Page 39 of Cayden

Swinging her legs off the bed, she waddled her way to the bathroom.

She was not allowed to drive herself, so someone had been assigned to her. She had most of her meetings here at the manor, because walking long distances made her feel winded.

She felt like an elephant and was quite certain she looked like a very pregnant one. Her husband was on board, but they still did not talk about the pregnancy or had not made any plans. Which told her that he was not optimistic about the outcome.

The weekend they had spent at the cabin had brought them closer together and she did not want to do anything to change that. But there was an underlying tension between them. She wanted to believe she would end up with four healthy babies, no matter what the odds are, and wished fervently that her husband agreed with her.

Rinsing her hands under the sink, she took a look at herself in the mirror and flinched. Her face had gotten round, and her nose was almost twice its size. Her breasts had gone to a B cup now, forcing her to purchase bigger bras.

Her belly was almost touching the sink, and she was just three months into her pregnancy. She felt fat, bloated and very unattractive. She peed every five minutes, had frequent bouts of nausea and cried at the drop of a hat.

She rarely went down to dinner, because she could not bother dressing up and having a conversation. Waddling back into the bedroom, she silently went about doing the exercises that had been tailormade for her body.

*****

Cayden twirled the scotch in the glass absently as he stared out the one-way glass. A frown touched his brow and his shoulders were tense.

“Cayden?”

Stirring himself, he turned to look at the man seated behind the baronial desk. Alberto had his back to the large fireplace, the shooting flames giving his attractive face an eerie glow.

“You haven’t heard a word that I just said.”

“Sorry.”

“Have you called to check in?”

“The nurse just called a few minutes ago.” He crossed the room to sit on the sofa across from the desk. “Her blood pressure is a little elevated.”

Alberto eyed him closely. “You’re worried.”

He shrugged.

“And you have sent Clive and Conail in your place to Italy. You are keeping your plans remarkably close.”

He nodded. “I keep thinking that as soon as I leave the house, I am going to get a call that something happened to her. At nights, I watch her sleep. She is uncomfortable. She often switches sides to try and find a comfortable position. Her back hurts.

Every night, I have to massage it, and she does not get enough sleep because of the frequent need to urinate. I feel so goddamned helpless.” The frustration was rife in his deep voice. “She is carrying four babies and frankly, I do not know how in the hell she does it. And it is just the first trimester. What is going to happen further on?”

“A woman’s body was created to endure the rigors of childbearing. That said, I am not certain about carrying four at the same time.” Alberto rose and pushed away from the desk. Walking over to the cabinet, he poured himself a drink and came back to sit behind the desk.

“I admire her tremendously.”

Cayden sent him a surprised glance that had him smiling.

“I never approved of the match at first. Thought she had to be a gold digger and thought you had lost all of your marbles when you announced you wanted to get married and so quickly. I had her checked out, you know.”

“Naturally!” Cayden inclined his head in amusement.

“Found nothing in her background to indicate that she was a criminal or anything such thing.” Alberto swirled his scotch thoughtfully. “I was in fact suspicious that she was so squeaky clean. A schoolteacher who never even had a parking ticket. That was ridiculous.”

“She totaled her first crappy chevy when she was sixteen.”

“She did?” Alberto raised thick eyebrows at that. “It never came out in the report.”

“She told me when we started seeing each other. Her parents freaked and did not allow her to drive for a year. She had to do a refresher driving course to satisfy them.”

“You totaled a brand-new Porsche when you were seventeen.”

---