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Chapter 73
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2024-10-29 19:42:56I was once again woken up by Robert, though now it wasn’t after a short nap but instead after a deep sleep that seemingly had lasted for days. I was refreshed, I was charged up, I was… Incredibly late to drop Clara off for school.
“You sure can sleep,” Robert commented, sitting on the side of the bed. My eyes had wandered over to the alarm clock, it was 12:02 and I was officially the worst guardian she could have. I shot up in bed, but Robert blocked my way out.
“Clara?” My sleepy brain managed to ask. Robert smiled.
“Was taken to school by my assistant.” He answered. “We agreed that you should get some extra sleep, though I didn’t expect you to have the sleeping schedule of a teenager.”
I
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Million Dollar Baby Chapter 74
I found my apartment cleaner than it had been since the day I moved in here. Much like Robert’s house, not a thing was out of place nor did it look like a rampant child and a pregnant young adult lived here. The cleaners had taken care of messes that the FBI hadn’t even made, and I was more and more interested in how Robert had made his fortune, so that this ‘no cleaning’ lifestyle could become mine too.I had exchanged some vague messages with Max about possibly meeting up to talk, but really everything was just a big build up to the doctor's appointment on Friday. Every time I caught myself being nervous it was due to that appointment, and every time I reminded myself that it was probably nothing. Robert didn’t make this any easier, as he had his assistants check in via text almost hourly to see if I was resting or not.
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Rest.It was all that we were given in the end. I had to rest and avoid stress at all costs. Even when Robert started to lose his temper when he threatened lawsuits and taking away doctor Ward’s medical license. All we were told was that I needed to keep my rest.It was a good argument to hold over Robert’s head. Doctor Ward had kindly reminded Robert that him screaming lawsuits would only increase my stress. Even Robert didn’t know what to say to that. We left the office quietly.“I’ll have someone pick up Clara.” He said when we were outside again.“Why?” I asked. I was struggling to zip up my jacket, my hands were shaking so badly. The street itself was rather quiet, but the main road a little away from us
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I checked my phone every few minutes, waiting to see the text come in that I had been dreading. The car was otherwise entirely quiet, with only some sounds from the freeway beside us. Once I nearly dropped my phone when a car near ours started honking, but other than that I was definitely completely calm.I had sent Robert the carefully crafted explanation of why I didn’t think it was wise for me to move in with him for the remainder of my pregnancy. I walked the fine line of admitting that the hormones made it difficult to remind myself that this was a contract, not a relationship and that he could sometimes cause me more stress. Still, I dreaded his response.I had just dropped Clara off at Kiara’s place, where they would be holding a sleepover together. Both ladies seemed excited about it, which calmed my nerves a lot. Though I had
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The business card disappeared to the bottom of a drawer I never opened. Though the visit itself hadn’t caused the strange pains to return, I still had to think of my baby first. Possible murder allegations were a hard thing to put at the back of your mind, but with taking care of Clara and wondering what could be wrong with the baby, it was overshadowed by other worries. The tests had come back, and we were once again scheduled for an after hours appointment. Kiara hugged me tightly, before smiling at me. “I am sure everything will be fine.” She whispered. Melody was asleep, Clara was watching TV. Everything seemed as calm as I wished I myself was. I returned a shaky smile to Kiara. “I hope you’re right.” I managed to say. I said a quick goodbye to Clara and made my way downstairs, where the car was waiting for me. I was wearing my most comfortable clothes, with a fuzzy warm vest that felt like a constant hug. I needed ever
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For days on end, I felt like my body and mind were entirely numb. How could I have been so stupid?I thought that the hardest part would be giving up the child, yet I had managed to completely overlook the actual possibility of death. It sounded so medieval, dying in childbirth. I knew it still happened today, but I somehow thought it wouldn’t be me.I watched Clara run by me, closely followed by Kiara. I thought I was doing it all for her, but what would even happen to her if I died? Would she go back to Max? Legally she would have to, but the thought alone broke my heart.I looked back down at my phone. Obviously I had been googling the condition non stop, obviously it did nothing to help my numbness. The baby could cause internal bleeding, meaning an emergency c-section that the baby would most
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Robert’s povI looked up at the ceiling. It was a joke really. I pay all this money to have a functional and good looking home, yet when I need it to be a home, all I look at is that ugly grey ceiling. I couldn’t even be bothered to change it. What could I even put up there?With the thoughts of having my ceilings painted like they were the sistine chapel, I got out of bed. It had been another restless night, with nothing to distract my thoughts. I looked over to the other side of the bed, remembering how just a few weeks ago Dalia had laid there, complaining that I always got up so early.It was the life of insomniacs, I thought to myself as I hopped in the shower. We need sleep, but we never get it. Instead we are faced with hours upon hours of thinking time. When I was a teen
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I’ll call you when I need you.It might have been one of the worst things he has said to me. Not only did it shatter my trust, it made me feel like a proper idiot. To make matters worse, somehow I still wanted every text I received to be from him.I laid in my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Kiara was taking care of the girls in the living room. I could hear the sounds of the Lion King, Clara’s favourite movie, from here. It had been two whole weeks since that call, two whole weeks where every kick from the baby made me equally happy and sad.A new song started playing in the living room, closely followed by Kiara and Clara singing along to it. I owe her a lot of baby sitting after I give birth, assuming I don’t die, as Kiara was here every day now. Sometimes I helped her take pictures
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The car ride was far slower than I had hoped it to be. The sun was slowly starting to dip behind the horizon, painting the skies pink and orange. I wanted the beautiful colours to take my mind away from the whirlwind of emotions inside me. Sadly for me, they were just colours.Somehow, somewhere along the way I had fallen in love with him. I had started to think of us as an actual couple, not just a fake one. It was the one thing I never thought would happen, I thought I could just turn my emotions off as always and deliver this baby to get the money. To make matters worse, I knew Robert would never love me back.I forced myself to take a deep breath as we pulled up to the front gate. I needed to keep my calm, too much stress might make matters worse with the baby’s health. The dark green dress I had chosen to wear fitted tightly around my body, hug
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Clara had never been one for lullabies, she preferred bedtime stories even before she could understand what the stories were about. Flynn was the opposite in this. If you spoke to him, he cried, but if you sang to him he would fall asleep.I finished the third Disney song, all three coming straight out of Tangled because I lacked originality, and stayed for a few more moments to watch if he wasn’t actually faking me out and was still awake. Not that I minded whatsoever, I could look at him every minute for the rest of my life and never get bored.His chest rose and fell, his face all scrunched up to deal with whatever dreams he was having. He had taken to Robert’s old crib like it had been his own for years already. He was only a few weeks old and already smart enough to know that he should not fight his father on this. God, this baby is going
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“Drive slowly.” Robert warned him. “Or face her wrath.” The driver smiled politely at the joke, probably not realizing how much truth there was in it and that it wasn’t a joke whatsoever. The baby and I were finally both cleared to go home, but that did not mean that I was feeling fine and dandy again. I had a big c-section scar on my lower stomach, one that would surely turn into an ugly scar later on. The doctors had encouraged walking and moving around far quicker than I really wanted to. I could walk out of the hospital myself, but at a slow pace. After placing the baby carrier in the car, Robert helped me sit down. I felt like I was eighty years old with how much help I needed with everything, but Robert never once complained about it. I must have really scared him with the whole ‘my heart stopped beating’ moment in the operation room. He was never
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In books and movies, they always depicted unconsciousness as this great dark abyss. Like it was a black hole with me floating around in the middle. I thought it would be similar to being underwater, floating around like I was weightless and free. But as always, the books and movies were wrong. They gave me the false hope that I would receive some sort of tranquil experience in the middle of this chaos. In reality, it felt like I blinked. I remembered looking up at the bright white surgical lights with plenty of doctors by my side. I couldn’t feel anything, even if I did see the occasional blood soaked gauze come by. It didn’t register that that blood was mine. The room was spinning, until I finally heard my final call to let go. I heard the sharp cry of my baby, my first born. I allowed myself to close my eyes. I wasn’t allowed to rest for long. T
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Robert POVThe night my child was born happened in heartbeats.The first beat, I was at home. Dalia and I had a fight, even though I knew we shouldn’t have. She was important to me, but my child’s safety was at stake. We both knew it was just weeks of frustration and worry building up and overflowing. Tomorrow I would go back and we would make up again, and I would sit through another day of complaints and silence.I was reading Clara a new book. Dalia had reread the same ones to her a million times, so in her absence I decided to outshine her and buy the young girl some new ones. Tonight she wanted to hear about farm animals going on an adventure, even though she had already heard it last night. I wasn’t in the mood for another argument, so we got to reading.
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Sleeping was so difficult. My mind was in turmoil, my body was in constant pain. I could never get comfortable enough to fall asleep and even if I did, one kick from the baby caused sharp pains to wake me right back up again. I thought that was what had happened when I woke up again. I opened my eyes and tried to turn a bit to the right to get comfortable again. That was really all I did these days, slight adjustments in the hope that it would be enough to fall asleep again. I had been in quite a deep sleep for once and I wanted to return to it, but something else was bothering me this time. My mind was half asleep so it took me some time to figure out that I could hear some sort of obnoxious beeping, and then even more time to realize that the beeping wasn’t coming from any of the neighbouring rooms, it was coming from the machine next to me.&nbs
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I stared up at the grey ceiling. And then I stared some more. The pain was pounding through my body and it felt like it had been months since I had last been able to rest comfortably. Any movement made it worse, laying still did nothing to fix it. I just wanted it all to be over already, nothing could cheer me up anymore. Robert placed a kiss on my lips, but I wanted to slap him. It was his fault I was in this position anyway. If he hadn’t wanted a baby, then I wouldn’t be pregnant, then I wouldn’t be in this much pain. It was all his fault, not mine. “Doctor Ward is coming this afternoon.” Robert said when I didn’t respond much to his kiss. It had been a few days since Mr Price’s visit and Mahlia had confirmed that the FBI case against Robert
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The pain never really went away. Though the doctors reassured us, and with us I mean mostly Robert, that both the baby and I were safe, it still did not make for a very comfortable stay. I was either high as hell on pain meds, or cranky because of the pain. It was very much taking a toll on my psyche, and then being told that I would need to stay here until I gave birth only made everything seem worse. “There is no need really,” I said. “Nothing exciting is happening, and Robert is constantly watching me like a hawk. Honestly, I never even have a moment to myself anymore.” Robert smiled at me and flipped me off, while I heard my brother laugh. In the spirit of our renewed relationship, I figured that I should probably tell him I had been hospitalized. He was luckily not brave enough to ask if he should take care of Clara, because that was really not a decisio
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Robert POVThe examination room was more spacious than I had expected it to be. It clearly was designed for a pregnant mother who needed to bring her child along, as it featured both a bed with stirrups and a small play area for the child. The doctor’s chair was now occupied by a woman with light blonde hair and a windbreaker jacket that read ‘Child Services’, while Clara was in the play area, but touching nothing. Her head snapped to the door when I walked in. Her big eyes welled up with tears and she got up from the floor. She didn’t dare run to me, as she would run to Dalia. Instead, she hesitated, waiting for me to make the first move. I got down on my knees and opened my arms for her. She realized it was okay and ran to me. She was clearly in hysterics, her eyes were red from crying and rubbing her eyes so often and her hair was half in a ponytail, half like she had been in a tropical hurricane. She only cried more when she hugged me. I
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My mind was broken into a thousand pieces. I could usually be calm and collected in the face of stress but now I can barely will my legs to move. “The driver will be here in five minutes.” Steph said to me. “Too late,” I responded. “I will drive myself.” Steph nodded and turned back to her own desk to continue working from there. I was almost at the end of the hallway when I forced myself to stop and turn back.“Steph?” I said. She looked up from her desk, as calm and professional as ever. “I am leaving you in charge. Dalia is my priority right now.”“Yes sir.” She answered and went right to it while I headed for the elevator. The truth was that even in a building filled with Harvard educated lawyers and the best business people in the world, the only person I would entrust my life’s work to was Steph. She knew how I ran it, she knew my vision for it and most of all: She was fie
