“shhh James, it’s all right… I’m here” Francis helplessly said while caressing his son’s back, he doesn’t want to wake Mary up especially when she just got back to sleep after feeding James, unfortunately, James didn’t sleep for long before he cries again.
Francis goes out of their bed chamber with James in a very quiet manner; he worries for his wife because she’s not getting enough sleep since she gave birth to their son. It has been 4 months now and James has gotten a little bigger and heavier since. Mary refused to get a wet nurse for him because she wants to take care of him herself, but the downside is that she’s always tired, from morning till evening, if she isn’t with James, she’s with her court advisers having meetings and discussing political dealings concerning Scotland and France.
“Oh James, will you please sleep now, it’s not even dawn yet, it’s too early for you to be awake”
James looks up to his father as if he understands what Francis is trying to say, his bright blue eyes are identical to his father but he inherited his lush dark brown hair from his mother. He clenched his hand into a small fist and began yawning, his small mouth forming a little “o”, he bats his eyes lazily as Francis carries him back to their chamber.
“at last James, you’re finally falling asleep” Francis smiles as he touches James’ back gently, it’s not every day that he’s able to get James to sleep without Mary’s help, this time he wants to do it on his own, being a king is an overwhelming role but being a father is more fulfilling.
Francis quietly crawls back to bed after he put down James on his crib, unfortunately, he felt Mary stir.
“Francis…where have you been?” Mary said as she rubs her eyes, her voice quite groggy
“James woke up, I helped him back to sleep” Francis said, quite disappointed of himself for waking Mary up
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Mary said as she scoots closer to her husband, her head on his chest as she leans up to meet his eyes
“I didn’t want to wake you, you’ve been restless this past few days, months even, you deserve some rest.” Francis said as he gently touches the strands of Mary’s hair, he intertwined his other hand with hers
“I know, but our family’s worth it, you haven’t have enough rest yourself, I still worry about your ear infection” Mary said as she squeezes Francis’ hands
“You need not worry about me Mary, I’m alright now, I’m sure Nostradamus already mentioned that to you… Don’t be afraid, I promised you didn’t I? I will not let you face all of these alone, especially now that we already have a child, and in the future we’ll have dozens of children, and I’ll still be here” Francis said and kissed Mary’s forehead tenderly. Mary giggled after hearing this, she looks through Francis’ blue eyes and realized that he is sincere.
“You really want to have a dozen children?” Mary said jokingly
“Well if the Lord will give us that many, I will gladly accept” Francis said
“Easy for you to say, you’re not the one giving birth you know” Mary said still smiling
“Mary, I would gladly take away all the pain you experienced while giving birth… sometimes I wish that I should be the one in your place, I can’t stand seeing you in pain” Francis said as his hand travels to Mary’s arm
“I don’t think you’ll look good having a big bump on your abdomen, my husband” Mary said unable to hide her laughter
“Well if it will save you all the pain, I would gladly look hideous for you, my wife” Francis laughingly
“that’s considering that your skinny legs could endure all the weight of our baby” Mary giggled
“may I remind you, my wife that my ‘skinny legs’ have endured carrying you several times while we make love on the wall” Francis said with a wide grin while Mary slaps her gently on the chest
“Francis!” Mary said with a blush
“Why, isn’t it true?” Francis said clearly amused
“Well you have the wall for support you know, I didn’t have a wall to support me when I was carrying James, and mind you, our son was quite heavy” Mary said still with a smile on her face
“well you didn’t have a wall but you have a handsome husband that is always at your side” Francis said as he continue caressing Mary’s lower back
“well I guess my handsome husband is more than enough to support me” Mary said as she plants a small kiss on Francis’ cheeks
“I love you, Francis” Mary added
“you have no idea how much I love you more, Mary… I have never dreamed of this, me marrying for love and not for duty alone, me having a wife and a child that loves me so dearly… you and James are everything I could ever wish for, you both made my life worth living” Francis said as he kisses Mary compassionately
“we both should get some sleep, we’ll have a long day tomorrow” Francis said when he broke the kiss
Mary remained quiet for a few moments before falling back to sleep in Francis’ arms, she have never dreamed of this either, all her life no one have loved her as much as Francis, and she’s very grateful for that. With Francis and James on her side she knows that she can overcome anything.
YOU ARE READING
Married But Alone
RomanceMary went to Scotland with her brother and Francis was left in France. And now they struggle to put each other first above anything else. Will the distance between them strengthen their love or will it destroy the marriage that they both value? A Fa...
