The Marriage Contract Natasha Black (top ebook reader .txt) 📖

I looked right at him, ready for the words to come tumbling out of my mouth. Only, they didn’t. Wherever they were, they stayed firmly there until Matt finally walked away into the kitchen.

“Want some more tea?” he called in to me.

“Yeah,” I said. “That sounds good.”

“Anything to eat? I see you broke into the crackers already, but that’s not exactly food. Can I make you something? Maybe one of the Popsicles?”

I wanted to say no. The idea of food was still not sitting right with me, and even though the peppermint tea did a valiant job of making me feel better, I didn’t know if it was enough to combat actually adding food any more involved than crackers to the mix. But before I could answer, that little plus sign on the test popped back into my mind. It was a stunning realization. This wasn’t just about me anymore.

I might not want food. I might not be hungry. But there was a baby who needed nutrients to grow, and that meant I had to be the one to funnel them to it. I needed to apply as few emotions to that as possible. If I was going to keep this to myself for now, overthinking it wasn’t going to work out for me.

“Maybe some scrambled eggs,” I said. “Really simple. No pepper or anything.”

“Toast?”

“Yes, please.”

“Bacon?”

“No, thank you,” I said quickly. I had a feeling that was just going to be a step too far.

A few minutes later, he came into the living room with breakfast and tea. He handed me a plate and a cup, then settled down beside me with his own. I took a cautious bite and was pleased when I didn’t immediately feel sick.

“Is there anything you wanted to do today?” Matt asked after a couple of minutes of eating.

“We need to do some grocery shopping and get a couple things for the house.”

He nodded. “Sounds good. We can finish up here and head to the store. You sure you’re up for it?”

I nodded, but there was a hint of hesitation in the back of my mind. I was definitely going to need to be packing gum for this excursion. The last thing I needed was to end up sick in the middle of the store. We finished breakfast and got dressed while making out our list.

I spent the rest of the day trying my hardest to act like nothing was wrong. Especially when we walked through the store and passed the baby department. I found myself stopping for a second and staring at the tiny clothes, trying to imagine buying them and wondering which I would choose. Matt called to me from up ahead when he noticed I was no longer walking with him, and I jogged to catch up.

33

Matt

“Alright, you clean downstairs and I clean upstairs, then we meet in the middle?” I asked.

Chloe nodded. “I’m sorry, I just don’t want to be going up and down the stairs so much right now. Don’t want to test it.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “A plan is a plan. If I can get to the bathroom before you’re done, I will.”

She nodded and looked hesitant, so I put my hands on her shoulders and kissed her head. She smiled and leaned in for a hug. I was so glad to see her feeling better, even if she still wasn’t a hundred percent.

The fact that my apartment was technically a townhouse meant I had a little more space to clean when cleaning day finally came. With the bedrooms up the short flight of stairs, I understood why Chloe didn’t want to go up and down it if she had been having stomach issues. I knew that in the few times I had a stomach bug when living there, I didn’t want to go up and down stairs either. Jordan’s old apartment was one that initially I passed on but was jealous of the first time I got sick because it was all one floor. The complex was full of weirdly different places like that, and mine was no different. Which was part of the reason I started upstairs where the bedrooms were with the plan to work my way down to the kitchen.

The master bedroom wasn’t too bad, actually. I changed the sheets and made the bed, but otherwise it was in pretty good condition. We hadn’t spent much time in it since she got sick and wandered back to her bedroom. The bathroom was a little more of a challenge, and I hit the music-streaming app on my phone to get some tunes on while I cleaned.

Occasionally, I ducked my head out of the room and glanced down over the banister into the living room to check on Chloe. She seemed to be doing pretty well and had her own phone on with earbuds in, likely listening to one of her favorite podcasts. I smiled as I watched her make her way around the living room with the vacuum and reminded myself that I would have to either get it myself or have us switch so we could vacuum the bedroom, too.

I made my way down into the second bathroom first. Chloe had spent a fair amount of time in there sick, and I figured it was best to go ahead and knock it out rather than go into her bedroom. Even though we were officially a couple now, it still felt a little weird to just go into that room. She had said once we cleaned, she was going to take it apart and make it less like her own room and more like a guest room again, but until she did, it still felt like invading her privacy by going in there.

Chloe didn’t notice me go into the bathroom, and I hoped I could get it done and surprise her, maybe let her take a break while I finished up the living room and kitchen. I went in and started by collecting any