Pregnant with His Royal Twins

by Louisa Heaton

  Smiling. No. Beaming.

  ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘I’ve been told I can go home and start my maternity leave. As long as I rest.’

  He frowned and went to the end of her bed, picked up her chart and began to read it. ‘The bleeding’s stopped?’

  ‘For almost a day now.’

  ‘And your blood pressure is down?’

  ‘Almost to normal levels. I can get out of here. You’ve no idea how much I’ve longed to hear that.’

  ‘Well, I know how much you’ve been bugging your consultant about it, so I have a fair idea.’

  He smiled. These last few days had been hard for her.

  ‘All this bed rest… I could have done it at home in the first place. There was no need for me to have taken up a bed.’

  ‘There was every need. Here, I’ve brought you a milkshake.’ He passed her the drink he’d bought from the café downstairs. ‘Why don’t you sit down? I’ll do your packing for you.’

  She held up her hand. ‘No, thank you! I don’t need you seeing all my knickers and things.’

  He smiled, picking up a pair of unflattering maternity pants. ‘Why ever not? I’ve seen—no, tasted—what’s underneath.’

  And then he grinned, because he saw how flustered that comment made her.

  She snatched them from him. ‘I haven’t been allowed to do anything for myself for days now. At least let me do this.’

  ‘Okay.’ He sank onto her bed and watched her busily pack her holdall, the excitement in her eyes at finally being able to leave the hospital almost palpable. ‘I hope when you get home you do actually rest.’

  ‘I’m fine. I’ve been discharged. There are things I have to get done. The nursery isn’t ready and—’

  ‘Then I’ll help you. Tell me what needs doing and I’ll get it sorted.’

  She stopped to look at him. ‘How will you have the time? Now that you’re a permanent member of staff? Yes, I know about that. Why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘I was waiting until I’d actually signed the contract. Which I did about twenty minutes ago. So here I am. Telling you. Don’t change the subject.’

  ‘I’m not.’

  ‘You did. Now, what do you need help with in the nursery?’

  ‘I’ve ordered two cribs, which are going to be delivered, and some furniture—all of which will need building.’

  He nodded. ‘I’ll do it.’

  ‘I can do it. I’m not helpless.’

  ‘I know you’re not, Freya, but you are still meant to be resting.’

  ‘Don’t I get any say in this?’

  He thought for a moment, then smiled. ‘No.’

  She smiled back. ‘You’re infuriating, you know?’

  Jamie nodded, happy to be so if it meant she was taking it easy. He had no doubt that if he let her go home without supervision she’d be up ladders and cleaning and painting and building wardrobes and putting herself straight back into a hospital bed. He couldn’t allow that to happen.

  ‘How are you getting home?’

  ‘Mum’s coming over on the bus, then we’re using my car to drive back. It’s been in the staff car park ever since my fall on the ice.’

  ‘Okay.’ He knew her mum would take good care of her. ‘I’m on shift now until seven, but I’ll pop round straight after—see what needs doing and formulate a plan.’

  ‘You don’t need to babysit me.’

  ‘I know.’ He stood up and dropped a kiss onto her cheek.

  She looked a little startled. ‘I’m a grown woman.’

  He smiled again, as his mind handily provided him with flashbacks to that steamy night many moons ago. ‘I know.’

  ‘Stop it.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Remembering what we did.’

  ‘I’m not allowed to remember?’

  ‘Not that, no.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because of the way it makes you smile. The way you look like you hope it will happen again.’

  He stood up and stepped between her and the holdall. ‘Would that be a bad thing?’

  She was breathing heavily, and licked her lips. She tried her hardest not to look at his lips, but failed.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘We wouldn’t know unless we tried.’

  She licked her lips again, bit the lower one and then looked away. Then back again.

  ‘I’m on bed rest.’

  ‘We could be in bed.’ He smiled.

  She swallowed. ‘Please don’t, Jamie.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because we can’t!’

  ‘Who says?’

  ‘The consultant. He said no sex.’

  Well, wasn’t that interesting? Freya herself wasn’t saying no. She wasn’t turning him down because she didn’t want to, but because it was a strict order from her consultant.

  He smiled, feeling a swell of joy not only in his heart, but elsewhere too.

  ‘I can wait.’ He paused to stare at her, then laid his hand on her arm, stilling her, drawing her close. ‘Won’t you give us a chance to be together?’ he whispered.

  Her eyes looked up at him, full of conflict, yearning and desire.

  Until he bent his head and kissed her.

  Chapter Seven

  HIS LIPS WERE SOFT, gentle. It was the most tender kiss. As his lips met hers it was as if the world slowed. Everything around her faded into nothingness, and all that mattered, all she could feel, was his lips pressed against her own. She forgot her scars, forgot her fears.

  Tenderness. Heat. Her heart racing inside her chest…pounding away within the cage that contained it.

  He’s kissing me!

  She’d thought about what it would be like to kiss him again, without hiding behind masks and anonymity.

  She knew him now. Knew who Jamie was. What he was. He’d become her friend as well as her colleague, and somehow, without her realising how, he had wormed his way into her affections. She cared for him. Worried about him. Feared for their future.

  And she had wondered what it might be like for them both if their lives were different. If he weren’t heir to the throne of some faraway kingdom, and if she weren’t the woman who hid behind the scars on her face.

  And now he’s kissing me.

  She felt herself sink further into his embrace. Felt her body press up against his. God, she needed this! Needed him.

  Freya had never imagined losing herself to something so wonderful as this.

  But it felt so right. It felt so good.

  She was almost dizzy with all the sensations running rampant through her system, with all the emotions she was experiencing. What was it doing to her blood pressure?

  I need to breathe.

  She pulled back, looked at him, her eyes dazed with confusion.

  ‘You kissed me.’

  ‘Yes.’ His eyes shone darkly, with a heat in them she had never noticed before.

  ‘Why?’ It was a whisper.

  ‘Because I needed to.’

  ‘Needed?’

  A smile. ‘Wanted.’

  ‘Me?’

  Another smile. Broader this time. ‘Of course you. When will you start to believe that?’

  Her words caught in her throat for a moment, a painful lump of disbelief that she had to swallow down, blinking rapidly to stop the tears from falling.

  ‘I see you, Freya. Who you are. I see the woman who stands before me today and she’s the bravest, strongest, most wonderful woman I know.’

  ‘I don’t…’

  ‘You keep comparing yourself to who you used to be. I don’t know who you used to be, or what you looked like before, and I don’t need to know. That was the past. What matters is the present, the now, and the woman before me is beautiful. She is caring and loving, fragile yet strong and courageous. As beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. That’s who I see.’

  He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

  ‘But…’

  ‘No buts. No
whys or maybes. Just accept it. Can you accept the fact that I have feelings for you and that I’d like us to be more than just friends?’

  It was everything she could possibly want to hear. Everything she’s thought she’d never hear. And here he was. This man. This drop-dead gorgeous, handsome prince was saying it to her!

  And suddenly she felt afraid. Afraid of what it all meant. If she accepted it—if she let him in—then wouldn’t she be making herself vulnerable all over again?

  But she was teetering on the edge of a giant abyss and she wanted to fall for him. Wanted to believe so much!

  Her heartbeat pounded in her ears. She felt hot and dizzy with it all. But she wasn’t ill. Just lovesick. And she wanted that happiness, even if it was just for a short while. She’d accept it and have him for as long as she could have him.

  ‘I can.’

  Hesitantly she smiled at him, watching as his face lit up.

  He let out a heavy breath and beamed at her, before pulling her back into his embrace. ‘Then let’s get you safely home and we’ll take it from there.’

  *

  It was strange to be back home. Her mum put on a pot of decaffeinated coffee to brew. Freya sat on the couch, her feet up, cradling her mug.

  ‘I think Jamie and I are going to give things a go.’

  It felt odd to say it. Jamie and I.

  Her mum smiled at her over her own mug. ‘Really? Oh, I’m so pleased to hear that. I really am.’

  ‘We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’re going to take it a day at a time. It’s all we can do, really.’

  ‘Stop downplaying it, Freya. You’re already making it sound like it’s doomed before it starts.’

  ‘I’m just being realistic.’

  ‘No, you’re trying to protect yourself before you get hurt and it won’t work that way. If you are going to give it a try with Jamie then you’ve got to be in it wholeheartedly. One hundred per cent. Not with one foot already out of the door.’

  ‘You think that’s what I’m doing?’

  Her mum put her mug down and came over to sit beside her. Took her hand in her own. ‘I know that’s what you’re doing. But Jamie’s different. He’s honourable and kind and I think he cares deeply about you. You can’t play with his feelings because you’re scared. Be in it totally, give everything of your heart, one hundred per cent, or don’t give anything at all.’

  Tears began to sting her eyes. ‘I want to be with him.’

  ‘Then do it.’

  ‘But what if—?’

  ‘No what ifs, Freya. No fear. You are having two babies with this man, and whether it works or not he will be in your life until your last day on this earth. So make it work. Give him your whole heart, not half of it.’

  The tears began to fall. ‘I think I might love him.’

  Her mum was tearing up too.

  ‘Then you both have my blessing.’

  She leaned forward and kissed Freya on the cheek, then pulled her into a hug.

  *

  Casey Benson looked calm. She was sitting in her hospital bed, serenely tapping a message into her mobile phone. But then again, Jamie mused, Casey had been through this three times before. She was an experienced mother.

  ‘Hi, Casey. I’m Jamie, and I’m going to be your midwife today.’

  She turned and smiled, her smile freezing slightly when she saw him. ‘I get you?’

  He nodded. ‘You do.’

  ‘For when I give birth?’

  ‘That’s the plan!’

  ‘Oh.’

  She looked a little perturbed, and he wondered if she was feeling uncomfortable at having a man deliver her child.

  ‘Is that all right?’

  ‘Yes! Course it is, it’s just…’

  ‘Yes?’

  She blushed. ‘You’re very attractive.’

  Well, that was very flattering, but he didn’t understand why that should be a problem.

  ‘An attractive man down at my—’ She stopped and blushed again. Her face going very red.

  He tried to change the subject, feeling amused. ‘Are you here alone today?’

  ‘I always do this alone.’

  He saw on her file that she was married. ‘Is your husband at work?’

  ‘You could say that. He’s in the Antarctic.’

  ‘Oh, really? Doing what?’

  ‘He’s part of a research team studying the biodiversity of a special organism, or some such thing. He hopes to be back when this one is about two months old.’

  ‘No other family who can be with you?’

  ‘There is, but I’m happy to do this myself. It never takes long—they usually pop out after an hour or two. I’ll be home in a few hours.’

  ‘Who’s babysitting the others?’

  ‘Mum is. She’s not very good with blood and gore, but she’s an absolute whizz with spilt milk and baby dribble, so she’s keeping an eye on the troops.’

  ‘Glad to hear it. So it’s just you and me, then. Unless you’d like a chaperone?’

  She smiled at him over her mobile. ‘Just you and me is fine.’

  *

  Casey had been right. She did labour easily. Though her contractions were showing up good and strong on the trace she remained calm, breathing easily through each of them as she leaned over the back of her bed, her knees on the mattress.

  ‘You’re doing brilliantly, Casey.’

  Casey beckoned him over. ‘Come and join me for a selfie. Otherwise no one is going to believe I had you deliver my baby.’

  He capitulated, and put his head close to hers for a photo, smiling as the camera on her phone clicked the two of them together.

  ‘You still all right with just the gas and air?’

  ‘Absolutely!’ She settled back on her haunches whilst she waited for the next contraction. ‘Still all systems go here. Though, if I’m honest with you, I can’t believe I’m back here, doing this again. I swore the last time that Benji was going to be my last baby, yet here I am.’

  ‘Does your husband get to come home often?’

  ‘Every six months. He gets home for about four weeks and then he goes off again. And obviously, because we haven’t seen each other in all that time, we’re very keen to see each other as much as we can, if you get my drift, and that usually results in me peeing on another of those ruddy sticks. Mind you, I love being a mum. I love all my kids—we have such a great time.’

  ‘Do they miss their dad? What with him not being around?’

  ‘Of course they do! They play up every now and again, but don’t all children? They know their dad loves them, and that he’s off doing some very special scientific work, and it’s good for them to see that their dad is dedicated and works hard for a cause he believes in. It’s good moral grounding for them.’

  ‘It must be hard for him, too. Being away from his children?’

  She nodded. ‘It is. But he absolutely adores what he does, and I don’t think he could be away from them unless he did. Why would he lose all that time he could have with them if he was stuck somewhere hating what he did? No, it’s good he has that passion. Do you have kids?’

  He smiled. ‘I have two on the way.’

  ‘Twins, huh? Wow. But I imagine you’ll be the same. You must love what you do? Because when they’re born…when they’re finally here and you hold them in your own arms…you can’t imagine spending any time away from them. Missing any of it. Not unless you love what you do.’

  He nodded. She was right. He wanted to spend as much time as he possibly could with his babies when they came. And if at some point he got called away to be King of Majidar that would be his crisis point.

  Because he could never imagine himself wanting to do that. Could not imagine himself being stuck inside a glittering palace, getting bogged down in politics and laws, stuff he didn’t care for, when instead he could be with his children. Doing a job he adored.

  Majidar was never meant to be his. Ilias should have had his own heirs. He
was a midwife. It had always been his calling. His vocation. He’d never wanted to rule, but it was the family he had been born into. And he felt a responsibility there, too.

  The people of Majidar expected him to be their next King. And he knew, because it had been reported to him, that his people were proud of him for following his passion, for working far away from them in another country, bringing life into the world. But they knew he would come back. They expected him to come back.

  But he wanted to be with his children. And Freya.

  Unexpectedly, he had built a life here. Was putting down roots for the first time ever. And it was exciting and thrilling and the most terrifying thing he had ever done.

  But it also felt like the right thing.

  Knowing he would have to leave at some point, knowing he would have to walk away from them, was killing him inside.

  Casey pulled herself back up over the bed railing and began to breathe heavily. ‘Okay, let’s do this.’

  ‘I’m ready when you are.’

  *

  Casey gave birth to a healthy seven-pound, four-ounce baby girl that she called Francesca.

  Jamie escorted her through to Postnatal for a little while and, as she’d predicted, waved her on her way home a few hours after that.

  She’d given him a lot to think about, and he wondered if she’d made light of her situation at home. It had to be hard for her, living as a single parent, with her husband away for long periods of time.

  Would that be Freya’s life too? Stuck here in England alone? Knowing that he was away, and knowing that he’d put his duty to his country before his duty to his own children?

  Casey was able to do it because she knew her husband was passionate about what he did, and she valued the life lessons she could show her children—that their dad was working hard at something he believed in. That he was doing it for them.

  Would Freya be able to say the same to their two boys? Jamie did believe in the honour and privilege that it would be to sit on his country’s throne, but would he be able to like himself for doing something he didn’t actually want to do? Forcing himself out of duty?

  He arrived at Freya’s flat bright and early, knocking on her door and waiting for her to answer.

  She opened it and he held up his box. ‘I’ve brought tools.’

  She smiled at him. ‘Milkshakes or chocolates are my preferred gifts.’