I remember the first day my family and I arrived in England. We were escorted to the country house of Lady Catherine by horse guard and coach after abandoning ours on the outskirts of London. I was only 10 and untrained in the art of defence when my...
After getting up every night in the same week, it was beginning to take a toll on me and the following week, I could barely be bothered to wake myself up during the night and so continued to rest and sleep in my bed as making a baby was getting harder.
It was Sunday morning when I woke up with a body wrapped over mine and I could feel the baby kicking and moving about as he woke up in my stomach. Fitz' hand was on my side so he would feel it if he was kicking and suddenly he jerked awake and gasped. I turned over in the bed, but didn't open my eyes, and just stretched out my arm toward Fitz or where I thought he would be in the bed and found that he was sitting with his back to me on the edge of the bed. I winced sharply as baby kicked my ribs and I turned back onto my side, withdrawing my arm. But Fitz lightly touched my arm and followed it down to the rest of me with his fingertips and his lips as he began kissing the soft skin of my shoulders. "What do you want to do today?" I whispered whilst smiling as my husband kissed my neck hungrily and passionately.
"I don't know" Fitz replied, briefly detaching his lips from my skin to speak. I turned my head up to face him and looked at his lips while he continued kissing my shoulders and left his tongue on my skin as he made his way up to my lips. I kissed him back many times while lacing my hands into his long dark hair and felt one of his hands travel down past the bump and to one of my legs. He knew I had a tickle spot on my right leg and he'd often try to make me squeal during dinner parties if we were sat together. But since the baby has gotten bigger, he's been struggling to get down there. His soft lips moved in sync with mine, and I let him do the work as he explored my mouth with his tongue for the millionth time since we'd been married. Suddenly I felt a pain deep down in my stomach and I cried out and almost ripped some of Fitz' hair out. "What?! What's wrong?" Fitz asked as he pulled himself away from me and placed his hand on my stomach, where his child was causing distress inside me.
I bit my lip and rolled over to sit up on the edge of the bed as I felt the pain began to subside. "It's gone, the pain has gone" I said breathlessly, feeling content until my throat started burning and I knew I was about to be sick. "I need you to help-!" I cried as I made my way hurriedly to our bathroom and threw open the door to the huge room. The toilet was my priority as I covered my mouth with my hand and tried not to get it everywhere as I bent over the toilet and waited for it to force its way out of me.
"I'm here" Fitz told me reassuringly as he held back my hair and rubbed my back, the way he when I was being sick before. I threw up what looked like supper but it was probably just mucous like it usually was. And when I was done my throats was burning so bad that I clasped at it with my hand and sat on the floor of the bathroom, breathless. It was not a pretty sight. He kept repeating that it was okay and he was here and soon, with the sound of his voice in my ears, I started sobbing on my knees. This would not be good if it continued into the week for my sister's wedding...
5 Days Later
The time had come finally for my baby sister to be married to the man she truly loved after years of scandal and misfortune. They were prefect for each other and so was the wedding. It was a beautiful setting inside the church in the town nearby. I walked behind my sister and carried the train of her long white dress in my fingers as she walked down the ahortnisle of the church with her arm in our father's. They both glanced behind themselves at me at one point and all I could do was smile with utter happiness at them. I felt so beautiful in my long white dress which had been altered a great amount for the occasion where I knew I would be huge during my pregnancy so the dressmakers too extra care so nothing would hurt me. My sister and I blended in well with the snow upon the ground outside. Upon the alter, the vicar asked who would give his woman to his man and my father reluctantly gave his second daughters hand to her fiancée and stepped aside for them to begin their lives. He turned to me as he did so and I gave him a look as I knew how he felt as I had to let go of my sister.
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Fitz was in the pews with the rest of our families. But the only family that wasn't present was Cedric's, as he had told us when he came to ask for the aid of Lady Catherine that they had all been killed in a fire which had been started in the hope of destroying a hoard of zombies which attacked in the dead of night. He told us that apart from a few non bitten servants, Cedric was the only survivor. And that broke out hearts every time it was mentioned. Fitz was looking at me intently as I stared at the ground and thought about it, and when I blinked and brought myself back in the now, I made eye contact with him and he gave me a cheeky wink. I grinned like a Cheshire Cat and let my eyes explore my surroundings before settling on what was happening in front of me.
Before long, the entire party were back at Rosings in the ballroom for the evening's events and the dancing has begun in the ballroom. I was seated on the top table beside my sister as her only bridesmaid and I remained there for much of the dancing. There was a beautiful moment in amongst the celebrations when I saw my sister and brother-in-law dancing slowly on the dance floor to a slow tune being played by the orchestra. And because I was pregnant and hormonal, I started crying when I watched them and heard the music. My mother noticed and came over to me, then told me to buck up and stop crying, so I laughed and grinned like a fool.
But then I saw Fitz walking over to me from the other side of the room and I wiped my tears away and stood up to meet him. He wasn't walking in a very straight line so I gathered that he had consumed a couple of drinks during the night with Cedric which made me laugh as he chased his desperately hormonal wife. "You are beautiful" Fitz told me as he took my hands in his. He brought them both to his mouth and kissed the back of them and then my palms. "I'm so lucky to have someone like you for my wife" He said and enunciated on the words my wife.
My response was a heartfelt chuckle as I cupped Fitz' cheek in one palm and held his hand in my other hand as I gazed at his lazy expression of just being drunken. "Take a glass of water to bed with you tonight, darling" I said with a warm smile.
Fitz smiled and closed his eyes temporarily as I felt his head rest on my hand for a second. "I will. Don't worry, darling" He replied before kissing my hand again and leaving me alone once more.
