“W, why did you come up with such a topic suddenly?”
Evelina said in awe that his intuition was too good.
Kaiden wanted to pull the rope right away with an anxious look, but since Evelina asked, she naturally came first, so he stopped as he was going to get up.
“Lina has a very consistent menstrual cycle. Today is menstruation day. Yet, whenever you have a stomachache, I can’t see the expression you make these days. So I thought the medicine worked well, but that’s not it.”
“An… expression?”
Kaiden looked at Evelina every time. That’s why even her trivial expressions became a big hint to him. He tried very hard to notice her condition, even if she didn’t say anything, just by looking at her face.
That’s why it was still like that. Evelina was strangely excited and paid attention to him. Every time she menstruated, she moaned in pain but pretended not to be paying him any attention. But she was looking at him like that, like someone who wasn’t sick anywhere.
“Yes.”
However, Evelina did not understand that part of him, so she stared blankly at him.
“But you guessed it from my expression?”
“Yes.”
“No, how could you…?”
Evelina was confused but felt better because she had already been caught.
“I can tell from your face.”
“Hmm.”
She stared at him. Just as he read her feelings, she looked to read his expression.
“Why are you crying?”
“What to do if you’re pregnant… What if you’re pregnant? You think you’re pregnant.”
“Why are you saying the same thing three times…”
Evelina decided not to read Kaiden’s expression. Even if she didn’t, she could see how he felt. He had a terrifying yet fearful face.
“It may be another man’s child.”
“It can’t be true.”
“How can you be sure? Kaiden drank contraceptive tea every day, and I’m pregnant.”
Kaiden was not suspicious of that at all.
“Lina has a hard time connecting with people she doesn’t like. But how?”
“B, but you never know?”
“You never know. I know the look on Lina’s expression when she sees me. That expression… Why do you give it to Chloe and Aiden, too?”
“All of a sudden?”
“If we have another child now, you’ll make that expression with another child.”
Eventually, tears fell from his eyes. When Kaiden began to cry, Evelina rose in embarrassment. Then she hugged him tightly, and she pulled him.
“It’s hard for me to love children.”
“I know. It’s obvious.”
“It’s even scarier to think that Lina’s life will be in danger again because of the children.”
“I thought so.”
“And I drank contraceptive tea, but how….”
Kaiden, of course, thought the child was his own. Evelina was the one who passed out every time she was with him. Her stamina was something he knew well.
He didn’t even see any marks on her body to say she did it with anyone else. And she was so busy every time. Who, how, and what would she do it with?
And Evelina may look sweet to others, but she looked a little different when she looked at him and the children because he was sure of love by looking into her eyes.
“I’m scared, Lina.”
“Why is Kaiden scared? I should be scared.”
“Heuk… Lina…”
Kaiden sobbed as he wet her shoulders.
“We don’t know for sure yet. Maybe it’s just that the menstrual period is late.”
She wanted a child more, but when she realized Kaiden was so afraid, she felt a little sorry for her selfishness.
“Don’t you want to have a daughter who looks like me? Ah, you said you didn’t want it.”
“It would be nice to be like Lina. But I wouldn’t say I like risking Lina’s life because of a child. Don’t you know how long the aftereffects last if you give birth to one?”
“I was asleep.”
“The same goes for ordinary mothers. You shouldn’t do anything for a year if you have a child. If you endure ten months with everything stolen by the child in your belly, will you be able to recover in 1 year?”
Evelina couldn’t say she didn’t know because she had been asleep for two years. Strangely enough, compared to her two years of comfort, he seemed to have borne the burden of her hardships and suffering.
“Kaiden…”
“When Lina was holding the children, I overlooked it. But not all children are lovely. Because they took Lina’s health, too.”
Only then did Evelina realize why Kaiden was avoiding the children?
“But I’m so happy to have a child with Kaiden. If I had a child, I think it would be great if it were Kaiden’s child.”
“…Lina.”
“It still is. The kids look so much like Kaiden… Sometimes it’s a little scary… It contains the image of the man that I love.”
Kaiden was rather sad that the children didn’t look like her. It’s as if his alter ego had exploited and taken away her health. Evelina was already weak, but she had children because he couldn’t control himself and hugged her.
“I’m still terrified of when Lina left me.”
Evelina suddenly felt sorry for him because he checked her heart every time he woke.
“I’m afraid that I won’t be able to take Lina’s situation into account, and I’ll be happy alone without knowing what you think because I’m only excited by my feelings. But even a child…”
“Kaiden…”
“I’m so afraid to think that even the child might be hurting you.”
At Kaiden’s words, Evelina wanted to look straight at him. He was shivering with tears on her shoulders. Her heart skipped a beat when she felt him cry uncharacteristically for his large body.
“I was selfish. I didn’t know that Kaiden would think so.”
Evelina thought he cared more about her than he did for himself. But she didn’t know he was so worried about her. She felt sorry that what she thought would be happiness was something he couldn’t just be happy about. And it seemed like it was all her fault that he wasn’t pleased.
“I love that Kaiden is my husband. Even if something scary happens, it can not be scary… I think that’s why I can be calm.”
“Lina…”
“I thought it would be okay if we had another child. I thought it would be okay to get through anything with Kaiden.”
Kaiden hugged Evelina tightly and carried her weight onto the bed. Evelina hugged him tightly and patted him on the back.
“I’m sorry, Kaiden. In the meantime, I think I made you carry all the heavy things yourself.”
“No, I’m satisfied if Lina stays next to me as she has been now.”
“Me too. Like Kaiden… I’ve never loved anyone else in my life.”
Feeling better at her words, Kaiden looked at Evelina again and checked her eyes. She was smiling heartily. Her eyes were slightly wet.
He stopped crying and laughed as if her words convinced him.
“Let’s work this out together, us.”
“…yes.”
He finally calmed down at her words and called Hans, listening precisely to what Evelina had heard.
They couldn’t be sure until 12 days later.
~~~~
“Kaiden. Doesn’t Chloe’s hand look like mine?”
Kaiden was with Evelina to see Chloe and Aiden. The children did not fight as usual, banging on to the changed atmosphere of Evelina and Kaiden.
“Chloe’s hands are too ugly for that. Lina’s hands are white, thin, and long, so they are pretty.”
“aah!”
But the silence was broken by Kaiden’s honest words.
“That’s right! Ugly looking!”
Aiden laughed, saying so excitedly.
“Jeez, Kaiden.”
Kaiden was taken aback, but he thought it was an honest sentiment.
“It’s more like my hand from holding a sword for a long time.”
“Aaah! Momm!”
Chloe cried and hugged Evelina, and she laughed without realizing it.
“Why are you doing this to her?”
“…you shouldn’t be lied to just because you’re a child. Come on. She’s heavy.”
“I’m not heavy!”
“You’re heavy. You’re five years old, so you’re prohibited from being hugged by your mom now.”
“Aaah!”
Kaiden pulled Chloe from Evelina whether she cried or not. In fact, when she was five years old, she strained Evelina’s wrists and waist every time she hugged her.
“If you’re going to cry, cry over there.”
“Dad, cold!”
“I hate you, too.”
“Kaiden!”
Kaiden tried to be honest but then sighed and corrected his words.
“Only when you cry.”
“Heuk, uk… ah…”
“My baby. It’s the same as mom’s hand. Don’t cry.”
“Momm…”
Chloe stomped her feet as if she wanted to go to Evelina, but Kaiden wouldn’t let go with his solid arms.
“Is mom, really, dad’s?”
Chloe said, knowing that Evelina stood by her every time she cried.
“Yes, mom is your dad’s.”
“Then whose is dad?”
“Mom’s.”
As Evelina said this with a bright smile, Kaiden thought he could care more about the children.
“Then what about me? Whose is mine?”
“Chloe belongs to Chloe.”
“Hing*…”
*TN: Sound you make when you’re upset by something
Aiden wanted to be hugged by Evelina, but he knew he would end up with Kaiden. He reached out to Kaiden. Kaiden seemed slightly surprised by the action, but he took both of them in one arm and stood by Evelina’s side.
“Aiden will be dad’s. Then, since the father is the mother’s, am I also the mother’s?”
Evelina laughed at Aiden’s words.
“Then, me too! Chloe too!”
Chloe slammed into Kaiden, saying so.
Although she was having a good day, it was also the day to confirm Evelina’s pregnancy.
