Wife of Vladimir ||Book One||

Her Boldness

"With Rosetta feeling sick a vast majority of the time, I took over the responsibilities she had been doing since I had gotten ill. My nights became increasingly busy. I would spend half the night outside the home, searching through the forest and fixing whatever needed to be done for the people of Transylvania. The other half I would remain inside the mansion to work on paperwork, signing documents, and proof-reading speeches. They were all simple tasks, but they took time to complete.

I didn't mind, though. I was able to get it all done in a single night, which was more than what I could ask for. Rosetta deserved the break and a chance to enjoy the silence. Soon enough, there wouldn't be enough of it. I wouldn't be surprised if her and I didn't have the same silence we had when it was just the two of us for at least twenty years.

The thought didn't worry me. While I worked through the piles of paper, I often busied my mind with it. I tried to imagine what our first child would look like, how they would sound. I wondered if they'd take more after myself or Rosetta. The possibilities were overwhelming and endless. I never grew tired of thinking about it.

Because of my new workload, I had to rely upon the servants to care for Rosetta during the day. I would stay awake for as long as I could after the sun would rise, but it was never enough.

She wasn't hard to care for, only a bucket every morning and light foods until late afternoon. Rosetta liked to read in bed, bathing every two days. She never liked bugging the servants for all the things she wanted, even I had to force what she wanted out of her. When she thought no one was watching her and all those that could report it back to me were busy, she'd slip out into the hallway and wander the mansion.

I followed her when I could. Normally, I wasn't awake throughout the day but I had trained myself to become attuned to specifically her movements. They soon became louder than everyone else's. When the noises would fade from above me, it would sometimes stir me awake. As the actions repeated themselves, Rosetta began to notice how it disturbed my rest. She switched her wandering to take place at night, right when I would normally wake.

I would find her lost in her own thoughts, her fingers carefully dragging across the fabric of the curtains. Even from where I would stand, several steps behind her, I could watch the moonlight pour between the curtains as she moved past them.

I'd only get a few minutes in before she'd stop and glance at me over her shoulder, giggling. 'Don't you have something more important to do than following me?'

I would smile at her in those moments, approaching her. 'Nothing is more important than you, my dear.'

It became our nightly routine and I adored every minute of it. Those moments had been so far and few between in the past. It was nice to finally indulge in our time together.

We'd spend some nights together in the library, reading through all the fairytales we would one day read to our child. While I read mine quietly, Rosetta insisted she had to practice reading out loud. She'd change the tone of her voices to match her perception of whatever character she was reading for. She spared glances in my direction to make sure I was listening and always demanded my honest thoughts on her performance.

It was another small thing that made me fall more in love with her.

While I watched her read, I would imagine a child sitting upon her lap with eyes wide from excitement and enchantment. I could hear faint giggles in my imagination, watching as the figments of my wife and child continued on. Rosetta would tickle them, causing them to squeal.

Night after night, we relived the same scenario. Our world had gone from unhinged and wild to calm in a matter of months. It was entirely fine by me. Each night she read aloud her fairytale, I'd picture a different child. The knowledge of the unknown was exciting to me. Above it all, each night proved to me a little more how fantastic of a mother Rosetta was going to be.