Wives and Champions by Tina Martin Page A

frazzled, Emily asked, “Wh-what
are you doing here?”
    Dante thought her question was odd.
What are you doing here? Usually, she’d run up to him and greet him
with a hug. Now, she was acting like he caught her in the act of
something, but what? “I came by to take you out to
lunch.”
    “ Oh. Why didn’t you call
me?”
    Dante shrugged. “Figured I didn’t have
to, especially since you rarely leave the boutique to go to lunch.
So where did you end up going?”
    “ For lunch?” she asked as
she took a seat.
    “ Yes. I’m assuming that’s
where you’re coming from.”
    “ Oh, ah…” Emily paused. She
didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t want Dante to know about the
baby just yet either. “I had an appointment.”
    “ You had an appointment?”
Dante asked as he stepped into her office, taking a seat in the
chair next to her desk.
    “ Yes.”
    “ What kind of
appointment?”
    Emily looked at him. “Dante, why are
you asking me all of these questions?”
    “ Because I want to know
where you were,” he said, holding her gaze.
    “ I went to the doctor, then
grabbed a sandwich on my back here.”
    “ What doctor?”
    Emily narrowed her eyes at him.
“Dante—”
    “ What doctor,
Emily?”
    She looked heavenward. Sighed. “Dr.
Harrell.”
    “ Your OBGYN
doctor?”
    “ Yes, Dante,” she said,
looking at him again.
    “ And why would you be
seeing Dr. Harrell?”
    “ Female stuff,” she said.
“Why are you so concerned all of a sudden? I’m fine. Why don’t you
tell me about your day? How was your morning?”
    Dante stared at her, held her gaze for
a long time. He couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to know about
the baby, and he needed to hear her say it. “Emily, do you have
something to tell me?”
    “ Something like what?” she
asked, breaking their gaze to log into her workstation.
    Dante stood up, took a few steps until
he was standing directly in front of her then took her hands into
his.
    “ What are you doing?” she
asked.
    “ Stand up.”
    “ Dante…”
    “ Stand up,
Emily.”
    She shuddered when she looked up into
his eyes. At his request, she stood while he held her
hands.
    Dante released her hands to frame her
face before he said, “You know I love you, don’t you?”
    Emily nodded.
    “ You know I would give you
the world, don’t you?”
    “ Yes, Dante. I
know.”
    “ Then when something
happens within our family, I want to know about it. When my wife
goes to see a doctor, I want to know about it. That’s not me being
controlling. That’s being a man who loves you. A head of household.
I want to protect my family. You and Ezra mean the world to
me.”
    “ I know.”
    “ Why did you go to see Dr.
Harrell today?” he asked staring longingly into her eyes. He
yearned for her to tell him the truth. If she didn’t tell him now,
he wouldn’t know what to think about what she was up to.
    “ Because I…um…”
    “ What is it,
Emily?”
    “ I needed to take an
official pregnancy test.”
    “ A pregnancy
test?”
    Emily nodded. Eyes watered.
    “ And what were the
results?”
    Emily closed her eyes and shook her
head. A tear traveled the length of her face.
    “ Emily?”
    “ I’m pregnant, Dante,” she
said sadly with a broken voice. “There. I said it. I’m
pregnant.”
    There was no need to act surprised
since he already knew. So he focused on the reason she hesitated to
tell him instead. “You’re pregnant and by your reaction, I take it
you’re not happy about it,” he said, wiping the tear away from her
face.
    “ It’s not like it was
planned.”
    “ It doesn’t have to be
planned. Ezra wasn’t planned.”
    “ No, he wasn’t,
but—”
    “ But what,
Emily?”
    “ You wouldn’t understand.
It’s a woman thing.”
    “ A woman thing,” he repeated. “A couple
of days ago, you told me you weren’t ready for another baby. Did
you know you were pregnant when you said that?”
    “ I did,” she
admitted.
    “ So, you don’t want