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“I’ve never heard anyone mention any such a thing.”
“Because old wives usually don’t talk of such things to young, unmarried ladies.”
Heat crept up Claire’s cheeks. “I see.”
“Shall we bring Lord Phineas in and give him the good news?”
Claire chewed on her lower lip. “I don’t know.”
“Is he the father?” The man began to pack his tools and implements back inside his case.
“Of course. We’re to be married.”
“Yet he didn’t know about the pregnancy.”
“Not yet.”
“I believe you’re past the point of no return now.”
Claire nodded. “I know.
The physician went to the door and opened it, and Finn and Claire’s mother came back into the room. But this time, Finn sat down on the side of the bed to comfort her.
The physician spoke. “Congratulations, Lord Phineas,” he said. “You’re to be a father.”
***
Finn choked. Like a dolt, he choked on his own spittle. The physician clapped him on the back with a laugh. “It’s not as bad as all that,” he said. “The babe is all right. I suggest that she stay in bed for at least a sennight, and then I’ll come back to check on her to see how things are progressing.”
“The bleeding wasn’t just her menses?”
The man chuckled again. “She hasn’t had menses in several months, my lord.”
She’d gotten with child the one time they’d been together, before she’d left to go back to the land of the fae. And she’d known all this time and hadn’t told him. Not a word. She’d been pregnant, his child growing inside her, and she hadn’t told him.
“Thank you, sir,” Finn bit out. He pulled some banknotes from his pocket and pushed them into the man’s hand. “I’d appreciate your discretion in this matter.”
The physician saw himself out, and Finn felt like he couldn’t catch his breath. He couldn’t look at her without knowing he’d done this to her, and without remembering that she’d kept it from him all this time.
“I’m going to ask you once, Claire. And then I’ll never bring this matter up again.” He waited and then said very quietly, so only she could hear. “It’s mine, isn’t it?”
She nodded, biting her lip so hard he feared she would rend it in two. “That night, I got with child.” Her voice broke. “I had planned to tell you.”
“When?”
“As soon as I got up the nerve.”
“You have enough nerve to walk into danger, but you can’t tell me something like this?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice a broken whisper.
Finn got up to leave the room. At the door he turned back to see Claire’s mother sit down on the side of the bed and pull Claire into her arms. Claire let her, and her mother was soothing her as he left the room, closing the door tightly behind himself.
A baby. Claire was increasing. She carried his child. A smile he couldn’t bite back tugged at his lips. A child. God, the idea of Claire growing big with his child… it was everything he’d ever dreamed of.
He was hurt that she hadn’t told him. But he knew now. And now he knew he couldn’t wait for the reading of the banns. He would get a special license and marry her tomorrow. Her father had wanted three weeks. But this would be a six-month pregnancy, if his addition was correct. She would deliver their child no more than six months after their marriage, if it took that long. Tongues would wag.
He grinned. Let them. Let them have their fun. He would have Claire. And they would have their child. And more on the way someday.
