Victor

"What exactly do you hint?" everything in my chest was weighed with anger, I could feel like my nails pierce the backrest of my chair. My gaze skipped over to Marcus, standing by the door, piercing Peter Morgan right in the neck, with a look, talking about his desire to play with his insides. "I am not hinting at anything, I just said the minds of all of us. We understand that your wife is young and does not belong to our society, but if the actions of Nicholas Maskot ... endanger our business, it is right to intervene" Morgan did everything possible to avoid my gaze, but it would not help him if his mouth continued to work.

"I can assure you that I am in control of my father -in -law" I growled and put my hand in my pocket, shrinking it in a fist, experiencing a frantic desire to throw my chair, jump over my desk and squeeze Morgan by the throat. "The fact is that lately Maskot casinos have been often visited by Bennett and Gradoni" Kenneth Lawrence intervened and I raised my eyebrow. "Just as the fact is that we all know about the attempts of your father -in -law to try to break your marriage" added Luke Miller, just firming the deadly desire of the monster that was sneaking inside me.

"Look Victor, we know your father-in-law's casinos are not part of our territory and you have no control over the visitors there, but you have to admit it doesn't look good when a member of the ruling family is in contact with our enemies. It makes us think about the role of..your wife in all of this" Miller cleared his throat and that was the last straw. It's one thing to discuss my father-in-law, but to insinuate that Elena is a traitor, an enemy agent, deployed to leak information, that's completely different, and if I don't do anything now, it will seriously affect if Elena has to run one day.

I looked briefly at Dominic, who sighed and laid his head back with his eyes closed. "So this is being talked about under me?" I sighed and left my seat behind the chair, putting on a well-acted facade of disinterested boredom that was so familiar to me now that it was as if my facial muscles didn't even need to remember exactly how to relax to put on the mask of indifference. Lawrence, Morgan, and Miller worked for my father, now they work for me, but apparently I've been away too long and they've forgotten who's in charge and why.

"All we're saying is we need to do something about Mascot's ties to Bennett and Gradoni" Morgan continued much more quietly, his eyes fixed on his lap. "Tell me, Peter, how long have you been working for Craven?" I asked coldly, sitting on the front edge of my desk, crossing my arms over my chest. Morgan's head snapped up, he swallowed, tugging at the collar of his shirt with a finger. "Six...teen years,Victor" he muttered and I saw his pupils widen. Miller and Lawrence shifted in their chairs. "Sixteen years" I repeated, tilting my head.

"And you?" I looked at Luke and Kenneth. "Eighteen" Kenneth replied and Luke mumbled a low 'ten' in a strange tone. "So each of you have worked for Craven since before I took my father's place as head of this organization?" the three nodded. Each of them was older than me, each of them started the business before I even knew which side of my head my ears were on. The difference between us? They obeyed!

"Then" with one deep breath and no apparent warning, I darted forward, wrapped my fingers around Morgan's throat, knocking him back along with his chair, and sat on his chest. "Who the fuck, you fucking bastard, gave you permission to use a name other than my last name?" I roared right into Peter's face and his mouth began to open and close in silent horror as the fear drained the color from his face and began to feed the monster reveling under my skin.

Lawrence and Miller jumped at the same time, Dominic and Marcus were faster though, they both stood in front of me, guns pointed, leaving me enough space past their legs to see their faces. "Who do you think you are?" I grunted hoarsely, squeezing Morgan's throat with a pleasure I hadn't felt in a while. Not since Elena was with me. "Mr. Cra...ven..." Morgan's strangled gurgle made me look at him with a raised eyebrow. "I'm...sorry!" my eyebrow shot up, but the apology didn't change the fact that the piece of shit who accused my wife was probably a traitor. My wife!

"Oh, you're sorry?" rising to one knee, my fingers dug into the pit of his throat. "I'm Mr. Craven now, no longer Victor?" I asked angrily, lifting his back off the backrest. "Have you remembered where you belong now, you little bastard?" saliva spewed from my mouth as I did my best not to give in to the impulse to snap his throat. Peter's eyes began to glaze over, drool ran from the sides of his mouth, and whoever said that when you suffocate you turn red first has never had the pleasure of being a barrier between the air and someone's lungs, because Peter Morgan turned green, literally and figuratively ,his face puffed up and yellow-green flecks made their way out, making the veins in his eyeballs glisten like I could have played Connect the Dots.

"Fucking shit!" I leaned on my other hand and lifted myself up a little more until I felt Morgan's knees in my waist, out of the corner of my eye I saw the fear written on the faces of Lawrence and Miller. Good! Fucking little girls! None of them knew anything about Elena, none of them knew her pain, none of them saw her tears caused by Mascot's actions, none but me knew the pain of her apologies for something she had no control over and against she can't do anything!

Elena a traitor? She is so tiny, so delicate and vulnerable. How can anyone, who has seen her at least once, think that my always kind and smiling Elena can be a traitor? "Victor?" Dominic's voice snapped me out of the thought of burning Morgan's freshly flayed skin into a pair of hand-stitched boots for Elena to wear this coming winter. Slowly, I looked away and gritted my teeth, but I loosened my grip around Morgan's throat and he began to cough strangledly, trying to catch his breath.

As if I was forcing my body against his wishes, my muscles struggled as I stood up, stepping over Morgan and back behind my desk, sitting at my desk as if I hadn't just tried to kill one of my oldest employees. "Nicholas Mascot is my concern" I breathed, watching Peter's attempts to stand up. I leaned back, straightening the sleeves of my shirt and jacket. "Marcus, would you send our visitors?" I ordered through pursed lips and leaned my head back, not wanting to even look at the three's hasty exit.

"You should have killed him" Dom snorted as the door closed behind Marcus. "Did you know?" I raised my head and looked at Dominic, who froze as if he had received a surprise blow. "What...what should I have known?" man, Dominic is a terrible comedian, but his attempts to lie to friends are downright critical failures. "Dominic?" I raised my eyebrows and he sighed, picked up the chair on which Morgan had been sitting until a while ago and stomped on it.

"There have been rumours...for some time" the caution in his voice only irritated me. "How long is this 'some time' exactly?" my eyebrows sunk in, my expression seemed somehow unnatural, atypical. I know that marrying a woman who was not of our society, as Morgan put it, would cause rumours, but the truth is that they are all my fault. If I hadn't allowed my father-in-law to play butterfly, landing from door to door to anyone willing to tear my heart out, now my own people wouldn't see Elena as a threat.

At the same time, although there are many effective ways to deal with the situation, I can't risk hurting Elena, because I would rather kill and replace everyone who works for me, than become the cause of my wife's tears again. "From Elena's introduction meeting when Bennet talked to her and then it was revealed that Mascot tried to buy Bennet" my blood boiled and my teeth chattered together. Dominic leaned forward and met my angry gaze. "Vic, I understand you love Elena, you really do. But if you don't do something, Elena could be in serious danger and Bennett and Gradoni will be the last things you have to think about" he leaned back again and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Even if Bennett does nothing, Gradoni won't sit still, he's been trying to take territory for years. The Italians are gaining strength, Vic" his eyebrows shot up, he looked like a dog begging for a bite of my food. "I'll talk to Elena" I sighed and felt as if I had been punched in the stomach. I feel like I'm at a crossroads, choosing between my wife and my business is something I never thought would happen. But as much as I don't want to admit it, at some point, I will have to tell Elena about her father's actions. I can only hope that Elena will be sensible enough to understand the situation I am in and that all I want is for her to be safe.

How do you prepare to tell the woman you love that you might have to kill her father? Answer - even if I had been prepared for this conversation, I was not prepared for the scene which I found when I got home, well drenched in alcohol, furious with Nicholas Mascot, with Morgan, Miller and Lawrence, and having written a whole speech to try to make up my wife not to leave me. Everything disappeared the moment I ran up the stairs to our bedroom and entered.

I can't, I just can't. Elena was sitting on my chair behind my desk, in a bathrobe, with one arm outstretched, sleeping like an angel, and the light from the computer made her face even more tender and beautiful. Everything inside me turned upside down and a lump lodged in my throat. Why? Why can't Mascot just accept that Elena is happy with me and leave us alone? Why can't he act like a father and just bite his tongue like all in-laws who don't like their sons-in-law but for the sake of their daughters grumble under their breath and fake a smile?

Elena does not deserve this, she is not ready for any of this and the worst thing is that it is my fault and mine alone. My selfishness, my need to have her by my side, to see her every day when I go to sleep and when I wake up, to feel her breath on my lips, her soft little hand in mine, this skinny little body ingesting an unhealthy amount of sugar for a week every month, her fiery hair between my fingers, to die drowning in her eyes. If I don't find a solution to save her father, all this, I, I will be the reason my Elena suffers like never before. And I don't know if I can bear it.

I closed the door as quietly as I could, the heaviness in my chest growing more unbearable with each step I took towards her, with each silent breath, just to hold her sleeping figure long enough for my mind to imprint the sight in every fiber of my body. I thought that if I gave myself time, if I approached her slowly, if she slept just a few more minutes, in which my cowardly self could find even an ounce of courage to say the words I had written in my mind, maybe this wouldn't be the end .

Even now, with our relationship on the line, as I soaked in her face, as the fear of losing her gripped my throat and I wondered if thirty year olds get heart attacks, or if the hatred in the eyes of the only person who really mattered to me would kill me, I couldn't help but feel that dreamy smile on my face, I couldn't stop imagining that even after fifty years I would find her like that, lying on her arm, beautiful as an angel, her hair scattered over her face. I went behind the desk and reached to remove those same reddish locks, when my eyes fell on the open page of the monitor and my hand froze millimeters from Elena's face.

My brows lowered and I looked at her for a second before I grabbed the mouse and one by one I flipped through the sites Elena had opened before she fell asleep. The first one was about accessories, but the next few pages were all baby stuff. Cribs, clothes, toys, strollers, baby shoes, swings. A picture of a pregnancy test opened on the last page and I scrolled down. 'First symptoms of pregnancy', 'How to calculate ovulation and day of conception'. 'Women's consultation', 'When is the best time to take our first pregnancy test' and more similar articles listed as possible useful pages.

I want Elena pregnant, but that caught me off guard and I pulled my hand away as if the computer mouse had caught fire unexpectedly. My heart raced and my mind began to toss uncontrollably between the memory of Elena's last period, how many times we had sex since then, the headlines of the articles, and the possibility that Elena was pregnant and I had to serve her the story with her father. I instinctively raised my hand and looked at my watch, flipping the calendar over in my mind.

Our wedding was on May 27th, Elena's first period was during our honeymoon, I think June 3rd, the next one was on? The date seemed to hang on the tip of my tongue and I took another step back from her, rubbing my forehead. Come on, Viktor, you remember the date, right? Load up the fucking fridge for her, right? 31st! That's right, June 31st! I looked at the date on my watch again. on July 11th, for my birthday, Elena was no longer on her period, which means that today is July 29th, that is, fuck!

25 or 26 days since her last period. Which means there's a damn good chance Elena is pregnant and we'll find out in the next few days. Judging by her previous two periods and the time between them, the next 3 to 5 days Elena should raid the fridge or be late, which would mean she might be pregnant.

My gaze drifted over her, my head a complete mess as I searched for something different, something I might not have noticed had changed in her body, I was going over the past weeks, her demeanor, some change in her habits, something , which would give me a reason for Elena to look at such sites. Or maybe it's something that only the woman would notice at first? Is that why Elena was looking for the first signs of pregnancy on the Internet? Should I not take her to the doctor? As useful as search engines are, a doctor can give her more answers, right?

Shit, shit, shit! Why am I panicking? Isn't that what I wanted? Didn't Elena say she wanted a family, children, a home? That's the point, right? To get Elena pregnant? A little one, stomping around with his tiny naughty feet, with eyes like Elena's, fiery fluffy hair and little hands to ruin the arrangement at home? The first of several? So why do I feel like I'm swallowing my pulse? I raised my hands and looked at the sweat on my palms. What is this? Panic attack? Joy? Fear?

Brace yourself, Victor! I took a breath and softly smacked my cheeks, realizing I was grinning. As my thoughts raced wildly, my body responded to true emotion. Happiness! Crazy, unadulterated, true happiness. I shook my head and looked from the computer to my wife again. The soft sounds of her sleep mingled with the running of the computer cooling fin and every part of my body vibrated in an attempt to remind myself that I shouldn't go with the feeling because it's still early and I don't know for sure if Elena is pregnant or just interested in the topic. Which is perfectly normal, we get married, have sex like crazy and don't use protection.

Despite the trembling in my chest, I took a deep breath, turned off the computer so Elena wouldn't know I'd seen the sites, and decided to find a way to deal with her father quietly, hoping to resolve the issue without having to tell Elena. I made a point to watch my wife's demeanor and body more closely and carefully bent down to pick her up in my arms.

"Victor?" Elena snuggled on my chest the second my hands took her and I smiled against her forehead. "Sleep my love, I'll just carry you to bed" I felt her smile against my neck, her lips relaxed and her head hung on my shoulder. My little sleeper. Sometimes I envy Elena's ability to sleep so deeply that she talks in her sleep, creating the illusion that she wakes up, but then remembers nothing. I can literally ask her a question and get an honest answer and Elena won't even know she confessed to me.

For a moment I toyed with the idea of asking her if she thought she was pregnant, anyway her answer would remain only my secret, but I suppressed the desire as I tucked her under the covers. "I love you,Victor" Elena cooed and turned to her side, curling up into a ball. "You have no idea how much I love you, my love" I smiled and took the time to enjoy her sleeping figure before turning to the bathroom. Now was not the time to worry her with her father and his nonsense, nor with the opinions of my people, they were my responsibility. If Elena is carrying our child, a bullet awaits anyone who tries to disturb her pregnancy.

Elena

"What exactly are you doing?" I raised my hands and my eyebrows sank. Christina crouched down and wrapped her arms around my waist, staring at my stomach as if reading the results of a scientific study. "You can't see it" she snorted softly and jabbed a finger into my stomach. "You're acting ridiculous, Chris, of course you won't see it yet" I sulked and tried to pull away. "Do you know your husband is obsessed with you?" Christina and I both turned to the door, which closed behind Ophelia, and I could barely see the impatient face of Victor, who was standing in front as if he was being punished, or had been given the task of guarding.

"He's been acting weird lately" I admitted and Ophelia made a sound that I could define as a puff, or deflating from a deflated balloon, or something in between. "Only lately?" she approached, leaned on the edge of the sink and opened her purse. "Here, I had to throw the box away so I could hide it in my purse" she handed me the sealed cellophane bag. "Thank you" I took the package with trembling fingers, closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Come on!" Christina started pushing me towards the toilet stalls with a huge smile and a light in her eyes that you only see in a person who has been waiting for something all his life and finally has the opportunity to get it. But I was scared. I'm terrified. First, because I'm two days late. Second, because of Victor's strange behavior in the last week and because of the thought that my father had something to do with his behavior and how he clung to me, as if if I was left alone even for a minute, the irreparable could happen to me. And thirdly, because I don't know, if it happens, if I am really pregnant, how I will tell Victor.

"God, I can't remember when I was so excited!" Christina clapped her hands shrill outside the door and I smiled wryly, trying to protect my fingers from the stream of urine as I peed on the stick. "Since this morning when Simon offered to pay for that thing you put on and call a dress?" Ophelia snapped at her ironically. Their argument stayed in the background while I listened to my heart beating faster and louder.

I haven't been able to find a place for two weeks, as if I was walking between signs of fate. First, pains and pulling in the lower abdomen a week before the date of my period. Then, constantly, no matter what I did, ads for baby products popped up on every site I opened, on my social networks, clips of little cooing babies seemed to be trying to signal me. Then tonight? Charity auction for the benefit of a hospital for free children's treatment, specialized in the treatment of orphans with cancer. My period being late, it's like the universe is telling me I'm ready to be a mother, and I refuse to see it.

The first days I tried to ignore all this, convincing myself that it was just a figment of my imagination. Stress around my father, who seemed to sink to the bottom of the earth, no calls, messages or attempts to talk to me. But the more these 'signs' appeared, the more I began to see changes in myself. The pains I never had, my period is usually as precise as a train schedule, the only reason I was prepared was the headache from the day before, which was now gone and replaced by my tight breasts that felt like they were trying to pop out of my cleavage.

Then I noticed that I had no problems with the midday nap, but even though I slept like the dead in the evening, my sleep was restless and as if on breaks, I woke up every few hours and then it was difficult for me to fall asleep again. My body was more sensitive than usual, especially to touch. Not that I hadn't felt electricity before when Victor touched me, but now it was like an impulse to jump every time his hands touched my skin, like a shock that wet me like the ghostly shiver of a perpetually needy and unsatisfied woman.

I just don't know how else to explain it, so I started looking up my symptoms on the internet. And yes, more signs, such as articles with titles like 'Earliest pregnancy symptoms' or 'What our body feels before we know the baby is on the way'. And the more such articles I found, or read comments with the experience of mothers who have already given birth, the more I freaked out. And Victor's demeanor wasn't helping me. That's how it got here.

With trembling fingers, I put the pee stick back in its packaging, fixed my clothes and flushed the toilet. "Well?" Christina looked at me expectantly and I shrugged, walked between the two and left the test on the counter to wash my hands. "The box said 3 minutes" Ophelia leaned next to me and I saw her set a timer on her phone. "Who would believe" Christina sighed and hugged me from behind, wrapping her arms around me like wrapping paper.

"Is it true that Elena will be the first to get married and have a baby?" Ophelia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "It's no surprise, out of the three of us, she's the only one with this nesting look" I felt numb, insecure and, in general, hellishly confused, but I looked at her curiously at her comment. "What do you mean by ' nesting look'?" I looked at her and she shrugged. "That's right, look at you" she pointed at me from top to bottom, as if somewhere on me there was an inscription, a label that said 'wife', and I didn't see it.

"You are one of those girls that men have no patience for, nor doubts when they introduce them to their mothers. Your attitude, your character, everything screams 'home' at first sight" I raised my eyebrows and Ophelia smiled. "That's nice, Elle, it's a compliment. It makes you different from the rest of us. See Christina? Her carelessness, her distraction, of the three, she'll be the last one to marry, because she takes life as a game. Me? If ever overstepping the bounds of my independence and giving a man a real chance, my ovaries will probably be museum pieces by then" I'm not sure what she meant, but it made me smile and momentarily forget why the three of us had gathered in the bathroom, and Victor and Simon are waiting out front.

"Why should I be the last if you're going to be a museum piece?" Cristina grunted sulkily and I wrapped her arms around my stomach, giggling. "Because by that time, you'll realize that not everything that flies is eaten, and both of your brain cells will have reached a consensus" Ophelia sneered and my heart stopped because the timer on her phone started ringing. "Girls? Elena, is everything okay, why are you so late?" at the same time Victor's voice came and I felt faint, my head started to spin, my heart started to race and I had to cling to Christina's arms, looking for support in her body.

"We're going out in a minute!" Ophelia answered loudly, because I was unable to get a word out, staring at the package with my pregnancy test. "The moment of truth" Christina leaned on my back, peeking over my shoulder. "No....I can't" my eyes started to burn, I'm so scared and I don't know what I'm more scared of, either because Victor probably won't find the positive result as a good thing at the moment considering the complicated situation with my father, or that it will be negative.

"Help!" I cried, looking up at Ophelia. "Oh, girl, it's going to be okay" she pulled me out of Christina's arms and hugged me. "No matter what the outcome, you'll make it, Elle. That obsessed monster at the door adores you and I'm sure he'll be over the moon if you're pregnant. You'll be an amazing mother because you're the sweetest, most understanding and supportive a person I know, and if it's negative, Victor is to blame and you'll just keep trying" she caressed my back, pulled back and cupped my face.

"Can...can one of you look, I can't?" I smiled imploringly and buried my face in Ophelia's shoulder. "Me! Me!" Christina almost knocked us over to get my test first. I refused to raise my head as I waited with trembling heart for either of them to tell me the result. "I may be carefree, but I'll be the cooler aunt and get married before Ophelia pulls the cane out of her ass!" Cristina happily stated and my head jerked up on its own. "What?" Christina shoved the test under my nose. "You're pregnant!" she screamed, and for a moment Ophelia and I both froze and looked at each other, her grinning and me dumbfounded.

"I....I'm....pregnant?" my knees went soft, but my body bounced, carried by the arms and the screams of my girlfriends. "Somebody open the fucking door or I'll break it down!" I heard Viktor shout, a loud bang came from the door and the three of us looked at each other. "I think we better let him in before he really breaks down the door?" Ophelia stepped back a little and looked at Christina. "Here Ellie, congratulations again" Christina handed me the test, kissed me on the cheek and she and Ophelia walked to the door smiling happily while I still couldn't find the words to make my body react to my feelings.

"What the hell..." Victor flew in like a viking, ready for battle, almost crashing into Ophelia and Christina. "Shit, my love?" he stopped just long enough to look at the two with a murderous glare. "Victor!" I couldn't hold anything back anymore. "Elena, what? Why are you crying?" he wrapped me in his arms and I sobbed laughing, or laughed crying. "We'll leave you alone for a while" I heard Christina say, then Simon's voice followed by the soft sound of a door closing.

"What's wrong, my love, did they make you cry, did they say something to you? I'll kill them, just don't cry!" Victor's confused angry tone sounded heavy between my sobs and I looked up. Darkness and anger shone in the steel of his eyes. "No...they just...I..." I closed my eyes and took a breath. "What? Why are you crying, Elena?" he squeezed me harder and I shook my head, feeling the weight of the test in my palm as I clutched his tuxedo.

"It's...I just..." very slowly, with a weight of fear and joy, an unthinkable mix that made my body tingle, I lifted the test past his hand and he looked away from my face in confusion. "Elena, tell me I'm seeing what I'm seeing?" his eyes returned to mine and I nodded. "I'm pregnant" I mumbled and Victor let out something between a grunt and a growling roar. "Pregnant! I'm going to be a father!" he spun me around and I clung to his clothes laughing. It was as if a stone fell from my heart. Nothing could describe the ease I felt as I listened to the laughter and gazed giddily at the joy written on his face.

"Dad! I'm going to be a dad!" he repeated, spinning me around like a rag doll until I felt sick. "Vic....Victor...I'm sick...I feel..." I cried and he instantly stopped, dropped me to my feet and pulled away just enough to see his whole face go from absolute joy to desperate alarm for just a hundredth of a second. "Are you sick? Does something hurt, did I hurt you? We're going to the hospital!" he looks around like an animal in a trap. "No...the spin, my head spun, I'm fine" his eyes returned to me and I gave him a reassuring smile.

"The spin?" he repeated and I nodded. "I'm fine Victor, I'm just a little...emotional right now and I've gotten a little dizzy" I replied, but my Goliath's face didn't look like someone convinced I was telling the truth. "Sure?" he crouched down and brought his face closer. "Totally" I nodded slowly and took a deep breath through my mouth.

"Okay, okay" Victor pulled back a little more, unbuckling himself from my hands, he grabbed my wrists and lifted them, looking at the test. "God, baby, Elena" his face lit up again and the most idiotic grin I've ever seen bloomed with incredible pride. "I know, and I know this isn't the time but..." before I could finish, Victor pressed his lips into mine, twisting our hands behind my back.

"There is no wrong time for the love of my life to be pregnant with our baby, Elena" Victor answered quietly and rested his forehead against mine. "This baby, the next one, the next few" he continued, filling my heart and eyes. "Each of our babies will come at the right time, each will be done with desire and love and I'll be damned if any of our children, or their mother, ever thinks it was a mistake or at the wrong time, right?" he looked up and I nodded through tears. "Thank you" I whispered and Viktor shook his head, stood up and cupped my face, wiping away my tears.

"Come on, I don't want an upset mother and baby, especially if it's my wife and child" he tried to clean my face with his fingers. "You know, you're in no condition to go on tonight" he turned to the door and sighed. "But the auction is for children, Victor, I'm just going to fix my makeup, and then I'll..." he looked at me sternly. "We're going home, Elena!" he stated firmly and I cringed, giving him a pitiful look. "For God's sake!" he bowed his head and I smiled. My attractive Goliath, a killer with the heart of an angel.

"Let's make a deal?" he raised his head and I tilted mine. "Deal? What deal?" I raised my eyebrows in surprise and he smirked looking between us. "Tonight is special, I just found out that my baby is in the oven, so I will be generous. I will arrange to buy all the exhibits, regardless of price, then we will donate them together with the amount back to the hospital, if you agree to go home with me now, we'll put you to bed and I'll make you something to eat?" one of his eyebrows arched and I nodded with the biggest and most adorable smile I could muster. "Great deal, mostly because I'm hungry" Victor stared at me for a moment, literally without even blinking.

"You're amazing" he sighed and I shrugged. "What you meet is what you become, I guess" this time both his eyebrows shot up and I giggled. "If you weren't already pregnant, with that smile, you'd be pregnant by the end of the night" he shook his head and I wrinkled my nose.