Calm Before The Storm

**Caspian's point of view**

"Happy birthday, darling."

The sight of Isla as I came down the stairs, almost made me forget every problem I had.

She walked out wearing a very transparent black lingerie that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

In her hands was a small cake, decorated with pink frosting and little hearts. And on her head, a kitten headband that made her look both adorable and dangerous at the same time.

She looked extremely cute and sexy, just the way I liked her.

I was taken aback though, because I had actually been expecting Nia's “big” surprise.

For the past three days, my wife had been acting strange. Too nice and attentive. And I was curious enough to actually look forward to whatever she had planned.

"How the hell are you doing this while Nia is home?"

I asked, keeping my voice low out of habit.

"I've told you a hundred times, we can't be caught."

Isla set the cake down carefully on the dining table, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Relax. She actually left home early this morning. It's just us right now."

"She left? Where did she go?"

Isla walked towards me, her hips swaying in a way that was clearly meant to distract me.

She reached me and kissed me, soft and sweet, the way she always started things.

But my mind wasn't fully there yet. I broke the kiss and leaned back.

"Where did she go, Isla?"

Her face dropped immediately. A frown settled between her eyebrows, the kind that told me she was already annoyed.

She hated it whenever I gave Nia even the slightest bit of attention. Every single time I brought her up, Isla's mood shifted like a switch had been flipped.

"I have no idea, Caspian. She left before I woke up." She crossed her arms.

"Why do you even care? She probably just went out to get groceries or something. It is your birthday after all."

I paused, thinking about it. And honestly, that actually made sense.

For the five years Nia and I had been together, she always made me a feast on my birthday. Every single year without fail. A full spread of my favourite dishes, everything cooked from scratch by her own hands.

It was one of the few things she did that genuinely surprised me, because Nia wasn't the type to make a fuss about anything. But on my birthday, she always went all out.

This morning, there had been nothing. No smell of cooking coming from the kitchen, no ingredients laid out on the counter. So she probably went out early to get everything she needed to prepare the meal.

Yeah, that made sense.

I relaxed slightly and reached for Isla, pulling her closer.

"You're probably right. Come here."

She smiled again, the annoyance melting away as quickly as it had come. I kissed her, properly this time, tasting the strawberry lip gloss she always wore.

"Since we have the house to ourselves for a while, why don't we put the time to good use?"

Her eyes lit up with that look I knew all too well.

"Eat the cake first," she insisted, already pulling away with a playful grin.

"I spent time making it. The least you can do is taste it before we get distracted."

I laughed. "Fine. Feed the birthday boy first, is that it?"

"Exactly."

She turned and walked to the other side of the dining table to grab plates. I watched her move, admiring the way the lingerie clung to her body.

Isla was everything I could have ever wanted. She was fun, spontaneous, and she actually wanted to be with me. Not out of obligation, not because of some arrangement. She genuinely wanted me.

Something Nia could never give me, no matter how many years we spent under the same roof.

As Isla reached for the plates, she suddenly paused. Her hand hovered mid air, her eyes fixed on something on the table.

I watched as she slowly picked up a stack of papers. Her eyes scanned across the top page, and I saw them go wide. Not the kind of wide that came from surprise or curiosity. The kind that came from seeing something that made your blood run cold.

"What is it?" I asked immediately, sitting up straighter.

She quickly put the papers down, her expression shifting back to neutral so fast. "Nothing. It's nothing."

"That wasn't nothing. Your face just went white."

"It's fine, Caspian. Seriously."

I stared at her. Something wasn't right. The way she'd looked at those papers. That wasn't a reaction to nothing.

She must have seen the doubt in my eyes because she let out a breath and picked the papers up again, holding them loosely at her side.

"It's just some list. Probably something Nia forgot to take with her when she left this morning." She shrugged, already turning away. "You know how scattered she can be sometimes."

I still wasn't satisfied. But I let it go. I didn't want to ruin the mood.

"Just put them in Nia's room," I told her. "She'll deal with it when she gets back."

"Sure." Isla tucked the papers under her arm. "I'll just keep them in her room. Be right back."

I nodded and she disappeared down the hallway.

While she was gone, I leaned back on the chair and let out a breath. My leg was still throbbing under the bandage, a constant dull ache that reminded me of what had happened at the hotel.

The police still hadn't caught the person who did it. The investigation was ongoing, but honestly, I didn't care that much. I had bigger things to worry about.

Isla came back a few minutes later, empty handed and smiling again. She cut the cake with a small knife, carving out two neat slices.

She brought one to me and then settled herself right on my lap, her legs on either side of my thighs.

"Happy birthday," she whispered, holding up a forkful of cake to my lips.

I opened my mouth and let her feed me. The cake was sweet, almost too sweet, but I didn't mind. Not when she was looking at me like that with her fingers trailing down my jaw after I swallowed.

"You like it?" she asked.

I nodded. "It's good."

She smiled proudly and took a bite of her own piece. Then she set the plate aside and started massaging my thigh with one hand, her fingers working their way higher, tracing slow circles through my pants.

"Baby..."

"Shh." She leaned in and kissed my neck. "It's your birthday. Let me take care of you."

We kissed and touched and explored each other right there, taking our time and savoring every moment.

By the time we finally had sex, it was slow and intense in a way that made me forget about everything else. The pain in my leg, the investigation, Nia, all of it disappeared.

Isla was perfect. She was everything Nia was not. Where Nia was quiet, Isla was bold. Where Nia was passive, Isla was hungry. She loved me openly, freely, without any of the awkward distance that had always existed between me and my wife.

And she loved me a lot. Something Nia couldn't do, no matter how hard I'd waited for it, no matter how much I'd grown to care for her in my own way.

But I didn't need Nia's love anymore. I had Isla.

By the time we both reached our peak, breathless and tangled together on the couch, I felt genuinely happy. Content, even.

Isla eventually untangled herself from me and started clearing the table, wiping down the surface and gathering the plates.

I stayed on the couch, catching my breath, feeling more relaxed than I had in days.

Then I glanced over at the wall clock on the other side of the room. It was well past noon already.

Why wasn't she home yet?

I turned to look at Isla again. "Hey, are you sure Nia just went out to get groceries? It's been hours."

Isla froze mid motion, a plate in each hand. The shift in her body was subtle, but I caught it.

Then she turned back to what she was doing.

"Yeah, I'm sure. She probably just took her time. You know how she is."

But something about the way she said it made me uneasy. The way she wouldn't meet my eyes while talking.

It could either be that she knew something I didn't. Or she wanted me to stop talking about her as usual.

But I couldn't help it. The worry was growing in my chest. Nia had been gone all morning. No call, no text, no messages.

That wasn't like her, even when things between us were bad. She was always predictable. Always where she said she'd be.

I pushed myself up from the couch, wincing slightly as my leg protested.

"I'm going to call her. See where she's at."

"Wait." Isla's voice stopped me before I could take a step. I turned back.

She was standing there, the plates forgotten on the table now.

Her expression had changed completely. The playful energy from before was gone, replaced by something serious.

"I have a surprise for you," she said softly. "One more birthday surprise."

I raised an eyebrow, my worry temporarily overridden by curiosity.

"What kind of surprise?"

Isla bit her bottom lip, a gesture I usually found adorable. But right now, there was something different behind it.

She took a small step towards me. Then she looked down at her belly, placing both hands flat against her stomach in a gesture that was so intentional. It made my heart stop.

Then she looked back up at me.

"I'm pregnant.”