Michael fully understood. His excitement died down. Wendy and Michael did not speak. After a while, Michael finally opened his mouth. "Isn’t there any way to determine who’s the father of this baby?"
"We can do a paternity test after waiting another week," Wendy replied with her head down. Michael did not know how he was feeling inside at that news.
"The paternity test, if we take it, will it cause any harm?" Michael asked in a low voice.
