Page 46 of Pregnancy Clause in Their Paper Marriage

Then he realised he’d been saying, over and over,I love you.

‘Yes,’ he told her. ‘I love you. I love you. You’ve given me the biggest scare of my life this last week, but I love you so much. So, so much. More than anything, except perhaps our baby daughter, who is the most gorgeous thing in the world, save you.’ He kissed her again as she laughed brokenly, through her tears.

‘Is she all right?’

‘She’s going to be all right,’ he stated firmly. ‘And I’ll take you to see her as soon as they let me. She has your spirit, Lana, and your blue eyes.’

She laughed again, a hiccup of sound. ‘Christos, every baby has blue eyes.’

‘Not as blue as yours,’ he returned, and she smiled, although she still looked tearful, and that made him ache, because he knew it was his doing, and he’d never wanted to be the one to hurt her.

‘I thought you’d gone,’ she said quietly, a confession. ‘I thought... I thought you’d left me. For good.’

‘Never.’ He held her face in his hands as he gazed into her eyes, wanting to imbue her with his certainty, his strength of feeling. ‘Never, Lana. When you first...collapsed, back at the hotel, I wasn’t able to get to you in time. I’m so, so sorry. You were in the ambulance, being whisked away, before I could.’ He paused, knowing he needed to be completely honest. ‘I froze,’ he said in a low voice. ‘For just a few seconds. It all came rushing back—with my mother, with Thalia, myfear, and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything. But only for a moment, Lana, I swear.’ But a terrible moment too long. He knew that. ‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered. ‘So sorry.’

‘Oh, Christos—’

‘By the time I ran towards you, you were in the ambulance. And then they told me the wrong hospital, and by the time I got to you, you were in Theatre. But as soon as I could see you, sit with you, I did. I was. I swear, Lana.’ He squeezed her hands, desperate for her to believe him, for her sake as well as his own. ‘I let you down. I know I did, and I’m sorry. But I swear I never will again.’

‘A nurse told me she hadn’t seen you,’ Lana whispered. ‘And when I woke up, you weren’t there.’

‘I’m so sorry—’

‘It’s not your fault.’ She shook her head, squeezing his hands back. ‘It was just...for a moment, it felt like all my old fears came to the fore. All the insecurities I never let myself think about, never mind admit to anyone else. I thought about my mother, my father, the man I...’ She gulped. ‘And I wondered why I was even surprised that you would leave me, when everyone I’d cared about had left me before—’

He couldn’t bear to hear her say such things, and yet he knew she’d needed to say them. ‘Oh, Lana.’

‘I should have been more honest before, about how...vulnerable I felt, I suppose. I didn’t even realise quite how much until you were gone. But even so, I should have trusted you, Christos.’ Her eyes were wide, filled with both pain and regret. ‘I should have believed you would be there, if you could. It was just for a little while it felt as if I couldn’t even think—’

‘I understand,’ he whispered, because of course he did. ‘And I’m so sorry.’

‘It doesn’t matter.’ She smiled, although her eyes still held the pearly sheen of tears. ‘You’re here now. I’m so sorry I doubted you, even for a moment.’

He shook his head, his throat thick with emotion. ‘And I’m so sorry I gave you reason to doubt.’

‘You didn’t, Christos. It was me...my fear and insecurity.’

‘Still.’

‘No more looking back at the past,’ she reminded him. ‘Only to the future...a future where we’re together.’

He nodded almost fiercely. ‘Always.’

Her expression became serious as she continued, ‘I should have said those words earlier too, Christos, because I love you. I love you so much. I didn’t want to, I fought against it, but it happened anyway.’ She laughed, wiping the last of her tears, as he took her in his arms again.

‘I’m glad,’ he told her. ‘I am very, very glad.’

With a small, impish smile curving her lips, Lana leaned back to look up at him. ‘Three points regarding our marriage,’ she stated, eyebrows lifted in query.

Christos grinned, before making a show of frowning in thought. ‘Let’s see...first point, I love you.’

‘Second point, I love you,’ she fired back.

‘And third point, we love our daughter.’

Her smile turned satisfied as she nodded slowly. ‘I like the sound of those points,’ she said, and Christos kissed her again.

‘Me too,’ he replied as he took her in his arms, and she nestled against him. ‘Me too.’