A Dove's Tale

Chapter 194

I was still dead tired when Evelyn Rose woke me, crying again. We had slept maybe two hours. I opened my eyes with the greatest reluctance, and then I realized Chevalier had us both wrapped in his arms, and my heart filled to bursting with happiness.

"Good morning, Chevalier. Yes, yes, I'm coming, Evelyn Rose."

Chevalier kissed my cheek. "It's afternoon, not morning. Wait. I'll help you."

"I think I can manage getting out of bed, Chevalier."

He ignored my teasing protest and climbed out of bed, taking my arm when I scooted toward the edge. I sighed, but the moment my feet touched the floor, my legs threatened to give out underneath me. I might have fallen if Chevalier hadn't caught me. If I hadn't been weak and sore from a difficult labor and wasn't carrying our baby, I knew he would have smirked and taken the opportunity to tease me back.

Instead, he supported me until I was sure of my footing. "What do you need?"

"To sit down," I admitted. "She probably needs to be changed."

He guided me to the table where Lydia had left supplies for us, and I collapsed into a chair and took a moment to catch my breath. Evelyn Rose continued fussing in the meantime; not as insistent as earlier, but not to be ignored.

"I can handle this myself, but I would love a hot bath afterwards. I feel disgusting."

Chevalier kissed my neck. "Then I'll draw the bath for you, and I'll have Melanie come up to change the sheets and bring us something to eat."

"I know everybody will want to see her, but I'm not sure I can manage that today."

"They can wait. You need to rest." Chevalier kissed me one more time before he left.

I smiled and cooed at Evelyn Rose as I changed her. "That's your daddy, Evelyn Rose. He spoils me, and I know he'll spoil you, too."

She was settling down a little, but she was still unsatisfied. I knew she would be until she had another meal.

"There. Does that feel better?"

She had stopped crying, and she looked up at me with the most beautiful crystal blue eyes. I could see her wispy blonde hair now, almost invisible when she was first born. It felt soft as down under my hand.

"You look just like him."

She was as quick to nurse as before. I watched her, enchanted, memorizing every detail. All the pain and misery had been worth it.

Chevalier's fingers combed through my hair when he returned. "How are you feeling, little dove?"

"Tired, weak, sore, disgustingly sticky." I leaned my head back to look up at him, my heart warming at the sight of his soft smile. "And never happier. She's beautiful, isn't she?"

"You both are."

I giggled. "The lack of sleep is getting to you."

"I mean it, Ivetta." He leaned in and kissed my cheek. "You're more beautiful now than ever."

He left to turn off the bathwater while Evelyn Rose finished her meal, and I looked down at my flabby stomach, wondering if I would get into that little black dress in six weeks. That was the duration of time the doctor had given us to wait before engaging in physical intimacy again. My sore body didn't even want to think about intimacy right now, but I was thinking about that dress, and I was thinking I wanted to look good for my husband. The afterglow from birth that blinded him to how I really looked would wear off eventually.

"Are you ready?" he asked, returning when I burped the baby.

"Yes. You realize you'll have to hold her while I'm bathing, don't you?"