The CEO’s New Baby

Chapter 7

If Kayla tried to describe the moment she was living, she would certainly fail. There was no way in which she could tell people how emotional she felt. She felt as if her heart would burst out of her chest, her entire body was reacting to the image in front of her.

If she had to think of a way to put everything together, it was safe to say that she was experiencing a hurricane of feelings. It was like a rainbow after a storm, a wave that washed over her and made her body tremble and shake. But even if she was to put it that way, people would still not understand how it felt to see your baby for the first time.

The little image, the shadow on the screen, was as good as holding it. It made the entire thing feel real, it made her mind truly wrap around the fact that she was going to be a mother once again. It was still too early to listen to the little one’s heart, but she could imagine what it sounded like. It must be just as magical as its sister’s had been.

“Is that really our baby?” Ryan whispered from beside her. He seemed just as emotional as she was. In fact, she could swear she saw some unshed tears in his eyes, but the light in the room was too dim to actually pay attention to that.

“I guess so,” she said, squeezing his hand as she took another glance at the screen.

The doctor was the same one who helped her deliver Emily, so she was pretty relaxed, unlike the first time around when she had been scared and unsure of how things would unfold.

“Well, Kayla I am pleased to inform you that the pregnancy is going according to plan. Your baby is healthy and is about one month old. Now, you were mentioning chemotherapy-” the doctor began, as she wiped the gel off of the instrument she had been using. Kayla nodded, brushing a wipe over her belly. “It is still too early to discuss, but if things go the way we expect them to and the baby is still as healthy as it is now, you may be able to start treatment after the fourth month.”

“You mean we will be able to get treatment before the pregnancy ends?” Ryan was the only one who could talk between the two of them. Kayla was unable to, she was too busy processing the possibility of actually being able to live through it all.

The doctor laughed. She was happy to be able to give some hope to the couple.

“Hopefully, yes! Of course, that also depends on what her doctor says.”

They didn’t care anymore. Those were all details, they now had hope. Hope that Kayla had been unable to see before. And she thanked the doctor for that. She had been able to deliver some good news. Thinking about it, Kayla felt like scolding herself. She had been so fast in losing hope, in giving up. She had forgotten to look at the bright side of things, at the light at the end of the tunnel. She had been weak for the slightest of seconds and that almost cost her the happiness of her family.

She promised herself she would never do that ever again.

“Thank you! Really.” She meant it. The doctor nodded and stood up.

“My pleasure. I will give you two a moment alone.”

Kayla did not see it coming, but Ryan did not waste a single second. He pulled her closer to him and wrapped his lips around hers. She could read his thoughts in that single kiss. The way he projected his happiness in the passion and heat of that one single kiss. It was his way of saying, ‘It’s all going to be okay.’ Kayla would have pulled back, she was never one to kiss in such public places. But she felt the same as him.

“Do you really think we will be able to get through this?” Almost a week had gone by since she first discovered her diagnosis, and throughout this period, she had been too afraid to ask that question. She feared the response, feared that she would hear something that would make her completely lose her mind and faith.

“I am sure we will. Now come on, we have places to be.” Ryan hated talking about it as much as she did. They both agreed that acknowledging the disease only made things worst. It gave it importance, and somehow, giving it importance felt like allowing it to have a proper place in their lives. A thing that they surely did not want nor wished for.

“Wait, what? Where do we have to go?”

“That, my dear wife, is a secret.” Kayla shook her head and smiled, immediately jumping from the bed on which she was laying. She knew there was no point in asking again. Ryan was never going to tell her what he had prepared. But, oddly enough, this time around she didn’t wish to know beforehand. She was in the mood for a surprise. Whatever that was.

“Can I open my eyes now?” Kayla was trying hard to fight the temptation of peeking. She was bad with surprises, and even after all these years, her husband still failed to understand that. She could hear the sound of keys, of a lock being opened. The sounds made her frown and urged her to open her eyes even more. But she fought that urge, Ryan had worked hard on the surprise, he always did. And ruining it would only make it all in vein.

“Just one second,” he groaned. He seemed to be struggling with whatever he was doing. “Okay, now.” His hand touched her elbow, guiding her a few steps before she finally removed her hands from her eyes. It took her a few moments to take it all in. The light inside the room was dim, the rays of the dying sun seemed to find it hard to penetrate through the dirty windows and dusty curtains. It took Kayla even more time to realize what they were doing there.

“Is this?” she asked, looking at Ryan for a few seconds before gazing at the room once again. Her feet seemed to have a mind of their own, moving through the few round tables scattered around the dusty room.

“This is your bakery. Or at least will be, as soon as we clean this place up and add some color.” He wrinkled his nose as he touched the surface of the table by him.

The air around them was thick, heavy with dirt. It needed some air that was for sure, and light. It needed a lot of light. But despite that, Kayla had to admit the place was beautiful. It was spacious but not too big, with a fireplace right in the corner, an element that could change the entire décor of the place, especially during the holiday season. There was also a counter at the far end, a place where Kayla would be able to display her pastries. Right behind the counter there was a door that surely lead into a kitchen she was yet to discover. All in all, everything fit the vision she had created back at the cottage.

“Ryan, I don’t know what to say,” she gushed. She truly didn’t. He was being wonderful, he was treating her the way every woman deserved to be treated. Everyone told her that the love in a marriage dissolved with time, especially after the appearance of kids. She had expected them to be right; after all, she never got to see a couple grow together. She expected him to grow a bit colder, to quit the surprises, the romantic dinners, or gentle gestures. But he never did. In fact, the more time passed, the more he showed her how much she meant to him. And in return, she showered him with the same love he felt.

“You don’t need to say anything. Just-” Just be healthy, he wanted to say. He wanted to say it so badly but held himself from uttering those words. They scared him. Only thinking about it made his body shake with fear. He couldn’t even imagine a world where Kayla wouldn’t be her happy, energetic, usual self. A world where Kayla wasn’t by his side didn’t even exist in his vocabulary. There was no way he could breathe without her by his side. “Just make sure you turn this place into the next sensation,” he said instead.