Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Samantha pushed him away gently. "Let's have dinner first. We can't keep Grandma waiting."

Timothy felt a little helpless and tapped the tip of her nose. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

She was keeping him on tenterhooks when she avoided breaking the news right away.

Samantha admitted it openly. "Yes. It's on purpose."

Her smug expression seemed to be telling him, 'What are you going to do about it?'

Timothy was not irritated at all and even said dotingly, "Okay, as you wish then, my lovely wife."

She would have felt all warm and sweet inside if he had said that to her before. At that moment, however, she found it laughable and disappointing.

Had she not known already that it was all an act, she would have been utterly oblivious to the sheer pretense of his affection...

Timothy went back to his room to change his clothes and went down to eat with everyone.

He added more food to Samantha's plate from time to time to let her eat some more, then urged her not to go on a diet anymore. Samantha tried to keep her nausea in control and chewed all her food properly before swallowing them.

After the meal, Samantha had her routine walk with Old Madam Barker outside the house to ease her digestion. Half an hour later, Samantha returned to the room.

Timothy had just come out of the shower and was wiping his hair with a towel.

When he saw Samantha coming in, he threw the towel on the sofa and stretched out his hands toward her. "Come here, you."

Samantha walked over obediently.

Timothy held her slender hand and exerted a little bit of force to pull her into his arms, causing Samantha to sit directly on his lap.

The man pressed his thin lips to her ears and asked in a magnetic voice, "Can you tell me that important thing now?"

Samantha rarely used such an adjective and he was really curious as to what important thing it could be.

She raised her eyes to look at him.

The man before her was truly flawless. He had thick eyebrows, a perfectly angled brow ridge, a tall but non-protruding nose, lips that were neither too thin nor too thick, and a beautifully-chiseled jawline.

His face was perfect when seen from any direction.

One could easily imagine just how attractive his child would be, regardless of gender.

The fact that she was so stupid to have been deceived twice was probably due in large part to his face.

Samantha's long eyelashes trembled slightly. She raised her hand and placed her fingertips on his brow ridge, drawing her fingers down to his nose bridge, until it slid further downward and landed on his lips.

Timothy was surprised at first but had a devilish little smirk. He did not stop Samantha from caressing him and jokingly said, "Was this what you meant by 'very, very important'?"

Samantha's movements stopped immediately when she heard his question.

Her lips began curling up slowly and she approached Timothy's ears bit by bit. Her lips then parted open slightly as she whispered a two-word sentence into his ear.

The expression on Timothy's face froze instantly.

A few seconds later, his black pupils stared intently at Samantha and his voice trembled slightly as he muttered, "You... Can you say that again?"

Samantha maintained her smile and repeated what she said earlier. "I'm pregnant."

After gulping, she added, "You're going to be a father, Timothy."

It turns out he had heard everything correctly.

Timothy's gaze shifted from Samantha's face to her lower abdomen. He wanted to reach out to touch her but he did not dare to and merely mumbled blankly, "I'm…going to be…a father?"

Samantha had a complicated expression when she looked at Timothy.

It was the first time she saw Timothy so stiff and somewhat helpless.

He was no longer the business world's all-powerful Barker Group CEO and had become an ordinary first-time father.

It was super adorable.

At that moment, she doubted whether everything Harmony said was fake...

Samantha clenched her hands firmly, causing her nails to scrape against her palm. The slight tingling snapped her right back to reality.

Timothy's reaction and joy had nothing to do with her.

Everything he did was for another woman.

She could not let herself be deceived any longer.

Samantha quickly adjusted her mood and said with a smile, "Yeah. Remember how I've been nauseous recently? I gained a little weight too. I was with Rochelle yesterday and she reminded me to take a test. I took it this morning and didn't expect to be positive."

There was a flicker in Timothy's dark eyes. He looked at her and could not control himself from kissing her lips. Even his voice was much warmer than usual, "I'm very happy, Sammy."

Samantha smiled too. "So am I, but the baby is probably less than a month old and isn't stable yet, so you're the only one I told. Let's keep it a secret from Grandma, just for now."

"You know that Grandma hasn't been in good health recently. If we tell her earlier, she might probably start worrying even more. It'd be better for us to wait until the first trimester is over and tell her only when the fetus is truly stable."

The man massaged her head. "Okay. We'll go along with you."

Timothy thought of something all of a sudden and reached out to grab his cell phone. Samantha asked when she saw that, "What are you doing?"

"Making a doctor's appointment. I'm bringing you to do a pregnancy check-up," Timothy answered naturally.

A pregnancy check-up.

He seemed quite anxious.

Samantha snatched his phone away and maintained that perfect smile on her face. "What time is it already, Mr. Barker? Who does a pregnancy check-up in the middle of the night? We can go again tomorrow morning since one night isn't going to make a difference."

Rather than getting angry at being lectured, Timothy smiled instead. "Yes, you're right, my wife."

Samantha did not bother to answer him and yawned, pretending to be sleepy. "I'm sleepy and I want to sleep."

"Okay."

Timothy then carried her body firmly and walked steadily to the bed. He then set her down gently and covered her with the blanket.

He then leaned over and planted a kiss on her forehead, "Have sweet dreams, Sammy and..."

He then looked at her belly, "…baby."

Samantha closed her desolate eyes.

…

The next day, Timothy and Samantha went to the hospital for Samantha to undergo a comprehensive check-up.

When the final report came out, the doctor said, "The fetus is still very healthy, but the mother has been a bit emotional. She has to maintain a peaceful mind or else it'll be bad for both mother and child."

Timothy frowned when he heard that.

To prevent him from noticing that something was amiss, Samantha immediately said in a coquettish tone, "Did you hear that, Timothy? You have to listen to what I say and avoid making me angry!"

Timothy's thoughts were interrupted by her words. His frown disappeared and he put his arms around her to kiss her on the cheek. He smiled and said, "Okay, I'll listen."

After leaving the hospital, Timothy sent Samantha to Lychee TV and only drove away after reminding her to take good care of herself.

Once the car disappeared from Samantha's sight, the smile on her face disappeared along with it.

Samantha took her phone out of her bag, held her phone tightly in her fingers, and made a call.