Go ahead, eat more; after all, your child will ultimately die in your womb.
I fed Tracy like I was feeding a pig, keeping a close watch on her every day, terrified she might suddenly decide to go to the hospital for a check-up or even accidentally miscarry.
I wanted her to feel the despair and pain I experienced in my past life when my child was born still.
As the days passed, Tracy grew increasingly irritable, but her belly was expanding at a very slow rate.
In contrast, my own belly was growing normally, with my child thriving inside.
She felt proud, believing her son was different from others, needing more nutrition, which was why he was growing slowly.
"Oh, my dragon prince is just special. He needs a lot of nutrition, which is why he grows slowly!"
"Unlike some unlucky people, whose bellies are so big they might burst!"
But only I knew that her son had already died; her belly was only getting bigger because the food I fed her was making her gain weight.
Tracy became increasingly overweight, resembling a moving mound of flesh, with layers of fat accumulating around her abdomen, completely obscuring any sign of a pregnancy.
Yet she didn't find anything strange about it; every day, she just opened her mouth wide for the nanny to shove food into it.
"My son is so good; he even knows how to nourish his mother. Being fat is a blessing, unlike those wretched women who look pale and thin during pregnancy."
As the due date approached, she had turned into a blob of flesh lying on the bed, with fat spilling over the edges, creating a rather disturbing sight.
Unlike the stillness of her belly in my past life, this time her belly was rising and falling every day.
So she didn't notice anything unusual, just like before.
"My son is so strong. He truly deserves to be called a dragon prince!" She struggled to lift her head and stared at the bulge on her belly.
But in reality, that was just her stomach and intestines reacting. Her child had long been dead.
With the due date fast approaching, I grew increasingly anxious, urging George to come home every day.
"George Lloyd, you must be here when I give birth." I said, wiping my tears.
George on the other end of the phone seemed helpless, repeatedly assuring me that he would definitely be home before I gave birth.