A Shade Lighter {Sequel To A Shade Darker}

{Chapter Twenty Nine}

Mr. Desperation

May 5th, 2018

Billie

"She sure is taking a lot of time to herself lately. What's she doing anyways, out there with Liz?"

I shrugged my shoulders and decided not to think about it too much. Last night Lenore had said it was only to get out, to get to know each other better when I had fussed over knowing. But now I was desperate to know if they were telling each other secrets. I wanted to know if they were getting along and giggling about things that nobody else knew but them.

And oh god, what would Lenore spill about us? About our relationship, or just me period? Had I done anything worth telling about?

"Relax, brother. Take a deep breath and stop worrying, that's all you do lately is worry"

"What if they're telling each other things?"

Mike's eyebrow rose and Ashley was moving quietly about the kitchen, humming in her daze.

"That's what women do. They talk...non-stop. I don't think it's anything to fret over"

I shrugged a shoulder and sat back in my chair. My heart was longing already. I wanted Lenore here, beside me where I could touch her. Just holding her hand would satisfy me, but when she wasn't in sight I worried.

"The time will come to worry when you have a heir. But right now, I'd say to sit back and smell...well, whatever my Queen is cooking over there"

"Oh I do hope it's soon"

"What? An heir? Haven't you been counting?"

"Counting what?"

Mike looked at me as if he thought I was the dumbest man on planet earth.

"Her blood. You know, the time when you do not make love. The once a month things that women get"

"You two never fail to surprise me at what knowledge you lack of the female body and how it works"

Ashley brought over two plates of pasta, still steaming and smelling delicious. She put a hand on the back of Mike's shoulder.

"How else would I have known you were pregnant with our second child before you told me?"

"Because you are a scoundrel! And a mind reader" She let out a yawn and waved a hand.

"I need a nap, my back hurts"

She slipped from the room quietly and I looked back to Mike for questions that needed answers.

"How am I supposed to know? Lenore would not be intimate with me until the night of our marriage..."

"Then you wait until it comes, and then you start counting from there. If she does not bleed by the month of June then I think it's safe to say she may be carrying your child. Oh but women are so unpredictable...she could be pregnant now and you'd never know"

My brain was swelling with knowledge and I inquired more. He told more, of everything he had experienced. The fun times, and the bad about being a father, King of the colony, and husband to Ashley.

Now he was to have a second child in some months to come, and with the busy schedule in his life, he seemed unaffected, and actually happy of the addition into his already packed life.

"I'm praying for a son...God, but part of me knows that it will be another girl. Hell, if I have to have twelve girls to get a boy then I'll do it. A king without a son is worthless"

There was hope in his eyes and I didn't tell him that I, too, wished for a boy one day that would bear my name and looks.

And what if that child was growing inside of her? Watch for the signs, Mike had told me. She would get sick, tired and maybe cranky. She would not bleed.

May 23rd, 2018

Two weeks and two days had passed, no blood was in sight, and Lenore woke coughing.

I prodded at her pale skin with my finger, getting lightly swatted away.

"Cut it out, Billie" She spoke in a raspy voice, and I could hear her nasal tone.

I opened one of her eyelids and earned a small, but impatient smile from her.

"What do you want? Oh..." She groaned, a hand on her head. "I should not have been out riding so late last night with the wind and all"

"So you...feel sick?" She nodded weakly and I mentally checked a place on my imaginary list.

I wrapped my arms around her in our bed and hugged her tight to me.

"Oh, I've waited for this day" I kissed her cheeks.

She covered her mouth as she coughed.

"For me to be sick?"

"Do you think it will be a boy? Oh, will you grant me a boy, Lenore?"

When I lifted my face, confusion and then understanding came over hers.

She looked sad as she put her hand on my arm. She rubbed up and down as if trying to soothe me, but the excitement was too far been building to be shot down now.

"Oh, Billie. No...no, you're misunderstanding. It's just a cold"

"Mike says that women get the sickness when they're pregnant"

She tried to laugh softly, but could only cradle me close to her and wrap her arms around me.

"I'm not pregnant, Billie. The only thing that grows inside of me now is a small virus. I'll be better in a few days"

I pulled my head back a little, sighing.

"Then you've bled?"

Her face tinged pink and she rolled away, onto her other side. With an impatient sigh, then another cough, she spoke.

"Yes, Billie. I'm bleeding. We won't have a child if you keep bugging me about one"

"Lenore-"

"Billie..." Her voice held warning and I stayed quiet as I put another blanket over her.

"I've no much more than gave you my body, and already you're hoping for a child. If you didn't go on and on about an heir to your name, I'd think you'd want one with me because you loved me"

"I do love you, Lenore...I want to be a father so badly"

She looked over her shoulder and I thought I saw tears in her eyes before she turned away again.

"Part of me feels like you'd want to be a father to my children so badly as you'd want to be a father to some stranger's down in the village"

She turned, wiped her nose and snuggled under the blankets.

"All I'm saying, Billie, is that I want to wait. I want to make a marriage with you, and be happy with you and only you for a while before I start birthing children like bunnies. One after the other"

I out my hand on her cheek and kissed her.

"We'll wait, my love. And it'll be worth it"

"Good. Now close the curtains and read me a story. I'm sick, remember?"