I laughed once, a little bit of my sense coming back. “It’ll take me at least ten minutes to waddle back to our room, especially with you vanishing my kneecaps like that.”
He grinned and gave me a very proper bow. “It is an honor to serve you, my queen.”
I shook my head and walked passed him, making sure to brush up against him as I did so. “Cheeky,” I murmured.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” he replied, “but I prefer charming.”
I laughed and tried to hurry to our room to change. Because the king really was very charming.
And I was oh-so-willing to be charmed.
The carriage ride was one of those blissful moments that you relive over and over again when you want to smile.
We didn’t normally use carriages, but they were available for formal occasions and special events, like the wedding and coronation and special parades. Just for an outing, it seemed excessive. So I was surprised when a very simple, but still very high class carriage waited for us out front and the driver, instead of wearing the normal livery I’d seen on the riders and drivers, was just in a simple suit and hat. He helped me up into the carriage, after executing a perfect bow, and then saw to the door after Nico had climbed in.
The carriage itself had already been perfectly equipped for us with thick blankets to wrap ourselves in and a heater down at our feet. Nico bundled me up and then tucked me securely against his side as the carriage rolled forward.
Once we left the palace gates, I sighed and leaned against him more, watching the buildings pass us by. I loved living here, loved the adorable Swiss-themed roofs and shops that surrounded us, loved the faint scent of cinnamon and pine in the air, loved the fresh feeling of the air as it seeped into my skin and lungs. Christmas music played all around us from various shops and street musicians, and the vendors were surprisingly quiet and minding their carts and wares, chatting with each other as customers were in short supply.
Nico rubbed a hand up and down my arm, humming to the carols we could hear, and I could feel the vibration of his humming as I leaned against his chest. I had to smile, it was all just too perfect.
The closer we got to the town square, the more people we saw, though it was still not anything I would call a crowd. But they started to see us, and there were cries of surprise and delight, and people waving to us madly.
I went to sit up and put on my queen face, but Nico held me tightly against him and shook his head.
“Stay right where you are, love,” he told me with a smile. “We’re not on duty, and it will do the people good to see their king and queen informal and in love.”
I smiled up at him. “Is that what we are?” I teased.
He returned my smile and stroked my cheek. “Very much so. At least on my end,” he added pointedly.
I arched up to kiss him, despite being out in public. “Here too,” I assured him.
He winked at me. “I know.” Then he turned a little to wave at some people passing us.
Entering the town square, I saw the preparations for the winter carnival, now only a week away. The theme for this year was Northern Lights, and it was incredible to see that interpreted. Sconces for torches and actual lights were going up everywhere, and the colors of green, purple, blue, and silver were intricately woven in and through everything. Dancers were rehearsing to one side and a small group of musicians were running through what sounded like a particularly difficult movement of a song.
It was going to be incredible and magical, just as it always was, and I felt a pang of wistfulness, hoping against hope that somehow I’d be able to see it.
But I couldn’t plan for that any more than I could plan to go to the hospital on Christmas day and visit the children.
Which reminded me…
“You should take Violetta with you on Christmas,” I told Nico when he climbed back into the carriage after buying us some hot chocolate.
He handed me my cup, which I held close to me, loving the scent of the rich chocolate and the heat that was taking over my hands and arms. “To the hospital?” he asked, settling himself back in the blankets and nodding at the driver.
I nodded and sipped the drink. Ah, heaven. I was a fan of hot chocolate normally, and everybody knew that European hot chocolate was the best, but Monterran hot chocolate? That was sinfully good. Or divinely. Or both.
Nico nodded thoughtfully and took a sip. “I could do that. If I was going to leave you.” He gave me a hard look.
I shook my head at once. “You have to,” I insisted. “You have to, Nico. It’s tradition.”
His eyes narrowed a little. “I don’t want to go without you.”
I rolled my eyes even as my heart fluttered. “It’s a few hours at the children’s hospital. I’ll be fine, and you’ll be fine, and the baby will be fine. Take Violetta, she would love it. And take Dante and Lemon. Better yet, have them bring Eva! It will be a great PR opportunity with her around.”
He smiled easily and sat back. “That’s true. Everybody loves Eva.”
“Including her very doting uncle, the king,” I laughed as I poked him in the ribs.
He captured my hand and pulled it to his lips for a warm kiss. “I freely admit it,” he announced, still smiling. “I am obsessed with my niece and I see no problem with that whatsoever.”
I laughed and nuzzled against him. “You are going to make the best daddy in the world.”
His arm tightened around me and his free arm joined it. “Thank you, cuore mio.” He kissed the top of my head and sighed. “I think I will almost be as good of a parent as you. Almost.”
I smiled and held him close. “Almost.”
One of his hands started absently running through my hair as we rode, silent and comfortable for a while. Then he asked, “How are you feeling?”
“Large,” I stated simply, knowing he wasn’t asking about this ride. “Large and inflated. Sore. Ridiculously tired.”
He tsked a little. “You tossed and turned all night long. You must be exhausted.”
On cue, I yawned. “Oh, I am. It doesn’t matter if I have a pillow between my knees or under my hips or anywhere else, I cannot get comfortable. Ever. I think I’m lucky to string two hours of sleep together before I have to move again.”
He sighed and started stroking my back again. “Well, sleep now, love. I’ll hold you and we’ll ride along for hours to make up the difference.”
I closed my eyes and laughed a little. “Oh please, a king has way too much on his plate to be able to ride around in a carriage out in the winter air all day.”
“A king,” he told me quite firmly, “can do whatever he likes where his beloved queen is concerned, and if the king wants to ride around in a carriage in this freezing air all day just for some quiet time holding his queen, then I say a king very well does that.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I murmured against him, lulled to sleep by the motion of the carriage and the feel of my warm and loving husband around me.
The days leading up to Christmas were some of the best ones I’d had yet. I still ached everywhere, I still couldn’t sleep, and I was still the size of Texas, and impossibly, still growing, but I was finally getting into the spirit of things. Interviews were over, but the news was always speculating on when I would deliver. Apparently, everybody had thought I was further along than I was, so I had thrown off all of their predictions. That was nice.
What I really enjoyed was that now I could just spend time with the family, which was how I preferred life. Eva was starting to smile and she was the cutest child on the planet, so I had her whenever I could snatch her away from everyone else.
It was really hard to get her.
Not even my claims of needing the experience worked, and usually the rebuttal was that I needed to rest.
Like wrangling a seven week old was exhausting.
Christmas had taken over the palace and I was loving it. Real presents appeared under the tree, carols were being sung louder than before, and the Christm
as shopping had been completed; on my end, at least. I loved running out on Christmas Eve to get some fun things, but that was not happening this year. I had been expressly forbidden from going anywhere unescorted, and the entire family was taking up the charge. I didn’t mind too much, but when Nico had been gone on an overnight trip to London and Rafe had been designated my midnight snack escort, I called an audible.
“Come on, Kat,” he’d complained as he literally held my arm while we walked down. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Says my babysitter,” I retorted, waddling awkwardly and wishing my hips were my own again.
Rafe snorted and helped me down the stairs. I wished I hadn’t needed his help, or that I hadn’t actually used him to steady myself, but the truth of it was, I would have let him carry me down the stairs if he’d offered. Stairs were not my friend.
“Kat, I am not your babysitter,” Rafe told me when we were on the ground floor. “I offered to be on call for your cravings. Do you know why?”
I didn’t trust his innocent voice, so I looked up at him through narrowed eyes. “Why?”
He grinned and his eyes twinkled behind his glasses. “Because now I have an excuse to snack late at night, and it’s being called chivalrous. So please, when all of this is over and people are interviewing you again, I would appreciate a mention of my very gentlemanly behavior.”
I let out a laugh that quickly became a snort behind my hand as I covered my mouth.
He shrugged one shoulder and made himself taller as he escorted me. “Laugh all you want, but with Nico and Dante in the spotlight, I’m getting left out.”
I made a sympathetic noise and patted his arm. “Poor Rafe,” I cooed with a smile. “Poor, poor, very pretty, royal prince Rafe.”
He raised a brow at me and steered me towards the kitchen. “You can tell them you think I’m pretty, too, that’s fine. But I don’t think Nico would approve.”
I tossed him a grin as I headed for the fridge. “I’m having Nico’s baby. Pretty sure I can say whatever I want and he’ll still love me.”
Rafe chuckled. “Touché. Get the gelato, woman.”
Now, I had never known who had been making sure I had my gelato even when Nico was gone, but instinct told me it had been the very chivalrous and self-sacrificing Rafe. I’d never asked him about it, and I knew he would have denied it if I had, but after that, I was pretty sure, and I loved him more for it.
Christmas Eve dawned and the palace was in a flurry. Last minute shopping was being done and preparations were underway for the family luncheon on Christmas Day, as well as the formal dinner that night. We’d made all the arrangements for the Christmas Eve mass, which irked me a little, since everyone would be walking as usual except me. I was riding over with Aria and Dominic, since I was so close to my due date.
My doctor had told me it could be any time, but I wasn’t dilated at all, and at the last appointment was still carrying high, so he didn’t think I’d deliver on time. Apparently going long is normal for first babies.
I was convinced my child had his father’s stubbornness. And probably some of mine as well.
It didn’t matter anyway, I was feeling better than I had in weeks. Still sick of being pregnant, still tired of being tired, and I still had crazy hormonal bursts that left me wondering if I would ever feel normal again, but somehow with all of that, I’d achieved some sort of calm. I’d tried to force things, and it hadn’t worked. I’d panicked and nested my way through everything under the sun, and ran out of steam. Now I was just going to sit back and enjoy waiting.
Until it drove me crazy, and then I might go back to trying again.
Castor oil was still an option, and at this point, no one would question it.
Lemon took it upon herself to be my personal guard dog, making sure I was still doing my yoga and bouncing on my ball, eating labor cake and cookies, recording any random contractions, drinking more water than I cared to think about, and everything that I didn’t need reminding of, but was content to let her control. My staff answered more to her than me, and I rarely had to get up if someone else could get or do something for me.
If I wasn’t ready to pop like an overinflated balloon, it might have been nice.
But really, wrapping my own Christmas presents was not a big deal, even if I wasn’t very good at it.
“Back off,” I ordered finally when Lemon had tried to get a poor staff member to take over.
“Kat…”
I gave her a look. “I can wrap presents, Lemon. It’s not strenuous and I really would like to stand up for a bit.”
Lemon bit her lip and looked at my feet, tucked into their house slippers. “Your ankles will blow up.”
I rolled my eyes and went back to creasing the paper for Chiara’s present. “They blow up when I go to the bathroom. It’s fine. Hand me the tape.”
Lemon dismissed the staff with a sigh and came over with the tape, then looked for ribbon to match the present. “Are you nervous?” she asked as she handed me some.
I shrugged a little. “Sure. Not like terrified, but I saw you when you went, and that was a bit of a shocker.”
She grinned and folded her hands around one knee, sitting back on the bed. “Yeah, sorry about that. Wasn’t ready for it myself. If it makes you feel better, Mama said she screamed her head off the whole time with me, and Dante swears I barely made a peep.”
I tied the ribbon around the present and gave her a look. “Why do I have trouble believing that?”
Lemon laughed and straightened, reaching for more paper. “No idea, darlin’. I am discretion itself.”
That had me laughing and thanks to my current state, I was forced into the bathroom almost immediately, still laughing and scolding Lemon from there.
“Sorry!” she called to me. “I forgot about that.”
“Wish I could!” I replied, still smiling. “I won’t miss this.”
She snorted loudly. “No, ma’am, you won’t.”
I came back out and gave her a look. “Do you miss any of it?”
She was putting my next present on the paper and cutting it, but paused at my words. “Hmm,” she mused a little, “not really. I miss how she felt inside of me, ‘cause that’s really special. But in general? No.” She flashed me a devious grin. “I definitely miss the girls, though. Wish I had those back.”
“Lemon!” I scolded on a laugh, making my way back to the bed. “You don’t need any help there.”
She finished cutting and set the roll of wrapping paper aside. “Maybe not, but it was nice all the same.”
I rolled my eyes and went back to wrapping, chatting aimlessly about this and that, my back growing stiff and sore with the bending.
When we were done, I sighed and arched my back, pressing my hands into the muscles hard. “Oh, man,” I groaned, wincing at the various protesting parts of me. “I can’t take much more of this.”
Lemon chuckled and stacked the presents up on the bed. “Almost there, right?”
“Right,” I said with a smile, arching a bit more.
Just then, there was a sudden gush and I thought for half a second that my bladder had betrayed me again, but this was different. The fluid running down my legs and onto the floor was definitely something else.
I stared down at it for a long moment, then looked up at Lemon wide eyed, her expression mirroring mine.
“I think,” I managed hoarsely. “I think my water just broke.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Everything happened really fast after that.
Lemon raced to the door and bellowed as only Lemon could bellow, and an entire team of staff members arrived before either of our husbands or any other family members did.
“Not you!” she barked, waving them aside. “I mean, someone clean up the floor, but not right now!”
They all started vacating, and Lemon raced to my bureau to grab a maxi dress. “Throw this on and then tug the pants off,” she ordered, tossing it at me.
I winced
with a hiss as a contraction hit, much stronger and sharper than anything I had ever felt.
“Giacomo!” Lemon yelled, sticking her head out of the door. “Stay!” she told him, before inhaling sharply and shrieking, “NICO!”
I somehow managed to get the dress on and shimmied awkwardly out of the pants, my head spinning and my body tingling.
Water broke. That meant things were happening. Contractions would kick up, harder and faster, and active labor was on its way. I was having a baby. Right now. This minute.
OH. HOLY. FRAK.
My pulse started racing and I could feel it in my chest, in my head, in my fat ankles, and in my currently pounding uterus. I couldn’t breathe and it had nothing to do with me bending over to get my pants off. I could hear my breath racing out, thundering in my ears, and my chest burned with every exhale.
“Stop that,” Lemon ordered, suddenly at my side and whipping things off. “You’re okay, Kat. You hear me? It’s okay. Calm down.”
“The baby’s coming,” I gasped, gripping her arm tightly. “It’s coming now.”
She grabbed my arms and moved directly in front of me, her gaze calm and steady in the face of my wild panic. “Yeah. It is.” She smiled and shook me a little. “And it’s about freaking time. Your baby’s coming. This is fun and exciting. Don’t freak out.”
I somehow managed a laugh. “You can tell me not to freak out?”
She winked at me. “Heck yeah, I can. Been there, done that, remember?”
I didn’t need reminders of that. I recalled every blistering second of her labor before she got her epidural. And I wasn’t getting one. This was going to be the most awful, horrifying, agonizing experience of my life, I was sure of it.
Why had I wanted this again?
Another contraction hit and buckled my knees. I turned to grip the bedcovers in my fists with a groan, hunching over to try and find some sort of relief. A baby. My baby. We wanted a baby, that’s why we did this. I was going to be a mother.
In a matter of hours.
The Royals of Monterra: Royal Delivery (Kindle Worlds) Page 12