Chapter 32 Get Rid of the Baby!
Emily asked Gabriel not to tell Dominic first, saying she wanted to share the wonderful news with him personally.
So when Dominic arrived, he was puzzled, "Why are we in the obstetrics department?"
Emily sat in the wheelchair with a charming, excited smile, deliberately being coy, "Guess!"
Dominic knew his wife well enough. Looking at her thrilled expression and putting two and two together, he had a pretty good idea.
"You're... pregnant?" His eyes narrowed slightly as he asked in a low voice, with no hint of joy in his tone.
Emily nodded eagerly, pulling out the test results, "Dominic, look! I'm pregnant! We're having a baby! You're going to be a father!"
Dominic stared at the test results thrust in front of him, his eyes tightening. He didn't reach out to take them.
Gabriel had been planning to leave now that his friend had arrived, but seeing Dominic's expression, he suddenly felt uneasy.
Sure enough, after a moment of silence, Dominic pushed down the test results in Emily's hand and looked at her, "We can't keep this baby. Since we're already at the hospital, let's terminate it."
This statement shocked not only Emily, who doubted her own ears, but also stunned Gabriel.
"Dominic!" Gabriel turned around, his voice filled with disapproval.
But before Gabriel could offer any persuasion, Dominic looked back at him with complete composure, "She's not even mature herself. How can she have a child? How could she take care of one properly?"
Gabriel spoke from experience, "You can hire help. With your status, do you really need to worry about finding someone to care for the child?"
"But the issue isn't who takes care of it, it's..." Dominic looked at Gabriel, seeing his righteous indignation, and suddenly didn't know where to begin explaining. After a pause, he asked pointedly, "Just like when Arabella got pregnant—wasn't your first reaction to terminate it? Even now, you haven't really prepared yourself to be a father, have you?"
Undeniably, this question stopped Gabriel cold.
Indeed, even now, he didn't truly feel like he'd become a father.
Henry and Isabella were smart and interesting, adorable and clever. Henry was handsome and well-featured, and Isabella was like a porcelain doll —any stranger would fall in love with them at first sight. But during the past three months, he hadn't felt that connection at all.
Only recently had he begun to slowly realize they were his children, that his blood flowed through their veins.
Coming home from work and hearing their voices made his heart suddenly soften. Holding them gave him an irresistible urge to kiss and cuddle them.
Men were naturally slower to warm up to fatherhood, especially when the children's mother isn't their beloved.
Gabriel briefly reviewed these memories in his mind, then said in a low voice, "My relationship with Arabella is different from yours."
After all, he and Arabella were childhood sweethearts who married for love, and they'd been married for over a year. Both their families had probably been hoping for them to have children for some time.
Since it had happened, they should joyfully welcome the new life.
Dominic shook his head, "It's the same. An unexpected new life that comes into this world won't be loved either."
Hearing these words, the pain in Emily's heart went beyond shock and disappointment.
Now she was certain—Dominic truly didn't love her.
If he loved her even a little, he could never say something so cold and heartless.
"Dominic, regardless of your attitude, I'm keeping this baby!" Emily's temper flared again, rebellious and stubborn, her words falling like a hammer blow.
Dominic stared at her, his expression shifting unpredictably, momentarily at a loss.
Gabriel's phone rang.
Seeing it was a call from Sterling Manor, he turned away to answer.
Joanna's voice came through quietly, "I heard Emily fainted, and you took her to the hospital?"
"Yes."
"Did you see a doctor? What happened?"
Gabriel hesitated for a moment, then said heavily, "She's pregnant. The fainting was probably due to her body adjusting."
"Really?" Joanna was shocked. "Emily's pregnant? This... this is wonderful news! Last time I saw her mother, she was complaining that they'd been married for over a year without having children. She's been hoping for this."
Gabriel replied, "I'm still at the hospital. We'll talk when I get home."
After hanging up, Gabriel returned to them and, after a moment of consideration, advised, "This is still a little life we're talking about. You two should sit down and discuss this calmly. I need to go."
Today was a special day, and it wasn't appropriate for him to stay here any longer.
Dominic nodded without seeing him off, his eyes still fixed on his wife in the wheelchair.
The two remained locked in a standoff, neither willing to give an inch.
Meanwhile, at Sterling Manor, Joanna immediately called Emily's mother after hanging up, sharing the good news.
Soon, all the women sitting in the living room had heard.
"Now that Emily's pregnant, she should finally settle down. After all, becoming a mother means learning maternal responsibility." This was said by Lydia, clearly with underlying meaning, making Joanna's expression darken.
But since today was William's funeral, no matter how annoyed she felt, she had to restrain herself and avoid conflict.
Arabella had been cooped up in the room for a long time. Coming out to use the restroom, she happened to overhear their conversation, and her heart skipped a beat.
A few days ago, when Emily had called to throw a tantrum, Arabella had used this very scenario to provoke her. She never expected her words to prove prophetic.
Emily really was pregnant!
Dominic must be thrilled – he was going to be a father.
Though she wondered how Gabriel was taking the news.
Thinking about her husband taking his former lover to the hospital and still not being back, knowing he'd probably learned about Emily's pregnancy before Dominic did, her emotions stirred again.
Gabriel's feelings must be incredibly complicated.
That evening, Sterling Manor was bustling.
William's final wish was that people shouldn't be overly sad after his passing, requesting that a dinner party be held after the funeral.
Gabriel returned just before the dinner began. As soon as James saw him, he delivered a stern reminder.
The gist was that on such a special day, he shouldn't be so focused on romantic entanglements that he became a laughingstock.
Gabriel knew that leaving publicly with Emily in his arms that afternoon had certainly caused gossip. He could only listen obediently to the lecture, then went to find his wife and children.
Arabella had been sulking in the room all afternoon and was now nursing the baby.
When Gabriel pushed the door open, she glanced back and said flatly, "Finished with everything over there?"
As if she knew nothing.
But Gabriel wasn't stupid—one look at her expression told him she knew everything.
"Emily wasn't feeling well today, and Dominic was busy dealing with company matters, so I took her to the hospital. That's why I'm so late." The man walked over steadily, offering an unprompted explanation in a low voice.
Arabella said nothing, just looked down at the daughter in her arms.
Gabriel sat down across from her, slowly exhaling. Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, one hand naturally took hold of his daughter's tiny hand to play with it. Dominic's words echoed in his ears.
Who said he wasn't ready to be a father?
He was thoroughly enjoying this role now, savoring the feeling of having both a son and daughter at such a young age.
How many people would envy this!
But his ability to be so enviable was all thanks to the woman before him. It was her persistence that had given him this honor.
Thinking of this, Gabriel felt moved again and continued in a low voice, "Emily is pregnant. She's very happy, but Dominic doesn't want children this early. They can't agree, so I don't know how it will end."