Inside the bathroom, Jin Liwei held his baby girl’s long hair while she vomited into the toilet bowl. Ice Cream and Popcorn were meowing restlessly beside their mommy.
Jin Liwei knelt beside Iris and rubbed her back while she continued retching. He peeked at the toilet bowl and saw the clear water. She was vomiting so hard and yet nothing was coming out. Teary whimpers escaped her throat in-between the powerful, rolling heaves of her body.
His chest tightened at her pitiful state. If there was a way to take away her suffering and make her feel better in an instant, he would’ve already done it without even giving it a second thought.
“Ketchup, call your mom’s doctor to come to our room immediately,” he instructed, referring to the private, live-in doctor he hired.
“Wuwuwu! Yes, Daddy! Meow….”
Much later, Iris lay exhausted on the bed. She felt much better after sipping hot ginger tea that the butler delivered. The female doctor examined her and announced that she was now officially experiencing her first bout of morning sickness. The doctor assured the couple that everything was normal and all she could do was prescribe some methods to help alleviate the symptoms.
After the doctor left, Jin Liwei felt helpless that he couldn’t do anything more substantial to ease his pregnant wife’s suffering. He sighed and tucked her into a more comfortable position on the bed. Then he glared at her flat stomach.
“You two should tone it down a little,” he scolded his twin babies who were still growing inside their mother’s womb. “Don’t make your mom suffer too much.”
Iris pursed her lips and threw him an unhappy look. “What are you doing? Our babies aren’t even born yet and you’re already scolding them. What if they don’t want to come out because they’re too afraid of their dad?”
“I just don’t want you to suffer too much.”
“All the symptoms that I’m experiencing are normal. I’m not the only pregnant woman in the world suffering from morning sickness and all the other symptoms. And it’s not our babies’ fault that I’m like this. You’re the one who made me pregnant—”
Jin Liwei chuckled and leaned down to give her a quick peck on the lips. “I know. It’s my fault.”
The gentle kiss made her feel better. “No, it’s nobody’s fault. Aren’t you the one who kept on telling me that these twin babies are blessings to us?”
“En, they are.”
She rubbed her stomach. “I’m so afraid that I might do something wrong and accidentally hurt them. It makes me so worried every day. I’ve never felt so stressed in my entire two lives and I’ve been in many stressful situations before. But…I also feel so happy.”
He also rested his hand on her stomach. It was still very flat. “I know. I also feel very happy.”
“I haven’t even met our babies yet and I love them already.”
He smiled. “Same here.”
They both smiled at each other before gazing at her abdomen. Then Iris yawned, her eyes fluttering close with drowsiness. And just like that, she fell asleep again. [This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! Also follow me on Instagram @arriacross]
Jin Liwei kissed her forehead and then her abdomen. In a stern voice, he told his unborn babies, “Be good.”
After reclaiming his spot on the bed from Ice Cream and Popcorn, he once again fell asleep and dreamed about two little naughty daredevils bringing joy and exasperation in their home.
###
A cloudy weekend arrived, bringing intermittent light showers and an overcast sky. Iris’ current emotions mirrored the grey weather. Her stomach felt a little more unsettled than normal as she took countless glances at the clock.
“Mama, look!” Little Jun presented her with his latest artwork. Colourful, squiggly lines and various random shapes decorated the piece of paper he was waving in his hand.
“Oh, wow,” Iris said as she lifted the child and sat him on her lap. “What did you draw, Little Jun?”
The child began babbling excitedly at her. She could only understand some of her godson’s words but it was already enough for her to get the gist of what Little Jun was saying. It seemed that he drew her and his Papa Liwei together with all his four cat cousins, and of course, himself as well.
“Great job, Little Jun,” Jin Liwei praised and patted the child’s head.
Little Jun giggled and wiggled his way down from his Mama Xiulan’s lap. Then he shoved the artwork to his Papa Liwei before returning to his temporary art studio on the carpet. His cat cousins accompanied him on the floor. The lazy Ice Cream napped beside him while the hyperactive Popcorn was playing with a crumpled piece of paper.
They were in one of the mansion’s coziest lounge rooms where there was a fireplace producing natural warmth to the entire room. Jiang Ying Yue was still on duty, so both Iris and Jin Liwei volunteered to take care of Little Jun instead of leaving him to the nanny. Dom was busy ironing the rest of Iris’ additional meetings with the artists that she wanted to perform her songs. The two would join them at the lounge room later.
Jin Liwei took Iris’ hand. It felt a little cold so he gave it a gentle rub to warm it up.
“Don’t be nervous, love,” he told her in a soft voice. “Everything will be fine.”
She nodded but the tight feeling in her chest didn’t disappear completely. Fortunately, Little Jun’s cuteness eased her anxiety a little. She looked at Jin Liwei.
“How about you?” she asked. “Are you nervous?”
He didn’t answer right away but eventually admitted, “A little.”
“I hope that our talk with my brother later will go well. I’m not sure what to expect, to be honest. Even to me, my brother can be such an enigma. Nobody really knows what he’s thinking.”
“We’ll soon know when we talk to him.” He kissed her before standing up. “Take a short nap, love. You’ll feel better when you wake up. I’ll play with Little Jun for now.”
“Okay,” she murmured before closing her eyes.
