Anna sat on the bed and cried. It was too much information. She needed to get away from it all. Maybe she shouldn't even stay with Ian. She needed to get away from those things.
Anna heard the door open and saw Meredith enter and lock the door from the inside, then approach her. Anna looked at her hand and stood up, stepping back. She was holding a syringe.
"What are you doing?" Anna asked and the woman cracked a smile full of pointed teeth.
"Have you forgotten that I told you I'd need some vaccines?"
Anna shook her head.
"No. I'm going to get a second opinion and..."
Anna had never seen anyone move so fast. The woman was suddenly pushing her against the wall, putting her finger to her lips and looking firmly into her eyes.
"Don't scream, Anna. But I want you to feel this pain." She said and showed the syringe with the huge needle and then, when she was sure that Anna was paralyzed, she injected the needle and watched with pleasure as tears of pain ran down that smooth-skinned face.
The doctor moved away.
"Go back to bed, Anna. You chose me to be your obstetrician because you trust me so much and believe you won't find anyone better. You're going to sleep for fifteen minutes. This "vaccine" contains, in addition to other chemical mixtures, water from a place forbidden to people like me, but we smuggle it in. You'll need a dose every month or these children will eat you up from the inside out."
Anna lay back with tears in her eyes.
"You'll just remember that you begged me to be your doctor after you wake up."
Anna closed her eyes and slept for fifteen minutes.
Maxwell was holding her hand when she woke up and frowned.
"I'm sorry, but... I don't think my tiredness is allowing me to sleep well at night." She said and sat up, watching her husband.
His expression was comical. Anna started to laugh and he stared at her lividly.
"You're the craziest wife on the face of the earth..."
"Why do you say that?" She asked, stopping laughing, and taking his hand, she stood up to leave.
"You find out you're going to be the mother of triplets and you laugh?" Maxwell asked, attentive to her reactions.
"It's your fault." Anna said, starting to enjoy herself. "You overdid your evening prayers, and God sent three so you wouldn't disturb him any more."
"That's not funny." He said and started to enjoy himself too.
And with this energy of happiness, they returned to the mansion in time for lunch. They didn't tell Anna's father about the children and kept that secret until there was a party to reveal it.
Maxwell talked to his father-in-law and told him that they would only accept the mansion if he moved out or didn't hold his meetings there again.
To Maxwell and Anna's surprise, he accepted without complaint. It was as if he had expected it. He sent his security guards to the entrance of the mansion grounds, where there was a house, so that they could stay there and not have to go to the mansion.
They would announce any visitors who arrived and make sure that no one unknown entered.
This pleased Maxwell, who started looking for new nannies. He would need at least three. One for each of his children, who were about to be born. At least until they were five and their mother came to help look after them... This thought led him to another. He remembered that a few weeks after Anna had arrived there, his other mother had called because, afraid that she was being watched and would bring these people to him, she had told him about Adam's call. He never told Anna about it, because her father thought it was for the best, and they took extra care of her, without her knowing. But Adam would be there one day. Maxwell knew it and Anna's father knew it too. He suspected that even Anna knew it. However, Adam never called again to get an answer from his mother, who was told that Anna was working and studying.
The next two months passed quickly, and everyone close to Anna already knew she was pregnant, because as the obstetrician said, her belly had grown considerably. She only kept it a secret that there were three babies.
Maxwell prepared the babies' room with care, secrecy and hired the nannies he thought necessary.
Ian was walking everywhere, and enjoying putting his ear to Anna's belly and feeling the kicks and hearing the hearts. Although Maxwell suspected that he was hearing much more than just his brothers' heartbeats.
Anna bent down to kiss Ian and sending a smile to Maxwell, who was sitting concentrated on his computer screen, she went to her room to rest.
Maxwell waited for the sound of her breathing to become soft and when he was sure she was asleep, he looked over at Helen, who was absent-mindedly throwing Ian's scattered toys around the room into a box. Maxwell realized that she was becoming very thin and cadaverous and worried that he would soon have to replace her. He took a deep breath.
"Helen."
She immediately looked up at him.
"Come on." He ordered.
She stood up with fear in her eyes, and walked over to him and sat down on his legs.
Maxwell ran his hands down her body, and removing part of the sleeve of her blouse, leaving her bare, he kissed her shoulder.
"I can feel your bones, Helen. Aren't you eating properly?"
"I... I... Yes, master."
Maxwell squeezed her breasts hard until he saw the expression of pain in her eyes. Helen didn't flinch.
"You're not trying to kill yourself, are you, Helen?"
"No, master." Her fearful voice was too exciting for him.
Maxwell moved his hand to her legs and lifted her dress, suddenly feeling watched. He saw Ian staring at him with the same confused expression he had seen on Adam when he was little.
"Is something wrong, my son?" Maxwell asked, as he slipped a finger into Helen's dry vagina.
Ian shook his head negatively and distracted himself with his toys.