Feeling embarrassed and out of sorts, Beatrice managed an awkward smile at Joshua.


    “Yeah, Ms. Sadler really is the most gifted fashion designer. I saw the traditional suit she made for my dad–it’s fantastic, and I’m sure he’ll love it. Anyway, it’s gettingte, so we should probably get going,” she said.


    Beatrice hurriedly said goodbye to Joshua and Xylia, then left in a rush.


    Kevin trailed behind, gave Xylia an awkward look, and mumbled his apology, “Sorry.”


    With that, he hurried after his mom.


    “Does he really think just saying sorry makes everything alright?” Joshua muttered, still visibly annoyed.


    Joshua’s irritation was written all over his face–he hadn’t let it go yet.


    Xylia teased as she yfully shook Joshua’s hand. “Honestly, with your temper, I thought you’d blow


    up


    and start something. Didn’t expect you to actually hold your tongue for once.”


    Joshua pulled her into his arms.


    “If she wasn’t your client, I wouldn’t have cut her any ck,” he replied.


    Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered to hide the warning in his words at all.


    Xylia let out a couple of lightughs, her mood already brightening.


    The heaviness that had hung over their evening melted away atst.


    Once they got back to the apartment, Xylia shot her brothers a quick text to let them know she was alright. Then she got busy with some work Josie had sent her way.


    On his own, Joshua headed off to the kitchen to whip up somete–night snacks.


    Xylia hadn’t eaten much earlier, so she was still feeling kind of hungry.


    She ced an order for two dishes with Joshua, then headed straight to his study.


    Since she didn’t bring her ownptop, she just grabbed Joshua’s and started working away like it was totally normal.


    Joshua couldn’t help grinning to himself, feeling genuinely content.


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    With the girl he likedpletely woven into his life, every space and every little thing in his apartment started feeling like it was theirs–shared and close.


    Just thinking about it brought a sweet kind of happiness that made his heart flutter.


    Yeah, Joshua was really pleased with how things were going.


    Halfway through cooking, it hit him–they were out of condoms.


    He quickly set down what he was doing and jumped online to order some.


    After all the effort it took to get Xylia to move in, there was no way he was letting anything get in the way of his happily–ever–after.


    Once he’d ced the order, he headed back into the kitchen, feeling pretty pleased with himself.


    Joshua was in such a great mood, he even started humming as he worked.


    Soon enough, Xylia shuffled out of the study, holding her belly with a slight grimace. She wandered over to the kitchen ind and shot Joshua a look.


    “Did you stock up on any pads? Pretty sure my period just came knocking,” she said, sounding half–amused, half–resigned.


    Joshua’s mood instantly hit a wall–just like that, all his good vibes came crashing down. ‘Well,


    so much for my romantic night…‘ he thought, sighing inwardly.


    Following Joshua’s directions, Xylia found the stash of pads in the bathroom drawer just where he’d told her.


    When she opened it, her jaw dropped. The drawer was crammed full–every brand and length under the sun.


    She couldn’t help but think, ‘I’d probably still have some left when I hit retirement age.


    Xylia grabbed her go–to brand, went to change, and only came out once she was done.


    Joshua ced a mug of warm brown sugar water on the table. As soon as he spotted Xylia, his voice was full of concern as he said, “I made you some brown sugar teae on, drink it while it’s hot.”


    Instead of heading back to the study, Xylia slid into a seat at the dining table. Wrapping her hands around the mug, she shot Joshua a mischievous, crinkly–eyed smile.


    “Thanks,” she said.


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    She deliberately ignored the pitiful, forlorn look Joshua was throwing her way.


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    ‘Honestly, seeing him so seriously disappointed was just too funny, Xylia thought to herself.


    She took small sips of the brown sugar water, putting up with the waves of cramping pain twisting through her stomach.


    Before, whenever her period came around, Xylia barely felt a thing–no pain, no fuss. She could eat hot or cold foods, anything she liked, and it never caused any problems.


    But after Sonny was born, she didn’t really rest up like she should’ve afterward.


    That ended up causing no end of pesky health problems for her.


    These days, period cramps were just one of the issues she had to deal with.


    Back when her cramps first started up, Xylia could still tough it out. Connor was barely ever home, Sonny was just a little kid, and Mnie wouldn’t even consider getting a nanny. So everything fell squarely on Xylia’s shoulders.


    All that stress and exhaustion really took a toll on her health.


    It wasn’t until Sonny was older that she finally had the time to start looking after herself–and once she did, things finally began to turn around.


    The warm brown sugar tea finally brought her some much–needed relief from those cramps.


    Joshua had been upte simmering a pot of chicken soup and was all set to make some grilled skewers. But when he saw Xylia was under the weather, he quickly switched things up–grilled the skewers with just cumin, no chili, and reced the sparkling water with extra brown sugar


    tea.


    The chicken soup was made specially to help Xylia recover and regain her strength.


    When the food hit the table, Xylia immediately got what Joshua was up to, and she felt a cozy warmth bloom in her heart.


    “Why do you look so pale? Are you in a lot of pain?” Joshua asked, worry creasing his eyebrows <b>as </b>he saw how washed–out Xylia looked.


    He brushed her cheek and felt the mmy sweat on her skin.


    Joshua immediately dragged a chair over so he could sit close beside her.


    His warm hand slipped under her shirt and gently settled on her belly.


    With his palm radiating heat and his fingers softly massaging, Xylia could actually feel some


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    of the pain melting away.


    Xylia tilted her head at Joshua, teasing, “Who knew you had all these moves?”


    Joshua shot her a cocky grin. “The moment I decided to be your guy, I started picking up all sorts of tricks just for you.”


    He raised his brows with no shame, totally pleased with himself.


    Xylia’s curiosity was piqued and she started ticking off his skills on her fingers.


    “Cooking, cleaning,undry duty, soothing my cramps… Is there any skill of yours I haven’t stumbled on yet?” she teased.


    Joshua thought about it for a moment, then shed a proud grin. “I can wash your hair, do your makeup, take care of you if you’re ever pregnant… even help deliver a baby if ites to that.”


    “Deliver a baby?” Xylia repeated, halfughing, her eyebrows shooting up in disbelief.


    She couldn’t help but think, ‘Seriously, is he training to be my personal life coach or something? This is more like a full–on husband bootcamp than just picking up some skills!‘


    While still gently massaging her stomach, Joshua grinned, “Delivering babies? Yeah, that’s a skill I’ll probably never need, since we’re not nning on having kids anyway.”


    Seeing Xylia’s stunned expression, Joshua couldn’t help but think, ‘Man, she’s ridiculously adorable when she gets surprised like that.‘


    He leaned in and dropped a soft kiss on her cheek.


    Xylia found herself wavering for a moment, torn between feelings.


    She let herself melt into Joshua’s arms, fully rxed and trusting.


    Joshua instinctively wrapped his arms around her, holding her close,


    “When we’re married, I’d still like for us to have a kid someday,” Xylia said gently.


    Joshua frowned. “But giving birth hurts like hell, and you could even end up dying because of it.”


    <b>“</b><b>It’s </b>really rare, though,” Xylia replied, shrugging.


    “Still, I’d rather never have kids if there’s even the slightest risk to you. Your well–being means more to me than anything else,” Joshua said, unwavering.


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    :


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    Xylia snorted withughter. ‘Does having a kid suddenly mean I won’t live to old age or something?‘ she thought.


    She could keenly sense just how strongly Joshua resisted the idea of having kids.


    For now, Xylia decided to drop the subject.


    ‘That’s stuff for the future anyway. We’re not even married yet–no point stressing about it now,‘ she thought.


    It took Joshua a moment to realize that Xylia had actually brought up marriage.


    ‘Does this mean she’s actually open to marrying me?‘ he wondered, a bit surprised.


    At that thought, a rush of happiness bubbled up inside him.


    ‘Looks like it’s time to start nning the proposal,‘ he thought.


    Once Xylia was clearly feeling better, she gently pushed Joshua’s hand away to stop his


    massage.


    “I’m doing much better. The food’s practically getting cold–let’s eat before it does,” she said.


    Seeing that Xylia was genuinely alright and not just trying to tough it out, Joshua finally let go, a look of relief crossing his face.


    After dinner, they went straight to bed together.


    Joshua kept things innocent that night. He just held Xylia close, his hands gently massaging her stomach to ease the pain.


    For as long as she could remember, Xylia had never slept so soundly during her period.


    The next day, while Xylia was at work, she got a call from Rachel Jones–it had been ages since they’dst talked.


    “Xylia, text me your address, will you? I’m going to send you some herbs to help you feel better,” Rachel said affectionately.