The Billionaire’s Creed

MYKEL

I was still over the moon celebrating being a father again. The feeling of watching the monitor with the image of my child growing inside my wife was fucking extraordinaire-we made this baby, and I couldn’t wait to hold my child in my arms.

Then it was only a matter of a split second that my triumph and delirious bliss were gone in an instant.

My world stopped and faded around me. I was quick to rush toward my wife to drag her away from the motherfucker, shielding her and my child from the perilous exploit, but I wasn’t fast enough.

I was supposed to be there to protect her, yet I failed her as a husband. Again.

It sickened me. It fucking pissed me off.

“Babe.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my chest.

“Get that motherfucker out of my face before I fucking break his skull!” I ordered Sax and Kye.

If I let my rage consume me, and if I was that man before I met Adley, I would have done what made me feel better. I would have punched that son of bitch until his skull cracked open. But I was not that person anymore. I was going to be a father again.

“It’s okay, baby. He can’t hurt you again. I’m so sorry.” I carried her bridal style. “Let the doctor check you up.”

She was shaking. “I-I’m fine.”

“I know, baby. But I wanna make sure you and our baby are okay.”

“I said I’m fine. I just wanna go home,” she refused.

“We will. I promise.” I was also terrified for her and our child. And what made me shudder in anger was that I had to keep it in my system.

“I’m scared.” That was what I wanted to hear, telling me what she truly felt. I wanted her to voice out her feelings instead of pretending to be okay.

“I know, baby. So do I.” I sprinted toward the ER. “Can someone check her, please?”

“Tell us what happened?” The doctor came rushing to us. “Put her on this bed.”

I lay Adley on a clean bed. “We just came out from a prenatal check-up, and that fucking asshole pushed her to the ground. I just wanna make sure she’s not endured, and our baby is safe.”

“Okay, sir. Let me check up on your-”

“My wife. Adley Creed.”

The late forties doctor stared at me. “Mykel Creed, right?”

“Yes. I’m Mykel Creed.” As much as I would be delighted if someone recognized me in the hospital, I wanted her to focus on checking on my wife.

“Give us a moment, Mykel. Since your wife is conscious, I have to ask her directly. Just wait outside, okay?”

I was not definitely liking this arrangement, but Adley would be in good hands. “Of course.”

When the curtain shut on my face, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t think straight.

I walked out with jumbled thoughts.

“Boss?” Kye sprinted in my direction. “I was supposed to be by her side. I was supposed to protect her.”

I glared at him. “I’m her husband, Wilder. That’s my job. This one is on me.”

“I still feel terrible, boss.”

“I just hope she and our baby are fine. Where’s that motherfucker? I will make sure he rots in jail for what he did to Adley.”

“He’s in police custody now. Sax will be here in a minute.”

When my knees gave up, I sat on the bench. My mind went back to the incident.

“It happened so fucking fast. One time I talked to her, the next she was on the ground.” I breathed out shakily. “I was fucking terrified of what he would do next if I didn’t get there quickly.”

“Is she gonna be okay?”

“I honestly don’t know. I barely heard what the doctor said, but Adley looked okay.”

“Can I help you with anything?”

“There’s nothing much you can do. Just bring me water. I’m fucking shaking. I couldn’t even stand long.”

“Got it, boss.”

When Kye left, I wanted to punch the wall. I tried to get the anger out of my system before bursting into flames. I hated this feeling, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

I have never been violent, but when the people I loved were in danger, it made me see things differently.

Kye came back, giving me cold bottled water. “What took them so long?”

“You are not helping.” I groaned loudly.

“I can’t help but blame myself, boss.”

“Then you understand how I feel.”

“I’m sorry.”

I emptied half of the water. At the same time, the doctor walked out of Adley’s bed.

Kye and I ran to the doctor.

“How’s she?” we chorused.

Kye muttered an apology beside me.

“There’s a bleeding-”

“What do you mean?” I instantly felt the goosebumps erupting all over my skin. I felt someone just throwing a bucket of ice over my head. I shivered.

“It’s normal for a pregnant woman to experience spotting, but your wife said she never experienced it before. I’m calling her OB for different opinions.”

As soon as the word normal came out of the doctor’s mouth, I sighed in relief. Then she followed by what alarmed me next.

“I want to keep her overnight for observation. Her doctor might do another ultrasound to make sure the baby is okay. As for your wife, she’s gonna be fine. She might feel pain from the fall, but she can take a painkiller.”

“That’s a relief. Thank you, doctor.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Can I see her?”

“Yes. When you are done, come to the station to fill up some forms.”

“I’ll be there.”

I took a deep breath before I slipped into the curtain. She was lying in bed, attached to some cables for monitoring.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Her word was a whisper. She seemed to have calmed a little.

“How are you feeling?”

“I hope you’re the last one to ask me that.”

“That might not be possible.” I just looked at her and didn’t know what to say.

“You’re blaming yourself. Again.” She sighed deeply. “It was my fault. The idea of being in labor scared me. We should have just gone home, and none of this would happen.”

“Now, who’s blaming herself?”

“I’m so scared. All I could think at that moment was to cover myself and protect our baby.”

“You have no idea how I felt finding you on the ground. Next time you want to catch some air, I’m going with you.”

She smiled a little. “You’re gonna use this to not leave by my side, are you?”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“You bet.” I kissed her hand and kissed her lips. “I love you, Adley.”

“I know, babe.”

I heard whispers and hissed behind the curtain. “Let me check them.”

It was Kye and Sax.

“Boss, how’s Mrs. C?”

“What’s with the hush hush?” Then I noticed two police officers walking in.

“Mr. Creed?”

“Yes, can I help you, officers?”

“We’d like to ask your wife a few questions regarding the incident at the parking lot?”

“Is it really necessary to question her right now?”

“It’s okay, Mykel.”

I groaned in annoyance. “Just make it quick, please. She needs to rest.

“We understand, sir.”

The officer came to Adley and started asking questions. I turned to Sax and Kye.

I stopped Sax before he could blurt the word sorry or any kind of apology. “I don’t wanna hear it. She’s my wife, and it’s my responsibility to protect her.”

“We could still avoid it.”

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t. It happened. Let it go, but not that fucking asshole. Call Romare to come. I needed him to be here.”

“I’ll do it,” Kye volunteered.

“I need to call Mom when Adley is transferred to the room. Stay here. I needed to fill out some forms.”

“Got it, boss.”

I went to the nurse station.

The nurse gave me stacks of papers. “You can choose which room she’ll be admitted to or-”

I looked at her. “Safe. And don’t tell me every room here is safe.”

“Got it, sir. Once you’re done with the form, you can settle the-”

“He can afford to buy the entire hospital, Maddie.” The doctor who checked Adley walked in.

“Oh.” The nurse looked surprised as she glanced at me.

“Put his wife in Room 615.” She then turned to me. “Her doctor will be here in ten minutes.”

“Thank you.”

The nurse had not been over yet. She read my name on the form. “You’re the-”

“Reformed playboy, capitalist, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and proud soon a father. Yes. That’s me.”

She smiled. “You still have to learn how to warm the milk and change diapers. But congratulations, sir.”

“I’ll make sure to add that to the long list. Thank you, nurse.”

A few minutes later, Adley was transferred to the room. Her OB came in later. She did another ultrasound.

Let me say I knew numbers and made billions, but when it came to maternity and medical stuff, I knew nothing about it. I only discovered that a baby’s heartbeat is faster than an adult’s. But that was a good start.

“It’s normal, right? Say something, doctor?”

“First-time father is always the nervous one.”

“It’s my second, actually.”

She looked at me.

“It’s a long story.”

“Your baby is fine. But I’m still putting this device to monitor your baby’s heartbeats. It’s nothing to worry about. If you won’t hear anything, just call the nurse or check it, and it might be detached. You can purchase and use this at home. It’s pretty handy.”

“Oh, please, don’t give him an idea.”

I chuckled. “You just give me the brightest idea, Adley.”

“I take it back.” Her doctor laughed. “You’re stressing the mother.”

“Thanks for coming so quick, Doctor Chesca.”

“I’m glad your wife and the baby are okay. Adley has my contact. If in case of emergency, give me a call.”

“Appreciate it.”

I sat on the chair beside her bed when the doctor left. All I could do was looked at the beautiful woman in bed, the love of my life, and the mother of my unborn child.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I wanna marry you again.”

She smiled. “Do you realize I am pregnant right now?”

“You don’t have to stress out. Money can make everything possible. Just tell when and where.”

“I will marry you after I give birth.”

I linked our hands. “Is that a promise?”

“Yes, I will marry you again.”

I raised from my seat and kissed her lips. “I love you, Adley, and I love you too, munchkin.”

“Oh, no. Not that name.”