Chapter 9

AFTER a restful night's sleep, the discussion didn't seem so serious. Cami realized that it had been due to the fatigue and stress of both. They had spoken it during breakfast and apologized for refusing to provide.

He went to the window to run the curtains and smiled. If it was good, maybe they could eat out under an umbrella and... He did not complete the thought.

Suddenly, without noise or pain, unexpectedly, like a cold water jar, he noticed that he was staining. He was horrified.

When Benja called the door, he replied so low that he could barely hear himself.

-Cami, are you...? -he left the question interrupted and looked at her frightened, accusing-. You're not pregnant! You lied to me! -he exclaimed indignantly.

Then, seeing Cami's face, he knew that he had been wrong; that he had been unjust with her and that he would never have been so if he had not been married to Mary before.

Cami didn't have the period; he hadn't lied. Cami was pregnant... or at least he had been. The possibility of losing the baby ripped her heart and, looking at her face, she noticed that her suffering was even greater.

-Perdona, Cami, forgive,- Benja apologized. He shouldn't have doubted you even a second,- he added whisper.

-It doesn't matter,- Cami replied, eyes closed. Not now. Take me to the doctor, please-begged.

After telephoning the tocologist his father and Thomas recommended, Benja took Cami to the car. Luckily, it was a Sunday morning and there was hardly any traffic.

Cami hadn't spoken since leaving the suite, nor did he. It wasn't necessary. The two wanted to end that. They wanted to know.

Although it had to be an abortion. Son and brother of doctors, he knew how common they were. His same mother had one, between Coco and him. Benja was six years old then, but still remembered the drama, blood, tears and the trip to the hospital. The fact that they had already had four children did not make the loss less painful, his mother had told him years later.

But he didn't believe it. Losing the first had to be worse. Above all, to conceive a baby in such a miraculous way, to marry him and lose the bond that had united them the day after the wedding... No, I couldn't be passing that on to them. It was too horrible.

The psychologist, Dr. Stern, was waiting for them in the hospital parking lot.

-Go to the second room on the left and remove your clothes from below, Mrs. Rojas. You'll find a sheet for warmth. The air conditioning leaves these places ice cold, right?

He was a paternal man, of great experience, goalsy, with glasses, very kind.

Once in the consultation, Benja made desperate turns as she deviates. There was a large machine that made a constant roller and another ultrasound machine.

A minute later, Cami lay on a couch, covered by a blue sheet. He felt safer and calmer. Seeing her in the hospital had reassured her and, for good or for worse, they would at least not take long to know what had happened.

Dr. Stern had seen many similar cases and should know, in the case of abortion, how a couple could survive such a tragic death.

-You have a cold hand -Benja told her after taking her to give her confidence.

Cami appreciated the support of Benja, who had to feel fatal for the fleeting seconds in which he had hesitated and accused her of pretending to be pregnant.

Could Corno have thought of her like that? Cami couldn't help but feel hurt; a pain that had distanced them, no matter how much Benja was by his side in those moments, squeezing his hand. Then, suddenly, he realized the opportunity before him. It was as if the threat of losing the baby had put things in place: He knew he could take into account Benja's passing distrust and create a gulf between the two; but he could also let it pass and not land what they were starting to build together.

-Benja?

-Yes, what do you want? -he asked with anxiety.

-As for what you said before... when you saw me in the bedroom...

-Cami, I would give anything to erase that moment,- Benja said. I've been a...

-I know, quiet. I would like us to forget that. Sometimes you have reactions... please stay with me,- said Cami, with tears in your eyes.

Benja grabbed her a hand, leaned toward kissing her and both tasted the salt of her tears.

-Well, let's see what's going on,- Dr. Stern said. I'm going to do an ultrasound for you.

-Do you mean that the baby can still be alive?- asked Benja, between incredulous and hopeful.

-Let's take a look. It is possible, but I promise nothing - Dr. Stern anointed Cami's abdomen with a gel, started palpating it with the probe, and the monitor showed a sort of dark, irregular crescent on a gray background. Inside the crescent, do you see that there is movement? It's the baby's heart.

-Yes... yes, i see it! -Exclaimed Cami excited.

-I've never seen anything better on television -Benja joked, pletoric of happiness.

-And there's another thing a little further away- Dr. Stern murmured. He pointed his finger at one end of the crescent and, after looking carefully, he found a new beat.

-Are you saying... we're going to have twins? -Benja asked.

-Exact -confirmed the doctor, radiant-. Two babies who are alive and kicking. Congratulations!

-Twins -Cami repeated, amazed-. And the blood?

-Bleeding scares a lot when you are pregnant- Dr. Stern agreed; but it's not always so dangerous. Maybe there was a small tear in one of the placentas, but it doesn't matter, because the body usually creates more placental tissue than it needs.

-So if you stop bleeding, is everything OK? -Benja asked.

-Very well. But you are going to have to take things calmly for a while, Mrs Rojas. I'd like to see you in a few days to do a more detailed exploration. By the way, no marital relations during the next week," the doctor warned. And now, if you excuse me, I have to attend a delivery right away.

-No marital relations next week -Benja repeated with a faint voice.

-It's a matter of self-control: You'll surely get it- said Dr. Stem.

-Yes, of course... -Benja agreed. Cami joined and saw her husband's tormented expression. Marital relations. The mere fact of mentioning such a possibility evoked an endless number of vivid erotic images. Uh... I'm waiting outside, Cami- he added with a broken voice.

No marital relationships for a week…

He had always been very stubborn. Challenging even. As a child, it was enough that he was forbidden to make a house, so that he would endeavor to make it not once, but twice. Even as a teenager, when his parents recommended that he should go to college, to study something specific about computer science before founding a software company with his brother, he had refused to obey and, twelve years later, lamented his lack of academic qualifications.

Thus, he felt the imperative need to complete the most savage marital act ever imagined. He wanted Cami, naked against his body, in bed, with warm skin and shortness of breath.

Then he understood his unease: It was not a week. Under the terms of the premarital contract, there would never be sex between the two. Never. He was tempted to imprecate against his lawyers for having included that clause; but then he recalled that it had been his idea.

-What's wrong with you? -Benja asked, scared, when he returned to the suite after spending the afternoon working at home. Cami had been entertained watching TV, but when he got there, he had broken to cry.

-Nothing -She replied.

- How nothing? You're crying! -Reposed Benja, restless.

-I'm pregnant.

-Well, yes. I thought you had already assumed it - Benja sat next to her on the couch.

-No, I mean that it is pregnancy that makes me cry. You know, hormones. As soon as I am happy for the babies, as soon as I was...

-But it will be due to something.

-I missed you- Cami acknowledged.

-Honey…

He leaned toward her and kissed her. What else could he have done? He first noticed the salt of his tears, but then tasted only the sweetness of his lips. He felt like kissing her, although he was afraid that Cami would break to cry again.

When it was decided, however, it was satisfied that it did not reject it. To think that Cami needed to kiss him as much as he wounded her blood... And everything indicated that it was.

First, he surrounded his neck with his hands, then stroked his neck hair and then bowed his back offering him those incredible breasts. Benja noticed that the nipples hardened and wished to caress and suck them. He put a hand on Cami's shirt and, dissatisfied with that, he unfastened the buttons until he could open it completely. He turned away enough to look at her and, unable to control her more, freed her from the bra, so her breasts jumped naked toward Benja's hands.

I could hardly breathe. Cami knew he shouldn't allow it, but he wasn't able to stop it. There were a dozen good reasons not to let him kiss her like this, to remove her bra, to caress her nipples until they harden like two rocky summits.

But not only did it not prevent him, but all his movements invited him to move forward.

Benja leaned back and looked for her mouth again. Cami separated her lips and noticed her tongue on the inside. Then he let him kiss his neck, breasts...

-I never thought they were so dark- Benja commented as she stroked the areolas.

-Before they were not like that. -I am darkened every day- Cami gasped. No man had touched his breasts in that way, nor had he spoken of them with such attention and reverence.

Benja shuddered of necessity. He wanted to lift her up and take her to the bedroom, strip her of all the clothes and make her love again and again. And knowing that he couldn't torture him.

He was sure that Cami wanted him as much as he did. He hadn't said it in words, but his body made it evident. The shine of his lips indicated it, the flush of his cheeks confirmed it and the way of accepting each of his caresses left no room for doubt.

But what would happen if they abandoned to their desire and re-torn the placenta?

If the babies were lost, they would end up blaming each other, hating themselves, and not willing to risk themselves.

-Cami…

-I know- she answered with a rough voice. You don't need to explain it to me.

-Medical maldito! For me the blame is yours for forbidding us - he joked, to defuse the sexual tension of the moment.

-Exact, I don't know how it's going to make us think about those things -the game followed her.

-If it hadn't been for him, in life I would have thought of something like that.

- Never!

-Maybe we should change the topologist.

-And choose someone who recommends us to have marital relationships three times a day at the very least.

-Six.

-Better. So maybe we wouldn't want the least.

-Eh... Cami, I think I'm going to give me a shower.

-Forward -She excused him, while the shirt was being fastened. You first.

-First?

-There is only one shower, remember? Cami replied. So you go first, which is what you wanted, right?

-I guess so.

-But keep in mind that I go after, so don't spend all the water.

They managed to overcome temptation all night and Benja thanked God because his wife had a sense of humor. So much so that the next day, while they had breakfast, the conversation was so pleasant, that for a couple of hours he managed to forget the pain that punished his groins.

They left the hotel on Monday morning. At nine.