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Charlotte was already donning her own apron and shooing her out of the door. “Not a problem. Now go or you’ll be late for your appointment!”
A muffin was shoved into her hand and she was practically pushed out of the door. When she turned back around, she could see Charlotte already taking orders and pouring coffee, and a wave of gratitude washed over her.
Taking a deep breath, Kate tried to enjoy the walk to the clinic. It was a beautiful day in Miller Springs and she was happy that she was right here, in this town. She wouldn’t have wanted to face her problems anywhere else. Everything with Emile was still unresolved but today, she was going to see her baby for the first time and she wanted to savor that moment because she would never get it back.
She managed to keep her anxiety under control until she was lying on the examination table, the doctor spreading cold jelly across her stomach. Suddenly, she had flashes of all the things that could be wrong; she’d been so focused on everything between her and Emile that she hadn’t thought about the baby.
Wishing that she had taken Laura’s offer to come with her, Kate trembled as the doctor moved the scanner over her stomach. The room was dark, apart from the screen behind the doctor’s head. When she heard the doctor suck in a breath, she couldn’t stand it any longer.
“What’s wrong?” Her voice came out desperate, and the doctor obviously sensed her distress because she whipped around from where she was looking at the scan.
“Don’t worry, sugar, everything looks in order. But there is a little surprise… Well, more than one surprise.” The doctor’s smile was reassuring and Kate’s eyes went wide at her words.
“Twins…?” She could barely believe it.
“More than that…”
The doctor moved so Kate could see the screen. The picture was grainy and unclear but as she squinted she could make out three little shapes.
“Triplets?!”
“That’s right. Quite a miracle.”
The doctor was right, it was a miracle. But it was also a shock. Kate couldn’t wrap her head around what she was seeing. There were going to be three babies?
“How…?”
She seemed to have lost the ability to speak — or think — in complete sentences.
“It’s rare, but it can happen naturally. We’ll have to bring you in for additional monitoring over the next few months, but everything is looking great so I’m confident that you’ll have no problems.”
The doctor’s cheerful nature was such a contrast to the emotional storm that was raging inside of Kate. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at the ultrasound, the soft, rhythmic heartbeat of her babies filling the room. Her babies. Three of them. The doctor may think that she wouldn’t have any problems with the pregnancy but she was certain that her problems had just tripled.
But somehow, there was one problem that had been resolved in her heart and her head. Seeing her babies — their babies — like this, Kate knew she couldn’t deny Emile the chance to be in their lives. Whether he wanted to be involved or not, she had to at least try to contact him.
Clutching the scan photos on her way out of the appointment, she pressed the little piece of paper to her heart and promised her babies that she would do everything in her power to make it happen.
CHAPTER26
EMILE
Emile missed the Arizona sunshine. Although it was ostensibly early summer in Charcieux, it wasn’t the same. The gray stone buildings, the winding streets and the frequent rain showers made him homesick for Miller Springs. Although, did it count as homesickness when somewhere wasn’t your true home? Either way, Emile was melancholy as he walked back from his trip to get coffee; there was plenty to be had in the palace, but he needed to clear his head — even if he did have to be accompanied by his security team.
“Ah, Emile, there you are.” His eldest brother, Henri, dressed in a pristine suit as always, appeared in the entrance hall just as Emile walked in. “Mother and Father want to see you in the throne room.”
Emile’s stomach dropped. Not this again.
“Thanks, Henri. Do you know if it’s good news?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? You’ve certainly been behaving yourself since you got back.”
That would be how it appeared to Henri, the golden child and heir to the throne. Tow the line. Reap the rewards. Only, the rewards for Emile were so much less than they were for Henri, whose path was set for him.
Emile had been behaving himself. The desire was still there. He’d walked into a stern talking-to from his parents in lieu of a reunion, and his instinct had been to go straight out to his favorite bar and order tequila shots for the whole place. But he’d thought of Kate, and how disappointed she would be in him, and he’d managed to resist the urge.
Except, as time went on and he realized how little had changed at the palace, he grew more and more tempted to go on a bender. Kate had thrown him out, hadn’t she? He shouldn’t be thinking about what would or wouldn’t impress her anyway.
The walk to the throne room would never get less intimidating. The plush carpet beneath his feet, the ornate coving on the walls, the portraits of all of his dead relatives. He knew it all so well, although it somehow felt foreign now that he had spent so much time away. He couldn’t help but imagine what his friends in Miller Springs would think of the palace. They were worlds apart now, and he truly felt the distance.
