AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When I came out of the bath pruney and raw, I dressed in casual clothes ready for sleep, or anything to take my mind off of a baby… our baby, the royal baby.
“Well, at least we are getting a jump on the ‘abundance of children’ my father was hoping for.” Liam was still being funny and sweet. He had been making a huge effort all day to appease me and I, in turn, was making very little effort to accommodate him.
“I’m tired.” I looked at him in surrender.
“So am I,” he flopped in bed beside me.
“Imagine when our kiddo comes,” I glared at him.
“Oh no, we’ll have people… lots of people, that’s a perk to being a prince.” He scooped me into him and nuzzled my neck.
“Can you ever forgive me?” His puppy dog eyes were definitely an act.
“No,” I teased as I wiggled into him.
“How about now?” He tickled me and I squealed.
“No,” I barely breathed.
“Now?” He hooked his leg over me, pinned me down and tickled more.
I couldn’t bear it. “Yes, yes… now. Okay. I forgive you now. Stop!” I giggled and couldn’t stop.
I needed that. I craved fun. Everything had been so intense; I’d lost sight of the fact that I liked Liam and perhaps was even starting to love him.
“Good.” He kissed me. “I don’t like it when you’re angry. It’s scary.” The playful look of terror on his face was priceless.
“No, being pregnant, marrying a prince, becoming a queen, trying to keep my sanity… those things are scary.” I curled closer into his bare chest.
“I know.” He held me tight and kissed my head.
For the next few weeks, I worked on my designs with a team of fashion designers as we prepared my wedding gown, my bridesmaid’s gowns, and the looks I’d send down the runway at fashion week. Instead of trying to find another me to be present in New York when I couldn’t be there, I was able to convince Maralis to help. She and Kylie were able to interview models, get their measurements, and work out the logistics of the runway show over Face Time. I was starting to feel better about my work, but as time progressed, physically, I wasn’t faring as well.
Liam was as attentive and loving as ever and through our duties, the many engagements with the press, charities, royal events, and times when we needed to be in the public eye he was kind and supportive. I did my best to be their model princess. I walked a few paces behind Liam, smiled demurely, closed my legs at the knee, always wore stockings and heels. I laughed lightly, cast my eyes down at a ninety-five-degree angle. Never said anything unless I was asked a question, left food I couldn’t tolerate on my plate and ate what I could. At home, I made love to Liam nightly, he was both voracious and attentive. We visited the doctor and I saw the blip that was our baby on a four-dimensional sonogram screen. I barfed in the morning, rested in the afternoon, drank water, worked on my designs, and kept Liam’s cock well entertained.
Now that we were already pregnant we threw all caution to the wind. We worked on different sexual positions we’d have to resort to when I was too big to maneuver. I didn’t gain weight because I was always so sick, though as the name described, I was only sick in the mornings. I did my best to come out of my office more often and found Martha and Finnegan to be delightful people and I looked forward to our chats over tea when Liam was out on official business.
I learned a lot about Ireland and heard the latest gossip about the monarchy, the worst of it though was how Lucy was faring after being rebuffed by Liam.
“He always told me,” I said over scones and tea one morning when I’d started to feel just a little better, “that he told her he wasn’t going to marry her.”
“Yes, well you have Liam telling her one thing and her parents telling her another. Even the king promised she’d marry him.” Martha wasn’t chiding me because it wasn’t my fault Liam chose to marry me. She was just sharing her views on the matter.
“That must be devastating. I’ve been trying to arrange a meeting with her, but she won’t return my invitation.” I wasn’t sure what I’d say to her if she ever did decide to talk to me, but I felt like I owed her a chance to tell me how she felt.
Maybe I just knew what it felt like to be alone. And even though Liam and I were getting along well, my constant duties to the crown still robbed me of well, me. I felt very alone.
That night, I was putting on lotion as I had every night for almost three months when Liam came to bed.
