18 DON'T USE THAT TONE ON MY WIFE!

CHAPTER 18… DON'T USE THAT TONE ON MY WIFE!

"You are welcome, Timothy," Selena said with a smile.

Timothy arched a brow and inches closer to her. So close that their noses touched. He breathed in her face and draped a hand over her waist.

"You should stop calling me that," Timothy muttered.

Selena frowned.

Why should she stop calling him by his name?

"Why?"

"I am your husband now, even I will stop calling you by name." Timothy replied casually.

"So, what do I call you now?" She asked.

"Hubby," Timothy replied without wasting a second. He drew back to be able to see her face clearly. "Say it, or I would do something you do not expect."

Selena flushed red and looked away. She muttered, "hubby,"

Timothy was not satisfied but he did not force her. Instead, he told her to get used to calling him hubby.

"Goodnight, wife," Timothy said and held her waist tighter.

Selena did not ask him to remove his arm even though it felt uncomfortable. She simply snuggled closer to his chest and yawned lazily.

"Good night, husband…"

*****

Selena woke up early that morning. When she finished bathing and getting dressed, Timothy was still sleeping.

That was strange, thought Selena. Timothy always woke up before her. Most times, when she got out of bed, he was already dressed and waiting downstairs to take her to work.

She rounded the bed and went to sit by his head side. Selena raised a hand to tap him but screamed when her bare skin touched his forehead.

The man was burning up with a fever.

Selena frowned.

He had been perfectly fine when they went to bed the other night because he had even promised to drop her at the lawyer's place before she would go to the school. It was one of the reasons she was up earlier than usual.

With a sigh, she took off her heels and jacket and flung them on the couch before getting a bowl of cold water from the toilet. When she returned, she used a soft towel to wipe his forehead, trying to bring down his fever.

Timothy moaned slightly when the cold water touched his body. He pulled the sheets higher to cover his head but Selena held it back.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw her. When Timothy saw that Selena was already dressed for work, he sighed and tried to get out of bed but Selena and a headache held him back.

He grabbed his forehead and closed his eyes. How hard he had been trying to hide this fever but now, he could not do so.

"Just stay in bed, please," Selena pleaded. She placed the towel and the bowl in the toilet and returned to sit beside him.

Timothy placed his head on her legs and let her stroke his hair. It felt soothing. He could feel the worry emanating from her, and the way her heart was racing, he knew she was scared.

"I do not think I will be able to take you to work today," Timothy muttered, trying hard not to show her how much pain he was in now.

"It is okay. It is alright," Selena smiled sadly and continued to stroke his hair. "You just need to rest."

Timothy smiled and closed his eyes.

"Drew would take you both. Go now, you don't want to be late."

Selena shook her head firmly and refused. She was not going to leave him here in this condition. She would make sure he was fine before leaving for work.

She stood up and went downstairs, where she found Mrs. Johnson preparing breakfast. She explained what was wrong to the woman and asked her to help him prepare a bowl of porridge.

Mrs. Johnson agreed and slow offered to keep Timothy locked in the house. Just when Selena turned around to go upstairs, Timothy came downstairs and sat in his chair like nothing was wrong with him.

Selena sat beside him and Tricia came downstairs and sat on the other side. A few minutes after the table was set, Mrs. Johnson came down with Bella who sat down by Selena.

"Hurry, eat." Timothy said to Bella and Selena. He was gritting his teeth to hold back a scream.

Selena knew that he was in pains but was trying to hide it. That was why she had given Mrs. Johnson a couple of pills to put in his coffee.

One was to make him sleep for the whole day and the other was to relieve the fever and pains he was feeling.

"She should be home, brother," Tricia said, inviting herself into a conversation that she was, clearly not invited to. "She is married now and should learn to be a good housewife."

Timothy pretended not to hear his sister and continued to force a descent amount of porridge into his stomach. He was only forcing himself to eat because the food was tasteless in his mouth.

Since Timothy did not reply, Tricia continued.

"Women like her are supposed to be in the house all day long. Their duty is to take care of their husband and kids. I do not see any reason why you still let her go to work. What if she is busy slutting and bitching around with all those little things in the school, huh?" Tricia said and scoffed.

Selena closed her eyes and kept her emotions in check. She was trying hard not to have an outburst in front of Bella but it seemed like Tricia was pushing her to her limits.

Even Timothy gritted his teeth. Since Selena did not want him to be at loggerheads with his sister, he would wait for her to speak for herself today.

"Miss Scott…" Bella called and looked up. Before she could ask anything, Selena told her to just continue eating her food.

"Besides, those poor things at the school are people of her class. She should be with them, instead of trying to ruin us. I know her kind."

"What kind, Tricia?" Selena finally spoke. She had had enough of the girl's rants already. Normally, she would have thrown a punch at Tricia's mouth on the first day but, she was refraining till date because of Timothy.

Every single day at the table was one drama after another and she would end it all today.

"What kind am I?" Selena asked and waited for a response. When Tricia opened her mouth, she beat her to it. She said, "I have had enough of your senseless rants, Tricia. In as much as I would like to condone them, I am at the end of my patience. I would advise you to stay out of my way for peace to reign.

"Right now, I am filtering my words, I may not next time you speak to me in a way that is not right. I am your brother's wife and this is my husband's house. If you are not comfortable with the way our lives are going, you might as well use the exit. You should understand that your brother is no longer a single man. If his home is not conducive for you, please see yourself out," Selena said in one breath and continued to pile vegetables into Tricia's plate.

Timothy smiled faintly, amused by his wife's fiesty side. He would have loved got her to do this to Tricia a few days ago but, even today was not late.

Tricia was angered by Selena's 'disrespect' to her. She pushed her chair back noisily and stood up to stand before Selena.

"How dare you?" She said through gritted teeth. "How dare you talk to me in such a manner, you but-"

"Don't you dare use that tone on my wife, Tricia!" Timothy yelled and banged his hand on the table with a force that made it shake.

Not only Tricia was afraid, even Selena and Bella shook with fear at Timothy's outburst.

"Hubby, there is a child here," Selena whispered to Timothy and that helped to calm him down.

Meanwhile, Tricia was stunned to speechlessness. She did not expect that Timothy would speak up for Selena. If she had kwown, she would have guarded her tongue.

She looked at Selena and then to Timothy before looking back at Selena.

"This is all your fault!" Tricia yelled and left the dinning area.

"I'm sorry I said mean things to her," Selena apologized sadly. She really did not mean to excalate issues. She only wanted Tricia to understand that she could not insult her freely.

Selena was expecting Timothy to yell at her but he only smiled. He reached for her hand and squeezed it lightly.

"It's okay. She deserved it."

Selena did not say anything and only smiled. When Bella finished eating, she made Timothy drink his coffee before going back upstairs with him. Once he was in bed, she placed a bottle of water by the side of the bed for him before grabbing her bag, jacket and heels.

Once Timothy's back touched the bed, he did not understand what was happening to him. His body had suddenly gone weak and he kept yawning. He was feeling sleepy.

Several times, he tried to get out of the bed but he could not. He would fall back right into it. With a tired grunt, he surrendered to the feeling and in a few seconds, he had slept off.

The door opened and Mrs. Johnson poked her head. When she saw that Timothy was already asleep, she brought out her phone and called Selena to inform her.

When she ended the call, a sinister smile found its way to her lips.

"You have finally met your match,"