"You should eat now," Darian freed Lena from his hold. She folded her arms against her chest, wriggling her head like a toddler. "Please, you haven't had something nice to eat for days," he looked at her, persuading her.
"Darian," she clutched her fingers around his.
"Yes? Do you want me to do something now?"
"Did you tell my dad about the pregnancy stuff?" She queried.
He sighed, he didn't have a relationship with her dad. They used to be gambling buddies, and since he got married to Lena, he had not seen Gavin or heard from him apart from when he called her phone a few weeks back, and the phone was with him then because Lena was locked up.
"I didn't, there is no way I would. This is our business, we should let it stay between us and Lisa, of course. I know you tell her everything, she knows too much about us, but it's okay. I believe you know when and where to draw the line." His voice was stern, but he quickly changed to a soft one. "Why won't you eat?" He asked.
"Darian, I don't feel like it." She rested her back on the headboard. "I don't have an appetite yet."
"We will force one out of you," he stood on his feet, looming over her. Lena fluttered her eyelids, trying to understand what he was about to do. "Please, you have to eat. If you want I could order food for you if you don’t like we have at home. Tina went to college, I can easily call her to come to cook for you, I will do anything." Darian stared pleadingly into her eyes.
"Darian, you don't have to. Let Tina be, I will eat when I deem it fit." She said, sighing.
Darian stopped arguing with her. He bent down and pinned her with both hands.
"Darian," she tried to push him away, but it was too late. He pulled her closer and yanked her off her feet. "Darian," she hit his shoulder lightly. "Oh, I was going to eat, I was," she smiled.
"I know you won't get out of that bed if I don't do something about it. It's fine, it's okay, you should stop sulking and get back on your feet." He carried her round the hallway down to the living room.
He met with Jay in the living room. Lena wriggled her legs, feeling embarrassed as Darian carried her like a little child. "Let go of me," she ducked.
"Sorry boss, I didn't know you were busy." Jay bowed, striding out of the living room.
"Just go after him, he has something important to say to you," Lena groaned, he hadn't put her down.
When they got to the dining table, he unhurriedly lowered her down on the dining chair. "Whatever he has to tell me can wait, you are more important now." He said, kissing her cheeks. "Taking care of you is paramount now. Now sit while I serve your food." He hurried into the kitchen before she could speak.
Darian was under the scrutiny of Lena's eyes as he waddled away. Smiling faintly, she looked around the dining room, she had missed many days not eating at the table.
She was back home now and everything seemed right except that she still felt a tinge of sadness whenever she thought about the pregnancy she lost. But Darian assured her they could make other babies.
Nodding her head, she made a promise to be conscious of her body henceforth and make sure that she took good care of the next pregnancy she'd have.
Darian walked back into the dining room with a large tray in both hands, he dropped the tray on the glass dining table and crouched next to Lena.
"What did you prepare?" She asked, smiling.
Darian shrugged his shoulders, relieved the smile was back on her face. Even though it was still hazy, he had hope that she would start smiling brightly soon. He would keep on trying until there was a colorful smile on her beautiful face.
Darian removed the cloche, revealing a plate filled with brothy tomato and fish soup. Lena gasped, she was sure Darian didn't cook that, she could bet he didn't. The aroma of the soup assailed her nose, she'd not eaten properly in weeks.
"Do you like this?" He noticed the pleasant look on her face.
He smirked and proceeded to open the other plate. On the second plate were lots of vegetables, she wondered if Darian was trying to turn her into a vegetarian. There was salad on the other plate and finally, rice on another.
"You made all of these yourself? The soup? Rice and all?" She asked, pointing her fingers downwards on each plate.
"Are you doubting me?" Darian looked at his wife.
"You've been sleeping for hours, you wouldn't know that I cooked." He said.
"How did you learn all of these?" She was still dumbfounded.
"I took lessons. After that day you didn't appreciate what I prepared for you, so I searched online for some cooking tutorials." He replied to her, unashamedly.
Lena was delighted, she was certain this man would do anything for her. He'd always proved himself to her. He showed how much he cared about her and she suddenly felt so bad for pushing him away all this while. He cared so much about her and didn't hesitate to prove that to her. She was impressed by how much he had changed.
"Great," she commended, clapping her hands and smiling heartily this time. Darian took her hand and gave it a light squeeze.
"So, these are the things you learned?" She asked.
"No, I learned different things, but I prepared all these because you are not feeling too good. You are depressed and when I browsed the internet for food to cook for a depressed person, these appeared on the search list. It took me hours, but I am glad I was able to prepare them. It wasn't easy, I won't lie about that." Lena didn't stop smiling as her husband explained the ordeals he passed through to cook for her. He added a bit of cream to the salad, and mixed the vegetables on another plate, he took a forkful and stretched his hands to her mouth, "ah," he demonstrated.
"Ah," Lena repeated, he shoved the salad into her mouth. "You should eat a lot to hasten your recovery, I got you some pills from the hospital."
"No, Darian, I don't want the pills." She shook her head in rejection. "I just need to rest, I will be fine without the pills, I don't want to take more of them." She said.
Darian furrowed his eyebrows to ask if she was sure about what she was saying. She nodded her head in response, giving him a reassuring smile.
"You should taste the fish soup too, I specially made it for you." He pushed the plate next to her.
Lena nodded her head, she took a spoonful and bounced her head in gratification.
“Too good," she moaned. "I don't believe you prepared this," she took more, "you didn't add limes, it'd have been better if you added limes, but it's perfect regardless. Reminds me of my mom. My dad makes her fish soup whenever she is sick." She grinned, shaking her head, and her expression turned sour.
"Hmmm," he wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about her mom. "I didn't add limes because I felt you would not like it. Lime has a sour taste already, I want you to taste something sweet and not sour." He said thoughtfully.
Lena consumed almost the whole bowl of the fish soup, she proceeded to the rice and devoured almost everything too.
Darian was glad he cooked for her, she was really hungry. She ate so much, making up for all the days she'd not eaten well. Darian was satisfied. Seeing her eating and chatting with him elated him.
When she was done eating, she widened her eyes in shock realizing how much she had eaten.
“Oh my God," she stared shyly at Darian who seemed unbothered about it, that was what he wanted.
"Now that you have eaten, you should sleep. I have a surprise for you after you wake up." He told her.
"Darian, I don't want to sleep," she slurred, her eyes partially closing. She was sleepy but tried to suppress the yawn that threatened to leave her lips.
"You are drowsy, I know you want to sleep." Darian straightened up and lifted her again. Lena chuckled.
"Put me down," she laughed but he didn't listen to her. He carried her into the bedroom, positioning her on the bed, he wrapped her body with the duvet.
"Sleep well," he kissed her forehead.
"Hey, don't go." Lena held him back from leaving her. "Stay with me," she yanked the duvet off her body and sat straight. "Thanks for all that you do, Darian. Thank you for cooking for me too," she said, fiddling with her fingers.
Her heart was beating so fast. She caressed his face with both hands and bit her lower lips.
"You are sleepy," Darian muttered in a husky voice. "Get some rest, I will stay with you." He touched her shoulders, attempting to propel her back to the bed. Lena shook herself off his grip.
"What do you want?" He asked when she was hesitant.
"Kiss me, Darian. I want you to kiss me." She said in a sleepy voice.
Darian smiled.
He leaned closer and placed his lips on hers, tasting the wetness of her lips. He had missed those plumpy lips so much.
He kissed her softly, gently nibbling her lips. The kiss was about to get deep when Lena fell on his chest, dropping tired. He checked her to find out what had happened.
She had closed her eyes and fallen asleep. He shook his head, she always intrigued him.
He wondered who sleeps off while kissing.
He laid her back on the bed, pressing a long kiss to her forehead. He arranged her hair to the side, his eyes ogling her tiny frame for a very long time. He later got off the bed and wrapped her back with the duvet.
"Goodnight," he muttered to her, resuming to his study that night. He had some unfinished businesses to deal with.