The Bachelor's Bride

Chapter 25-Etta

"Are you feeling comfortable? Do you want me to get anything for you?" I fluttered around Meredith, plumping her pillows and straightening the sheets.

Meredith batted my hands away, laughing, "I'm pregnant, Etta. I'm not sick. This morning sickness will pass soon enough, and I'll be up and moving as usual."

I glanced at her, feeling uncomfortable about that, "I just want to keep the baby safe."

"And he will be." Meredith clasped my hand in hers.

I raised an eyebrow, "He? How do you know it's a boy?"

Meredith rubbed her stomach gently and smiled, "Mother's intuition. I just know."

"If you say so." I shrugged.

"You'll see what I mean soon enough." She winked.

I flushed at that, fiddling with the covers to keep my hands busy, "What? I'm....I'm not having kids."

"Yeah right. With the way Jack keeps looking at you I think you're going to be having plenty of kids." Meredith laughed at my horrified expression.

"Don't say such things." I hid my face, my bright red cheeks flaming with embarrassment.

Meredith leaned towards me, wrapping me in a big hug, "I don't mean to tease you. I'm sorry."

"You are not." I huffed, trying to hide my smile.

Meredith hid her smile as she settled back down into her covers, her face turning slightly green again. I passed her the cup of water I had brought up this morning and she took a small sip. She closed her eyes for a long moment, letting the queasiness pass over her.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" I asked again.

She took a deep breath, "No, I'm fine, really." The green under stone started to fade from her skin after a bit. "So has Jack written you recently?"

I nodded, fingering the letter in the pocket of my apron, "He said that Mr. Jeffers has been brought before the court but a verdict hasn't been reached yet."

"I do hope they catch that man." Meredith scowled.

"I do as well." I agreed.
〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰

A month later, I stood alone at the train station, waiting for Jack to finally arrive. He had written to me, promising to tell me all about the trial.

Jack had expected to join Meredith and I one month from now, but he had convinced his boss to let him off work early, as soon as he had gotten his story written up and published. I was excited for him to finally be back. The house felt lonely without him, even if I was surrounded by my family.

Finally, the train screeched to a halt, big plumes of smoke and dirt drifting around me, hindering my sight. I stood on my toes, looking for Jack in the crowd. I spotted his mop of brown hair and a pair of blue eyes met mine from across the platform.

Before I knew it, he was there, scooping me into his arms and spinning me around.

I laughed, clinging to his neck, "You're making me dizzy!"

"Sorry." He set my down, his chest rising up and down with excitement. "I did it, love. Daniel Jeffers was found guilty of starting the factory fire."

"I knew you could." I smiled, hugging him tightly again. I stepped back to examine him, straightening his jacket. He was looking particularly well this morning. I'm sure he always had looked this handsome, I just hadn't noticed much until now.

His fingers found mine, halting them in their nervous fiddling, "I want you to read the story I wrote."

I looked up into his eager eyes, shining with want for approval. Despite that he wanted my approval of what he did, I couldn't give it to him. I didn't want to read a story about the most traumatizing moments of my life. I couldn't do it.

Instead of rejecting him, I nodded, wrapping my arms around his neck, "And I will." I let the lie slip easily past my lips.

"Don't you care that I did this?" He asked, hurt hidden in his voice. I could tell he didn't believe me and my white lies.

"Of course." I slipped my hand into his as we began walking back.

"I just want you to be happy."

"And I am." I assured him. He looked at me skeptically and I sighed, pulling him to a halt. "Look. I love that you did this for me. And I'm glad he was caught. But I don't like talking about it. I would like to forget that part of my life and move on."

Jack slipped a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, "I didn't realize. You should have told me."

I shrugged, "I didn't want to disappoint you. You've been so excited about this story and everything-"

Jack placed his arms gently around me, kissing me softly, halting my words. He whispered into my hair, "I understand, my love. And I won't force you to read that story, alright? I don't want to bring to the surface any memories you wish to forget."

"Thank you." I replied, feeling flushed and dizzy from the kiss and him calling me my love. Could my husband be anymore amazing?

"Now, let's get home before your parents start to worry." He winked, tucking my arm into his elbow as we began our long walk towards the house.

A/N
Hey guys! So I finally got out another quick chapter for you! In the next chapter, I think I will go backwards and finish writing out how the rest of trial went. Would that be interesting at all for you guys to read? Or should I opt out? 🤔Please let me know your thoughts!

Shout outs for this chapter go to
@theredcircle
@MCEL92
@atupoumalohi
@_blackgoddess_16
@blue_ocean_
@sweetoea

You guys really do mean a lot, and I know I ALWAYS say that and I basically sound like a broken record. So let me explain how writing these chapters go down. I begin by scrolling through my newsfeed and click on anyone who's voted on the past chapter and then I type in a giant list of names. Then, by time I have a nice, lengthy list of five or more people, I realize that I just have to write the next chapter because there are a lot of people relying on me to keep on writing. And to me that's just so inspiring and it motivates me to keep on going with this story.

So, yeah, sorry for the long explanation but I felt it was important to explain myself😊 Love Y'all!

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