𝐎𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞

Chapter Fifty-Six

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Imani made sure everyone was asleep. Not a peep could be heard. Silently walking to the door, she put her ear against it so she could be sure no one was still walking around. She shouldn't have bothered; only her bedroom, Jamie and Matt's, were on this end.

She didn't wear lingerie as Mia had suggested. Imani realized at the last minute that she couldn't handle the embarrassment of standing in front of him scantly dressed, knowing he might not want her anymore.

In pajama pants and shirts, she gently opened her door; she tiptoed out and stood to look across the hallway; no one was there. The girls had told her which room Matthew had been given.

With her heart on her chest, Imani stood by his door, prepping herself on what to say to him. She didn't have the courage to face him, nor did she want to go back, so she closed her eyes and gently knocked at his door.

"Yes, " he answered. Imani hadn't thought he might have been asleep until he answered.

Opening the door slowly as if in slow motion, she entered. Her heart thumped when she saw him in Pajamas and glasses. He was on a desk, working; his laptop light adjusted to dim.

"Is everything okay? " Matthew asked, giving her his full attention. Imani nervously bit her lower lip, nodding, fidgeting at his intense gaze on her.

"Do you need anything?" How could she answer that? She wanted so much from him if only she knew where to begin.

Imani cleared her voice, bringing her hands behind her back. Everything she had prepped herself at the door disappeared from her mind leaving her with nothing to say.

She didn't say anything. Her head spun at the embarrassment.

"What is it? Are you not feeling well? " the concern in his voice brought tears to her eyes.

"I am okay." she managed to say, wiping off her eyes. "Sorry, hormones," she added, giving an excuse for the tears. It wasn't hormones. She was crying because of loneliness and fear that he might never forgive her.

"I need to talk to you." there was dismay in her voice.

"About the baby?" Matthew did want to talk about the baby, especially her feelings towards it.

"Yes, and a lot more," she whispered. Matt intensely looked at her as if he was trying to figure out what else she wanted to talk about other than the apparent—rejection of him.

"How do you feel about the baby?" Imani would have liked to be the first one to ask him that.

She was happy. Exhilarated that she was carrying his child.

"I'm happy," she answered. He narrowed his eyes as if he thought she was lying.

"I'm happy. Please believe that. What about you?" A tiny smile stretched across his lip, but his eyes remained expressionless. Her stomach lurched as she stared at his face, waiting for the words that might break the remaining parts of her heart into tiny pieces, perhaps forever.

"I think I'm okay with it. "

"Think?" she wanted him to be sure. Imani knew she couldn't force him to be happy about it as much as she was, but he had said he wanted children.

She wouldn't tell him, but she had been miserable thinking he might have preferred children with Olivia to her.

"No, I'm sure." He confirmed, wheeling his chair so he could face her.

"Why are you here, Imani?" He sounded somber, his hand on his cheek and the elbow on the reading desk.

"Hmmm..." she did not know where to begin. She could not retrieve the script she'd prepped herself to say. Her mind was blank.