My Once Handsome Husband - Chapter 275

“What-What are you talking about?” Delaney asked.

“You’re pregnant,” Ava chuckled, “Honestly I’m not sure how neither of you saw it.  I’ve been sure of it for days.”

“That’s-That’s not possible,” Delaney stammered, “Vincent and I… We can’t… We can’t have children.”

“Are you quite sure about that my Lady?” Ava looked not at all convinced.

“She can’t be pregnant,” Ms. Bird interrupted, shaking her head, “It’s been many many months since we lived at Edgewood.  We would’ve known before this.  I would’ve known.”

“So you haven’t spent any… time… with Lord Adair since you left Edgewood to live with your Aunt and Uncle?” Ava asked.

“Of course she hasn’t,” Ms. Bird defended her mistress’s honor, “She’s been living apart from him and their marriage contract will be broken soon.”

“Actually,” Delaney said quietly, “That’s not true… The night I left Miles at the club and went to see Vincent we… we spent the night together.”

“You did?” Ms. Bird gasped in surprise, “Oh my Lady you were so upset when you returned to your Aunt and Uncles that I just assumed he had sent you away.  That’s why I never even considered that you might be pregnant now.”

Delaney felt her heart beating hard in her chest now and her stomach knotted.

“I… I think I need to sit down.”

Ava quickly pulled a chair up for her mistress and Ms. Bird helped her ease down into it.  Delaney sat staring ahead at nothing and turning her ring around and around on her finger.

“Well, this is simply wonderful news,” Ms. Bird beamed, clapping her hands together, “You should be thrilled, my Lady.  Don’t you see what this means?  You can return home to Edgewood now and to Lord Adair!  He wanted you to have a family and now you will have one.  With him!”

That thought hadn’t yet come to Delaney and hearing it out loud now her heart beat faster.  She could go home.  She could go back to Vincent, her love, and they could spend their lives together.  They could have a family and everything they’d ever dreamed of.

“We-We shouldn’t get excited just yet,” she said, shaking her head, “I want… I want a doctor to come to confirm it and… and make sure everything is as it should be.  I don’t want us to rush back to Edgewood only to find we’re mistaken and I’ve just gained a bit of weight.  Or… Or for something to happen and… if there is a baby… it doesn’t last long.”

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” Ms. Bird gave her a warm smile, “But Ava why don’t you send your husband to the village for the doctor?  He can come to check over Lady Adair and make sure everything is alright and that our suspicions are correct.”

“Yes of course,” Ava grinned and moved to leave.

“Ava wait!” Delaney called after her and looked at her seriously, “Don’t… Don’t tell anyone about this.  Tell your husband to just tell the doctor I haven’t been well.  I don’t want people to hear and the gossip to begin flying.”

“Yes of course my Lady,” Ava bobbed a courtesy and smiled, “But so you know… most of us in the house had already guessed this was what was making you sick.”

As soon as the younger woman was gone, Delaney looked up at Ms. Bird with eyes full of tears.

“Do you think… Do you think it’s really true?  After all this time and… and all our trying?  I just can’t believe it’s true.”

Ms. Bird pulled a chair up to sit beside her and took the younger woman’s hand, patting it gently.

“I think it is my Lady.  In fact, now that I think through everything, I’m sure it is.”

“But-But we tried for so long and we couldn’t…”

“Babies come when they want to,” Ms. Bird chuckled, “It will never be by your schedule.”

Delaney looked down at her stomach which looked fairly flat when she was standing up but now, sitting, she saw it did seem to curve just a bit.  She moved her hand towards it but hesitated and decided against it.  It still felt so foreign.

“It seems like it can’t possibly be true.”

“That’s only because you just learned about it and you’re still questioning it,” Ms. Bird gave her a reassuring smile, “Once the doctor comes and confirms it you’ll feel better.”

Delaney nodded, swallowing hard and dropping her gaze.  She hoped her maid was right.

–

The doctor was out when Ava’s husband went for him so he left a note asking the man to come to Honeywell as soon as he could to check on the duchess who was ill.  The whole house was on eggshells because although they didn’t know exactly what was going on, Ava was right and they all already guessed it.

Delaney paced back and forth in her bedroom as she waited for the doctor.  Her nerves were wound tight and she felt like she might cry if he didn’t come soon.  Ms. Bird had taken the opportunity to get out one of her mistress’s loosest dresses and now she and Ava were working to let it out around the waist enough to better fit Delaney’s growing belly.

Still not able to bring herself to touch it, Delaney would pause to look at herself in her nightgown every time she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror.  The nightgown was loose but she could still see where the fabric now lightly brushed across her belly whereas before it would simply drape over her and her chest was the only thing to interrupt it.

She couldn’t believe it was true.  It couldn’t be true.  She and Vincent had tried for so long for a baby and had never succeeded.  How could they have succeeded at last only once they were living apart?  Their luck couldn’t have worked out like this.

Then something dawned on her.  She remembered the night she had snuck out of Edgewood and rode Frost into the woods.  She had gone to see the fairies and told Nell everything.  Nell had said she couldn’t help her but right before the princess of the fairies left she had kissed Delaney on the forehead and told her to have good luck.

Delaney stopped pacing and dropped onto the end of her bed.  Could that have been it?  Nell had used her magic and given Delaney good luck.  Then the next time she and Vincent spent the night together had this been the good luck she’d given her?  She had been lucky enough to make a baby of her own with her husband.

Whether it was true or not, Delaney hoped that she would have enough good luck that this would be real and she would indeed be pregnant.  If she was then she would have the best luck of all and be able to return home to Vincent.

–

The doctor still hadn’t come when it was starting to grow dark so Ava’s husband was sent back to the village to make sure he had seen the note.  Delaney had barely eaten all day due to her nerves and her upset stomach so now she snacked on a bit of cake while she anxiously waited for the man to return.

After a while she got into her bed, deciding she would read for a while until he got there.  She was so tired though that she fell fast asleep shortly after.

The next thing she knew, she was waking up and there was a faint grey light, showing the sun would soon be rising.  Delaney got up from her bed, wrapping her robe around her, and went to the window.

There was a thick fog hanging over the world, speckled with pink clouds that were the tops of the cherry trees.  She smiled as she looked out.  It was so beautiful here.

As she sat gazing out at the scene below, she soon began to make out something in the fog.  She squinted, looking forward, and saw it seemed to be glowing lights bouncing along the road towards them.  Soon the glowing lights took shape as lanterns and a carriage and horses took shape beneath them.  Delaney immediately recognized it as her Adair carriage.

Closing the windows, she moved to go down to meet the carriage but just as she reached the door to her bedroom it opened.

“Oh my Lady,” Ava beamed, cheeks flushed and out of breath likely from rushing up to the room, “I’m so glad you’re awake.  My Husband’s returned with the doctor!  He stayed the night in the village so he would be there as soon as the doctor was available and now here they are!”

“That was so kind of him,” Delaney smiled, “Ava please thank him for me.  And… And go ahead and send the doctor up as soon as you can.”

The maid nodded and rushed back downstairs to wait to greet him.  Delaney went back to her bed and sat anxiously waiting for the man.  Soon she would know if this was real or not.

Soon she would know if she could return home to her husband or not.