Chapter 17
DARIO
“ I ’m fine, just give me some space.” Madalina holds her hand up to stop me from coming any closer, she’s on her knees vomiting into the toilet and making it very clear she doesn’t want me near her.
“I’ll get you some water.” I take the glass that's next to the basin and fill it, passing it down to her, and after sweeping her hair over to one side of her neck, she takes it from me and takes a sip.
“I’m sorry that you are suffering,” I tell her, truly meaning it but the look she gives me back proves she doesn’t believe me.
“Just not sorry for what you did.” She smiles sarcastically as she gets back on her feet and heads to the basin to splash some water on her face.
“We have a doctor's appointment today, we can ask if there's anything he can do for the sickness.” I continue trying to be nice. I appreciate that what I’ve done has upset her, but we must move on from that and focus on what's important.
“I don’t need a doctor, Dario. We know what's wrong with me.” She glares at me through her reflection as she brushes her teeth.
“Of course, you need a doctor, all pregnant women need professional care. I have arranged for you to have the best. And we need to find out how pregnant you actually are,” I remind her, sliding my hand around her waist and thinking about the child I have successfully put inside her.
It’s hard to keep my hands off her now I know for sure that she’s pregnant. I knew it would turn me the fuck on, but I could never have predicted the territorial urges I feel toward her now. I don’t want to let the girl out of my sight for a second.
“I’d say very pregnant, considering I haven't had a period since we’ve been married and I’m throwing up at 7 am.” She offers me a sarcastic grin around a mouth full of foam. It makes me want to bend her over this basin unit and fuck her till she cries.
“Come on, get dressed, I’ll have Greta make you pancakes. They're your favorite.”
“Wait, how do you know they’re my favorite? Greta has never made them for me before.” She stares at me curiously, which is a pleasant change from the hatred I’ve been getting for the past twenty-four hours.
“I am your husband, it is my business to know these things.” I smile at her before kissing her cheek and heading down to breakfast.
“You have guards standing on my door” She marches into the dining room fifteen minutes later, looking just as pissed as she did yesterday.
“I have guards on our door,” I correct her.
“What?”
“Our room. I can’t take care of you if I’m down the hall.” I pour her a juice and place it next to the space that's been laid out for her at the table .
“Can you just stop acting like all this is normal?” She grips her hair in her fists out of frustration.
“Madalina, you must calm down, stress is not good for the baby, I remind her, tapping the chair and willing her to take a seat.
“Grrrrrrr!” She narrows her eyes but still does as she’s told and sits herself down.
“There are guards all over the house. I warned you that being married to me came with its risks, now that you carry my heir I must ensure you are both safe,” I try to pacify her.
“Or keep me like a prisoner.” She tilts her head and calls me out.
“When a wife tells her husband she’s going to leave him, he must take measures.” I shrug casually, smiling at Greta when she steps through the door and presents a plate stacked high with pancakes.
“Ignore the extra guards, and focus on what’s important.” I place one hand on her stomach and pick up her fork with the other. When she snatches it out of my hand and starts to eat I sit back and watch in satisfaction.
“I’m not going to run,” she tells me, after eating an acceptable amount from her plate and pushing it aside. “I hate you, but I’m not going to run.” She almost makes it sound convincing.
“Good because it would be a waste of energy, and energy is what you will need in the upcoming months.” I stand up from my chair, straighten out my suit and offer her my hand. When she takes it I sense the anguish behind her smile.
The car journey to Dr. Walsh’s private clinic is silent, and Madalina purposely angles her body away from me. I remain patient with her, she’s had a lot to take in, and it will take her some time to get used to the idea. Unfortunately, patience is something I lack and I will have to strengthen it. I predict the next however many months we have left of this pregnancy will have its challenges.
“What is this place?” she asks, when my driver stops outside the back entrance to the clinic.
“This is a private clinic, the best in the state,” I inform her.
“It looks like the back end of an ally.” She screws up her nose, and acts like a brat.
“This is the back entrance, I wanted to keep our visit discreet.” I open the door and get out so I can offer her my hand, and I'm not at all surprised when she ignores it and gets out by herself.
After pressing the buzzer we’re greeted by a well-dressed woman, who leads us to sit in the waiting room. There are framed pictures on the wall of newborns wrapped up and made to resemble woodland creatures and I note the way Madalina side-glances them all as she paces the floor in front of me.
“He shouldn’t keep us waiting long,” I tell her, trying to fill the silence, that is becoming increasingly irritating. I think I preferred it when she was yelling at me, at least then I didn’t feel cut off from the thoughts inside her head.
“It isn’t like I have anything better to do.” She slumps down in the chair beside me like a delinquent child.
“Would you like some water?” I offer, heading toward the dispenser in the corner of the room and when all I get is a shake of her head, I'm about to lose my cool and get into how rude she’s being, but the door opens and interrupts me.
“Dr. Walsh will see you now.” The receptionist smiles warmly and looks a little stunned by the eye roll and lack of enthusiasm she gets when Madalina gets up from her chair and strolls past her.
“Mr. DeMarco, it’s good to see you again.” Dr. Walsh is waiting by his office door and when he holds his hand out for her to shake she barges past him and takes a seat; I smile at him awkwardly before following her through and sitting beside her.
“I assume since you're here that you have successfully conceived?” He remains upbeat, which is understandable given the amount he charges for his time.
“And I assume the health board is aware that you prescribe drugs to patients you have never consulted with?” My wife lets her clever mouth get away with her and I reach across and squeeze her thigh tight enough to remind her how rude she’s being.
“Shall we start by going through some questions?” He chooses to ignore her jibes and gets straight to business, asking her all the relevant questions to which she responds with one-worded answers and a blank look on her face.
“Okay, well, all that's left to do is the examination. If you’d just like to hop up onto the bed.”
“Wait, what kind of examination?” I hold my arm across her body to stop her from getting up.
“Some doctors like to do an internal on their patient's first visit, but I don’t think that’s necessary, given how long ago Mrs. DeMarco’s last period was. An external ultrasound should give us an expected due date and ensure everything is as it should be.” He puts my mind at ease enough to drop my arm and Madalina smiles at me sarcastically as she gets up and hops onto the bed.
I don’t know if it's my head fucking with me but her stomach already appears to have a curve, and knowing that it’s from the baby I put inside her makes me smile to myself, as she lifts up her shirt and pops open the buttons on her jeans.
“This might be a little cold,” Dr. Walsh warns, before squirting gel onto her lower stomach and she flinches a little and refuses to take my hand when I offer it. He presses the ultrasound wand against her stomach, and after a little maneuvering, he turns up the sound on his machine so we hear a loud whooshing sound.
“Is that…?” I lean closer and study the screen.
“That's the sound of your babies’ heartbeats.” He smiles. “They are both very strong.”
“I’m sorry, both ?” Madalina’s eyes widen with distress.
“Yes, two sacs, two heartbeats. Two babies,” he announces and when she flops her head back against the headrest she shakes her head and laughs to herself.
“Of course, there is.” She closes her eyes and breathes calmly.
“Wait, are you telling me there are two babies in there?” I check I’m hearing him right.
“Yes, I’ll get some measurements to confirm it but I’d say you are about eight weeks along.”
“That can’t be right, we've only been married six weeks and I was a… It’s impossible!” Madalina looks back at the doctor in shock.
“We go from the date of your last period, so it’s very possible. If you’ve only been married six weeks it looks like we are dealing with honeymoon twins,” he tells her cheerfully.
“Two.” I drag my eyes from the screen onto hers, feeling my lips raise my cheeks. “Two babies,” I repeat in utter shock.
“I heard the man.” Madalina doesn’t look at all as impressed as I am.
“It makes the pregnancy a little higher risk, but as long as we keep a close eye on you I don’t see that there will be any problems,” the doctor tells us.
“I can’t believe it.” I stare at the two shapes on the screen and let it sink in.
“Well, I did tell you it was a common side-effect from the fertility drug.” Dr Walsh chuckles and when I look up to Madalina she’s staring back at me like she’s ready to kill .
“It was a risk I was prepared to take.” I shrug, making the anger on her face multiply as Walsh gets back to work.
There's even more tension on the car journey home and when we get inside, Madalina marches straight up the stairs and slams her bedroom door. I decide it’s best to give her some space, the doctor gave us some pamphlets to read on multiple pregnancies, and now she has even more reason to be mad at me. We should be celebrating, I should be upstairs with my head between her legs showing her how proud I am of her but, instead, I go to my office and shut the door. Sitting behind my desk I take out the sonogram picture the doctor gave us before we left and look at the two little beings we created. The future of my family, and something that should be bringing Madalina and me closer together, not tearing us apart.
Maybe I was underhanded in getting what I wanted, but I’ve been raised to be that way. My father and grandfather have ruled New York for decades, it’s not the kind of power you maintain from being fair. What I’m looking at now is only evidence that, with great risk, comes great reward. Now, I just need to figure out how to get Madalana on board, because her shutting me out is really starting to hurt.
I busy myself for the rest of the morning, and I’m pleased to hear from Greta that Madalina accepted and finished the lunch that I had sent up for her. I let Vito brief me on the meeting he had with my father yesterday, and I put some of his orders into action before I decide to go upstairs and offer Madalina a peace offering.
I knock on the door before I push it open and when I find her crying on the bed, I feel a pang of guilt for being the cause of it.
“Don’t cry.” I keep my tone soft as I step toward her.
“Is that another one of your orders?” She snuffles, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.
“It is not good for the babies if you are upset.” I place my hand on her stomach and think about how they are cushioned safe inside her.
“I don’t know how to not be upset right now.” Her eyes raise up to mine, and I see that she’s not just sad, she’s scared.
“I know this didn’t happen how you wanted it to, and I’m sorry for that, but not for what we’ve achieved.” I rest beside her on the bed, and I'm surprised when she allows me to tuck some of the hair that's stuck to her face behind her ears.
“I’m not saying it won’t be tough, but I do believe you will make a wonderful mother,” I assure her.
“I’ll barely be twenty when they get here, I didn’t want one baby, let alone two.” She shakes her head before dropping it into her hands and sobbing some more.
“Please don’t cry.” I wrap my arm around her shoulder attempting to offer her some comfort. “I never wanted to hurt you. I was just?—”
“You were just making sure you got your way.” She laughs bitterly.
“What can I say? I’m a selfish man.” I wish I had a better explanation for her. “Try to think positively about this, our families will be happy, in fact I think we should pay a visit to your father tonight and tell them. Serena seems the maternal kind. I’m sure she will make a fantastic grandmother.”
“Serena’s only just turned forty,” she points out, “and I don’t want to see my family. Not yet.” She does some more snuffling.
“What about Lorna, do you want to share our news with her?” I check, knowing how close the two of them are.
“Dario, I don’t want to share the fact that my husband did this with anyone,” she admits.
“Well, you won’t be able to keep it a secret for very long. You're already starting to show.” I try to make light of everything and smile.
“I am not!” She looks furious as she gets up from the bed and stands in front of the full-length mirror next to the wardrobe. Turning to her side she raises up her shirt and examines her stomach in the mirror.
“You are. It might be slight, but it’s undeniably there.” I position myself behind her and slide my hands around her abdomen. “I noticed it earlier at the doctor's office.” I look down over her shoulder at the tiny little change that's already happening to her body. “I guess it’s because there's two of them in there.” I stroke her proudly, surprised at the length of time she’s allowing me to hold her.
“I’m going to get so fat.” She bursts into more tears and drops her head into her hands.
“You're not going to be fat, you're going to be growing our babies. You're going to look beautiful, even more beautiful than you are now.” I turn us so we’re facing the mirror head-on. “And I’ll be sure to show you my gratitude for it every day. Let me take care of you through this. Let me make this as easy as it can be. Hey, you can even hate me the whole time.” I hold up my hands defensively because suddenly none of my own feelings matter. I just want to make her happy.
“Will you do that for me?” I slide my hand into the front of her jeans and stroke my finger against her sensitive flesh.
“Dario, that's not fair.” She shakes her head as her eyes pierce me through our reflection.
“I don’t play fair, you already know that.” I make tiny circles against her clit, and when she rests her head back against my shoulder and moans, I feel a relief of my own. Madalina can be as mad at me as she likes, but she can’t resist the way I make her feel, and I get a sick sense of comfort out of knowing that .
“Answer the question. Will you let me take care of you?” I ask again, needing to hear her say yes.
“Yes,” she whispers, and when I slip one of my fingers inside her to reward her answer, she mewls like a satisfied kitten.
“Good girl.” I smile against her cheek before I kiss it and make her come.