Jas’ question caught off guard. “What do you an?”
“You know what I an,” he sighed. “Talon took the witness away to talk to him in private the other day. Why?”
“Because the man was overwheld by all the people in the room,” I explained.
“By all the people, or by you?”
I knew there was no point in arguing about it. Not only because Jas was a competent king, but also because he knew well– he knew us well.
I sighed and looked away. “One person’s word wouldn’t have been enough to leap to any conclusions. I didn’t want to cause panic or suspicion in the room.”
“I understand that. That’s why I didn’t say anything there.”
“I appreciate it.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Jas asked.
“This is between and him,” I said quietly.
“It might just be personal before, but now, as you are aware, things are not going well in our border packs. The people are suffering. This troubles .”
He looked towards the crowd of the displaced civilians. Worry and sadness were in his gaze. I understood his concern for his kingdom and his people– our people.
I softened my voice. “I’ll take care of it.“
Jas looked in the eye quietly, and he nodded, “Good, I’m sure you will.”
--------------------
**Rosalie’s POV
Soren took a sip of wine. “So, Ro, I’ve talked to my assistant about referring you to a job. But we almost overlooked sothing important.”
I put down my silverware and waited for him to continue. Having dinner with Soren had beco much easier and more pleasant now that I’d gotten to know him better.
“What was it?”
“You’re pregnant.” Soren pointed out. “Any of the jobs you ntioned could require you to carry weight, and you would be on your feet all the ti. Are you sure it’s the best for your baby?”
I couldn’t answer. I might have oversimplified the process of “settling down” in my head, especially since I had lost all of the money and valuables.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t an to make you feel bad. I was just trying to be thorough...”
“This is not your fault. I didn’t think it through.” I murmured.
“Oh, on the bright side, talking about pregnancy– I do have good news,” he chirped, clearly trying to cheer up. “Want to guess?”
I smiled, but shook my head.
“I had posted a job ad for a midwife, and we’ve gotten quite a few applicants, and–”
He paused intentionally, and seemingly waited for to ask him what he was holding off.
I held my breath and replied in disbelief, “You found her?”
He grinned, and finished, “one of the applicants is nad Seraphine.”
***
I imdiately recognized the face that I hadn’t expected to see again so soon. Seraphine stood with a bright smile across her lips, her eyes locking with mine, and I could tell she was happy to see , too.
A few days ago, Soren offered to find a midwife. I told him about Seraphine and that I had lost her address along with my other belongings. With Soren’s help, we posted the job ad in the local newspaper, and now... here we were.
I walked around and gave Seraphine a warm embrace. “I missed you, Seraphine!”
“So glad to see you again dear.” She replied, “we will need to get you set up for an appointnt very soon– that way, we can see how the baby is doing.”
***
“The heartbeat sounds very strong today,” Seraphine said, holding a stethoscope to my stomach.
We were sitting on the edge of my bed, in one of the rooms that had been furnished already when I’d moved into the cottage a few days earlier.
I loved to hear the baby’s heartbeat myself, so once Seraphine had finished listening and confird that everything was well, she handed the stethoscope so that I could hear.
I held the bottom of the stethoscope against my abdon, which was growing larger by the day, it seed. The thunk, thunk sound of my baby’s heart reverberated like a drum in my ears and brought a smile to my face.
“Oh, it sounds so fast today,” I said with a grin.
“It’s about the sa as yesterday,” Seraphine assured , writing down so notes. She kept a careful record of everything that had to do with the baby. “Just a tiny bit faster. That’s fine. It can vary.”
“What would cause that?” I asked.
“It could be a lot of things.” She looked around the room and noticed the breakfast tray Lola had yet to remove. “Oh, well, I see you’ve had so more of Soren’s famous blueberry jam. That could be it.”
My eyes widened. “Is that not good for the baby?”
“It’s perfectly fine. It just has sugar in it, and it can make the baby a little more active than normal for a little while.” She patted my shoulder and laughed a little. “No need to worry. Your baby will be fine, Ro.”
I tried to relax, but I had to wonder if I should start cutting all sugar out of my diet, just in case it wasn’t good for my child.
“You’re going to be such a good mother,” Seraphine said, finishing her notes and standing to put her dical equipnt back in her bag. I knew that ant she was going to take her stethoscope away, and that ant that I was going to have to stop listening to that tiny drum in my ears.
“Listen to you later, tiny peanut,” I whispered as I gave Seraphine her stethoscope.
As she put it away, I said to her, “Thank you, but why do you say that?”
“Because you care so much about all of the little details.” She turned and grinned at over her shoulder as she zipped her bag.
A warm feeling radiated throughout my body as I thought about what it would be like to have my baby here and hold him or her in my arms. I liked to think about rocking the baby, holding that tiny person in my arms, wrapped in a blanket, kissing that little head.... I would do anything for them.
I really didn’t care if it was a boy or a girl, though imagining a little boy that looked like his father would make happy.
As delicious as the blueberry jam was, I didn’t mind not eating it for the next few months. Or any sugar, for that matter.
Before I could respond, Lola ca into the room. “Miss Ro, Mr. Soren is here to see you.”
I got up off of the bed and walked past Seraphine. She was still packing up, but she looked at curiously.
I paused and gave Seraphine a hug, “Thank you for coming over today. See you in a few days.”
She laughed, spared one hand to wave at . “See you around. Enjoy your date, you little love birds.”
I froze. “No, no! It’s not like that,” I tried to explain.
“Okay, okay, I know,” she said– but her expression told that she didn’t.
I sighed. Soren was charming and he treated very sweetly– he treated everyone sweetly.
However, I wasn’t ready for any kind of relationship. Soren was well aware of this as well. He told that he was glad we were friends.
However, Seraphine didn’t buy that.
By the ti I got to the front door, Soren was standing in the hallway, a bouquet of daisies in his hand.
“Good morning!” he said, his smile so cheerful that it imdiately made my steps feel lighter.
“Good morning, Soren.”
He extended the flowers to . “These are for you.”
“Thank you,” I said, taking them and lifting them to my nose to inhale their fragrance. “They sll wonderful.”
I had gotten used to him bringing sothing every ti he ca over. Most of the ti it was flowers, but sotis it was chocolates, or sothing else thoughtful to make feel better after the attack.
I was mostly healed now. Seraphine said she’d never seen anyone heal so quickly before, but I had always been fast to recover from injuries, so I guessed I was just lucky.
“You are most welco, beautiful lady.” I had gotten used to his complints to girls– all girls. “What are your plans today?”
Lola ca to take the flowers from to put them in a vase of water. She knew my routines by now and expected to need a fresh vase if Mr. Soren was visiting.
Once I handed her the flowers, I turned back to face him.
“Well, I was intending to spend so ti in the garden and possibly do so light exercise, but... nothing is set in stone.” I assud he had sothing in mind if he was asking. “Are you not out for work today?”
Soren shook his head. “I was supposed to have a business eting, but it got canceled, so I wonder whether you have any interest in doing a little shopping with ?”
My face lit up. I had been wanting to get so yarn to do crocheting. “You sure it wouldn’t take up too much of your ti?”
“I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t an it.”
“In that case, yes, I would love to. Thank you.” I smiled at Soren, who offered his arm.
I hesitated. From the corner of my eye, I saw Seraphine step out of the room. She smiled when she saw us and gave a “see, I knew it” look.
I shook my head, pretended I didn’t see his slightly arched arm, and looked up to Soren, “Let’s go. I will follow you.”
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