Something warm made her curled up her body in contentment. Her hands reached out to keep her hold on the source of the warmth. She shifted her body to get closer to it."Sweetheart, you"re awake?"
"...."
Tsubaki opened her eyes with difficulty only to be met with the sight of her husband"s calm face. She stared at him silently. There were no lights around them except for the glow coming from his back, adding a soft layer of tenderness on his face.
Tsubaki raised one of her hands, landing her fingertips on the lower part of his face. The soft touch of hers made Ren smiled lazily as he took her hand and kissed each of her knuckles.
"How are you feeling?" He asked in a low voice.
Tsubaki suddenly realized something was not right. She diverted her gaze from his face, looking at her surroundings. It was a familiar sight.
This was their bedroom!
"I... Didn"t I..." Tsubaki was fl.u.s.tered. She couldn"t finish her sentence before Ren said in patience.
"I came to the orphanage since I got the message from you. Kaede called me and said you suddenly slept in Director Ayanokouji"s office. I brought you home afterward."
"What?"
Did she sleep in the director"s office? Wasn"t she just resting for a while?
Ren let go of her hand, snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. He gently brought her head to his chest, his fingers ran through her hair in a comforting manner.
"I thought you"ve fainted again," he said in a whisper. When he spoke again, there was a faint trace of anxiety in his deep voice, "Even though you"re just sleeping but I still asked Toshiro to check on you. He said you"re just exhausted from the stress."
Tsubaki stared blankly at the windows behind his back. Her heart tightened as she heard his words. Tsubaki wrapped her hands tightly around his body as she buried her head on his chest, taking in the scent of him to calm herself. Their legs tangled under the blanket.
"I"m sorry for worrying you," Tsubaki said, her words were m.u.f.fled against his shirt.
"Hush, sweetheart," Ren pulled back slightly to kiss her forehead. The fear in his eyes dissipated as he looked at her dazed expression. He rubbed circles on one side of her cheeks as he added, "It"s my job to worry about you. Don"t fret over it."
Tsubaki quickly hid her face from his sight by lowering her head against his chest. Ren just hummed as a smile curved up on his lips. He was still playing with her hair. In the silence of the night, only the sound of their heart beatings could be heard.
After a long moment, Tsubaki shifted from her position. Before Ren could ask her anything, she blurted out, "I"m hungry."
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Ren"s eyes widened slightly in amus.e.m.e.nt before he broke into a soft laugh. He propped his upper body with his elbow as he pulled her up together with him.
"What do you want to eat?"
Tsubaki paused for a moment to think when a sudden craving came to her. She asked with hope gleamed in her eyes, "Your strawberry pancake?"
Ren smiled with a nod. Before Tsubaki could react, he had swiftly carried her from the bed as he walked to exit the bedroom.
"Dear, I could walk," Tsubaki stared at his smiling face.
Ren lowered his eyes to meet hers as he answered, "But, I want to carry my wife. It"s not a problem, right? I need to pamper my sweetheart at every opportunity I get."
Tsubaki was speechless. She knew she couldn"t win against him so she just nodded with a blush reddening her cheeks.
She had just woken up and he had already attacked her with his sweet words and gestures? Her heart wasn"t ready!
Once they were in the kitchen, Ren placed Tsubaki on a stool at the kitchen island. He then walked over to get the ap.r.o.n hanging on the wall. Tsubaki looked at her husband in silence as he took out a bowl from the cabinet.
Ren opened the fridge, searching for the strawberries. He immediately washed them and brought them to the kitchen island. He stood opposite his wife. With a concentrated look on his face, he began slicing the strawberries into half before whisking the mixture of flour, salt, eggs, brown sugar and b.u.t.ter for the pancakes. He had even added a dash of vanilla extract in it.
"Does my love meter increase in your heart?" Ren suddenly asked as he took a slice of strawberry and popped it into Tsubaki"s mouth.
Tsubaki quickly bit the strawberry. The sweetness of it spread inside her mouth. She answered endearingly while her cheek was bulging with the fruit, "You could say so. My dear husband looks so handsome and reliable when he cooks for me."
Ren chuckled as joy was evident in his eyes. If not for the large kitchen island sat between them, he would have already kissed her for saying such words.
"I"m going to fry the pancakes. Please wait for a while," Ren said as he finished stirring the batter mixed with the strawberries.
He brought the bowl to the stove. After heating the pan, he put a small piece of b.u.t.ter in the pan and let it melted. In a few minutes, the sweet fragrance coming from the batter being fried in the pan. Tsubaki smiled sweetly as she looked at her husband skillfully flipping the pancakes.
After waiting for quite a moment, Ren served his beautifully made strawberry pancakes in front of his wife. He let a piece of b.u.t.ter melt on the hot pancakes before he drizzled some maple syrup on them. Ren sat beside Tsubaki. He took a fork and a knife and began slicing the pancakes for her.
"It"s still hot, be careful," Ren blew on the slices of pancakes before he brought them to her lips. Hot steam rose on the air. "Kaede said you just ate desserts during your shopping trip with Miss Esumi. Since tonight you have pancakes, make sure to eat something heavy tomorrow."
Tsubaki obediently nodded her head. She munched on the pancakes fed by her husband. Her eyes landed on the wall clock inside the kitchen. She was quite shocked when she realized it had been 10:45 PM. If she remembered correctly, she arrived at the orphanage around 3:30 PM.
She had slept for a long time!
"Your complexion is quite pale," Ren wiped the trace of maple syrup from the corner of her lips. The pancakes had been shared between them. His eyes gaze on her face, there were dark circles under her eyes. "Toshiro said you need to rest and do something relaxing. You"ve been thinking about the matter, right?"
Tsubaki pursed her lips, she nodded as guilt budding inside her heart. She lowered her head slightly.
Ren smiled as a soft sigh escaped from his lips. Even though he didn"t ask, but he noticed the changes in his wife"s behavior since she got the results of the DNA tests. There was a moment when she would force herself to smile. He noticed because it didn"t look as radiant as before. The way she clung to him whenever he wanted to go to work, the fleeting touch of hers, he noticed them all.
He kept his silence because he wanted to give her some s.p.a.ce. But, he always made sure to be with her, for her to know even if she would have restless nights of sleep due to nightmares, she wasn"t alone as he would be a knight to save her from them.
"Sweetheart? Look at me," Ren said softly, his voice was calm and peaceful.
Tsubaki darted her eyes from her left to right. She paused to think for a moment before she slowly raised her eyes to meet his. As always, he was smiling at her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Ren gently rubbed her face. His tone of voice was so comforting, it eased the turmoil inside her heart. "I think I"ve given you enough time to think about it. You"ve even exhausted yourself."
Tsubaki bit her lower lip. She was aware of his attentiveness for the past few days whenever those dark thoughts invaded her mind but some times the feeling of inferiority would silence her from speaking her thoughts.
This was the first time she felt so down throughout her life.
"I"ll tell you," Tsubaki decided.
Ren affectionately pecked her lips. "Good girl. Come, let"s go to the sunroom. You love watching the moon from the gla.s.s walls, right?"
Tsubaki quickly nodded her head. Ren stood up from her seat and began carrying her to the sunroom.