Page 29 of My Little Doe
“How did last night go?” he asked.
“I didn’t eat the drugged food. Annabelle revealed that she andDaxynare an item, and I’m pretty sure she’s planning on taking my baby from me to keep… so yeah, it was a great night,” I said, shoveling a spoonful into my mouth.
His eyes widened, but nothing came out of his mouth. He turned around and left my room.
“But hey, sorry for assuming she was your girlfriend… guess that would be awkward for the girl that you left with last night,” I said.
His footsteps got further away.
“Wake the fuck up and get the fuck out of here!” he shouted.
My eyes bulged, and I nearly choked on the food in my mouth. I hadn’t heard him raise his voice quite like that before. I heard footsteps scramble and run toward the door. Annabelle pulled at the door and ran out. I was afraid to lean forward. His heavy footsteps moved toward the door before it shut, and the keys clicked in the lock.
Chapter 10
The last six weeks had been almost the same as since they brought me here, except that the last two times Quinnlyn left, it hadn’t been Annabelle who showed up. Instead, it had been a younger guy. I’d tried to converse with him and get his name, but he was mostly mute. He brought a small radio that he played at low volume.
The baby had been moving more and more every day. Some days, I’d lie back and watch them roll and push against my skin. Feeling and seeing the movement at the same time made my chest ache in the best way. The midwife had visited me a couple of times, and the visits were quick—vitals, heartbeat, and then gone. My blood pressure had improved, and the baby’s heartbeat had been great.
When I questioned Quinnlyn about Annabelle, his answers weren’t answers. More than once, he'd raised his voice when I pushed too hard. Part of meknewhe wouldn't hurt me. But only part.
It was the afternoon, and I stood staring out the window. Tonight was a full moon, and Quinnlyn would be leaving sometime today. Like the other nights he'd left, people moved busily across the grounds below.
“Why can’t Annabelle come back? The other guy is such a drag,” I said.
“Because she can’t keep her fucking mouth shut,” he mumbled.
“Well, at least she shared something real,” I said.
“It’s complicated, and you fucking know it,” he said.
“No. I know that in about seventeen weeks, I’ll be giving birth, and this baby will be taken from me, and who knows what they plan to do with me after. Then you can go back to your life with the girl you leave twice a month with,” I said.
“It’s not like that with her,” he said, “and her name is Calliope.”
“Out of all of that, that’s the part you respond to?”
I turned to look at him. He was sitting on the couch, legs stretched out onto the table, reading a book.
“I’m just following orders,” he finally said.
“That's all you ever say.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say, Zalayuh. I’m following orders, and sometimes I don’t know what I’m doing until the day of. Right now, I’m here babysitting you day by day by fucking day,” he said, before dropping his eyes back to the book.
“I’m sorry I’m such a fucking inconvenience.”
Just as I finished the sentence, the knock came on the door. The clock read four thirty-one. Quinnlyn got up and went to the door.
“Cutting it cl—” he said, as he opened the door, stopping mid-sentence. “Why are you here?” he growled.
The door shoved open, and Quinnlyn stepped back. Daxyn entered the room, stopping just as he entered. He pushed the door shut behind him. I was still standing at the window, our eyes locked onto each other. His eyes dropped to my stomach, which had popped out in the last couple of weeks—barely.
I only had six sets of clothing, all plain stretchy pants and plain tees. Every five days, Quinnlyn put the laundry bag outside the door for them to be washed. The tees had gotten tight over the lastseveral weeks, both my boobs and belly growing. I didn’t mind the growth in the cup size, but they hadn’t given me a bra.
“What areyoudoing here?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“I thought you would be excited to see me,” he said.
