Frank shook his head. Kendall might be annoyed at me because I keep pestering her, but I'm sure her hatred for me is because of the baby. It's because I indirectly killed the baby. She claimed that I was sober when I wanted her. We met at a few public events after she married Jackson, but I never did anything to her during then. I didn't even look for her after she got pregnant and had a daughter. I never once suspected that her daughter would be my child. My lack of responsibility toward her had led to the baby's death, so I indirectly killed my own daughter. How dare I paint a portrait of my own baby after doing such a thing? How dare I hope the baby will give us another chance to be her parents?
Frank felt like his heart was being stabbed by a sharp knife. It hurt so bad that his face had turned pale. He never knew how horrible it felt to feel this mixture of heartache and regret! "Desmond…" Frank mumbled. "You should get some rest. I want to… be alone."
Desmond looked at him worriedly. "I'm not going to drink anymore," Frank added with a bitter smile. If alcohol was the antidote to his sorrows, then sobering up was a magnification of his pain. It didn't matter if what happened was a dream or reality—Frank knew that things would never work out between him and Kendall. The only way he could make himself feel better was to treat Kendall better and make up for his wrongdoings. However, when he thought about how Kendall had gotten married to Dylan and became Dylan's legal wife, Frank could still hear his heart shattering into pieces.
"You should apply some medication on your wounds, Mr. Mendelson." Frank only glanced at the painting after hearing Desmond's words. "It's fine. I want it to hurt." His cuts and bruises were nothing in comparison to his daughter's death. Desmond couldn't do much in response to Frank's stubbornness—he ended up leaving the hall in the end.
Frank was left alone in the large hall after that. He slumped against the couch and stared at the painting of the baby for a long while. Eventually, tears started streaming down his cheeks.
…
"My baby." While Frank was tearing up at the child's painting, Kendall dreamt of her baby crawling toward her. Still, the baby was only seven months old, and she didn't know how to crawl yet. This made the baby rather anxious, and she started crying out for help. Kendall wanted to go over and carry the baby, but no matter how much she walked, she couldn't seem to get any closer to the baby. Both mother and daughter were anxious to get to the other. At some point, Kendall felt too frustrated, and she cried loudly for her child. That was the moment she woke up from her dream.
She opened her eyes to be greeted by Dylan's dark pupils. At first, she was too stunned to do anything but stare at him. Moments later, she turned to look at the window. Even though the curtains were rather thick, she could tell it was bright outside. The thick curtains couldn't block out all of the sunlight from entering the room.
Dylan took a few pieces of tissue and gently wiped the cold sweat off Kendall's forehead as he spoke. "The air-conditioning is on, and I had a blanket over me, yet you were sweating in your sleep. You must have been panicking in your dream." Kendall recalled her dream then. "I dreamt of the baby. She was trying to crawl to me but didn't know how to, and she kept wailing and calling for me. I wanted to carry her into my arms, but I couldn't seem to get to her at all."
Dylan's eyes gleamed for a moment. Is the baby trying to return to have Kendall be her mommy again? We used protection last night, so the baby didn't get a chance to come back… Is that what it is? Dylan didn't believe in reincarnation; he thought every person only had one lifetime. But Dylan, Kendall, and Frank's dreams were all related and could be pieced together. This came as a surprise to Dylan, and it was starting to change his worldview and opinions. I guess some things can't be explained by science and logic. Dylan was an atheist, and he didn't believe in past lives. Regardless, Kendall was a firm believer in reincarnation and quickly comprehended what her dream meant.
"Do you think the baby's trying to come back to me? Does she want to be my daughter again?" she asked Dylan. He responded by flicking his slender fingers against her forehead. She rubbed her palm after he flicked her on the head. "I've heard of demon possessions, but I've never heard of someone being possessed by their dreams. You claim that Frank is mentally ill… Do you want to be the same as him? What's this talk about being your daughter again? When have you ever given birth to a baby? Are you treating your dreams as reality now?" he said.
Kendall was speechless for a moment. "Hey, Master Dylan. Are women in your family allowed to go to work after getting pregnant?" she asked abruptly. He pinched her on the nose before edging closer and pecking her on the lips. When he was satisfied with their physical interactions, he sat up to give her an answer. "Have you forgotten about the number of arguments I got into just so that you could have the freedom and the career you wanted?" Usually, women who became part of the Coleman Family weren't allowed to work. It'd be impossible for a woman to think of going to work while pregnant.
Kendall stuck her tongue out as she sat up in bed. She leaned over and hugged Dylan from the back just before he got out of bed. "Thank you for everything that you've done, darling," she said while resting her face on his back. He didn't take her arms off his waist immediately—he responded with a gentle tone instead. "Once you get pregnant, you'll have to stay home and rest. I can speak up for you regarding other things, but when it comes to staying home during your pregnancy… I support my family's decision on this one."
Dylan didn't mind spoiling and supporting her when it came to other things, and he didn't need her to follow all the family rules. But if she got pregnant, he didn't want to have her working and straining herself as much as she was doing now. I'm rich, anyway. I can financially support Kendall and our children even if she doesn’t work for the rest of her life. So, she doesn't need to go to work when she's pregnant.
Kendall quickly pulled her hands away from his waist. "You've never seen pregnant women who work really hard even with their huge tummies in the way have you? Well, the fact is that most pregnant women are capable of doing some things. They're only required to be on bed rest if they're going through some complications," she explained.
Dylan turned to see a grumpy look on the woman's face. He chuckled and pinched her cheeks. "Well, I'd feel bad to see you work so hard. We don't need the money, anyway. If you really get pregnant, I just want you and the baby to be safe. You don't need to worry about anything else," he said. "There're tons of women who probably wish to stay home and rest during their pregnancy. But, on the other hand, you seem to be blaming me for telling you to stop work. It's almost as if I'm torturing you in some way."
She stared at him speechlessly. "Some pregnant ladies get a lot of nausea throughout their pregnancy. If your symptoms are bad, and you're puking all the time, do you still think you'd have the energy to go to class?"
"…You sound like you know a lot about this, huh," Kendall muttered. Dylan simply giggled in response to her words. "I'm quite a few years older than Alice, so I was mature enough to know what was going on when my mother had her. My mom had terrible nausea back then," Dylan explained. Kendall thought about his words for a while, and she realized that she didn't have much to counter him in the end. "Well, I guess I'll have to wait for a while before getting pregnant. There's still a lot that I'd like to do," she said flatly.
Dylan pulled her into his arms. "I don’t want to have a child so soon, either. So let's enjoy our time together, and we can think about having a child in a few years' time." He was turning 30, but she was still young. She wouldn't have turned 30 even after another three years.
"If your family knows that you're physically well and see that I'm not getting pregnant, they'd probably suspect that I'm infertile. So they'll force me to divorce you when that happens," Kendall protested.
"No one is allowed to meddle with my business unless I allow them to!" Dylan declared sternly.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Love Knows No Bounds novel (Kendall and Dylan)
Beautiful story....