Dawn's Pov

"Do you think it's weird?" I asked out loud whilst staring into Paula's little fish tank as I awaited the test results in her office.

"What's weird?" She asked me and I turned to meet her still too engrossed in her fashion magazine to look up.

I poked my tongue into my cheek. I didn't know what to make of it, I didn't even know if I was the one overreacting but I just needed to talk to someone about it because coupled with my off-the-charts hormones and the fact that anticipating this result had made me anxious, I didn't know what was real or what was just my mind playing cruel tricks on me.

"It's David..." I started, recalling exactly what had happened last night and how he seemed to be struggling with something in his sleep. "Last night, he was sleep talking in a way."

She shrugged, still not looking up. "It's normal."

"I know but..." I paused again and bit my lip. "He kept muttering the same name over and over again...a woman's name and it gives me this uneasy feeling."

Her head finally snapped up and her brow lifted in an incredulous manner. "A woman?"

When I nodded, she scoffed. "I knew his retired fuckboy behavior was too good to be true." She sighed dramatically and shook her head. "You simply can not trust men these days. One moment they say they love you, the next they're feeding their piss stick to another hungry chihuahua."

"I trust David." I defended firmly. "It's just..." I'd spent the whole night trying to understand why he behaved that way. I stubbornly wanted to believe he had a perfectly good explanation for it. I didn't want to give room for doubt. "He wouldn't cheat on me." Surely he wouldn't.

"See that's your problem, you're too trusting." She admonished with a scowl. "This is a clear sign that he's having an affair."

Her words made me cold. I shook it off as quickly as the feeling came. "What if you're wrong and this might just be something personal?"

"Dawn Araceli, your husband uttering another woman's name subconsciously during his sleep is nothing to be classified as personal." She informed. "It's either he's cheating on you or he's hiding something very huge from you. Either way, he's lying."

"He's not a liar." I shook my head again. "Maybe I'm just hearing things. This whole test thing has got me worked up to the point of envisioning what's not there.

She looked at me like she was about to smack me in the face. It was almost laughable and I would've laughed had a knock not sounded.

"I'll see who it is," I told her, eager to get away from the grilling conversation. I should never have brought it up.

I walked to the door and opened it to reveal a nurse in blue scrubs who stood with a brown file case in her hand.

"You must be Mrs. Argent." She smiled warmly at me. "The tech wanted you to have this."

My heart threatened to break out of my rib cage. "Me?"

"Yes, it's your test results." She transferred the brown file to my hand and waved a greeting at Paula before walking away.

Holy...

My hand shook a bit.

I shut the door and swallowed hard as I walked back to Paula's desk and slapped the file on top of it. "Here, read it and tell me what it says."

She picked it up and pulled out a white paper. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

My stomach twisted and the sudden urge to throw up enveloped me. "I'm ready, tell me what it says."

"Alright." She wore her reading glasses and I could see the black letters illuminating her glass as she read.

Every second that passed made my heart thunder. It was like a ticking time bomb and her answer either had the power to ignite it or dissolve it.

"What does it say?" I asked apprehensively when she didn't say anything to me.

Expelling a sigh, she finally took off her reading glasses and looked up to meet my eyes. "Well..." She looked disappointed. "I was really hoping this wasn't true but, yes, you're five weeks in."

The time bomb went off and my heart leaped. "I'm pregnant." My voice rang with excitement. "How is this even possible?"

Paula leaned back into her seat and gave me a sardonic look. "Do you need me to explain what happens when a man and woman have sex all the time?"

"No." I chuckled. "I'm sorry, I'm just- I'm happy."

"I'm happy too, a little. You'll make a great mother, I can't say the same for David tho." She narrowed her eyes and that was when the realization hit me.

David.

My smile waned.

There was a high chance he wasn't going to like this new development.

"How am I going to tell him?" I panicked.

"Simple." She shrugged, putting the file back in the case. "Just tell him."

Worry vanquished me. "What if he isn't ready, oh my God, what if he says he doesn't want it?"

"He better not." She got up and crossed the desk to me. "You are pregnant. This is what you've always wanted for as long as I can remember." I felt this warm fuzzy feeling when she caressed my abdomen with her hand. "Don't murder your child with doubts and negativity okay."

I nodded softly, trying to put a smile back on my face.

"Who gives a crap about what David thinks anyway." She added. "You've been married for a year and more, I think it's about the right time to have a child, if he says something stupid or tries to harm this baby in any way, I'll lock his ass up and I don't give two flying pigs if he's a billionaire."

"Millionaire." I corrected with a snort-laugh. "My husband's a millionaire.

"Yes, millionaire, whatever." She narrowed her eyes and pulled me into a hug. "Congratulations." Her arms squeezed tight around me. "I think mum will be happy to know that her miel is with child, let's go tell her."

"We will," I assured. "But I'd like David to be the first person to find out." Keeping the truth from him wasn't an option. Yes, I knew he was going to be shocked and afraid but I was going to do my best to make him warm up to the idea because this was what I wanted.

"I understand," Paula told me and we stayed there for a while, basking in each other's warmth.

***

I drove home in a state of excitement and decided to surprise David with a heavy dinner.

The problem however was, after all the hours spent cooking, cleaning, and picking a perfect night dress, he didn't show up as he'd promised.

After dropping my first voicemail, I waited, and waited, changing positions from the couch to the dining chair to the kitchen island.

It was a few minutes past ten when I called again. I was worried now because the rain had started to pour heavily and he still wasn't back.

"Please pick up," I begged, pacing the living room with my phone in my ear.

"Hi, this is David, if its important leave a message and-"

"Where the hell are you, David, I'm so mad at you and I'm so worried sick so please call me when you get this," I said into the phone, hoping to get a callback but I didn't and when the time hit eleven, I gave up.

I blew out the candles, tossed the sunken lasagna inside the trash, and cleared out the remaining dishes. My heart ached with regret. I returned up to our bedroom and curled around my pillow. I'd lost all enthusiasm and excitement and I just wanted to sleep but I couldn't, not with the raging storm and heavy lightning strikes.

I didn't like the rain, I didn't like the thunder, I didn't like being alone.

"This is a clear sign that he's having an affair."

Paula's words slipped back into my thoughts. I tried my hardest to push it out. David wouldn't hurt me this way. I wiped the tear that slipped from my face. There was a perfectly good explanation for this and when he came he was going to-

Heavy footsteps approached the door and when it opened, a drenched version of my husband walked in, looking pale and zoned out.

"David?" My anger suddenly morphed into concern. I sat up on the bed, my brows creased. "Oh my God, you're soaked."

He didn't say a word to me, he didn't even look my way. He just ignored my words and proceeded slowly towards the bathroom door.

"David, are you okay?" I got out of the bed and walked to him. "How long were you in the rain? Why didn't I hear your car come in, did you walk home?"

"Not now, Dawn." That was all he said to me but I wasn't having it. I reached for his arm before he could walk into the bathroom.

"You promised you'd be home for dinner, I called you, but you didn't answer, now you're home and you're giving me cold shoulders."

"I've had a stressful day." He peeled my hand off his. "Please don't make it worse."

His words hurt me a little. "Is that all you have to say to me after I went through the stress of cooking for you and wearing this stupid night dress just to please you?"

It was silk, he loved silk. His eyes scanned me thoroughly; from my head to my toe. "You look sexy in it, my love, but I'm not in the mood to ravage you, I'm not in the mood for anything so please go to bed."

What the hell was wrong with him?

Why was he acting this way?

"David." I grabbed his arm again. "What's the problem?"

He turned and looked at me like he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. After a moment of silence, he just moved closer and kissed me.

I could protest. He didn't let me, he kissed me until we were both breathless.

"Good night, Dawn." He said those words and walked into the bathroom, leaving me dazed and confused with a million questions running through my mind.