Crina

House by the Sea

My mother loved the little mansion. Four floors, two kitchens – an indoor and an outdoor one, two guests parlors, and three intimate parlors as well as fifteen bedrooms. She adored the charm of the seaside and the way the wind swept through the grasses. My father tended to sigh when he was alone. The sea was beautiful, the fields were lovely, but nothing could take the place of his true home. Erundel, with its heather-filled moors and banshee-like wind. His castle with the towers that reached so high one could see for miles. You could see a carriage coming in the distance, or a person wandering the moor. He missed his ancestral home with its secret rooms and dusty halls.

I understood how he missed his castle – to be downgraded to a little mansion must have wounded my father's flexible, but firm, pride. An Earl in name, but without his land or earnings. He thanked my mother endlessly for her quick thinking. She saved the fortune and invested it appropriately all the while purchasing this quaint mansion by the sea. The land turned a profit as did my mother's ideas.

I found it to be a blessing. I loved the house by the sea. I knew Felix loved it too. The first Drisband to be born truly free of the curse of Erundel. I dared not tell my father this. I knew he thought it. I knew my aunt, Daciana, agreed with me. That was enough.

My mother was resting. I sat with one of my husbands, Louis. We were watching the waves pull in with my little brother. He was cooing and enjoying the sounds of the ocean after our stroll. "When will Roy return?" Louis crossed his legs as he asked. Roy had been away for a month peddling his wares in London. Peddling sounded so pedestrian. He was setting up shop, selling his product around the city while Louis worked on his latest novel from 'home.' Louis, Roy, and I lived with my parents. My parents owned a cabin by the sea – it's where we spent our honeymoon night, but our true quarters were in the west end of the mansion. Three bedrooms – sometimes, I wanted to sleep alone. However, that had yet to be true.

"He is returning the day after tomorrow." I shrugged. Louis sent me a look. I smirked back.

"I think Felix is hungry. He needs his mom." Felix was as happy as any baby was on a warm day facing the ocean. He wasn't upset. Certainly wasn't hungry.

"I think you're right, Louis. He's positively famished." I stood up and went for the stroller handlebars. Louis followed after. He nuzzled into the nape of my neck, kissing me before nipping at my ear.

"Do you think you're ready today?" Thank god my little brother did not understand words yet! I jerked Louis off from me and set off down the path in a huff.

Louis laughed and ran after me. "Louis, do try to be respectable around my baby brother. Please. As my husband." I smirked. He knew I liked it.

"One of your husbands. Do you think your other husband will like the surprise?" Louis was teasing now. I clenched my upper thighs tightly together.

"Only if I manage..." I heard Felix coo at me and I smiled at him. He looked just like my father it was uncanny.

"Crina, darling – you're back already?" My mother hurried over to me as she pulled up the strap of her dress.

"He became a little fussy so we headed back." I lied. My mother gave me a look before picking up Felix who squealed with delight at seeing his mother again.

"Louis has a deadline. I'm going to go help him." I cleared my throat.

"You only get her to yourself for two more nights, Louis." My mother, Ada, said slyly before waving me off. I heard her chuckling to herself as Louis and I ran up the stairs.

Felix was a blessing in multiple ways. The greatest blessing for me was that no one was asking when I was going to have children. I was Mrs. Crina Brown – but no one cared. No one cared when or even if I had children. It was beyond freeing.