Do You Want A Boy Or A Girl? "What, you don't want a boy?"

To be honest, I'd prefer a girl.'

The thought of having a mini version of her thrilled Kira to no end.

They could wear mother-daughter matching dresses.

She could teach her little princess how to paint her toenails and braid her hair.

She would give her daughter the childhood she never had.

Austyn shook his head. 'No, it's best to have a son for a firstbom."

Kira rolled her eyes. 'I didn't know you're one of those.'

'One of what?'

It'll Give You Some Time To Grow Up

It'll Give You Some Time To Grow Up

'One of those men with an antiquated preference for boys over girls,' Kira said.

'No, that's not what I meant.' Austyn ruffled her hair. 'I meant, it's best to have a son first, then a daughter.' 'Why?'

'So our daughter will have a big brother to protect her.'

Kira pondered it. 'I guess you're right.

'Besides, it'll give you some time to grow up and be a better role model for our daughter.'

'Hey! I'm fully grown up! I'm a mature woman!' Kira put her hands on her hips. 'I can be a good role model now!'

'Really?' Austyn pinched her cheek. 'Is it the act of a mature woman to draw a turtle on my paperweight?'

'You, you caught that, huh? Kira looked away.

Last night in Austyn's office, she got bored when he left to get her a glass of milk.

She played with his stationery and might have doodled on the olive wood paperweight.

'You used a permanent marker, by the way. That turtle is not coming off."

'It's not a turtle. It's a rabbit.'

Austyn chuckled. 'I'm going to keep it. When our daughter's old enough, I'm going to show the paperweight to her and tell her that's her "mature" mummy's handiwork.'

'Is that really necessary?' Kira was embarrassed. 'I can give you a bottle of nail polish remover. I hear it can get rid of permanent marker ink.

'No, I think the paperweight is going to serve a valuable role in our daughter's education."

Kai knocked on the door and came in, saving Kira from further mortification.

'That was quick.' Kira was surprised by the armload of snacks.

It took the assistant less than five minutes.

'I didn't need to go downstairs. Kai deposited the snacks onto the coffee table. 'These are all from the secretaries outside. They volunteered to share.Text content © .

The snacks did come with strings attached, though-the secretaries demanded information on the mystery visitor.

Kai artfully dodged their questions and beat a hasty retreat.

Austyn raised an eyebrow when he caught sight of a packet of dried durian slices.

He quickly swept it off the table when Kira wasn't looking.

***

Austyn wrapped up his last meeting of the day forty minutes later.

He returned to the office to find Kira asleep on the sofa.

She probably got bored waiting for him.

Austyn checked the stationery on his desk and was pleased to find his notepad and penholder unmolested.

He debated carrying Kira into the adjoining lounge.

There was a bigger sofa inside.

But he nixed the idea in case he woke her up.

He draped a blanket over her and turned up the temperature of the air con.

Austyn sat in his swivel chair and drummed a finger on the desk.

Then he dialled a number.

Giana was surprised to get a call from Kira's husband.

She declined it since she was still in class, but Austyn was persistent.

In the end, she had to sneak out of the classroom and answer the phone.

'Mr McCarthy? I got Kira's phone.'

Austyn paused. 'Why is her phone with you?'

'Wait, that's not why you're calling?'

Giana discovered Kira's disappearance after she won her debate with Mr Lance.

She called Kira's number but a stranger picked up.

He'd found Kira's phone on the pavement outside the school.

Giana met up with him and retrieved Kira's phone half an hour ago.

It was an old Prism Black Samsung Galaxy S10, with a bit of paint chipped off at the back, and a 2-cm crack on the bottom part of the screen.

It'll Give You Some Time To Grow Up

Giana remembered Kira telling her that it was a gift from her father.

Kira would be devastated if she lost it.

Giana had been slightly concerned about her friend's disappearance, but she figured Kira probably ran home since she didn't want to apply for the leave of absence. 'Thank you, Miss Mills,' Austyn said evenly. 'I'll send someone to pick up her phone.

'No problem. Since you didn't call about the phone, you must have something else in mind. What can I do for you?'

'I take it that Kira went to see you today?'

'Uh-huh.'

'Did anything happen?'

'What do you mean?'

'Something that could have upset her.'

Giana cast her mind back. 'No, not really... She was actually quite happy. She told me she's pregnant. Congratulations, by the way."

"Thank you.'

'Then I suggested that she should take the semester off, you know, because of the baby."

Austyn concurred.

Kira had a sensible friend.

'But she took off before I could get her to finish filling out the form. I think she got a call from someone.

'Do you know what the call was about?'

'No. She left the room to answer it. But I caught a name. Gideon. You know him?'

'Mmm.' Austyn gripped his phone.

Of course, he knew him.

Gideon Garner, head of the Garner family, and a thorn in Austyn's side.

He was young and reckless and shrewd.

Austyn would have liked to continue being friends with him if Gideon hadn't tried to snatch Kira away from him.

He would never forget the way Gideon called Kira his 'treasure.'

It looked like Gideon had not given up on his plan to win her back.

'I thought Kira went off with him,' Giana continued. 'Which is why I wasn't worried when I couldn't find her.'

She knew a bit about Kira's history with Gideon.

He was Kira's ex-boyfriend, but had turned into a kind of brotherly figure.

During the time of Austyn's disappearance, Gideon was there to pick Kira up for dinner every day without fail.

Giana had formed a rather favourable opinion of him.

She thought Gideon was attentive and considerate, and frankly, a better choice of mate for Kira.

But she kept that thought to herself.

Austyn thanked Giana and hung up.

He had heard enough.

Kira had gone off to see Gideon again.

He looked over at the sofa.

Kira was fast asleep, oblivious to the emotions roiling around inside her husband.

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty

The sofa wasn't big enough for Kira to lie spreadeagle,

She had to curl herself up into a ball and use her arms as a pillow.

But it was a good nap.

She felt safe and snug in the small space.

Perhaps it had something to do with this being Austyn's office.

She could close her eyes, knowing that no harm could come to her with him by her side.

But there was just one drawback to sleeping in an enclosed space.

The air was getting thin.

Kira opened her mouth to draw in more oxygen.

Then she felt something warm on her cheeks.

Her eyes fluttered open.

The first thing she saw was the tiny hairs on Austyn's face.

He was kissing her.

Which explained the lack of oxygen.

They were both panting when he ended the liplock three minutes later.

'You could've just called my name to wake me up, Kira complained. 'I thought I was suffocating.

Austyn got down and squeezed onto the sofa next to her. 'What, you don't want to be Sleeping Beauty?'

'Are you calling yourself a prince?'

Prince Phillip woke up Princess Aurora with a kiss.

'Am I not handsome enough to be a prince?

Kira stuck out her lower lip. 'I didn't know you think so much of yourself."

'Just calling a spade a spade.'

'Are you done with work?'

'Mmm.' He played with a strand of her hair.

Kira raised her head and checked that the office door was closed before rolling over on top of Austyn. 'I had a dream.'

'About?'

'About Dad.'

Austyn stopped moving. 'What happened in the dream?'

Kira pressed her cheek against his chest. 'Dad woke up from his coma. I was on cloud nine. I broke my piggy bank, took out all my money and took Dad shopping. Then we went to all the restaurants I've been to but he hadn't. We totally pigged out. It was like we each had four stomachs, you know."

Austyn made an indistinct sound in his throat.

'I was just waiting for him to come out of the fitting room. Then I woke up. But I didn't really wake up. It was like a dream inside a dream, 'Inception' style. Did you see that movie?'

'No.'

'It was a real mindblower. You should go and watch it.'

'I will. Back to your dream.

'Right. I woke up by Dad's bedside. He was still in a coma. Then somehow, I found myself sitting by a pool, and I was six years old. Dad was trying to teach me how to swim.'

Her voice caught.

Austyn stroked her back gently.

'But I just couldn't get the hang of it. I was scared of getting into the water. Dad went into the pool with me, but I refused to let go of his hand. I cried when he tried to move away. You must think I'm a wimp, huh?"

'You're not a wimp.' Austyn kissed her hand. 'You were just a little girl back then.'

'But kids younger than me learned how to swim. I just clung to Dad's legs and bawled my eyes out. In the end, he had to take me out of the pool. He bought me ice cream, sat me down and told me it was okay. He said I just needed more time. We could always come back and try again later. But we never went back to the pool..."

Kira rambled on.

She talked about the dream, then her childhood, her teenage years, and her disastrous eighteenth birthday.

Helen divorced Leland when Kira was just two.

Sleeping Beauty

416

Leland had to play both father and mother, and he tried his best.

Kira knew their family wasn't rich, but she was never in want of anything.

Leland gave her a carefree childhood that no money could buy.

Without her father, Kira would never have turned out the way she did.

She knew some people said Leland was too soft.

Helen had accused him of having no ambition, but Kira knew her dad was no deadbeat.

He loved his job and was content with being a self-employed electrician.

If a customer was caught short, he waived the payment.

He never charged his neighbours for rendering his services.

Kira loved her father dearly despite his shortcomings.