Cedric’s own heart ached at the misery in her voice and at the knowledge that he’d caused her so much pain. But he could fix that. He would make it his personal mission to see to it that she never cried again.
“No more tears, Anna. You’re killing me.”
“I can’t seem to stop,” she admitted, lifting her gaze to look at him again.
“God, I love you so much.” He cupped her face in his palms and let his gaze move over her features hungrily. Like a man starved and finally given a feast, he couldn’t seem to get his fill of her. “I swear I’ll never make you cry again.”
She actually laughed at that. “Oh, Cedric, you can’t make that kind of promise.”
The tightness in his chest eased a little. She wasn’t trying to escape from him anymore. She wasn’t trying to push him away. That was a start, anyway.
“I will promise it, though.” He met her gaze and held it. “Believe me, Anna. I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you smile. Making sure you never doubt again how much I love you.”
She chewed at her bottom lip and drew one shaky breath. Reaching into his slacks pocket, he pulled out the box he’d been carrying all day…The box he’d been carrying since he returned back to Haerton. He flipped the lid back, displaying the ring that made him always think of Anna. The ring that had been hers months ago… The ring that was always going to be hers. The one she’d left behind the night of the gala.
“Cedric…” Anna began as she recognised the ring.
He reached for her left hand and though she was trembling slightly, she didn’t pull away. Slowly, he slid the ring onto her finger and held it in place while they both stared down at it, shining in the darkness.
“I want you to have it back, Anna,” he said, “It’s yours. You’re my wife. You’re always going to be my wife…and the mother of our child.”
She lifted her free hand and covered her mouth while her eyes drenched and spilled over.
“Now see, I’ve already broken my promise and made you cry again,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss her forehead with a gentle reverence. “I need to stop doing that. It can’t be good for the baby,”
“I’ve heard all you have to say, Cedric, but you’re going to have to give me some time,” Anna told him. “I can’t just… I don’t think telling me the same thing over and over again is going to fix things…I need some time,”
Cedric was quiet for a long moment. He understood what she was trying to say, although he didn’t know if he’d be able to do it. He missed her greatly, but he realised that lately, all he’d been doing was telling her that he loved her, and maybe what she actually needed was for him to show her instead.
It wouldn’t be easy, but at least she wasn’t yelling at him anymore and she wasn’t shutting her door in his face. That was progress. “I guess that means you won’t be moving back to Haerton with me?” he asked softly.
Anna shook her head. “No Cedric. I’d prefer to stay here for now,”
Cedric stared at her. He wanted to argue her. To make her see that she belonged with him. Hell, she was pregnant, and as the months went by he knew she’d need someone. He knew she’d need him, but he didn’t want to upset her more than he already had. Maybe if he let her have her way now, she’d open up to him more and then he’d be able to convince her to come back home.
So he nodded and wiped her tears with his palm, kissing her cheek as he did so, “Alright,” he said, “One step at a time, Anna. One step at a time,”
____________
“We’d really rather keep you in.” A rather impatient-looking doctor stared at Anna’s notes. “At least for a couple of days until your blood pressure comes down.”
“It’s hardly likely to come down here,” Anna replied through gritted teeth, wishing they would all just leave her alone, that she could get in her car and drive back to her home to pore over the day’s events in her own surrounds. “Once I’m home I’ll be fine.”
“What if you’re not?” The doctor stared at her coolly over his glasses. “It’s all very well for you to take risks with your own health, but bear in mind that you’re five months pregnant. Arguing over a couple of days’ admission…”
“Who’s arguing?”
Thank God they’d taken the blood-pressure machine off her arm, because if her reading had been high before, as Cedric’s dry tones filled the room Anna was sure it would be up through the roof about now. His heavy cologne mingled with the sickly antiseptic smell, his height, his presence dwarfing everything, and even the rather terse doctor seemed to take on rather more courteous tones as he addressed Cedric.
“I was just explaining to your wife, sir-”
“I’m fine!” Anna blurted out. She couldn’t believe that Collins had actually called Cedric, despite the fact that she had told him not to.
“Oh are you?” Cedric asked her sarcastically, totally at ease as the doctor’s eyes swiveled nervously to the notes in his hands.
“Yes I am,” Anna shot back. “And you shouldn’t be here,”
“Prickly, isn’t she?” Cedric smiled and if the doctor wasn’t already gay he was certainly heading for conversion because he practically melted on the spot as Cedric turned his black eyes to him. “What exactly is the problem, Doctor?”
Anna’s horrified expression at Cedric’s rude intrusion should have been enough to stop the doctor in his tracks, but given both men’s backs were practically to her she lay instead welling with indignation as they proceeded to discuss her as if she weren’t in the room.
“Her blood pressure’s high and according to her blood work she was slightly dehydrated when she arrived as well as underweight. We just want to keep her here for a couple of days to make sure everything is progressing lb normally with the pregnancy.”
Anna was about to respond but held back when Cedric’s calm, measured tones appeared to support what she’d been saying.
“What if she agreed to come back tomorrow for a check-up? Surely her own home would be the best place for her to rest?”