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She thought of his many calls since the teeks she’d spurned hied a stilted conversation keeping hiarded the call, telling herself not to be softened by his apparent solicitude Where was he all those months, when he’d left her on her ohile he’d tended to his precious company abroad?

Maya had dozed off with all those thoughts swirling, and when she roused fro headache, worse than any of the ones she’d had of late

She cursed herself for taking the risk of co out this far out of town on her own The acute pains that racked her skull almost made it impossible to reach for her phone on her bedside drawer Finally, she grasped the mobile and pressed the needed nu relief that almost an instant later, a deep voice came on the line

“Maya?” The sound of hope in Alain’s voice lad to hear from her she wanted to cry at all her foolishness How could she have been so stupid as to let her pride stand in the way, after accusing Alain ofthe same mistake?

But just as she readied to pour out her emental, she felt her vision blur as her head swaood,” she worded, and then gasped in pain, the phone slipping out of her fingers The last sound she was conscious of as she drifted into blackness, was Alain’s voice calling for her Then, nothing

In the di with the mounted TV with the weather forecast on, the voluy as she came awake, and looked around unsure for a moment, as to why she was there

Bit by bit, the events of the lastback to her memory Unable to keep her heavy eyelids up, she let theain took over

So she hadn’t told anyone where she’d be He’d appeared right in her bedroom and carried her limp body up in his ared with its oorry and fear She was placed at the back of the car, her head resting on Alain’s laps as they were driven to the hospital

From there it was a blur of activities Tests to check if the baby and h blood pressure as the culprit for Maya’s collapse Thankfully it was nothing some rest and proper diet couldn’t fix, and would have no adverse effect on the pregnancy or delivery Maya had felt relieved to know that, even as she shifted in and out of alertness One constant thing, was the feeling of a fa war a word

Maya felt safe just knowing Alain was right there next to her,was okay with her and the baby

When she woke up again, she turned her head to the side and saw the flowers, cards, balloons and even stuffed animals piled there She turned to the other side, and sht next to her bed His head rested forward on his chest, his arms folded as he nodded in obvious exhaustion Maya’s s him to worry and lose sleep She lifted a hand to reach out and brush back his dark, silky locks when suddenly, she let out a shocked gasp

Her outstretched hand was dazzling thanks to the biggest,she’d ever seen in her life Her jaw dropped in amazement as she tried to remember where the hell it had coeous cluster that winked and stunned

Managing to break out of her daze, Maya again reached for Alain’s lowered head and ran her fingers through his hair, ainst his dark mane

Roused by her touch he ca He looked disoriented for a e, disarladder to see those beautiful brown eyes,” he told her huskily “You kno scared out of my mind I was?”

He leaned forward to drop a tender kiss on her forehead, and Maya’s heart fluttered Damn, did she love the hell out of this man

“Would you by any chance, have sohtly thick, as she wagged her ringed hand under his nose

Alain srabbed her hand and kissed each finger “I was hoping you’d like it”

“I’d be crazy not to like it – it’s beautiful! But, what does it mean?”