CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.
“I have an important meeting to attend at the office, I can’t go with you to the hospital for your check up. Let me know what the doctor says.” Jamal’s words rang in Adele’s mind as she sat in the doctor’s office.
The previous night, they had been cool. They took a warm bath together, ate dinner together and Jamal cuddled her in his arms all night. He seemed very happy about the fact that she was pregnant. She had thought that was the beginning of him fixing things like he had promised, but that didn’t seem to be the case. He had quickly dismissed her request to have him accompany her to the hospital that morning.
He only knew that she was pregnant, but he had no idea that she had a difficult pregnancy and stood the risk of having a miscarriage if anything should happen to her. She wanted him to hear that part of the story from the doctor, but it seemed she was finally the one to tell him.
After the check up, she left the doctor’s office. On her way out of the hospital lobby, she heard her phone ring in her pocket. She fished it out and when she checked the caller ID, her heart almost fell into her abdomen when she saw Jamal’s name on the caller ID.
“What the hell!” She exclaimed out of pure shock.
That was the first time Jamal was ever ringing her cell.
She quickly swiped the green icon and pressed the phone against her ear to answer the call.
“Hello.” She greeted him calmly.
“Adele.” Jamal called as usual and his baritone voice almost made Adele lose her mind. It was smooth and charming and she found herself blushing at the sound of his voice.
“Yes, Jamal.”
“Do you intend to keep me waiting out here forever?” Jamal asked and Adele got confused.
“What do you mean?” she asked as she walked out of the hospital lobby and that’s when she spotted one of Jamal’s cars parked in front of the building. There were two men in black standing before the car and the moment they saw her, they opened the back seat door for her to get in. “Seriously, Jamal?” She sighed as she ended the call and got into the car.
“How was your check up?” Jamal asked the moment she was settled in.
“Not bad. I did an ultrasound…” She reported as she handed over the ultrasound photo to Jamal. “This is why I wanted you to come with me, so you can see your baby.” She further explained and Jamal kept his gaze glued to the photo in his hand. He could hardly make out the image in the photo, still, his heart was beating at an increasingly rapid pace.
That was his baby in there. His baby with Adele.
“I won’t miss it next time, I promise.” He said, almost in a whisper and Adele just nodded her head, not believing a word he just said.
“I wasn’t expecting you, this is a big surprise.”
“I canceled the second meeting I was supposed to have. I had hoped to be done with the first earlier so I will meet you, but that didn’t happen, so I decided to reschedule the next and come pick you up.”
“That was so sweet of you. Your baby is jumping in excitement in my tummy.” She joked and Jamal chuckled quietly. “However, there’s something you need to know.”
“What’s that?” He asked, giving her a very serious look.
“I have a difficult pregnancy. What I mean is, I have to be very careful with the way I go about my daily activities because the least stress I go through will have a drastic effect on both the baby and I.” She explained.
“I’m going to make arrangements for your resignation at your job site immediately and I will hire personal servants for you.” He said, looking at Adele who had her eyes wide open. “Yes Adele, you said it yourself that you have a difficult pregnancy and that means you don’t need to go through any stress, I’m not letting anything happen to either of you. I am not!” Jamal firmly stated and Adele just nodded her head and sat still because she knew there was no way she was going to win that argument with Jamal and even if she won, he would still go ahead and do what he has in mind to do. After all, he was Jamal King Dominick.
“Understood.” She whispered with a nod.
“Did you tell grandma already?” Jamal questioned.
“No, not yet.”
“We’ll tell her on a video call tonight. And for the other’s, we’ll pass the good news during dinner. Is that okay with you?” He asked, concerned.
“I’m nervous, but yes, it’s okay with me.”
“Come here.” He said and he calmly pulled her into his arms and kissed her hair. “You don’t have to be nervous, we are in this together and I will be with you every step of the way.” He assured her as he calmly stroked her hair.
Adele snuggled closer into his warm embrace and made herself comfortable. That was the first time Jamal was showing her any affection in public and she wanted to enjoy every single moment of it.
“Did you eat already?” Jamal asked.
“Yes, but I’m still hungry.”
“I figured. I ordered the chef to cook something special for you. You’ll have a good meal when we get home.”
“Thank you.” She thanked him with a wide smile.
That baby was her good luck charm.
***************************************************************
Everyone else was already seated at the dining table when Adele and Jamal showed up. Aliya was growing impatient as usual, while Shannelle kept sighing in exasperation from time to time.
Jamal pulled out a chair for Adele to sit on, much to everybody’s surprise, including Adele herself and she just smiled and bit her lips as she sat down.
Both Aliya and Shannelle were giving her scornful looks, but she didn’t mind. The most important thing was that her husband was treating her nicely, everyone else could go to hell.
After the prayer which was led by Jamal’s father, everyone began serving their meals.
“Adele and I have some good news to share.” Jamal suddenly announced and his father, sister and mother averted their gazes to him.
“Good news? I doubt it!” Shannelle replied sarcastically and her brother ignored her.
“What good news could that be?” Mr. Dominick asked with a surprised look.
“Adele and I are expecting.” He calmly deciphered and the entire dining was filled with sounds of cutleries dropping on plates.
“What?” Aliya asked in total dismay, eyes and mouth wide open.
“Adele is seven weeks pregnant.” Jamal repeated and his mother let out an exasperated sigh as she supported her forehead with her palm.
“Congratulations to you both. It’s a good thing to have a new family member on the way.” Mr. Dominick congratulated with a smile.
“Thank you father.”
“Thank you fa…” Adele stopped talking when a foul smell hit her nostrils, causing vomit to rise up her throat. She instantly closed her mouth shut with her palms and pushed her chair backwards.
“Are you alright?” Jamal asked concerned. Adele vigorously shook her head as he rose to her feet and made her way out of the dining room.
“Enjoy your meal.” Jamal wished and followed his wife to their bedroom.
“Hey…” he called calmly as he walked over to Adele who was seated by the toilet pot, burping very seriously. He sat by her side and gently rubbed her back as she burped into the toilet pot. “Do you feel sick? Should I call a doctor?” He asked, worried but Adele shook her head.
When she was done burping she stood up and flushed the toilet before going over to the sink to wash her mouth.
“Are you sure you don’t need any medical attention?”
“No Jamal, I’m fine. The only thing I need right now is food. A lot of food.”
“The chef will be here with food shortly.”
“That’s better.” She said, walking out of the bathroom and Jamal followed.
“Adele.” He called once they were in the bedroom. Adele stopped on her tracks and turned to look at him. “Come here.” He said, opening his arms wide for Adele and without any hesitation, Adele walked over to him and got into his outstretched arms.
They both stayed in each other’s arms.
“Your mum and Shannelle didn’t look too happy when you passed the announcement .”
“Does it matter if they are or not?” Jamal calmly asked.
“I think it does, they are your family, it’s important that they are happy about the things happening in your life.”
“No, it’s not. Mum and Shannelle have their fantasies in their heads about how I’m expected to live my life, I don’t intend to fulfil those fantasies. I only told them out of respect, otherwise I would have asked everyone to mind their businesses.”
“How can you talk so bluntly about your family?”
“Because they annoy the shit out of my pants.” He lamented and Adele laughed hard.
Jamal had some sense of humour after all.