Can't you feel my heart beating? (Gabenath)

Chapter 10

The sound of her voice still echoes in the background, and a sudden feeling of regret begins to pour deep inside his chest. He can't avoid noticing the harsh glare in her eyes, looking at him with such contempt.

He wants to tell her something, explain his presence to her but the words seem to be trapped behind his lips.

Nathalie is about to speak once again, but the sudden cries of her son stop her instantly. They both avert their eyes from each other to look inside the crib. The baby's loud cries are enough for Gabriel to want to pick him up and comfort him.

His hands instinctively travel back inside the crib, attempting once again to pick him up.

"I said no." She says again, and slowly begins to move from the bed in hopes of reaching for the baby.
Nathalie's face wrinkles in clear discomfort as she painfully moves towards her baby.
"Let me give him to you." Gabriel says.
"No." She says, so all Gabriel can do is move the crib as close as possible to her, so she can pick him up.

———

Nathalie pulls her son to her chest and begins to gently pat his back as she quietly murmurs into his ear. Her eyes unintentionally travel back to Gabriel's who only watches them in utter silence.

There's a certain look of adoration stuck on his face, and even though she looks away she isn't able to ignore it.

Her baby's cries soon turn into whimpers, as they slowly begin to fade. She presses a soft kiss to his forehead, and then finally brings her eyes back up to the ones that stare at them with such intensity.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, trying to keep her voice low.
Gabriel looks around for a few moments, and takes a deep breath as if trying to find the correct response.

"Paul told me you were here."

Nathalie huffs, rolling her eyes, clearly annoyed at Paul for doing exactly what she asked him not to do. "Of course he did." She mumbles. "But I still do not know what you're doing here, Gabriel..."

He looks at her with sudden confusion, noticing the bitterness in her voice. "Were you not going to tell me when you had the baby?" He asks.

Her eyes widened with shock at his question. She almost can't believe what he's just asked her, it's the last thing she imagined he'd ask.

"Would you have cared?" She asks.
"I'm here, aren't I?" He replies.

Now, his response does make her giggle a bit.

"Aren't you the one who told me that I didn't have the right to call my baby yours?"

She shakes her head as if that will help her comprehend him better. His words are so confusing and she doesn't understand what he means by them. Many months ago he didn't want anything to do with her baby, now he comes here speaking to her in this way.

"Nathalie..." He says, taking a few steps forward, and bringing his hand up, letting it hover over the baby on her chest.
She instinctively tightens her hold onto the baby, she doesn't want him to touch her son.
"I..." he wants to speak, but he doesn't know what to tell her because deep down he knows she's very hurt.

———

There's a sudden knock on the door that stops him from gathering his words, and makes him turn around to see who's there. A female nurse enters the room, holding a clipboard.
"Hello," the woman greets, "I came in to check on you, how are you feeling?"

"I'm doing fine." Nathalie answers. "How's the baby doing?" She asks, while looking at the baby that sleeps on her chest.
"He's doing good."
The nurse turns to look at Gabriel, who only stands there feeling completely useless.
"Hi," she greets, "are you the father?"