Because of traffic, it took us thirty minutes to reach Mama Credence’s house from the hospital. I was so glad that we made it before lunch. Bram said he would meet us here. Mama Credence told me that we would wait for Bram so we could eat lunch together. She brought me to the room where she gave me the ruby headpiece.
I was nervous all of a sudden. She only took me here if she wanted to discuss very important things with me. I was wondering what I did wrong this time. I watched Mama Credence lock the door then she sat on the sofa where she sat before. And I sat on the same sofa I was seated on before.
She crossed her legs and stared at me. Her expression was unreadable, “How are you, Emma?”
I swallowed the lump on my throat before I said, “I’m good, the ultrasound result was fine.”
She gave me a small smile, “Bram got so excited that he sent me pictures. I forgot to congratulate you, dear.”
“It’s all right, a lot of things happened that day,” I said. I could not look her in the eye. She might be wondering why I was having coffee with Connor.
“That’s true,” Mama Credence commented, “Which is the reason why I brought you here again.”
I knew it! I gave her a nervous smile. Maybe it would be better if I said my concerns now rather than later. I did not want to end up overthinking about it everyday, “I do have some concerns that I wanted to discuss?”
Mama Credence nodded, “What are they, dear?”
I sighed and looked her in the eye, “It’s regarding security, I mean Chantal and the um…audio recordings?” I told Mama Credence.
“I see,” Mama Credence clasped her hands on her lap, “I hope you don’t get this the wrong way. This is only an example. In business, we take risks in our investments. We invested 5 million pesos on you and we risked the happiness of our son just to help you and your family. You see Emma, when we invest on something, we need to protect our investment; we need to protect you. We will use our resources just to keep you safe. I hope I shed some light on your concerns.”
I nodded and bit my lower lip, “Even though the investment is just for 3 years?”
Mama Credence smiled, “It’s a risk that we decided to take. Some businesses last 3 years or maybe less but if you nurture it, it could last a lifetime.”
I was kind of embarrassed by the way I looked at things compared to how Mama Credence perceived it. My primary concern was my privacy. Now, I realized that they sacrificed a lot by helping me. We smiled at each other for a moment then we heard a playful knock on the door. Mama Credence walked to the door and opened it.
“What are you two doing here? Why do you need to lock the door?” Bram asked with his thick British accent. He switched glances between me and his mom, “Are you talking about me?”
I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head. I stood up and walked towards them. I yelped because Bram wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me from the ground. Then he kissed the side of my head. I saw Mama Credence’s horrified expression and I laughed softly.
“Put her down, darling,” Mama Credence told Bram, “Both of you should be careful now.” Bram and I exchanged a meaningful look before he put me down.
“I’m starving, mum,” Bram commented as the three of us walked out of the room, “I could eat a horse.”
I saw Mama Credence shake her head as she walked ahead of us. Bram took my right hand and we followed Mama Credence towards the dining area.
During our lunch, Bram told us that there were things that needed to be settled first so they had to cut their meeting short. That was the reason why he arrived earlier than what we had expected. And because it was Friday, Bram and I headed to the Glass House. He decided that we spent our weekend there. Bram told me not to wait for him as he parked the car.
I took the elevator as a precaution for my condition but I still felt very hot. When I got to our room I went straight to my dresser and looked for a hair clamp. I found a blue hair one and put all my hair up. I removed my shoes and put them in our cabinet for used footwear so Maria could clean them later. Then I went straight to our closet to change my clothes.
I was looking for something comfortable to wear when I noticed Bram was standing on the doorway of our closet. His arms were resting on both sides of the door frame.
“What?” I asked him as I pulled out cotton shorts from the cabinet.
He slowly walked towards, “Is it safe for pregnant women to have sex?” Bram asked me.
My eyebrows met in the middle, then I continued looking for a spaghetti strapped top, “Yes, if the pregnancy has no complications.”
“How about you?” Bram asked again, his left hand scratching the back of his head.
We stared at each other for a moment, “Dr. Delgado did not see anything in my ultrasound that we should be worried about.”
I walked to my underwear drawer and yelped because Bram scooped me up from the back, “Bram, put me down!”
“In a moment,” Bram told me. Then he carried me and put me down on the bed.
“Wait,” I put up my right hand to make him stop, “This has been in my head for so long.”
Bram frowned. He placed his hand on his waist and released a long breath, “What is it this time?”
I bit my lip and tried to avoid his gaze. It was now or never, “Did you sleep with Alicia on the day of our wedding?”
His lips parted. He stared at me, “Not this again, Emma.”
“I have this tendency to overthink things, Bram,” I tried to explain to him, “Maybe it’s not normal but I just need to know so I could stop thinking about it.”
“Haven’t you heard of the saying ‘what you don’t know won’t hurt you’, Emma?”
“Why is it so hard for you to answer it, Bram?” I yelled at him out of frustration.
“Because I don’t want to answer it!” Bram yelled back.
I felt my chest rise and fall. Bram and I just stared at each other for a moment. I returned to the walk-in closet and picked up my clothes that I dropped when he carried me. I went straight to the bathroom and locked the door. I stood under the spray of water without moving. As much as I wanted to drop that topic, I could not.
I just wanted to know the truth. I hurriedly washed my hair and body, then got dressed. I went out of the bathroom and scanned the room for Bram. He was not in our room, so I went to my dresser and combed my hair. I dialed mom’s phone number and put it on loudspeaker mode.
I waited for my call to connect to mom. But she did not answer. I walked out of our room and used the elevator to go down. I wanted to eat something but I could not figure it out. This would be the first time that I would see our kitchen.
I did not know that it was this big. The counters were made of white and gold marble. I opened the huge white refrigerator and I just saw eggs and a lot of bottled water. I closed the door of the refrigerator and yelped. A woman with long black hair stood by the kitchen entrance.
“Sorry, Madam,” Maria said to me, “I thought you were upstairs, I was just fixing my hair.”
“Oh my God, you scared me,” I told Maria. I placed my right hand on my chest. My heart was beating so fast.
“I’m so sorry, Madam,” Maria said apologetically, “It’s just five in the afternoon, that’s why I have not prepared your dinner yet. Is there something that you prefer?”
“I want ramen,” We heard Bram say.
Maria and I turned our heads to the door that led to the pool area. Bram was standing there in a robe. His hair was wet from swimming.
“I will order it right away, sir,” Maria told Bram, “Madam Credence ordered me not to buy anything with preservatives.”
I nodded at Maria’s statement and ignored Bram. I waited while she processed Bram’s order through an app on her phone. Bram walked past us and rode the elevator. I still had not figured out what I wanted to eat. Then Maria handed me a salted-caramel flavored pretzel. I instantly loved it!
She made me sit on a bar stool that I did not notice earlier. It was hidden behind the kitchen counter. I placed my phone on the counter and continued eating. Maria offered me fresh milk to go with the pretzels and I said yes. I heard my message notification and it was my mom. She was asking why I called.
Five minutes had passed and I was still eating my pretzels. I was busy chatting with my mom while Maria prepared the meal that was recommended by my OB-GYN.
“I brought you a blanket, Emma.” I heard Bram say. He was standing by the kitchen doorway. He was wearing sweatpants, a sweater, and sneakers, “I asked them to turn the air conditioner on.”
I stood up, wiped my hands clean, and picked up my phone. I thanked Maria for the pretzels and took the blanket from Bram. I was only wearing cotton shorts and a spaghetti strap top but I did not feel cold at all. I unfolded the blanket because the temperature changed when we reached the living room. I wrapped it around me then I felt Bram’s arms at my back. He scooped me up again. I looked up to him and our eyes met.
“Here’s the thing Em, my dad taught me a lot of things. And not being stupid is on the top spot. I hope that answers your question,” Bram said to me as we headed for the elevator.
I sighed and rested my head on his left shoulder, “Fine, I want more salted pretzels for later.”
I felt his chest vibrated while he laughed. We entered the elevator and I pressed the button for the second floor. I looked up to him again when the door closed. He slightly lowered his lips and I gave him a smack kiss.
“Thank you for your answer,” I said softly.