Page 143 of Duchess Material

She’d been awake but couldn’t lift her head from the pillow.

“I won’t force you to do anything, Lulu. But people will talk.”

“Tell them I am sick.”

“For an entire week with no medical diagnosis?” He hadn’t the heart to tell her that they were already onto her. “Here, sit up. I brought you toast. Do you think you could try it, my love?”

Frida wagged her tail. She’d been back on the bed when Winston arrived. Frida always missed Lucy terribly if she left.

“I can try,” Lucy said, voice quiet.

“If you try, I’ll rub your back.”

“Fair trade.” Lucy dug into the toast. “Look, I’m sorry I fell asleep, and nothing happened—”

“Luce, you don’t have to apologise to me for being exhausted and unwell, love.” Winston would have loved to have seen her naked and done the million things he’d been dreaming of doing to her, but he wasn’t about to demand sex from Lucy.

“I just feel bad. It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just that this hit me like a brick wall. Yesterday was bad. Today seems worse. I am not sure what to do. I need to call the doctor and get an appointment. By the time we get back, we should be doing the preliminary scan.”

“You’re that far along? Wait… when are you having the baby?” Winston wondered.

“Second week of January? Early January?”

Winston stared, mouth gaping. That was sooner than he expected. Everything flashed through his mind. They had only a few months to prepare. They needed baby things. They needed a place to put a baby. Where would they have the baby? Traditionally, all future dukes and duchesses had been born in Scotland. He assumed that would be his family’s preference, but would Lucy agree to that? Would her schedule allow it? Would she need to quit her job? He had so many questions, all of which Lucy had probably already answered.

“Are you freaking out? Don’t freak out, Tony! I don’t need that right now.”

“No, I just… this surprised me. That’s… soon. I’m very excited, Luce. And worried about you. I love you. I want a healthy baby for us, but also a healthy you.”

She smiled and kissed him. “I promise you, Winston, that I will survive, and it will be okay. And I know you will take the best care of me in the process.”

“Of course, Lucy.”

“I just want to make sure it’s a viable pregnancy. I am so nervous.”

“We both are. I have a good feeling about it, though.”

Lucy smiled, “We’re absolutely nuts to do this.”

“Nothing about us has ever seemed logical to the outside world. I love that about us, Lucy. I’m going to go down again. Let you get dressed. Everyone else is having breakfast. Take your time.”

“I will. I’ll be down there before your other cousins arrive. I don’t want George accusing me of being pregnant—which he seems to do every time he sees me.”

Winston chuckled. “I doubt he would do that. He should bloody well know better by now.”

* * *

Natalie held Ed’s hand as they sat in the chapel waiting for Sheena’s arrival. Gerry, Winston, and George stood at the front of the church. Everyone was jubilant. Sheena and Gerry had been a sweet couple for so long. She livened up Gerry’s serious side. He was utterly devoted to her. This was going to be a good day. The Mums were in happy tears. Natalie couldn’t help but be wrapped up in it. She wasn’t a huge wedding person. She swore up and down a fairy-tale was nonsense, but she set those feelings aside today. As she looked at Ed and squeezed his hand on her knee, she realised maybe fairy tales weren’t so far off.

Ed came back into her life at the worst time. Or so she had thought. Natalie assumed it would be a fling. She never put much stock in the fact that she lost her virginity to him a moment of drunken excitement. At the time, Ed had not even known that detail. In contrast to her previous assumption, Ed entered her life at just the right time. When she needed a happy distraction, he was there to entertain her. When she needed a safe place to land completely disconnected from her fishbowl life, he was glad to oblige. When she needed someone to vent to about retirement and the challenges of recentring, only Ed could understand her. She was forever grateful for Ed. In a way, they grew and took their next steps together. They wrote a new chapter together.

That made her hopeful for this time. It made her appreciate just how sweet love could be. She gave over to it in an unexpected way. She was now a hopeful sap, totally willing to admit she loved Ed with abandon. On this day, Natalie understood what the fuss was about. Marriage no longer seemed so much like a cage and more a commitment she could undertake with the right person.

“You love weddings, don’t you?” Natalie whispered.

“What? Are you making a judgement, woman?” Ed feigned offence.

“No. I love you for all your sappy, romantic antics. I adore them.”

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