Chapter 457 Pink Or Blue


    As the clock ticked closer and closer to the time when she would normally get off work, Rachel


    stared at the final word count of the document she was working on. It was a sad excuse for a


    document, which contained only sixty or seventy words instead of the seven hundred or eight


    hundred words that it should have.


    The director knocked on the office door and came in after a beat of pause. "Are the documents


    ready, Rachel?" she asked.


    It was not until then that Rachel came back to her senses. Flustered at herckluster pace of work,


    she managed to mumble out an excuse. "I''m still working on it. It''s almost done."


    The director frowned. She sighed and said in a somewhat irritated voice, "The document could have


    been finished in half an hour. You have been working on it for the whole afternoon, but you still


    haven''t managed to finish it yet?"


    She raised her arm to nce at her watch and sneered, "I''m leaving in ten minutes. Can you finish


    it in time?"


    Rachel took a wistful look at the almost empty screen in front of her and sighed. Disappointed in


    herself, she answered honestly, "I''m afraid I won''t be able to finish on time."


    As soon as she uttered out the negative, the director''s face darkened like the sky when a sudden


    tropical storm approached. She looked thunderous. "Then you''d better finish it and send it to me as


    soon as possible. I''ll deal with it when I get home."


    "Okay."


    Since the day Rachel started working here, she had never made such a blunder, not even the


    smallest of mistakes. Her impable record meant that her superiors never felt the need to doubt


    her abilities. Now, it was because of Jack that such an incident happened. Even she herself was


    speechless in the face of the situation.


    She patted her face casually in an attempt to freshen up. Rachel gave herself a short break of a


    minute or so, using it to perform some stretches so that she could focus better on her work. She


    took a deep breath in and then carried typing on the keyboard. The marathon to finish the document


    had started. Finally, within half an hour, she reached the minimum word count and clicked "save."


    Relief rushed through her veins as she sent the document to the director.


    Tilting her stiff neck this way and that way, Rachel reached out and turned off theputer. Within


    minutes, a ck screen greeted her and she could see the muted reflection of her face. Just as she


    was about to stand up, a knock sounded and Jack entered. He looked a little surprised when he


    saw that Rachel was still at her office. "Rachel, I thought you wouldn''t wait for me." There was a hint


    of happiness in his eyes. question stopped her. "What are those two doing upstairs?"


    "Oh, they said they are going to tidy up the baby''s room upstairs. They came at noon but they''ve


    been fighting for the whole afternoon, and it''s not over yet," Julie answered, smiling warmly at


    Rachel.


    On the second floor, Tracy, with one hand propped on her hip, stared at the wall. She harrumphed


    and said discontentedly, "The room should be painted pink. It''ll look better that way.


    "What if the baby is a boy?" With a helpless look on his face, Jonathan pouted at Tracy''s statement.


    He pointed at the wall and decided to give his input. "I think the blue walls we have right now are


    good enough."


    Tracy snorted and retorted, "What if she gives birth to a girl then? Girls don''t like a blue room. She


    must like my idea better."


    Tracy herself had given birth to a son and Jack was never a considerate man. She wanted to have


    a daughter whom she could go shopping with. She had thought that she could get along well with


    her daughter-inw, but Rachel was not that kind of girl.


    Therefore, she could only resort to pushing her hopes onto the unborn child inside Rachel''s belly.


    Every now and then, she would pray that she was going to have a granddaughter, one who she


    could dote on. Tracy already had all of it nned out. She would hold her little granddaughter''s


    hand whilst they go shopping and then she would buy her all kinds of pretty dresses and dress her


    up like a little princess.


    Not to be outdone, Jonathan returned with a snort of his own. "If the baby is a boy, he would


    definitely not like pink. Blue is more popr than pink and easily epted."


    Because of this dilemma, the two of them resembled little children squabbling in a yground.


    As Rachel and Jack headed upstairs to see what the argument was about, they heard this


    conversation. They shared a look and were at a loss whether to cry or tough.


    Jack rested his hand on his Tracy''s shoulder, calming her down with his presence. He tried to


    cate her, "Mom, it''s still too early to think about redecorating the room. We still have plenty of


    time to make a decision after the baby is born."


    "After the baby is born?" Tracy looked up at him and shook her head. "No, it''s toote then. It takes


    a long time to get rid of the smell after painting. We can''t paint it after the baby is born! We don''t


    want the baby to inhale all those paint fumes."


    "The child will only need their own room after they''ve reached two or three years old." Jack patted


    his mother''s back gently as he tried tofort her. After a minute or so of silence, Tracy finally gave


    in to her son''s pleading and nodded in agreement.


    Standing at the scene but not involved with the conversation in any way, Rachel found her lips


    twitching silently as she listened quietly. There was a lot of uncertainty in their future and she didn''t


    know what would happen between her and Jack after the baby was born, but they had already


    begun to talk about what would happen two or three yearster. However, as she saw how invested


    the two were in the topic of the conversation, she didn''t have the heart to remind them about this


    and spoil their happiness. All she could do at that moment was lower her head and listen passively.


    During a lull in his talk with Tracy, Jack turned his head to steal a nce at Rachel. Seeing that she


    didn''t have any reaction towards his words, he felt relief wash over him. He couldn''t help but be


    tightly controlled by her reactions.


    If she didn''t refute his words, did it mean that she didn''t want to, or did it mean she didn''t care


    enough to correct him about it?


    Jonathan echoed his son, nodding vigorously now that the argument had been settled. "Yes. It''s not


    toote to discuss the decor after the baby is born. There''s no need to be in such a hurry."


    Tracy, who had already calmed down, widened her eyes when she heard what Jonathan said.


    "Someone said that he would go to the decorpany to see the decor n as soon as he saw


    this room," she spat.


    "Didn''t you say that you would redecorate the house?"


    The two of them started to squabble over themselves again and Jack could only smile helplessly at


    the sight. Bathing in domestic bliss, he walked over to Rachel''s side and held her hand. Bending


    down slightly to reach her ear, he whispered in a tone that was a mixture of warmth and mirth, "In


    fact, it''s not bad to fight every now and again. We can be just like them in the future, what do you


    think?"


    Rachel didn''t deign to answer him but pulled her hand back from his grip. Having had enough, she


    announced to them in a low voice, "I''m heading back to my room to change my clothes. You guys


    can take your time."


    Left alone, he stood still as he felt bitterness churn in his heart.


    Sure enough, he was right in what he had been thinking of. It wasn''t that Rachel agreed with what


    he said earlier, but rather, she was simply toozy to refute him.


    Seeing the disappointment apparent on Jack''s handsome face, Jonathan walked past him and said


    in an even voice, "You didn''t think about the consequences before and made a mistake that cannot


    be erased. You should keep walking down this path withoutint!"


    His words were indeed a little heavy and felt as if they were like a knock to the head. A good knock


    to the head, though, which seemed to knock away all the questions and doubt and made Jack feel


    enlightened about the situation.


    Inside her room, away from the people discussing her baby''s future, Rachel picked out the clothes


    she normally wore around the house out of the wardrobe. Suddenly, without a warning, she felt her


    nose itch uncontrobly and sneezed several times. She muttered to herself, "Don''t tell me I''ve got


    a cold!"


    At this time, getting a cold would be the most painful thing she could think of. Because of her


    pregnancy, she wouldn''t be able to take any medicine or have an injection to deal with it. But


    instead, she could only rely on her body''s immune system to fight off the illness.


    Rachel quickly changed into her lounge clothes and opened the bedroom door. She was startled as


    she tried to step out and saw Jack blocking her way. She asked, surprised, "Why are you standing


    at the door?"


    "I was waiting for you." Jack grinned brightly at her.


    Rachel lowered her head as she was subjected to the million-watt grin and looked away as she felt


    ufortable seeing such a smile upon his face. In the past few days, she had been nothing but


    cold and distant to Jack, but how could he still be so enthusiastic?


    On the morning of the second day, the rm clock on her cell phone seemed to have malfunctioned


    and this meant that she didn''t hear it. By the time she woke up fully, it was already nine o''clock. She


    was more than half an hourte!


    She rubbed her face frantically and took out her phone to inspect it further. After a few minutes, she


    finally figured it out. The rm clock was dismissed sometime before.


    She lifted the duvet and was about to get up when Julie''s voice sounded at the front of her door.


    "Miss, have you woken up yet?"


    "I''m up." Rachel''s voice sounded gruff and grumpy. It was an after-effect of being annoyed at herself


    for oversleeping.


    Julie gently pushed open the door and walked into the room. She gave Rachel a bright smile as she


    told her, "The breakfast is ready. I''veid it on the table. I have something to deal with urgently and


    have to go out for a bit. It shouldn''t take long so I should be back soon to apany you, is that


    alright?"


    Rachel only became more confused with each word that came out of Julie''s mouth. "Apany


    me? Where are we going?"


    "We''re going to the hospital for a prenatal check -up. Today is your appointment," Julie replied


    without missing a beat.


    Rachel pped her forehead as she tried to process what Julie had just said. "Just go ahead and


    deal with whatever you need to deal with. I can go to the hospital by myself."


    "I''ll go with you." Jack''s voice came unexpectedly from the door, determination apparent in the force


    he put behind his words. "Julie, if you have something to do, just go ahead. I will apany her to


    the hospital for the prenatal checkups from now on."


    "Don''t you need to go to thepany?" Rachel asked.


    Jack raised his eyebrows at her question and said with a wide smile, "It''s more important to


    apany you to the hospital for prenatal checkups." It was as if he didn''t care about thepany


    at all!


    Seriously speaking, this would be the first time that Jack had apanied Rachel to the hospital


    for her prenatal checkups. On their way to the hospital, she squirmed in her seat as difort bit at


    her heels. "Jack, I can go for the prenatal checkups myself. There''s no need for you to go with me."


    His hands still gripping the steering wheel, Jack responded with two taps of his finger as he thought.


    After a moment of silence, he reached out and turned the music on in the car. He hoped the music


    would be effective in improving her mood. He didn''t want her to feel stressed. Elegant piano music


    flowed out of the sound system, enveloping the pair in a half-awkward, halffortable embrace.


    "Close your eyes and try to get some rest. We can use this time to give our baby some prenatal


    education," he said softly.


    Doing what he did best, Jack easily changed the topic to another one that was lessden with


    emotionalndmines. Rachel knew that there was no point in talking more or trying to change his


    mind, so she didn''t try to listen more to his words. She closed her eyes and rested.


    It was not rush hour, so they were fortunate enough not to be caught up in any traffic jams. They


    arrived at the hospital without any dys. Once they reached the lobby of the hospital, they took a


    number card after they registered themselves on the self-registration machine. The two of them


    walked to the waiting area of the obstetrics and gynecology department and sat quietly without a


    word.


    After a while, the inte called out the number on Rachel''s number card, followed by a robotic


    repeating of her name. Jack quickly picked up the bag beside him and stood up, causing Rachel to


    look up and down at him in confusion. "Where are you going?" she asked.


    "I''ll go with you," Jack answered as if it was the natural course of things.


    Rachel snatched the bag from his hands and said, "Just wait for me here. I''ll go in by myself. "


    There was no room for arguments in her tone. Author''s note


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