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Holding his elbows, I led him to our sitting area and made pushed him onto the log under the shade before getting him a glass of the water we had already boiled and set aside.
He took a grateful sip before shaking his head and looking up at me.
“I'm fine,” he said, but he had no color in his face, and he looked shaken.
“Oh! We have Lim Leaves in our store,” I said, remembering. Quickly, I went to the package of spices and pulled out the dried bundle of citrusy leaves. They were used for flavour but also to help with nausea, often in a cup of tea, but Alil didn't look well enough to wait.
I took one of the leaves and handed it to him.
“Chew on that,” I instructed. “I'll make some tea while you do.”
“I'll be fine,” he insisted, but took the leaf and tentatively began to chew on it.
By the time the water was boiling, he already looked much better. Even so, I gave him a cup of the tea and sat down next to him.
“Drink,” I said, watching him closely.
He nodded, and sipped at it, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath after a moment.
“Thank you,” he said. “I feel much better. I'm not sure what happened. What did we eat last night?”
“Your stew,” I said, reminding him. He had made it this time, insisting that I didn't need to do everything for him. It was delicious and I had eaten it too, so it was unlikely to be the cause since I felt just fine.
“Oh, right,” he said, thoughtfully. “I didn't do anything unusual with it.”
“Perhaps it is all the heat,” I suggested.
He shrugged.
“It could have been anything. Let's not let it spoil our day. I'm okay now.”
But he wasn't by the time lunch hit.
In fact, by the next morning, he had puked three more times and was starting to look bedraggled.
He rushed out of the tent just like the morning before and heaved for ages, even though he had barely been eating.
I waited until he was finished vomiting, then sat him down in our usual spot again before I said what I thought we must both be thinking.
“You're pregnant.”
He gave me a look and then shut his eyes and groaned.
“No. It's been a day. I've had stomach bugs last longer than that before.”
“Alright,” I said, not wanting to push it while he looked so flustered.
His stomach did settle after that, so perhaps he was right, but I didn't think so because even though he stopped vomiting he was too tired for sex—which considering how he had been, said a lot—and he looked absolutely miserable whenever he thought I wasn't looking.
I couldn't imagine what learning you were pregnant would do to you mentally or physically. I assumed it would be overwhelming to grow a being inside your body. Perhaps that was why he didn’t seem to like the idea, but at the same time, I felt a swelling of something like pride every time I thought of it.
I didn't mention it again though, instead doing what I could to make sure Alil was happy enough while he recovered from whatever ailment he thought he had.
For two days, I snuggled him in the mornings, gave him countless kisses, because I could, and took care of all the food and washing.
That evening, I pulled him into my lap to watch the sunset.
The moment it dipped below the horizon, he sighed and leaned back against my chest.
