Flash Marriage: Shrewd Wife, Devious Husband
Chapter 42: A Hiccup

Chapter 42: A Hiccup

The next day was Saturday. Tony went out early after breakfast. He was apologetic for having to leave and prepared breakfast. Marcella didn’t mind. If he had work, he would have to leave. He didn’t have to be too apologetic.

Marcella decided to look for nannies. She needed to go back to work on Monday. She cannot lose any more pay.

With the yellow pages on hand, she searched for proper agencies and noted the phone numbers down.

She was only into it for five minutes, and the baby called her with his loud cry. He’s been crying every half an hour since last night. Poor baby must already feel the absence of his mother.

No matter how nice she tried to treat him, she was not his mother. He would know that.

"There... there... What do you want now?" she picked him up from the crib. He didn’t stop his moaning.

She checked his diapers, and it was clean. His temperature was normal, and he was not interested in eating. She walked around the house rocking him in her arms.

Joey fell asleep as she started humming "You are my sunshine", a song her mother used to sing to them a lot. She tried to put him back on the crib but he didn’t like that.

"I’ll hold you then," she kissed the baby’s chubby cheeks and walked back to the table.

Holding the baby, she looked for more agencies. She called a couple of them. She thought her voice might wake up the baby but it didn’t. He was like this last night too. He’s sleeping if she was holding her, otherwise he becomes fuzzy.

Poor baby...

The agencies gave her some contacts who would be available for her convenience. Marcella checked the details of the nannies and shortlisted four nannies whom she thought would be perfect.

She thought it would be better if she meets them before choosing one of them. She figured it would be better if she chose a place farther from their home. She needed to make sure they are trustworthy people. She cannot take chances with the safety of Joey. The ones who came after his parents might come for his life too.

As she was planning on a place, she got disheartened. If she was going to be this worried about finding a "safe" nanny, would she be able to work stress-free leaving Joey with another person? No matter what, she cannot trust anyone.

What if someone "buys" the nanny she chose, and Joey gets hurt?

She closed the yellow pages and let out a deep sigh. Getting a nanny was not an option anymore. But should she quit her job?

In the afternoon, she took a nap with Joey on the bed. She couldn’t sleep last night with the baby acting fuzzy. He slept fine on the bed. It made her think if Joey didn’t like the crib and was used to the bed.

She didn’t even go to the bedroom at night. She stayed in the nursery the whole night as Joey didn’t let her leave.

Come to think of it... He didn’t ask for a kiss...

Marcella shrugged it off. It might have been a slip of tongue that he asked that. He probably didn’t mean it.

She prepared dinner and waited for Tony. He didn’t return even when the sky turned dark. She ate her fill and stored the leftovers in the refrigerator.

She thought of looking for his office number and give him a call. But she decided not to. It is entirely possible he was not working in the office.

After feeding and burping the baby, she changed him. For some reason, he liked watching her cook and eat. He looked tired. Marcella lied on the bed with Joey. Tony told her that he had a key and she had no need to be awake.

But...

She went to the dining room and wrote a note.

She could fall asleep peacefully after writing that note.

When Tony returned, it was almost midnight. He saw the dimly lit house with only one light turned on. That was a great improvement from he past when he returned to darkness. There was clean water on the jug, and on the table...

Is that a note?

He picked it up.

[There’s leftover dinner in the refrigerator. Wake me up, I’ll heat it up for you. ]

He smiled seeing the note. Closing hie eyes he pressed the note to his lips. He then safely stored the note and got to the refrigerator.

The cold food tasted better than any meal he had on fancy restaurants. He wiped his plate clean. After making sure he left the kitchen clean as she left it, he walked to the nursery.

She didn’t return to the bed last night and stayed in the nursery. He didn’t like that at all. Today, he thought of getting a single bed for the nursery but then he decided against it. He cannot let her get comfortable in another bed when his bed was waiting for her.

He was surprised to see the empty nursery. With large gait, he walked to his bedroom. Her let out a deep breath seeing Marcella and the baby on the bed. There was space left for him too.

A little space, but that was all he needed.

He changed and joined his little family on the bed. He lied careful not to squish the little baby. He feared of rolling on the baby. Lying on his back, he stared at the ceiling.

Today, Henry called him to inform him that they caught one of the men who might be responsible in the kidnapping of Andrew and Mellissa. Someone heard the guy who got drunk and blabbered about the "job" they did recently.

Henry and his men went and caught the guy as he was about to leave and brought him to their warehouse. He rushed there as soon as possible but before he could reach there, that guy had consumed the cyanide he hid in his tooth and killed himself.

The ones who hired him must be a terrible person. Rather than getting caught, he opted to die. Who might that be?

He turned to his side. Marcella was deep asleep. She didn’t even realize he was there.

He reached out his hand to touch her shoulder. He wanted to cuddle with her. But then he retracted his hand. It’s not proper.

"I will find out who did it, Marcella," he whispered. "And I will get your heart properly. I don’t know how, but I will..."