I quickly counted back in my mind. Nine weeks ago, the company had been chasing a major client that could decide our future, and I had been with my wife almost every day.
Relief washed over me. I stood and smiled at the doctor. “Thank you. I didn’t mean anything by it; the elders at home told me to ask. I really had no choice.”
Just as I finished speaking, that same childish voice came again in my ear, “Dad, I’m doing this for you. Why won’t you believe me? Fine! Since you don’t trust me, I’ll handle it myself!”
The next moment, my wife’s cry came from outside the door.
I rushed out. She was already sitting on the floor, her body weak, one hand clutching her stomach, her face pale and wet with sweat.
When I tried to help her up, she pushed my hands away, tears filling her eyes.
“Lucius Leonard, I heard everything you said to the doctor. I never thought that after standing by you through everything until now, you’d still doubt me over this.”
“A husband who’s shared my bed for more than ten years doesn’t believe me. I might as well be dead!”
Dark red blood quickly spread across my wife’s white dress. The doctor rushed out, saw her, and hurried to help her back inside.
After the examination, he looked at me with clear dissatisfaction. “Your wife is older, and it wasn’t easy for her to get pregnant. From now on, stop letting your mind wander. What matters most is taking good care of her.”
He pointed at the ultrasound. “Look at that little bean sprout in her belly. Isn’t it cute?”
His words made cold sweat run down my back.
In my previous life, it was this so-called “little bean sprout” that had torn our home apart with just one sentence. The memory sent a chill straight through me.
I looked at my wife’s joyful face, guilt eating away at me, and slapped myself hard twice.
Yes. She had stood by me for more than ten years, giving without complaint. How could I still doubt her?
The guilt kept me awake all night. By morning, I had already decided to explain everything to her clearly and stay by her side through her pregnancy.
Early the next morning, my wife was already gone. Just last night, she had murmured that, to protect the pregnancy, she wouldn’t go anywhere from now on.
I was about to call her when that familiar voice rang in my ears again.
“Daddy, Mommy went to have a secret meeting with my real dad. She’s at the yoga studio she often goes to, hurry!”