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I waited for a moment before I heard Julien clearing his throat behind me.
“There you are. Did our little guy get a little hungry again?”
All traces of anger gone from his face. I pasted on the best smile I could give him, and offered him one of the special crackers.
“Mmm, terrine de canard mousquetaire. Délicieuse. Usually I don’t get to eat this unless it’s Bastille Day,” Julien replied, licking his full lips. No, Amira. Don’t get sucked into staring at his amazing lips.
“Well, I don’t know what all that means, but it certainly is tasty. Maybe I would prefer not to know what it means, actually. Now that I’m looking at it . . . it does look a little sketchy. Oh well,” I added, popping another cracker with the special pâté in my mouth.
Sometimes it was far too easy to pretend everything was hunky-dory. But at the moment, and after being so tired from the day’s events, I didn’t want to disturb Julien with my thoughts. I wasn’t sure if I would get very good sleep that night, but at least I knew he was next to me, trying desperately to keep me and the baby safe.
“I have an idea, actually, myself,” Julien said, repeating a phrase from earlier. “How about we order some Thai from my favorite place? They’ll deliver it to us, no problem. What do you say?”
I bit my lip. It was definitely hard to keep my mouth shut, but I would do it for his sake. “Sure thing. You know I’m always down for thai!”
(Back to Table of Contents)
Chapter 36
“Are you sure you have to go?” I asked him, trying to give him my best pouty face possible. Even I knew Julien wasn’t going to fall for it this time.
He sighed, giving me the look that told me that maybe I should drop it. I knew he felt guilty enough as it was, but I just hated the fact that he had to leave.
“You know that I would stay there if there were any other way around it.”
I knew it was only going to be a two-night stay in London, but I hated it still. It seemed like every time I turned around Julien had been pulled away from me for one reason or another.
Now that I was thirty-six weeks along, I actually needed help every now and then, and without Julien there to provide assistance, sometimes I didn’t always get it.
After a few more kisses and hugs goodbye, Julien headed out the door. I wrapped my arms around myself, already missing him. I just didn’t understand how military wives did it. I hated being away from him even for a day or two. Months or years would have killed me…
–
It wasn’t long before I was pouting in the kitchen. Gervaise was a smart man, and as soon as he saw me walking in with the huge tears in my eyes, he quickly prepared a bowl of my favorite flavor ice cream — butter pecan.
After I finished up, I made my way outside, desperate for some fresh air. One of my bodyguards followed along. They were never far away, especially when Julien was gone. I glanced back at Rafe, who kept his dark eyes trained on me. He said nothing, and just waited for me to proceed.
I stopped for a moment when I felt the baby begin to turn over, stretching out his legs before beginning to hiccup. I couldn’t help but giggle at him, fondly rubbing my belly and feeling his movements underneath my skin. The idea of growing a human being used to totally freak me out. It was different now… Soon, the baby would be here and I already knew I’d miss these little moments when it was just the two of us…
I caught sight of Alain coming up from his small workshop by the gardens carrying something rather large in his hands. I couldn’t tell right away what it was, but as he got closer a big smile cut across my face.
“I hope you don’t mind. Found it in a storage room. It was Julien’s. I tried to fix it up, give it some new paint for baby,” he called out to me, holding up a newly varnished wooden rocking horse.
I gasped. It was intricately carved around the edges, with a roped mane, and glass eyes. It was simple, sturdy, and beautiful, just how I liked things.
Once he set it down at my feet, I squealed and practically ran to him, throwing my arms wide around his neck before kissing his cheek. “It’s wonderful! I can’t believe you did this
for us! Well of course I can, but this is so much. It’s beautiful, Alain. It really is. Thank you so much for this.”
He gave me his best smile, clearly proud of his work. “I carved this for Julien when he was baby. I’m surprised to see it was in such good shape.”
“That’s because it’s your handiwork. You’re like magic,” I laughed, pulling away from him to look at it some more.
“Very nice,” Rafe chimed in from behind us. I looked back at him and smiled in agreement. I loved handmade gifts like this, but this was even more sentimental to me because it used to be Julien’s.
“I better get back to work,” Alain said, gesturing for Rafe to carry the rocking horse for me. “Fais attention.”
Rafe gave him a stiff nod and the two of us walked back up to the château.
