ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO

SHIMMER'S POV

"Call an ambulance now!" I screamed into the phone. The limousine was just arriving when I dialed for an ambulance and ordered one to be sent to Clear Opal as soon as could be. Without wasting any time, I ran up to the elevator and to Arianna's wing. The moment I got in, I heard loud vomiting sounds from her bathroom. Iris was holding Arianna's hair in place, rubbing her back. Looking ever so pale, Arianna was kneeling on the floor, with both hands clasping helplessly to the toilet seat.

"You will be fine, my baby," I moved closer and rubbed her back as well. A loud knock was heard from Arianna's lounge, and one of the staff called out, "A helicopter has landed up on the rooftop, ma'am!"

"Well, let them come in and carry her!" I screamed out.

Two men with a stretcher hurried in and helped Arianna up. She was swiftly put on the stretcher and we all headed towards the helipad on the rooftop. Before I left for the rooftop, I washed clean the small teapot and cup under running water.

"Get us the best gynecologist, please bring him to our family ward!" I screamed orders at the hospital staff. Of course everything was obeyed as per my command.

Soon, Arianna was in the room, with the gynecologist attending to her. I was standing beside her bed, waiting for Roderick.

"Is the child safe? Is the pregnancy threatening to miscarry?" I asked in great panic.

The doctor, who was the most celebrated gynecologist in Lakeworld, lifted his head and frowned a bit while looking at me. All this while, Arianna had not said a word. She looked very exhausted and her eyes were teary.

The doctor smiled a bit and said, "let me send her for a scan. Please wait a few minutes."

Everything was done quickly and smoothly. I remained sitting in the ward, with Iris by my side. She constantly held my hand to comfort me, and she assured me that all was well.

After a while, Arianna was wheeled back into the room, with Roderick following closely behind. I jumped to meet Roderick, and he hugged me with a smile.

"Our daughter is fine, Shimmer," Roderick smiled.

"She is just experiencing the normal morning sickens. Nothing is wrong with her. The baby is perfectly fine too." The doctor explained.

"Oh!" I widened my eyes in shock. So…did it mean that she had not taken the tea? Or maybe she took it, and it had not yet started to work? How could I ask? I had no idea how to phrase my question.

"What made you think that she was having a miscarriage? Did you perhaps see some blood?" the doctor raised brows at me.

"Miscarriage? Who spoke about a miscarriage?" Roderick was shocked.

"I…I guess I just got alarmed when I saw her vomiting so violently," I explained myself.

"Well she is fine. The vomiting will soon go. Usually it subsides after the first trimester," the doctor gave me a reassuring smile. I just smiled back and after talking about a few more things, the doctor took his leave. Iris also went out, and told me that she would wait for me in the hallway.

"Mamma, do you think daddy will be mad at me?" Arianna asked in a choking voice.

"Why would he be angry, my darling?" I stroked her hair gently.

"Because …because of the person. The father of my child." She whispered.

Roderick looked at me but did not say anything.

"It's Pete Rockridge, my child. He is like a son to us. We all love him.", I announced proudly.

My eyes remained fixed on Roderick, for I wanted to see how he was going to react. At first his facial expression did not change. He looked like he had a thousand questions running in his mind. I looked over at Arianna and saw her facing down, large teardrops falling on the back of her palms. Oh my dear daughter! I wiped off the tears and hugged her close to me, and quickly returned my stare at Roderick.

"There is nothing wrong with Pete. He is our own child. Hayden and Janine's son is a son to me too." I continued to comfort my child.

"I..I am sorry daddy. I …know that I… I have let the family down. I..I know that you all…consider Pete and I as…as brother and sister. So I…I shouldn't have….fallen in…in love with him. But then daddy I…I am sorry….I failed to consider him…as …as my brother. ….and I…I fell in love with him!"

Oh baby girl! My heart broke to see her crying so badly. Oh so that was her reason!! All along I had no idea why she was so sad about getting pregnant by Pete! It was because she thought we would all be angry! Since we had raised them to believe that they were brother and sister, Arianna therefore felt like she had just participated in an act of incest! Oh my girl!! Who would have cared about that? Pete was not our relative, and I was more than happy to have him as my son-in-law. He was the best son-in-law- anyone could have ever asked for! I prayed that Roderick felt the same, and even if he did not, I believed in myself to be able convince him until he also viewed Pete as the best husband for our daughter.

After a while, Roderick spoke, "well, Arianna! Ah! I would have never guessed that you two were in love. I thought you just fooled around as siblings, just like how you play around with Dylan. Oh, you are in love with him? Since when?" Roderick asked.

Oh Roderick. I could feel it in my bones that he was going to bring up Raelynn. It was neither the right time nor place. Just accept it, Roderick!! I quickly changed the subject, for I did not want him to say anything to upset Arianna, so ...

"Come on Roderick, call Pete! He too must be here to support the mother of his child!"

Roderick was staring into space. I was not even sure if he heard me, so I took my phone and called Pete to come urgently. In a short while, there was a faint knock on the door and Pete came in. Great fear was written all over his face, and his hands were clasped together. He looked pale. He looked at Roderick, then at me, before his eyes settled on Arianna. He walked slowly towards Arianna and stood next to her bed. He sweetly asked her how she was feeling, and she said except for the nausea, she was fine. Pete looked at us and said, "I'm sorry for disappointing you. I don't have the right words to express myself, but I am truly sorry. Please find it in the deepest of your hearts to forgive me."

There was no response from anyone. I wanted Roderick to talk. Why was he not saying anything? I thought he was the one supposed to tell Pete that it was all OK, yet he remained silent. He was angry; was he not?

"I'm really sorry. I know that you feel betrayed. But I will stand up and be responsible. I love Arianna, I really do." The young man said in earnest. How I wished for Janine to be there and to behold such a beautiful sight together with me.

I moved closer to Roderick and gave him a slight nudge. Say something, for crying out loud! Why on earth was he so silent? Why was he not saying anything at all?

The silence was tense. Pete coughed a little, and continued to say something,

"I know that everyone views us as brother and sister. But then, my heart refused to believe that she is my sister; and I fell in love with her. I love her. Please, forgive me for all the hurts this has caused. I know that there are lots of emotions running up and down, but give it some time. Allow me to prove to her and to you, how much I love her."

Arianna looked up and said in a low voice, "you don't need to prove anything to me, Pete. I already know that you love me."

Oh, what a beautiful sight! How I so wished I had recorded it so that I could play it over and over, just to make myself smile.

"Does Hayden know?" I asked with a smile.

"I told him." Pete tried to force a smile.

"And what did he say?" Roderick finally spoke.

"To be honest, he was shocked." Pete nervously licked his lips, his eyes fixed on Roderick.

"And so are we! Are we not, Roderick?" I nudged his elbow.

Roderick was silent for a few seconds before: "Of course we are! What I am failing to understand however, is how long have you two been in love? This could not have happened after the wedding was cancelled? And if you had been in love way before that, it means you were cheating on Raelynn with my daughter. What confidence can I have therefore, in allowing my child to be with a man who cheats?"

Arianna looked at her dad and was about to speak when Roderick said,

"Let the man speak for himself, my child."

Pete looked very uncomfortable but he responded: "I have always been in love with Arianna. It's been years now, but I feared to do anything about it. I thought it was wrong, because the world had defined us as brother and sister. And no; I never cheated on Raelynn. Once she was out of my life, my eyes were opened to see that the love of my heart; who is Arianna, was right in front of me."

I loved what I was hearing. The words sounded like a sweet melody in my ears. I wanted everyone to be happy. Why was Roderick taking so long to accept the good news? Oh Roderick come on; just accept it already!

As if he was able to read my mind, Roderick shook his head. It was as if he was not in agreement with me. He started to walk towards the door and said, "let's have a chat outside, Pete."

In fear, Pete followed Roderick.

I moved closer to my girl and took her hand.

"Is dad angry with me?" she asked.

"He will come around, forget about him... Tell me, what made you sick to such an extent? Was it the tea I gave you? Maybe it did not go well with you." I asked, because in my heart I still needed to know what had happened with the tea.

"I did not drink it." Arianna told me. "When I tried to take a sip, after lifting the cup, the smell of it was horrible, so I threw it all down the drain. What kind of tea smells that bad?" she frowned.

"It was herbal tea," I smiled.

My heart rejoiced. It was well. All was well. In my mind I saw a huge news headline written: WHEN GIANTS MEET; A ROCKRIDGE MARRIES A de MILO. I smiled brightly before yet another headline flashed in my imagination: BILLIONNAIRE'S SON MARRIES BILLIONNAIRE'S DAUGHTER.