CHAPTER XX

The silence of that room was only interrupted by the gentle rubbing of my hand against Sarah's back, who did the same with her thumb on the hand that rested on my own abdomen.

It was not an uncomfortable silence at all; it was one of those silences that were filled with the presence of the loved one.

Absorbed in the peace that Sarah generated for me, I didn't detect my father's presence until he stood in front of my bedroom door and knocked.

"Guys, dinner is ready. Come down as soon as you can" he said before leaving.

"Honey, we have to move."

"I don't want to, I'm fine here" she muttered against my neck.

"Dinner's ready, honey, you don't want to play ugly with my father, do you?"

"No," she said as she sat up on the bed, sitting on the edge of it and putting on his shoes.

It didn't take me long to imitate her except that I ended up wearing those claw-shaped slippers that Mike and Ricky gave me as a joke for my birthday.