Page 60 of Viktor at Sea

The fear of her calling off the wedding and refusing to ever see me again felt very much real, and that thought alone made me feel sick. I couldn’t imagine coming this close to marrying the love of my life and having it fall through for something I regretted as soon as it happened.

I heard the door open behind me.

“Viktor?”A familiar voice called out to me.

I glanced over my shoulder to find that Sallie and Katarina had returned with reinforcements. Along with them were Chara, the doctor, Barden, Josephine, and the man I dreaded most to see right now: Daewon. Thankfully, Katarina kept her husband as far away from me as possible. However, that didn’t stop him from setting his eyes on me, barely blinking as he glared intensely at me. I didn’t blame him and was surprised he hadn’t dragged Dustin in here as well.

“Dustin is outside,” Daewon growled at me with a furious expression, almost as if reading my thoughts. “If we allow him inhere, we won’t be able to hold him back from hurting you, so it’s best if he stays outside until we’re finished talking here.”

“I deserve it,” I groaned into my hands, unable to face anyone right now. I didn’t need to look around the room to know that everyone was so disappointed and disgusted with me. I didn’t blame them in the slightest as I felt even worse about myself. “I can’t believe this is happening right now. I can’t believe I’ve messed up so bad.”

“I think we should hear from Chara before we jump to any conclusions,” Josephine said, her hand clutching Chara’s wrist.

“Chiefess, you’re hurting me,” Chara whined, trying but failing to get out of Josephine’s grasp as she forced her into the centre of the room. “I’m pregnant. You need to be more gentle with me.”

“Yes, and that’s where the problem lies,” Barden stated in a booming voice, demanding our attention. “I understand that you’ve tried to tell Viktor about the truth before, but you didn’t do a very good job of it. Since Viktor refused to listen to what you had to say, you could have approached me or Josephine. Announcing this in front of everyone was completely wrong of you, Chara.”

“I didn’t want to tell anyone else about it,” Chara sniffled, and I lifted my head just in time to catch the first of the crocodile tears streaming down her face. “The only person I wanted to tell was Viktor because it’s his baby. What’s so wrong about that?”

“You told him in front of all of Jorvik!” Daewon growled, still confined in Katarina’s arms.

“I didn’t mean for that to happen,” she blubbered, but I could tell no one in the room was falling for the act. “All I was thinking was that I needed Viktor to know the truth about his baby growing in my stomach. I didn’t even notice everyone else standing around us.”

“Sure, you didn’t,” Daewon scoffed and rolled his eyes, but he quietened down when Katarina sent him a sharp look.

“Are you pregnant, Chara?” Astrid asked, crossing the room to stand in front of her. “Please tell me the truth.”

“Yes,” Chara confirmed with a nod, a sour, sullen expression on her face as she glared at my bride.

“Look me in the eye and tell me that you’re pregnant with Viktor’s baby,” Astrid demanded in a low voice, her face so stoic that I couldn’t tell what she was thinking right now. That made me feel even worse than I would have if I knew she was furious with me and wanted to call off the wedding.

“I’m pregnant with Viktor’s baby,” Chara repeated, and I didn’t miss the way just before she opened her mouth to speak, her eyes flitted away from Astrid’s. Instead, she glanced down briefly at the corset Astrid was wearing, giving her enough coverage that she wasn’t indecent in front of everyone but not enough coverage as her wedding dress would have given her. Not that I had been fortunate enough to see her in her wedding dress yet.

Was Chara lying? Was she hiding something?

Not one to miss a beat, Astrid continued with the questioning. “When did you have sex with Viktor?”

“Three weeks ago. The day he returned from the mission.”

“And how do you know that the baby you’re growing in your stomach–” Astrid paused, making a show of glancing down at Chara’s flat stomach despite the skintight dress she wore. “–is Viktor’s?”

“Because I haven’t slept with anyone but Viktor in the past six months, and I have only missed one monthly cycle.”

“Other than missing your monthly cycle, have there been any other signs that you’re pregnant?” Astrid asked, her voice not wavering for even a moment.

“Yes.” Chara nodded. “I’ve been throwing up every morning for the past two weeks. Sometimes, even during the day, as well. Oh, and I haven’t been able to stand the smell of fish.”

“And why didn’t you come to see me?” Gertrude, the doctor, asked, stepping forward to insert herself into the conversation. “If your morning sickness has been that bad, the only logical thought would have been to go and see the doctor. I could have given you something to help with the nausea and settle your stomach, as well as some vitamins for the baby.”

“I wanted Viktor to know the truth first before I told anyone,” Chara said, her eyes flitting over to me, but I only returned her stare with a dark glare.

“Okay,” Gertrude pursed her lips before she turned around to face Daewon and Katarina. “Is there a room I can use? I require privacy to conduct some routine checks to confirm everything.”

“What needs confirming?” Chara asked with wide eyes, seemingly caught off guard by the doctor’s request.

“We need to confirm that you’re pregnant, how far along you are, and a few more things,” Gertrude glanced over her shoulder to tell her. “You don’t have anything to worry about, Chara. These are all routine checks. I do them on every female in Jorvik that falls pregnant.”

“I would like to be in the room,” Astrid declared, a fierce look on her face.

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