Page 76 of The Lord who Seduced Me
Rose
Northumberland, England Feb 1813
Rose woke in the cold morning in the early days of February sick to her stomach once again.
She had been each morning for a month now and knew why. But had told no one of her little secret.
She didn’t retch, just had to sit in bed and let the nausea pass, just breathing in and out to make it leave. It always did.
She put a hand to her stomach, loving the tiny life that grew inside her.
She knew that Rhia, Eden and Lily were all pregnant, and her parents were so happy to be grandparents.
She had not had the heart to confide in her mother. Not yet.
Cabe had to come home first and then she would tell them.
She could only hope that it wouldn’t take too much longer. It had already been over a month and a half. And each day without him was harder than the last.
She knew that if he didn’t come home soon, her secret would be out regardless.
She had not started to show yet, but knew it was inevitable.
Getting up from bed, Rose walked to the cold fireplace and lit it. Wrapping her arms around herself in the chill of her room.
Lily and Burk and Cole and Eden had gone back to London right after the new year. But she couldn’t face it there. Hated all the reminders of Cabe.
She wanted to stay here. In the place she was happiest. Not only that, but Aidan, Rhia and her parents were still here, and Aidan didn’t want to change that anytime soon.
Rhia was showing each day more and more. Her small stomach was growing a little rounder.
And Rose loved that Aidan, no matter what he had going on, was either bringing Rhia along, or staying close to her side.
Rhia’s limp had gotten slightly better as the days moved on as well. And Rose thought she must have injured it more than anyone knew when she was first brought here.
But with every day that came and went and with Aidan’s help, Rhia had gotten stronger.
Rose loved seeing their loving relationship and Aidan how he had changed. He spoke more to the family.
He used to be so quiet, so contemplative and they hardly saw him during the day.
He had a lot of chores to keep the household running, and because of that, was only seen at lunch time and at dinner.
The rest of the family also worked a lot, but they did their chores together.
The girls would work on cleaning the rooms up and downstairs and Lydia oversaw it all while doing work herself.
Often after Edward’s death, they would take a day just for themselves and Lydia would work on their education, which included having Rose play the piano and Lily to paint.
Rose loved those days. And yet, it was lonely. She knew Aidan longed for companionship from a woman, but everyone in the village was terrified of him and he refused to go to London.
So, seeing Aidan now? And how different he was? It was a happy thing.
Rose loved Rhia. How she and Aidan fit perfectly together and was so happy that she made her way to Aidan’s side.
Rose got dressed, wanting to eat some breakfast. After the nausea had passed, she was ravenous. And she wanted to eat with her family, as now they usually ate as a family before Aidan and Jacob went out and did chores together.
Jacob loved working alongside everyone, and he had gotten healthy and strong since they had come home.
