“I treated you badly,” he acknowledged.
“Badly?”
He gave a crooked smile. “Really badly.”
“It took all of my courage to tell you I was pregnant. I know how you are. I knew you wouldn’t exactly be overjoyed at the news. But I never thought you’d accuse me of lying to you!” She shook her head fiercely. “Even with a condom, you know sex always comes with some risk of pregnancy, you know that, right? Plus, you know me! How could you do that?”
Antonio looked down at her. “I had a vasectomy, Hana. Eighteen years ago.”
In the distance, she could see the tips of modern buildings gleaming over the park, against the vivid blue sky. “Wh-what?”
“It’s true.”
“You were just a teenager then!”
“Barely eighteen.”
“But why—why would you do something so permanent to yourself? How could you?”
Setting his jaw, he shook his head. “Why I did it doesn’t matter. Not anymore.” He gave a sudden snort. “And as it turned out, it wasn’t so permanent.”
“What do you mean?”
“After you told me you were pregnant, I couldn’t think about anything else. So I canceled the business meeting—”
“You did what?”
“And I went to a doctor, where I was told that, somehow, my body had healed itself. It’s rare, the doctor said. The rate is less than one percent. But it happens. And it happened to me.”
She was staring at him openmouthed. “You canceled the meeting?”
He gave a wry smile. “That’s the thing that surprises you?”
“You’ve been working like a madman for months—”
“I had to. I thought I knew you. How could you be a lying gold digger, trying to lure me into bed and trick me into marriage?”
“I wasn’t!” she said indignantly.
“But there was no other explanation, don’t you see? I’d had a vasectomy. I couldn’t be the father of your baby. You couldn’t possibly be telling me the truth.” He paused. “I went to a private clinic so I could prove, once and for all, that you were lying.” He gave her a rueful smile. “But it turned out that I was the one who was wrong. And you were right.”
A soft breeze stroked the blossoms lazily, and ruffled his dark hair against his forehead. She fought the sudden impulse to brush it back with her fingertips.
Tightening her hands at her sides, Hana looked past him, to the families with blankets spread out beneath the flowering trees, enjoying a late lunch in the festive tradition of hanami. She looked at the nearest family, a smiling young couple with a toddler, picnicking together on a blanket.
“I was wrong to accuse you of lying,” Antonio said, bowing his head. “I’m sorry. I won’t insult you by asking for a paternity test. I know the baby’s mine.”
She looked at him. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
For a moment, their eyes locked, and she felt the electricity of his gaze go straight to her heart.
Then his jaw tightened, and he looked away. “But you and I both know I’d be no good at raising a baby.”
The lump returned to her throat. “Yes. I know.”
“You aren’t going to argue?”