Novels by Eileen Pryce

RUBYThe biggest challenge was telling our son. I couldn't deny that I was nervous for his reaction. He had learned a glimpse of pregnancy through Laura's moment. But it happened to his aunt, not me.Yes. I feared of his rejection."You know that Aunt Laura is pregnant, do you?" Wyatt began his words, sitting and playing on the floor with Austin. "And you can see her belly grows bigger, right?"Austin nodded to both the questions."And what inside her belly is a baby.""Yes. We will be friend after she's born." He answered with things Laura used to say to him, causing me to feel sorry for him. He would be assigned to more task."Right. You will be her friend." Wyatt justified. "But you know something. Mommy is pregnant now, like Aunt Laura. She will give you a sibling in nine months."I subconsciously held my breath when Austin finally turned his focus to Wyatt."A sibling? Like a brother or a sister?""Yes. We don't know it's a brother or a sister yet. But you will get one."Austin b

WYATTMy life couldn't be happier than this. Having Ruby by my side and Austin in our life, then there was more to complete our happiness.Ruby was pregnant.Of course, I was in bliss to hear that."Here. This is where your baby grows." A male doctor, who was doing the USG check, said while painting to the black and white area on the monitor. "And this is your baby. It's still a tiny thing." He pointed to a dot, which amazed me on how little a human was from."I can see that." Although it was hard to imagine on how the image resembled the real thing. It was our baby he was talking about.The doctor moved the tool around on Ruby's stomach to get a better view while kept explaining a few more things about what we saw on the monitor. "You said it was your second pregnancy, wasn't it?" He asked after the examination was done and the consulting session began.Ruby and I were sitting side by side across him."Yes." Ruby replied, hand on mine."What did it look like? Did your first pregnancy

RUBYI quietly got up from the bed, leaving the warmth of Wyatt's body and heading out of our room. It was five in the morning, and the sky was still dark. However, I had been awake for almost thirty minutes already after a strange dream came to my sleep.We were spending summer holiday in a beach, playing with water and sand. There was also a moment I was lying under the sunlight, enjoying the heat while watching my family far ahead: Wyatt and Austin.But then, a gurgle drew my attention, and there it was. A baby lied next to me, protected by an umbrella, whom I soothed.It was an abrupt conciousness as I opened my eyes with heart beating faster. No. It wasn't fear or a jolt, but rather an excitement. I felt happy for no reason but the dream.That was why I spent the next minutes staring at Wyatt while my mind was wandering to the imagination. What would the life be if there was one more member added to our family? Would we be happy like the dream? The beach must be great, then.I we

WYATTA week later, after some checks and tests, I was finally discharged. There would be a simple celebration for that, but not now. It could wait, at least, until tomorrow or two days later. As for today, I peferred to be surrounded by family only.Mom and Dad came home with us to help settle things down. But Dad soon left the house as he needed to attend to a meeting, whom I thanked for that. He took over my job and even managed things related to my accident and Foster.Oh, I heard about everything, that Tina involved in this. It wasn't a surprise, though, as I spotted a purpose act when the perpetrator sped up in Austin's direction. But I didn't think much of it because all in head was to save my child. Even after I regained conciousness, I was grateful that it was Austin's eyes I saw the first time. He was fine.It was all parents needed. Their children's health and safety."What will you do with that, buddy?" I asked my son, who pushed a quite large box, to the living room."To

RUBYThe result would come in a day. Thus, while waiting for the assurance, I invited Nicolas to Wyatt's room, where Mom, Wyatt, and Austin were present."I don't bring anything for Austin." Nicolas said when we were ten meters away.I chuckled, shaking my head. He indeed always brought us sometimes on his visit. But we actually didn't need it. His present himself in our five years was already a gift."He will be happy to see you.""He will be happy to see his gift, too."I stopped right in front of the door to face him. "You know he loves you for all these years, not your gifts."A chuckle left his lips. "I was just kidding, princess."I rolled my eyes, disbelief at the change on how he treated me now. "I'm not a kid anymore, Nic. Or should I call you by Dad?"He was taken aback, clearly not anticipating my question. "Anything makes you comfortable." He chose to be in the middle, not pushing nor declining. He gave me freedom to walk on this on my own pace."Well, I'll try to switch i

WYATTI noticed something wrong with her when Ruby returned to my room. She looked slightly disoriented and kept glancing at me as if she waited the moment we were alone."No. But I have a guess." It was my reply for her question. I didn't know what she was talking with Nicolas. But if that was her question, then he must have told her that, something only he knew.No wonder she was lost. The news must have shocked her.She tilted her head to the side, mixed emotions flitting in her eyes. "How?""When I saw him leaving your store. And have I told you? We talked the next day. Don't think it was a revelation about your blood. It was never that and Nicolas seemed not to be interested to share anything personal about him."Her forehead creased and her gaze demanded more information from me.I exhaled a long sigh before continuing my words. "He asked about our past. About how you and I met. Then I learned that he was following our life, particularly you. And the look in his eyes when he spo

Anna peered through the common bathroom door on the first floor before stepping out casually as if nothing had happened. She walked past Dave, who was sitting on the couch in their living room and reading a report on his tablet, with Zach crawling on the floor."Zach, baby, come here." She called for Zach's attention, which was never hard to get. "Let's play outside."And his reaction was predictable. He was running toward his mother excitedly. His smile was so big that it was going to explode.Being a child seemed fun, didn't it?She followed him, running out of the house to their yard barefoot. She couldn't help her own smile from forming on her face at seeing him and another happiness she had just found out about today.She was pregnant with their second child.But be quiet. Anna wanted to make a surprise for her husband.Oh, she couldn't wait to see his reaction!"Zach, come here. Mommy wants to say something to you."Zach halted his running to look at his mother with an indescrib

Three years later.She watched everything. Their every move, laugh, giggle, scream, and more. She couldn't help but grace a wide smile over that. It was too good to be true. But it was what that was as it was the reality.Baby Zach was now three years old and in his active days. He had run on every corner of the house and was always excited to run outside.Although it tired their body from following him around, she didn't complain, especially Dave. He always had the energy to play with him and never ran out of ideas. He raised their child with all his heart.She shook her head to force herself back to her place. She couldn't only observe them all the time, as she needed to finish the cookie dough.Zach had the exact liking as hers for sweets. So she tried to be the best mom by baking them instead of buying them outside or ordering chefs to make them. It was cheaper and could adjust to her family preferences, which she wanted, not too much sugar.As Dave said, sugar was a killer.She

"Hi, baby boy. I'm happy you're awake, and I can hold you. Your mother must feel the same way. But she's resting now, so let's not disturb her and play with me instead." His voice was laced with happiness as his eyes flitted the same feeling. There was nothing happier than this moment when he finally held baby Zach. And the fact that he was born healthy was wonderful. It could be perfect if his wife's recovery went well.Baby Zach wriggled his tiny hands and managed to capture Dave's finger. He gripped it though his eyes were still closed. Baby Zach might sense familiar and safe, so baby Zach didn't cry, which made Dave's heart swell with pride and warmth. Only his touch could do that, and he couldn't be more proud of that."What do you think about this world? It's amazing, isn't it? You have me, your mother, and your entire family by your side. And in the future, you will find your own friends."Baby Zach was just quiet, and if his grip was not still on his finger, Dave might have th

A few months later.Anna was closing drawers after checking what was inside was still inside.It might be confusing. The point was Anna had just finished looking at their baby’s needs, such as clothes, diapers, socks, blanket, and more. She wanted to make sure everything was ready when the time came, which was soon. Her due date should be this week, and she couldn’t be more excited to finally welcome their baby.She moved to the only bed in the room. It was big and had four wooden walls on four sides to protect the baby from falling. And it was the one Dave said could accommodate her body while breastfeeding their baby. She even could sleep on it too.Her hand touched the doll on the nearby side and placed it neatly between another doll and the pillow. She had some, mainly cute animal characters, to accompany him while he was sleeping.Yes, him. Their baby was a boy.“Do you like it, honey? It’s nice, right? Your father prepared them for you.” She spoke as her hand caressed her so big

"I saw everything, Anna. I know what you hide behind your back." His eyebrows raised as if waiting for her to reveal it by herself. There was no point in hiding it anyway since it was why he approached her. He already saw her enjoying the ice cream!"What do you mean?"So she was going to play with him. Unfortunately, he didn't want to pretend that he did not see that. "The bowl. Ice cream."And she could only force a grin."Come here." His hand reached out to invite her to come near him."No. You will scold me.""That means you know you were doing wrong. How many bowls have you had?""Hmm. Five?""Count it correctly, honey.""Okay. Okay. Nine." She raised both her hands in the air and surrendered herself."No, honey. The bowl in your back is the eleventh."He actually didn't have a problem with her enjoying the ice cream. But Anna liked overeating, and she might have more if he didn't watch her."Good job Dave. She needs to be more careful with her health." Rebecca, standing beside h

Finally, the day they had been waiting for came. It was hectic but also fun. Their friends and families gathered together to celebrate the happy day. What was more pleasing than that?The vow went well. Although Anna felt more nervous, everything was perfect this time compared to the real one. Her father led her to the altar and handed her to Dave, which generally did at a wedding ceremony. And she and his husband stated their vow again and became husband and wife one more time.And to make it perfect, he sealed their vow with a kiss on her lips. Then cheers and applauses filled the hall.It was indeed a favorable moment. And it lasted until night."It's a pleasure to finally meet the newest Mrs. Byrne." Alexander greeted Anna and took her hand to land a quick kiss, like how a gentleman met a lady for the first time. "My name is Alexander Green.""Oh!" Anna couldn't help but show her surprise. She heard a lot about him from Dave, but this was the first time they met in person."Based