Taylor suddenly brought up the topic of pregnancy, and Leonora's heart skipped a beat. She held her breath, swallowing hard before saying, “I’m not exactly fertile Myrtle here.”
But neither was she infertile. She was just a regular, healthy woman. Without needing to dig deeper, Taylor understood what Leonora meant.
Not pregnant.
Without a change in expression, Taylor gently moved his face away from Leonora's abdomen. His face might not have shown it, but inside, he felt a twinge of disappointment. Taylor leaned back against the headboard, maintaining his composure, and Leonora, propping herself up with her hands, sat up too.
In the silence that followed, Leonora reached for her clothes and began dressing without a word. Observing Leonora’s cautiousness, Taylor wasn’t angry but turned to her, touching her face gently, “Leonora, are you secretly taking birth control?”
Before Leonora could respond, Taylor spoke again, “You know, popping those pills like candy isn’t good for you. I don’t want any lasting effects because of our time together.”
He wasn’t holding the issue against Leonora, but that didn’t mean he was happy about it. Only the heavens knew how much it took for him not to let his frustration show. Because it wasn’t like he had forced her, nor had he been outright cruel to her.
Taylor kept his temper in check, and Leonora nodded, “I know.” But if he was going to continue refusing to use protection, then she really had to ask Joselyn to get her some long-term, side-effect-free birth control from her boyfriend.
Thinking Taylor was indifferent about not having gotten pregnant, merely fixated on the idea of having a child, Leonora said, “Taylor, if you really want to be a dad, you could find someone else to have your baby.”
Over the two years, Leonora had tried pushing Taylor away numerous times, hoping he’d shift his focus from her. Taylor didn’t appreciate that notion. His already sour mood darkened further, and he shot her a sharp look, “What’s with you, Leonora? Why do you keep pushing me away? You think our life is too good that you have to stir up trouble? Aren’t you afraid that one day I might actually leave and you’ll regret it?”
It was rare for Taylor to raise his voice at Leonora, and he said quite a bit in one breath. For a moment, Leonora was stunned into silence. Shock written all over her face, she tried to speak several times but stopped each time. Finally, just staring at Taylor, her eyes suddenly welled up with tears.
Though Leonora was generally soft-spoken, she had her own temper. The louder Taylor yelled, the more stubborn and unwilling she was to show weakness or cry in front of him. With her eyes brimming with tears, Taylor’s anger dissipated immediately, lacking the energy to stay mad at her.
After watching her for a while, seeing that she kept her gaze on him, Taylor couldn’t help but laugh helplessly. After laughing, he touched her face gently, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you. You’re my Achilles' heel. I’ve never bent over backwards to appease anyone like this before.”


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