BABY ROYAL

by Bella Grant

  “I understand that.” Jason walked over and held his hand out. “Thank you, Doctor.”

  “Let me walk you out,” Doctor Suarez said as he pushed his chair back and stood. “I need to sign the release papers.”

  Jason was over the moon that he could return to Elena with some good news, and she attacked him as soon as he entered the room.

  “What’s going on? Where did you go?”

  “It doesn’t matter where I went… what matters is where we are going.”

  “Jason, don’t play games with me. I’m too tired to entertain it.”

  Jason chortled. “Fine. I went to see Doctor Suarez.”

  She didn’t wait for him to continue. “And?”

  “And…he said you can go home.”

  She bolted upright instantly, her eyes wide and hopeful. “Are you for real?” Doctor Suarez came into the room. “Is it true?”

  “Yes, Miss Rose. Prince Jason has assured me he will have you taken care of.” He handed her an envelope and smiled. “You’re free to go.”

  Jason stood next to the bed, grinning, and he clapped Doctor Suarez on the shoulder as he passed. As soon as the door clicked shut, he hurried over to her.

  “I’m going home,” she cried with exuberance. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and was ready to hop off when Jason caught her.

  “Whoa, whoa! Hold it right there!”

  She froze and turned to him. “What?”

  Jason stood up straight, his broad shoulders squared and giving her the appearance that he was taller than he actually was. “I thought you wanted to go home.”

  “That’s what I’m doing,” Elena fired back.

  “Oh yeah? Well, at the rate you’re going, you’ll have another fall and be back in here in no time.” He took her by the hand. “You need to take it easy.”

  Elena relaxed. “You’re right. But I miss the farm and the animals, and…”

  “Nope. Don’t even get me started. You are officially on bed rest, and I think the best place for you is my home.”

  Elena’s eyes flashed red. “No,” she growled and backed away from Jason. “I want to go home. To my father’s farm.”

  “But think about it. At my home, you can get the best care—”

  “I can get the same at the farm. Whichever nurse you were going to hire, send him or her to the farm. I’m not going to the castle.”

  “Okay, okay, don’t get upset,” Jason hushed her. “I’ll arrange for the nurse to come to the farm. But I wish you would come to my home for a change.”

  Elena was quiet as she tried to calm herself. “We aren’t married,” she said softly as she stuffed the few clothing and personal items inside the duffel bag on the table next to the bed. “It doesn’t feel right.”

  “There’s only one reason we aren’t married,” Jason reminded her.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Elena replied. “I think I need to call Mom in case she is coming by. Dad said she would and she hasn’t come yet.”

  Jason handed her his cell phone and watched as she focused on the device. She dialed and was smiling and talking animatedly to her mother about the fact that she was coming home. He couldn’t help but feel happy she was, at the very least, on speaking terms with him again. But he didn’t want her to leave without knowing for sure what she wanted. He had waited for months and he wasn’t playing the fool anymore. When she was done with the call, she handed him the phone and he caught her by the hand as he took it.

  “I need to know something, Elena,” he stated. “Are we going to go back to the way things were before? Me being at home and you staying at the farm? I mean, we are going to be a family soon.”

  “I don’t know,” she muttered. “I didn’t even think I would see you again, much less talking about this.”

  Jason moved closer and took both her hands. “Sweetheart, you don’t want to know how miserable I’ve been these last few months being away from you. I knew what it was like to kiss you, to feel your body press against mine, to hear you laugh.” He stroked her cheeks that blushed, and her eyes, as he had grown accustomed to, glossed over again. “After knowing all of that, it was torture being away from you, so it’s fine if you want to stay home, but I am not leaving you again. You are mine, and you’re not getting out of my sight again.”

  He cupped her face and lowered his head. Her lips parted to receive his before they made contact, and he pressed against her as he tasted her warm, soft lips that provoked even greater sensations below his belt. He desperately wanted her, and as their tongues engaged in a playful dance, their souls connected and their bodies responded by beginning a slow dance of their own. They moved almost undetectably, lost in euphoric bliss, in a moment they had never known they would share again.

  Jason pulled back reluctantly and smoothed the hair around her hairline. “I think we’d better go.”

  Elena smiled and watched as he grabbed her bag. His driver was waiting for him, and the two snuggled in the car on the way to the village. Jason noticed Rick’s smile through the rearview mirror, like he approved of them being together, and though it shouldn’t matter to Jason, it gave him a tingly feeling deep down.

  They entered the village to hooting and hollering as the same people who had despised Elena before ran into the streets, happy and anxious to see her once more.

  Nathan was the first to dash out of their family home as the car pulled up to the curb. Jason could see how close the family was, and in a way, he envied them that closeness. He helped Elena inside and reminded her she was on bed rest. Gregory promised to ensure she did nothing on the farm that would harm her health, and Jason, like the doting father and lover, was always present in the days that followed.

  Elena

  It had been a little over a month since Elena went home from the hospital, and her stomach had grown to a huge bulge. She was just over eight months pregnant and feeling exactly like it. Her breathing was often labored, and her ankles had grown by what looked like an inch in circumference. She felt fat and unattractive, which didn’t contribute to her renowned mood swings.

  “Elena, you really need to take it easy,” Olivia warned one day when she was rummaging in the kitchen, searching for a pot so she could ‘make herself useful.’

  “How much easier can I take it?” she snapped, and the pot clanked loudly on the counter top as she slammed it down. She felt flushed after that, so she leaned against the cold marble and sighed. “I’m not used to being this useless.”

  “Sweetheart, it’s understandable. But you know you can’t burden yourself. Or do you want to go to the hospital early?” Olivia’s eyes narrowed to a slit as she sized up her daughter.

  “Might as well,” Elena fired back. “At least I would have this baby and get it over with.”

  “It will be over soon. You should remember to be careful what you wish for. This baby will come when she is good and ready.”

  As if in response, Elena’s stomach began to flutter and an elbow or knee protruded from the center of her large tummy. She closed her eyes and rubbed the spot as her now tightened stomach began to relax slowly and she could feel at ease again.

  “These contractions are getting closer, Mom,” Elena told her mother as worry began to seep into her.

  “You sure? You aren’t due for another month,” Olivia said, but Elena could hear the terror in her voice too.

  “Yeah, I’m sure. But I don’t even know what’s normal for me. I’ve never been pregnant before.” Her trip to the hospital a few weeks before had frightened her, and though she wanted the baby to come, she didn’t want any complications that might arise from it.

  Knock! Knock! They both turned as Jason’s shadow took up all the light at the screen door to the kitchen. Olivia moved quickly to open it.

  He popped in as soon as she did with a broad smile on his face and a dozen roses in his hand. “For the lovely lady,” he beamed as he extended his hand to Olivia.

  She clamped her hand to her chest. “Oh, for me?” sh
e asked in surprise.

  “Yep!”

  “Hey, I thought those were for me,” Elena complained mockingly.

  Jason stared at her blankly, like what she had said had offended him. “You wanted those?” he asked her. “I thought…” He turned to Olivia and scratched his head. Then he shoved his hands in his pockets and cocked his head to the side. “You know, I remember not so long ago I brought you flowers, among other things, and you came right back to me with everything I had given you. Packed neatly in a box. Left on my steps. I remember—”

  “Fine! You don’t have to remind me.” Elena laughed.

  “But I can bring you flowers next time if you want.”

  “No, that’s fine,” she replied quickly.

  Jason shook his head in disbelief. “Can’t please the woman,” he said, mostly to Olivia, and both she and Elena laughed. “Besides,” he continued as he pulled something from his pocket, “I thought you might like this a little better.”

  “What is it?” Elena’s face was a picture of surprise and excitement as she watched the rectangular box he held in his hand.

  Jason held out his hand to her. “Why don’t you look and see?”

  Elena’s took the box from him with trembling hands and opened it gingerly, like she was afraid of what she might find. She gasped, and her free hand covered her mouth when she saw the gold necklace inside with a locket on one end.

  “Oh, Jason, it’s beautiful,” she exclaimed. “But you know I don’t—”

  “That’s where our pictures will go, and you can keep us with you everywhere you go.” Jason interrupted her and took the necklace from the box. He didn’t wait for her consent. He looped the jewelry around her neck, fastened it, and kissed her on the top of her head.

  “That’s beautiful.” Olivia clapped and cried.

  “I think it’s too much,” Elena whispered.

  “Nothing will ever be too much for you,” Jason told her and took her hand in his.

  “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant all this excitement is too much for me now. I think I should go lay down. My feet are beginning to complain.”

  “So, does that mean you don’t need this pot anymore?” Olivia teased.

  Elena fanned her off and wobbled away with Jason next to her, his hand at the small of her back as he helped her to the bedroom. She was exhausted, like she had run a mile, and the bed sank when she sat on it.

  “So, how are you feeling?” Jason asked as he fluffed the pillows for her.

  Elena could hardly believe her luck. She was with the prince, in her bedroom, and he was fluffing her pillows. There were times when she looked at him like an ordinary man. Mainly when he was acting the fool. But when he was chivalrous and sweet, like he was now, she was reminded of his status, that he was a prince and she was nothing more than a farm girl. What were the odds that he had fallen in love with her?

  “What is it?” he asked as he read her eyes.

  She blushed and looked away. “I can’t believe any of this sometimes,” she replied as she toyed with the locket, feeling the need to touch the hard metal to remind herself she wasn’t dreaming.

  Jason chuckled. “I can’t believe it sometimes either. I mean, I was a jerk, wasn’t I?”

  Elena smiled. “Most of the time,” she told him. “I thought you were the worst prince a town could have. You barely came here, and when you did, you never got out of the car, like you were afraid of catching something from one of us.”

  Jason raked his hair back. “Yeah. I was pretty selfish. But you must understand, I didn’t know any better. I was raised around people like myself. I never had a poor friend. Before I came to the village, I thought the poor were my duty—they were there, and if I threw some money around they would go away. I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I was an idiot.”

  Elena bit her lower lip and ran her thumb over his hand. “That’s all over now. You’ve changed a lot over the past couple of months.”

  “Thanks to you,” he told her and smoothed her cheeks. “I didn’t realize how much my life would change when I met you that night.”

  “Okay, you need to stop before you make me cry again,” Elena said as she choked back tears already forming.

  “Well…” he replied as he traced his thumb over her lower lip. “We could do something else.”

  “Maybe not,” she began, and tried to shuffle back to get away from the impish grin on his face that told her he was in the mood. “I don’t think we should…”

  “Just…a…little taste,” he muttered breathily, and his ragged voice turned her on more than she believed she could be at that point. “We don’t have to go all the way. I just want this…”

  Elena was breathing heavily by this, and she rocked her head back as she anticipated what was going to happen. “Okay,” she heard herself say, but the voice didn’t sound like her own.

  He pulled her head back, brought his lips to hers, and Elena’s heart quickened at his touch. She squeezed his hand, and Jason cupped her face as they lost themselves in each other. She could feel her body calling for him, wanting to feel his cock inside her and hating the fact that she couldn’t. She started moaning when his tongue darted inside her mouth, and she caught it and pulled on it, wanting to fill herself with this man who had entered her life like a whirlwind and had uprooted everything she had thought she believed. When his fingers moved to trace her nipples that had gotten hard from his first touch, she felt her insides melt and her body liquify.

  She writhed under him, wanting him to take her, and she gripped his collar, on the verge of forcing him to, when she felt a searing pain at her abdomen. She froze, and Jason’s eyes popped open when he realized she had stopped moving.

  “What is it?”

  Elena remained still, waiting for the moment to pass, when another wave ripped through her. She screamed and grabbed her stomach. “Something’s wrong.”

  Jason started to panic. He looked from her stomach to her face in the split second before she screamed again. He didn’t know what to do other than run for Olivia.

  Elena was stricken with fright as her breathing shallowed. She gripped the side of the bed for support as she heaved, anticipating another bout of pain. She started crying as another wave hit her and rendered her motionless. When Olivia charged into the room, she was lying stiffly on the bed, almost as if she was afraid to move.

  “Come, help me get her up!” Olivia cried.

  “Hold on. Let me get the car first,” Jason said, sounding more frightened than she had ever remembered him to be.

  “Gregory!” she screamed. There was a loud bang and a slamming sound as the front door opened and Gregory rushed in.

  “What?” he asked amidst the confusion.

  “It’s Elena. She needs to go to the hospital. Go with Jason. I’ll get her some things and meet you there.”

  Elena vaguely heard Nathan calling her name and her mother muttering something to him, but she couldn’t hear her clearly. She was completely wracked with pain, and she writhed on the bed, wanting to stand, to do anything to ease the pain, and realizing each time it was impossible.

  “Stay still,” she heard her mother say in a faraway voice. “They’ll be back soon.”

  Elena drifted off after that, falling in and out of consciousness for what felt like a long time. She had no concept of time, or of what was happening. All she had were the pain and the darkness. The last thing she heard were excited voices above her before she was completely engulfed in nothingness.

  Jason

  Jason and Gregory got her into the emergency room, where she was quickly wheeled away on a gurney to be prepped for delivery.

  “It’s too soon,” Jason protested. “She has another month.”

  “I’m sorry, Prince Jason,” Doctor Suarez told him, “but we have to take the baby or they could both die.”

  Jason froze at the words, and Gregory nodded as he understood. Those were the longest moments of either of their lives as they waited
in the sitting room for any news about Elena and the baby. Olivia showed up an hour later with an overnight bag and Nathan clinging to her in fear.

  “Take him to get some ice cream,” she told her husband.

  The boy needed a distraction or he would worry too much. Jason wished he had a something similar, and he wrung his hands together as he tried to find a way to console himself. After they had gone, Olivia shuffled over to him, her eyes beseeching, and he knew what question she wanted answered without her asking.

  “They’re in surgery,” he told her and stood.

  “She’s early.”

  “I know, but Doctor Suarez said he had to or they could both die.”

  “Oh, dear God,” Oliva muttered and fell back against the chair.

  Jason sat down next to her and rubbed her shoulders. “She’ll be fine. They’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. We got here in time.”

  As he spoke, he tried desperately to believe his own words. His heart almost failed him when he saw Doctor Suarez coming towards them an hour later with a grim look on his face.

  Jason rose with such uncertainty his legs almost buckled under him. He gripped the back of the chair and weakened as Doctor Suarez approached. He was afraid of what the man might say, and he was torn between sprinting past him to the surgical room or bolting out the door to clear his head and prepare for bad news. His nerves didn’t give him a chance, because he was unable to move. He heard Olivia gasp next to him, but he couldn’t even turn to assess how she was doing.

  Doctor Suarez held out his hand to Jason as he got closer, and instead of the scowl, his face worked its way into a smile.

  “Congratulations, Prince Jason. It’s a girl.”

  Jason finally breathed.

  “Oh, good Lord,” Olivia exclaimed. “You almost gave me a heart attack.” Her hand was still pressed against her chest, and she rose slowly.

  Jason was beside himself with joy, but he realized the doctor had not mentioned Elena. “What about Elena?”