I hear the door slam shut and smile to myself. Noah's home. I pretend I don't notice it and continue to stare at the pages of my book, vacantly flipping through them as if I'm alone. I hear him coming down the hallway, his beautiful, British accent echoing through the house, "Hello, honey," he calls, now appearing in the doorway to the kitchen."Do we have a visitor?"
"Huh?" I say, a little surprised at his words. A visitor? What was he talking about?
He doesn't seem to notice, but just bends down and kisses me quickly on the lips. I smile against him and look up at him - his perfectly disheveled hair, his strong jaw, his warm eyes. "What did you mean about a visitor, babe?" I ask him as he sits down, pulling his jacket off and hanging over a chair.
"Nothing," he mumbles absently. I give him a confused stare before standing up to get dinner ready. He watches me for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips pursed together - his thinking face. What was he concentrating so hard on?
I decide he's probably just tired. He's been working like crazy at the hospital. When you're gifted with the power of healing, you tend to be needed a lot around the office. Of course, his coworkers don't know that. For the most part, he sticks to authentic, medical healing. But sometimes, when there's really no cure for a patient, Noah uses his ability in secret. They call him 'the miracle doctor' over there. He's practically famous. "I made some lasagna for dinner. Is that okay?" I ask, reaching into the fridge to pull out the dish I had made this afternoon.
"Yeah, Mar, that's great," he says vacantly, still staring in a concentrated way at me.
I bite my lip and look away, deciding to focus my attention on dinner. I slide the lasagna into the oven to heat it up, then work on mixing a salad and setting the table.
He's still watching me in some weird, fixated way. "Noah, hon, are you sure you're okay? You seem a bit distracted," I say, setting our plates on the table. "Did something happen at work?"
"No, no," he said, smiling slightly. "Everything's fine."
I swallow and finish up setting the table, along with placing the food atop it. "Okay. Bon appetite!" I shrug, taking a seat across from him. He takes a long deep breath and piles his plate high with food, scooping practically half of the lasagna. I laugh at his appetite. You'd think a man who spends his days around blood and guts wouldn't be able to hold down much.
"Joseph's coming back next week, you know," I say, trying to break the silence. "He wants to stay with us, if that's okay. He says that Mom and Dad are just 'too much to live with,'" I laugh. Joseph's in his last year of business school and he's on break next week. He'll obviously visit my parents, but isn't too thrilled on the idea of staying with the for a week. He'd much rather stay with his cooler big sis - well, that's how I like to think of it.
"Yeah, you know I love the kid," Noah says before swallowing a large bite. He's still not completely here; I can feel it. His eyes are almost glazed over and he is still looking at me weird.
"Noah, what's going on? You're acting really strange," I say, shoving my food away. I've lost my appetite at the sight of his troubled face.
"Nothing, I tol-"
"No, I know something's wrong. Ever since you walked in thinking there was a visitor!"
He looks at me with heartbreaking eyes and I suddenly feel bad. He bites his lip before standing up and walking over to me. He kneels before me and I can't help but wonder what he's doing. "Mara, you know how the extent of my power allows me to . . . feel other life forms, right? I can sense their heartbeats, feel their presence. You understand that, yes?"
I look at him strangely. Of course I know that. I probably know the length of his power more than my own. "Yeah. But why-"
"When I walked in, I thought there was somebody else here. I . . I felt another presence, Mara. I thought at first you had a friend over or something, but you were alone." I study him carefully, trying to figure out what he's hinting at. He just stares back at me with those deliciously perfect eyes.
"I . . . I don't understand. Is there someone in the house? Is everything okay?"
"Mara, honey," he says, stopping me by pressing a kiss against my lips. I lean into him, despite my worry for where he's going with this, and deepen the kiss. His lips are warm and fruity, the feel of the stubble along his chin making my skin tingle. He pulls away too quickly, making me frown. "You're . . there's . . . oh, God, how do I say this?" he exclaims, running a hand through his hair. His eyes wander the room and his face shifts into one of concentration again.
"I - I don't -" I start again before it all finally clicks. I look down at his face for conformation and I see it in his eyes. The mix of joy and surprise, worry and unsureness. It's all so clear. I instinctively touch my stomach and stare at him in awe. "Noah, are you sure?" I whisper, unable to breath.
He nods before standing up. He pulls me gently out of the chair and wraps his arms around me. I don't care about anything in that moment aside from him. His warm eyes, his nervous, crooked smile. It's all so lovely. "I can feel it, Mar. I can feel . . him, I think."
I gasp at that, unable to contain my emotions. I'm pregnant. I'm having a baby - a boy. And Noah can feel him inside of me, sense his presence, his life. It's a beautiful thing to know that my husband can perceive such a thing.
"Oh, Noah," I murmur, unable to say much more. I wrap my arms around him and burry my face in his chest. He rubs my back and whispers words of excitement and happiness into my ear. He tells me that my heartbeats too high, which makes me laugh.
"Of course it is! I'm . . I'm pregnant, Noah!" I giggle, surprised to hear myself say it aloud. "Forgive me if I'm not exactly in the best state of health."
He smiles and tucks a strand of my dark hair behind my ear before pushing me back down into my chair. I laugh as he scoops an extra serving onto my plate, confused by his actions.
"What?" he says when he finally sits down.
"Why'd you do that for?" I say, studying his face curiously.
With a crooked grin and light shining through his eyes, he leans over the table and grabs my hand. "Because you're eating for two, now."
