The corner of Mark’s lips trembled a little. After being patient for so long, he was finally allowed to sleep with the woman he loved and enjoy her at night without holding back, which was why nothing could be less horrifying than the prospect of sleeping alone for the rest of his life. Yet, at the same time, he frowned at the idea of Arianne going out there for work.
It was not that he was chauvinistic or old-fashioned. He just did not want his sweetheart to break a sweat, ever.
Fine, maybe the other teensy-weensy factor was that there were too many men out there who could fall for her beauty, and Mark was not okay with that at all.
Arianne had not the slightest bit idea of the direction Mark’s thoughts had taken. She was too excited to hear his answer tomorrow. Naturally, she was sure that he would, ultimately, consent to her request and let her get a job.
Then, in the darkness, she heard the unmistakable sound of a plastic packet being ripped open.
A shiver ran through her body. “What the hell are you doing?”
He rolled to his stomach, pressing her under him. “What else do you think I’m doing? What, will you stop me? How about this, if you could take care of both our baby’s needs and mine, then yes, maybe you do have the mettle to work. Don’t go around complaining about being exhausted by then!”
Arianne was speechless by the “surprise.” Indeed, she remained silent even as he roved through her body.
It was hard to tell if it was deliberated, but Mark seemed to eschew putting brakes on himself this time. Usually, he limited himself to one round, but tonight, he went on and on, to the point that Arianne was so exhausted, she fell asleep mid-action.
When Arianne finally roused from her sleep, it was already close to eleven o’clock in the morning. Mark was already off to his company. Crossed, she grabbed his pillow and pelted it as hard as she could with her fists as though she was hitting the man himself.
Before her steam was entirely let out, Mary pushed open the door, Smore in her arms, asking, “You’re up, Ari? Master Aristotle has been bawling. Seems to me that he misses his mommy.”
Her words threw Arianne into a loop. Since when was her milk “insufficient”? True, prior to her delivery, she worried that she might not have enough milk to squeeze out of her A-cups. However, after the baby was born, Arianne quickly realized that the amount of milk produced never depended on her breasts' size. In fact, the milk she produced naturally was enough to feed two babies simultaneously! How would Mark know if she had enough milk or not? It was not like he was the one who drank it… right?
Smore’s previous teary tantrum might have depleted much of his energy because after suckling for a while, he fell asleep. Mary was quick to grab the baby away from Arianne’s arm.
“Okay, wash yourself up and come downstairs for your meal. I’ll be bringing your son to the nursery right away,” she said. “Mr. Tremont is against holding a sleeping baby in arms, right? Says it might foster a bad habit in the kid.”
Arianne responded with a soft sneer. Mark had made it clear that he wanted his son to be independent as soon as possible, and one of the ways he believed could help was bringing the child to the nursery alone as soon as he fell asleep. Subsequently, he was very much against the notion of holding a sleeping baby in one’s arms.
Smore was always going to sleep in a separate room; it was a habit that could start since he was a baby. In other words, he was probably never going to enjoy the warmth of nestling in between his parents.
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