Take My Breath Away

Seeing Debbie choke on the soup, Julie immediately picked up a tissue and cleaned the spilled soup on the table. "Why are you in such a hurry? Take your time," she said.

"Don't you guys try this on me again," Debbie cautioned, with a hand on her heart. Still a student, she had no plans to have a baby yet.

All of a sudden, she remembered something was not right—Carlos hadn't used a condom and she had forgotten to take her morning after pill.

Quickly, she gulped the soup and sent Carlos a text message. "Holy crap, old man! I didn't take my morning after pill. I don't know how I forgot that! Is it too late to take the pill now?"

Just before lunch, she had sent him a message asking about his WeChat account and he hadn't replied to it yet. But this time, his reply came immediately. "What pill?"

What was the name of the pill? She opened browser and Googled "emergency contraception". Scrolling down a few hits, she got it. Mifepristone! Quick as a wink, she copied the link, took a screenshot and sent him both.

Then her phone rang. "Debbie Nian, there are two things here. First, it's already too late for the morning after pill. Second, I want a baby. I mean, you and I should be getting desperate to have a baby by now, ' he said in a firm voice that made his intentions crystal clear.

"What?! But why?" Debbie asked in disbelief. Was he already desperate for a baby?

"Honey, listen to me." With the phone in right hand, he rubbed his arching brow with the left and started to explain. "Deb, we're a married couple. If you got pregnant, it wouldn't be something to tense about. Gladly, I'd personally want us to keep the baby. Understand?"

"But...but..." she stammered. She didn't know how to make Carlos change his mind. After a long pause, she found a lame excuse. "You want a boy. What if I gave birth to a girl? Will you ignore her then?"

Carlos was slapped hard in the face by his own words. In a flat tone, he said, "I can't afford to be choosy over some things. Whether it's a girl or a boy, I'd welcome the baby with open arms. As long as you're the mother."

"But I'm still a student!"

"College students can have babies."

"But... you want me to study abroad next year!" Debbie felt somewhat thrown off balance.

"If you got pregnant, I would go abroad with you."

"But... but..." She had run out of excuses.

"No buts. What you need to do now is not take after mor

a smile. The shallowness of the whole question made Jared curse. 'Come on, dude! Give us a break! Stop displaying how much you're crazy about Debbie when we are here!'

But if he thought the question was infuriating, Carlos' next words were even worse.

"Since the girl has bailed you out, will you please dance for her after the class? You can only stop dancing when she laughs," Carlos told Jared. Debbie couldn't stifle her laughter.

'At this rate, are we getting anywhere with our classwork?' she wondered.

The ridiculousness of the whole thing elicited quite some giggles and ripples.

Jared's face was as dark as ink. 'Carlos Huo, you jerk!'

As if it weren't enough, Carlos continued, "Well, if you can't dance for her, then you should see me in my office after the class."

Jared had no other choice. "Mr. Huo, I choose to... dance for Debbie," Jared said through gritted teeth, which sent the class into a hysterical bout of laughter.

When class ended, Carlos picked up his stuff, and pointing at the blackboard said, "Jared Han, you are a tall guy. You clean the blackboard."

Jared's jaw dropped.

'Again? Seriously? Did I owe him a million dollars or something?' he cursed in his mind.

Debbie propped her hand against her chin and looked at Jared who was cleaning the blackboard with a long face.

Kasie and Kristina approached Debbie and winked at her. "Tomboy, your husband is so caring."

Debbie flashed a sweet smile and said, "To be honest, I can't believe it myself. I really don't like him to dote on me like that, even using kid gloves on a hardened soul like me."