Page 37 of A Duke, a Virgin and a Baby
Julian stepped closer and pointed his finger in Seth’s face, “Find her. Find her soon and take on your responsibility. And do not even attempt to run away from this, because henceforth, I will stop providing you with allowances until you do as I have asked.”
“What?” Seth exclaimed. “You can do that?”’
“I’m sure you’ll be surprised to learn that I actually can. If you know what is good for you, you’ll do what I have asked. Do not test me any longer, Seth.”
With that, Julian turned around and left the room, relieved to find Lysander waiting for him outside the door.
“All done?” he asked.
Julian nodded and started to leave the room, unfazed when Seth tried to following him, begging him to reconsider.
“Please. P-Please just think about it? How am I supposed to find her without any resources?” Seth questioned.
Without turning around, Julian stated,
“Think on it. I’m sure it’ll come to you.”
Julian felt rather fulfilled by the time he had returned home. It had not gone as orderly as he might have preferred things, but he as truly content with knowing that his brother had been made aware of his son.
Seth might be a lot of things, but Julian knew he could be relied on to do the right thing. With a proper incentive in place. And Julian had given him the strongest one of all. Money.
Now that things were on the right path, he felt as though he needed to look Anna in the eye and tell her that their problems were being dealt with. He might have not been ready to tell her about his brother yet, but he felt that she deserved to know that he had every intention of keeping his word and solving the issue that had found them.
Except because he had returned home rather late, Anna had retired for the night already. Still, Julian felt a twinge of unease in his chest, one he knew wouldn’t go away if he didn’t see her.
And so, he made his way to her chambers, quietly opening the door to take a peek.
He found her truly out like a light, sleeping peacefully with Nicholas by her side, also asleep. From the position of her handon the child’s stomach, she had likely been soothing him to sleep when she fell asleep herself.
Julian was aware of this, but he had yet to show his gratitude to Anna for taking care of his nephew. She had no stake in the matter at all but had consistently gone out of her way to wholeheartedly ensure that Nicholas was doing all right in every aspect and he felt thankful for her dedication.
However, he knew that if the child were to awaken during the night, Anna would automatically have to handle him and she was clearly in need of some rest.
And so, he gingerly picked Nicholas up, doing his best to hold the boy carefully so he wouldn’t wake up. Then quietly, he slipped out of Anna’s room and went to his own, figuring that perhaps he could watch Nicholas for the night.
An idea he likely should have thought through because as soon as he entered his room, the child began to wail.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Oh no. Oh no, no, no.” Julian muttered in a fit of panic, then rather sternly. “No. Cease this wailing at once.”
It seemed his order only served to further agitate Nicholas and the boy began to cry even harder.
Julian was utterly concerned that they might wake Anna up and he quickly moved away from the door, pacing about the room like he had seen her do to soothe him, shocked and appalled when that did not immediately calm the child.
“Why are you being so difficult? I did not mean to rouse you. Go back to sleep, you tyrant.” Julian instructed once more, doing a weird dance of awkward limbs as he tried to move in a way that might distract Nicholas from whatever might have upset him.
Nicholas’ tears persisted and Julian grew frustrated, holding the boy close with one arm, freeing up the other hand to point at the child.
“I have ordered you to stop crying repeatedly. You have ignored my orders repeatedly. I am a duke and my rank is second only to the royal family. You would do well to know your place, you fiend – what am I doing? Have I gone mad?” he groaned, exasperated.
His pacing continued and he tried to recall what else he had seen Anna do to soothe the child, his mind slowly supplying him with a memory he wasted no time putting into action.
Gingerly, he rested a hand on Nicholas, gently patting the child’s chest as he shushed him softly, feeling as though he was on the verge of losing his mind but ultimately left with no other choice on how to handle the matter.
“Hush, Nicholas, hush. You are far too superior to wail about every single inconvenience. You will learn when you’re old enough. For now, we shall understand these signs of weakness, but eventually you must learn to leave such childish habits behind. I trust that when the time is right, you will do what is expected of you.”
Strangely enough, the boy calmed down, but was still weeping and Julian’s confidence grew and he continued to walk around his room while speaking to the infant.
