Pregnant and Spoiled by the Billionaire – Episode 43
Benjamin’s oxygen level recovered after the respiratory therapist repositioned his breathing tube. The event lasted minutes, but Amelia’s body reacted as though danger had returned to the operating room. Her blood pressure rose, and the nurse guided her wheelchair away from the crowded station.
“I shouldn’t leave him,” Amelia protested. The neonatologist assured her that stepping back did not abandon Benjamin; it allowed his team to work and protected her own recovery. Motherhood in intensive care demanded forms of love that felt painfully passive.
Leo stayed long enough to hear that Benjamin was stable, then returned Amelia to her room. She accused herself of causing the alarm by arriving, even though reason told her otherwise. Prematurity had turned coincidence into guilt because guilt offered the illusion of control.
Her counselor visited that afternoon. Rather than dismissing the fear, she named it as a trauma response shaped by the assault, hostage crisis, hospitalization, hemorrhage, and emergency delivery. Amelia had survived too many moments when vigilance genuinely mattered, so her mind continued scanning even after trained clinicians assumed responsibility. Recovery would require teaching her nervous system that rest was sometimes safe.
The counselor taught her to separate observation from prediction. Benjamin needed ventilation was a fact. Benjamin would die because Amelia failed him was fear disguised as certainty. Writing both statements side by side made the difference visible.
Leo admitted he used the same disguise. He checked monitors because knowledge helped, then kept checking when it no longer changed care. They agreed to ask nurses for scheduled updates instead of interpreting every number alone.
Amelia’s second NICU visit began with Caleb. He weighed less than two pounds, yet his fingers flexed when she spoke. She told him how stubbornly he had remained with his brothers, careful not to turn survival into a burden he must continue earning.
Daniel tolerated a few drops of milk through his feeding tube. Ethan required less oxygen than the others and seemed determined to remove every sensor near his hands. Adam remained stable enough for the nurse to suggest skin-to-skin care.
Two nurses transferred Adam beneath Amelia’s hospital gown while monitoring every line. They secured his breathing support, arranged warmed blankets, and showed her how to support his head without disturbing equipment. His body felt lighter than the blankets surrounding him. She remained perfectly still, afraid even her breathing might be too large for him, until the nurse encouraged her to relax enough for Adam to feel the rhythm he knew.
Adam settled against her chest. His oxygen readings improved, and the nurse explained that warmth, voice, and familiar rhythm could support regulation. For the first time since delivery, Amelia participated in care without a machine between them.
Leo watched from beside the chair, emotion visible but restrained. Amelia invited him closer and asked whether he wanted the next session. He looked surprised, as though maternal care were sacred territory he required permission to enter.
“They’re your sons too,” she said. Leo had protected and provided from the beginning, but fatherhood now required touch, patience, and vulnerability. He agreed to hold Daniel when the medical team approved.
Matilda met each grandson without buying anything. She read from her update notebook, telling them how Amelia recovered and how many people waited for them. The nurses appreciated that she asked before taking photographs and never posted one.
News outlets continued requesting birth confirmation. Preston Group released a single statement saying Amelia and the children were receiving medical care and asking for privacy. It included no weights, names, images, or promises about outcomes.
The absence of detail produced speculation. Several sites falsely reported that one baby had died, while another claimed Amelia remained unconscious. Leo’s communications team requested corrections without filling the vacuum with private facts.
Amelia considered publishing a photograph simply to stop the rumors. The counselor asked whether she wanted to share joy or felt coerced by lies. Amelia realized fear, not choice, drove the impulse and decided to wait.
One week after delivery, doctors discharged Amelia from obstetric care but allowed her to remain in hospital family housing. Instructions covered blood pressure, incision care, seizure warnings, medication, and symptoms requiring emergency attention. Leaving her room without taking the babies home felt like being released from one world while her family remained trapped in another. The wheelchair carried her past families holding healthy newborns, and she let herself grieve without resenting them.
Leo moved with her to the small apartment near intensive care. The space lacked penthouse luxury, yet its short hallway and hospital-grade phone mattered more than marble. They created a schedule that included sleep, meals, pumping, visits, and time when neither discussed medicine.
That night, they ate sandwiches at the tiny kitchen table. Amelia admitted she was frightened happiness would tempt fate. Leo did not tell her to be positive. He said they could be grateful and terrified at the same time.
The hospital phone rang before dawn. Benjamin’s abdomen had become swollen, and imaging suggested a serious intestinal complication. The surgical team needed consent for an emergency procedure, and every minute of delay increased the risk.