The Medici Girl

Auditore

There were only so many things Contessina could stand during her last few months of pregnancy. A good book was one of them, but everyone fussing over her was not. She became frustrated over not having the ability to move around like she could when she was not carrying a child. She could no longer bend over without having to hold on to something because she felt as though she would topple over. The aches and pains that came with her growing belly did not help her mood either. At some point she had yelled at Claudia for no reason and then cried shortly after out of guilt. The young Auditore woman took no offense to her sister's emotional outburst, but it became apparent that Contessina was absolutely hating being pregnant. 

The first few months had been fine with the nausea and occasional dizzy spells, but once she could feel the child moving around well enough, her troubles started. Some nights were unbearable because of the odd feeling of the baby moving within her and sometimes kicking her organs around. She had told herself that this was something she should be enjoying, yet that was the furthest from the case. She had taken to sleeping most of the day when the child was less active, which she had blamed Ezio for several times. The real point was, Contessina wanted the little creature out of her. 

The women from the village did not care about how Contessina felt during her pregnancy, they only wanted to be able to be in the room with her when she gave birth. This was, as she was told, custom in most close knit villages. The idea was uncomfortable to even think about. She honestly did not know how the ladies in the village could stand such a thing, but perhaps she was only accustomed to the women of the family. The women kept coming and showering her with gifts of pastries or bits of fabric to earn that ticket in, well, she kindly accepted the gifts and sent them on their way with a smile. 

Carlotta was the only one outside of her family that she wanted in there with her when the time came. Maria and Claudia agreed to this, while Lucia was more than happy to have a small crowd to make things easier for her and the assistant to work in. Too many people and one would think royalty lived there. As it was, Contessina was only a Medici bride and her husband was a banker's son who was also an assassin. There was no royalty there, at least not in the grand scheme of things. It also did not help that Ezio seemed to be leaving every other day for a lead on one of the Pazzi conspirators. He wanted to find one of them at least. 

As February roared its way in with a heavy wind storm in the middle of the night, she laid awake wrapped in her husband's arms and watched the fire burn. Her child had gone quiet days ago, which did give her a spike of fear, but Lucia told her it was because the baby was getting closer. Her belly was so big she could not see her feet when she stood up, nor could she see anything else below the waist. Sometimes, she forgot what her feet looked like, to which Ezio joked that they were ugly and covered in warts. For now though, she counted the days before her child entered the world. 

"What are you thinking about?" Ezio's voice mumbled in her hair as he pushed his face into the back of her head. He had on hand on her stomach and the other on her forearm, which was very comfortable for her. 

"How miserable I am." If there was one thing she knew he thoroughly enjoyed about her in this state was the way her body changed. He had remarked on how he had seen his mother go through pregnancy twice, but somehow this was completely different for him. "I love our child, Ezio, but I cannot take any more of this...pampering and fuss." She moved to lay on her back so she could look him in the eyes. "Or the lack of involvement." She tried sitting up, but found it difficult to do so and gave up after trying. "You know I could sit up in bed no problem before I became a whale?" 

"Contessina." He gave her a warning as he moved his arm out from underneath her to prop his head up so he could look down on her. "You are not an whale." He had never seen one in person, but he knew the stories from the merchants who had gone to sea and had seen the magnificent creatures. "I promise it won't be much longer." He was not sure if he could actually promise that, but he wanted to make her feel like it meant something. "He can't stay in there forever."