“Thank you,” Akim said, standing and shaking the woman’s hand.
She smiled. “You two are going to be just fine. People have four children. It happens. And they go on to raise happy, healthy families. Plus, the good news is you can afford it!” Ophelia laughed at her own joke as she pushed the ultrasound machine out the door. “Big fan of your work, Sheikh. Let me know if you need another lab tech, huh?”
“Um, sure,” Akim said.
When she closed the door, Maddy turned to Akim, who was actually blushing.
“Do you often get recognized?”
“You said yourself you read about me in the papers. People tend to know my face.”
“Uh-huh. Well, hopefully this whole thing doesn’t get leaked. Perhaps we should have been more careful.”
“Rich men having children is hardly something new. Besides, those politicians have no idea what we’ve been researching at Akhemical; they simply want to use me in any way they can. There’s no way they could associate this with anything other than a fling that went too far.”
Maddy knew that in his way, he was trying to be comforting, but in no way did that make her want to slap him any less.
“Turn around, please. I need to get changed.”
“What? Did I say something wrong?”
“Do you ever say the right thing?”
“I’ve been told many times that I do.”
“Yeah, when you want to get a girl into your bed. After that it’s all just business, isn’t it?”
“Maddy…”
“I asked you to turn around,” she grumbled, and Akim complied.
For one small moment, she’d thought they might be able to have something more than a business partnership. Once again, she had been wrong.
Was there ever going to come a time when Maddy realized that Akim’s heart simply wasn’t there for the taking? She pondered this seriously as she finished dressing and the two of them left the office, making the next appointment before squeezing back into his sports car.
For a mother with four children in her womb, Maddy felt terribly, horribly alone.
***
Akim drove the car through heavy traffic back to the lab. The silence was thick. Finally, Akim broke it.
“Did you have any idea that Chlomerol would be so effective?”
Maddy sighed. She could talk about science. Science was a safe topic.
“Honestly, no. I had no idea this would happen at all. To think that one treatment, so close before…insemination…” she glanced sideways at Akim, who stared resolutely at the road, “could be this effective. It’s crazy. We’ll have to decrease the dose significantly in future testing, and likely play with the formula a little as well.”
More silence. Akim was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, thinking.
“Four babies on the first try, without the weeks in advance of preparation. Maddy, this is going to be huge!”
Maddy stared at him in confusion. “What’s going to be huge?”
“The publicity! We’ll have four children on our first go. Once you water the drug down a little bit so we don’t scare off people who don’t want to have multiple children at once, we can market the hell out of this!”
Madeline blinked. “Akim, you’re about to be a father. Not to one child. Not even two or three. To four children. And your plan is to use them for publicity? Do you hear how crass that sounds?”
Akim huffed, offended. “Maddy, you know that’s not what I meant. I want to show people that this drug can help them raise the families they’ve always dreamed of. What’s so wrong with that?”
“What’s wrong is that you’re talking about my—our—children like their purpose in life is to raise your profits and fame, and it’s wrong. Babies shouldn’t be looked at in that way, especially not by their father!”
Akim sat in silence as traffic began to thin and they were able to drive the rest of the way to the lab. He didn’t speak again, but Maddy watched his pensive expression from the corner of her eye.
Was it possible that he simply hadn’t really thought about the reality? That it was hitting him just now, having seen the babies in real life?
Part of her held a pinch of sympathy for him in that. The truth was, it hadn’t felt real to her either until she saw the ultrasound. Now her body felt heavier as she tried not to get upset over Akim’s cavalier attitude towards using their children for a profit. He pulled into his spot up front and turned off the car, staring ahead.
When he didn’t move for several moments, Maddy made to exit the car, but Akim stopped her with a gentle hand on her wrist.
“I’m sorry, Maddy. I know I haven’t been the most supportive, but thank you for letting me join you today.”
Maddy stared at his fingers on her pale wrist. “You’re welcome,” she said hesitantly. “You have the date for the next appointment, if you’d like to come.”
“I would,” he said. “I…”
Whatever he was about to say, he swallowed. Maddy didn’t want to take the chance on getting hurt again, so she pushed her door all the way open and stepped out.
“See you around, then.”
“Maddy…”
She paused for a moment, considering whether or not to hear him out. Would he truly apologize, for all of it? For getting her pregnant and then ignoring her the rest of the time?
Not likely.
Rather than be disappointed, she waved a dismissive hand and headed toward the building entrance, leaving him behind as the door made a reverberating slam behind her.
THIRTEEN
Maddy found herself walking past Akim’s empty office for the second time in a week.
She told herself it was simply because she was curious about the father of her unborn children, who had all started squirming in earnest. One of the quadruplets kicked her bladder again, causing her to head in the direction of the bathroom for the umpteenth time that afternoon; four tiny babies playing her bladder as a drum did nothing to help her hide the truth of her condition. Yousef had promised to help keep her secret, but it really was only a matter of time before the others found out, and she would have to come up with a plausible backstory that didn’t make her feel absolutely terrible for lying to her staff.
Akim had left for a business trip shortly after their first ultrasound. To her surprise, he had popped his head into their doorway, as she had imagined him doing so many times, but the conversation had been awkward and brief. She’d noticed his fingers twitch, as though anxious to touch her growing belly, but he had kept his distance.
That was two weeks ago.
Maddy sighed as she headed from the bathroom back to the lab. She’d begun wearing very baggy clothes, but she could hardly carry four children without it being noticeable very soon. She brushed the thought aside as she opened the door to the lab. It was the end of the day, and everyone but Yousef had left.
“Maddy. I thought you’d gone home,” he said, his eyes darting to her midsection, as they had a habit of doing these days.
“I’ve got some things I need to finish up with here. Yousef, go. It’s Friday, you’ve got a family to play with all weekend. Get a head start, and I’ll see you Monday.”
“You’re sure? I’m not sure it’s wise for you to be left alone in your…condition.”
Maddy frowned. “My condition isn’t even visible yet. I’m perfectly capable of sitting in a lab chair and getting work done, Yousef. Your wife has had several children. You know this.”
Yousef’s eyes were not unkind as he placed a bracing hand on her shoulder. “I know that a woman with child deserves to be treated with all the pampering in the world, and yet your eyes are tired and sad.”
Maddy stared into Yousef’s warm gaze, not backing down. If there was a black belt in hiding emotions, she would certainly have it by now. “I’m going to be fine, Yousef. I’m strong.”
“But you shouldn’t have to be.”
“None of us should. We should live in a world where everyone
’s needs are met and all things go exactly like we want them to, but you and I both know that life’s struggles are what make us into better people. Now go home. I’ll be fine.”
“You’re wrong, you know,” he said.
Maddy repressed a frustrated sigh. “About what, Yousef?” she breathed, shifting uncomfortably as a little foot began digging beneath her ribcage.
Yousef made short business of packing his bag before he headed for the door and turned back. “It is starting to be noticeable.”
“I’ll think of a story. It’s going to be fine.”
Yousef stared at her for a heavy minute before he nodded a farewell and pressed the door open. “As you wish,” he mumbled on the way out.
Maddy watched his back disappear and waited for the sound of his footsteps to disappear before she pulled out her phone. Pressing her mother’s number, she took a seat, propping her swollen feet up on a stool.
“Hello?”
“Mom?” Maddy said, her voice trembling.
“Madeline! What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
“I’m not crying, Mom,” she said, though at her mother’s words she instantly choked up.
“Yes, you are. I can hear you, no matter how far away you live! What’s happened? Are you safe? What’s going on?”
Her mother always jumped to the worst-case scenario whenever Maddy sounded upset.
“I am safe. I’m in the lab. Everyone’s gone home for the weekend.”
“Well then, what is it? Maddy?”
Her mother sounded so concerned, so loving. In that moment, all Maddy wanted was to throw herself into her mom’s arms and tell her everything.
“Mom, I’ve done something you’re not going to approve of.”
There was a beat of silence.
“You went through with the testing. What happened? Did it fail?”
“Quite the opposite, actually,” Maddy said quickly. She figured she’d just leave it there and let her mother work out the rest, which she instantly did.