The Divorcee Is A Wicked Black Belly

"She remembered them or rather she feels like she knows them," his mother shrugged. "The doctor said it could be short-term or long-term or she might never remember at all. She went through a traumatic experience, Richard, so give the poor girl a break, will you?"

"h.e.l.lo, I"m here listening to you. Look at me. I"m here," the girl in question piped in, waving her arms from the bed.

Han raked a frustrated hand through his hair. "So you don"t remember me at all?" he asked, finally turning to the girl. "Not even a little bit?"

"Should I?" the girl frowned. "Who are you anyway?"

"I"m Richard, your fiancee."

"So you"re the louse responsible for this, huh?" the girl said, flinging the covers from her body to reveal her stomach.

"Well, you had a hand in it, too, you know."

"Very convenient for you that I lost my memory. You can pretend you"re not responsible."

"Are you a dunce? You"re living in my parents" house, for Christ"s sake. If I really wanted to ditch you I could have just dumped you somewhere and not let you meet them."

"Why not? I"m pretty, cute and I think your mom likes me."

"Mom....," Han helplessly rolled his eyes towards his mother.

His mother laughed. "She"s acquired a little sauce along with the amnesia. I think it"s cute."

"See?" the girl pouted prettily. "She likes me."

Han sighed. "Be a good girl and put some clothes on, will you? I don"t want you to catch a cold. Have you eaten? I"m famished. Eat with me?"

An Ning jumped excitedly from the bed. Han quickly ran to her side and put an around her. "Be careful, will you? We can"t have you falling down and hitting your head or something."

"Might help with the amnesia," An Ning said, looking up at him with a mischievous grin. "If we"re gonna eat, let me cook it."

"Do you even know how to cook?" Han asked, staring at her glowing face with a tender smile.

"I don"t know. Amnesia, remember?" An Ning pointed at her head. "Wait a minute, you mean I never cooked for you before? How did we eat? What"s your favorite food? Do you like spicy food or not? I discovered that I like peanut b.u.t.ter. The crunchy not the creamy ones. I hate pickles but I love spinach. And pizza and garlic bread."

"You had all that in only half a day?" Han said, grabbing a light robe and helping her put it on. "Careful or you"ll turn into a pig. Where did you put your slippers?"

"I don"t know. Under the bed I think."

"Sit down for a bit and I"ll go look for it. Don"t move."

An Ning pouted. "Bullying a pregnant woman."

Han chuckled. "But you said you"ll cook for me. We can"t have you barefoot while you"re doing that, can we? It might affect your cooking," he winked.

An Ning giggled.

"There you go," Han said, sliding the slippers on An Ning"s feet. "You have baby toes," he laughed. "How can you be pregnant with tiny little toes like that?"

"Haha. Don"t tell me you have a foot fetish?"

Han helped her up. "My only fetish is you, babe," he leered.

Laughing, the two of them walked out the door, An Ning leaning against Han for support and Han cradling her gently in his arms. The old lady looked at them with a smile. She had never seen her son acting so indulgent with someone before. Richard had always been so erratic, so confusingly independent yet clingy. It was rather astonishing to see him looking so carefree like this. As if he had cast aside his worries and decided to instead shine a light on this new and much improved Richard in front of this girl he had once so outrageously betrayed.

Surprisingly, An Ning moved around the kitchen like it was natural for her to do so. She was not intimidated by the well-stocked fridge nor the gleaming pans in the cupboard. She found what she wanted and started slicing and dicing confidently.

A short while later, the aroma of b.u.t.ter and spices and chicken dashed with sesame oil filled the kitchen. She cracked some eggs, sliced some ham along with green onions and fried the rice to perfection. Han set the table and poured grape juice for both of them.

They ate quietly, enjoying the companionable silence between them.

"This chicken is delicious," Han complimented, clearing his plate with a flourish. "I was doubtful at first but I"m now convinced. You are a good cook."

An Ning met his admiring gaze. "So, how did the two of us meet again? We"ve made a baby together yet you seem surprised by all this," she said, indicating their empty plates. "I would have thought you"d know more about me than a convenient bedmate."

"Don"t refer to yourself in that tone ever again, ok?" Han"s voice was hard. "You were never just a convenient f.u.c.k for me," he stopped when An Ning flinched at the word. "Sorry. I forget my manners when I"m annoyed." He took a deep breath then continued. "We"ve known each other since we were kids...."

"Oh, G.o.d. Don"t tell me this is one of those icky disgustingly sweet childhood love pairings that"s been done to death by Korean dramas," An Ning groaned. "I hate those the best. They"re not even believable."

"Will you let me tell the story or should I stop?"

"Continue."

"As I said, we grew up together. You always followed me around...."

"Typical."

Han glared her into silence. "And we fell in love and we got married. End of story."

"So why are you still my fiancée?"

Han was momentarily disconcerted. He met An Ning"s inquiring eyes and hesitated, not sure how to go about the messy thing with his brother. He tried to recover his ground but a deep flush had already darkened his cheeks, screaming his obvious guilt. What the heck should I feel guilty about, Han thought angrily. d.a.m.n Richard.

"Hoki," An Ning drawled amusedly. "Let me continue with this inspiring story of young love. We got married then you cheated on me. But then you realized it"s me you love all along so you rejected this other woman and convinced me to get back together with you. And because we grew up together we"re naturally childhood sweethearts, and since I used to pester you and follow you around like a martyred idiot, I happily said yes. Then we had s.e.x and you knocked me up. That about it?"

Han hesitated. "Not about the knocking you up part. I"ve already asked you to marry me before you got pregnant. You didn"t actually said yes so I forced the ring on you and told your parents and my parents what happened."

"Hmn."

"Well, it"s true."

"What if I don"t get my memory back? What happens to us?"

"What do you mean? We"ll get married as soon as possible. You don"t expect me to just let you go, do you? You"re carrying my child, for G.o.d"s sake."

An Ning was silent.

"Why do I have this feeling that you"re not telling me the truth?"

"That I love you and want you to be with me always?"

An Ning blushed when she saw the heat in his eyes.

"I"m not talking about that. Even your mother refused to tell me anything when I asked her. She said to ask you."

Han was silent, weighing her words.

"There are some things I might not be able to tell you not because I don"t want to but because I think it"s better that you don"t know," he said after a while. "It"s nothing nefarious or something awful that should worry you though. I may have hurt you in the past but losing you has been a nightmare for me, An Ning. I don"t care if you don"t remember me or our past together. The most important thing for me right now is that we"re together. We can start from there. You"re with me and our child and that"s all that matters to me."

An Ning frowned then got up to pour a gla.s.s of milk for herself. When she turned around and met Han"s anxious gaze, her expression had cleared, as if she had finally come to a decision.

"Let"s get married after the baby is born," she said, sitting down. "Wait," she held up a hand when Han looked as if he might interrupt her. "Let me speak freely and don"t be angry. Look at it from my point of view. All this," she said, gesturing between herself and the young man watching her intently on the other side, "all of this is a blank to me.

We may have a past together but I don"t remember any of it. You"re right in saying that we should start from here and go forward. You see, I have no other option but to do just that. Don"t worry. I won"t mope or do anything stupid while I"m dealing with this. That would be a waste of my time and yours. If you"ll have me then let"s move forward together, Richard."

Han reached out and took one of her hands in his warm ones. "I will make you love me again, An Ning," he promised. "I don"t want anyone else but you."

They talked comfortably for a while after that. Watching her animated face, Han thought of that day he met An Ning. He was standing on a street corner waiting for the light to change when he saw someone hurrying forward in his peripheral vision. He turned his head and saw this beautiful young girl wearing a dark blazer and skirt ensemble paired with dark army boots. She wasn"t wearing anything under the blazer but a touch of warm skin that gleamed pale and creamy under the sun. She looked so beautiful that she took his breath away. She strode confidently forward until she caught sight of him and stopped, staring at him in total astonishment.

"You"re not Richard," were the first words that came out of her mouth. "Richard wouldn"t be caught dead with a haircut like that."

Han recovered from his astonishment and laughed. "I"m not Richard. I"m his brother Han."

"Hmn. I figured. You got out?"

"Furlough. An Ning, right?"

"It"s been like, what, six years?"

"I don"t remember. Look, you wanna go somewhere we can talk and catch up? You"re not busy, are you?"

He took her to a restaurant he remembered from his last visit. They stayed together until dinner time then he drove her home. He and An Ning... there was a connection from the start. When she told him she married Richard, his heart almost dropped. Then when she told him they divorced, the sky opened up again and he could breathed again and enjoy the sunshine and wind on his face.

He didn"t really mind about her life before him even if the man she had married had been his brother. Richard had been a fool not to see and appreciate her true value. But his loss had been his, Han"s gain, so it was a fair trade as far as he was concerned.

An Ning yawned in the middle of a sentence.

"Tired?"

"Hmn...I"d better clean up..."

"Forget about that. Let"s get you to bed first."

An Ning protested when Han stepped closer and bridal carried her. "I"m heavy," she said, face cracking up with another yawn.

"Shhh….go to sleep. I"ll let you argue with me tomorrow."

An Ning nodded sleepily and leaned her head on Han"s chest. Han carried her to the bedroom and put her in the middle of the huge bed. He stared at her sleeping face then gently kissed her cheek. "I love you, An Ning. I"ll never let you go."

An Ning nodded sleepily, her hand still entwined with Han"s.

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