Can Someone Please Explain What's Going On?! Volume 9

1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-1-7183-1434-4
Verlag: J-Novel Heart
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 250 Seiten

Reihe: Can Someone Please Explain What's Going On?!

It's been some time since Viola and Cercis went from contract marriage to true romance. Now it's almost time for Flür National Day-a celebration of the kingdom's founding, the start of a brand-new calendar year, and the king's birthday all in one! Between the obligatory annual ceremony and decorating the manor, there's no lack of preparations to be made-and then add Lettie's impending birth into the mix! Will she make it in time for the festivities? And how will her arrival change life around the manor?

Autoren/Hrsg.

Tsuredurebana

Weitere Mitwirkende

Hagiwara, Rin

Quinn, Tara

Leseproben

4. I Pulled Through!

It had been some time since Mother and Father Fisalis had rushed home to their territory, but Bitsy had yet to grace the manor.

The in-laws must have been getting pretty anxious, considering they’d send us a message to check on the situation every few days. For each one, all we could do was send back a reply of “Not yet.”

“My tummy is sooo daaarn heavy!”

Whenever I stood up, I couldn’t help muttering something along the lines of “Upsy-daisy” or “Here we go.” Was I turning into an old lady over here?!

My baby bump was really starting to weigh me down, but for now, I had to accept it as the price of my future happiness and learn to live with it.

“Nevertheless, it’s no good for you to sit still all day,” Dahlia giggled as she helped me up from the sofa.

“True. Plus, the doctor said that staying active would get the baby here faster.”

“Exactly. Though you ought to remain aware of your limits, of course.”

“I know, I know!”

Dahlia gave me a preemptive lecture, knowing full well the sort of stunts I was liable to pull.

I’d learned from my last mistake. No more strenuous activity, no more fits of laughter—I didn’t need to be told twice!

So as you can see, the one who was pregnant in this scenario was taking it nice and easy. But meanwhile...

“How are you feeling? If you’re having a hard time, don’t hesitate to say something!”

“Does your stomach hurt? Someone call for a doctor immediately! The baby could be born any second now!”

“It’s dangerous if you can’t see your feet over your belly. Oh, I know—don’t we still have that wheelchair from when your leg was injured? Why don’t you ride in that?”

There was a certain individual I could name who was going crazy with worry.

Whenever he was home, he did nothing but fret over me. It was charming, sure, but he could afford to calm down a little!

“I’m fine, Cercis,” I assured him with a strained smile.

“No, no, we mustn’t get careless! Remember last time? There’s no telling when something might happen,” he replied, dead serious. He was taking this seriously I almost had to laugh.

“Relax. It won’t be long now before you’re a daddy, so you’ve got to pull yourself together. It’s time we learned to take things in stride.”

“Ugh... You’ve got me there.”

I could practically see the drooping ears and the tail tucked behind his legs. The fact that I found the kicked puppy look cute on him was starting to make me feel like the older one here.

am

Ever since my false alarm, he’d made a daily routine of telling my belly: “Make sure you’re born when Daddy is home. You hear that, Bitsy?” It had become his new morning ritual before heading out to work each day.

It was after that dream he’d had a while ago—that nightmare where our baby turned out to be a girl (still TBD), and she grew up to be the crown prince’s future queen—that he and I had taken to calling our unborn child “Bitsy.”

The reasoning behind the name was that although we didn’t know if it was going to be a “bitsy” Viola or a “bitsy” Cercis—either way, the child was going to be a miniature version of one of us. And I had to admit, the nickname had started to grow on me.

Mr. Fisalis was already going ga-ga over our kid before they’d even been born. The sight of his devotion really tugged at my heartstrings; never had I dreamed I’d see the day, after all.

Before we’d gotten married, he’d been the sort of scoundrel who could propose a purely contractual marriage without a single crack in his smile, but the more time passed, the more he had changed. He used to only look out for number one, but somewhere along the line he’d learned to consider the people around him instead. These days, the worst he was guilty of was excessive fussing; he’d grown into a truly wonderful husband. Here’s hoping he’ll keep it up and grow into a good father too.

* * *

We’d been slowly but surely making preparations since before I’d entered the final stage of my pregnancy, so by the time Doctor Granny told us the baby might be born any day now, we had a nursery complete with a crib ready to go.

“Even looking at it in the light, it’s hard to believe this crib is over twenty years old.”

“It’s a good quality piece, and we’ve done a solid job of cleaning and fixing it up,” Rohtas explained to me as I admired the gorgeous antique cradle.

Get a load of this—it was the very same baby bed Mr. Fisalis had slept in as an infant! I’d found it lying around and pulled it out of storage. That’s what you’d call my knack for recycling in action. The servants had touched it up for me, and now it was practically good as new.

I could tell it was well-made even in the dim light of the storage shed, but now that I’d brought it out into the light of day, the amber luster of the wood gave it a nice antique feel.

I’d also sewn the baby’s clothes and diapers by hand—yet another trick I was known for.

“Infants grow out of their clothes in the blink of an eye, so it’d be a waste to buy a fancy wardrobe! Besides, hand-sewn clothes feel best against a baby’s delicate skin.”

“Goodness, Madam... You’re so knowledgeable, it’s almost hard to believe this is your first child.”

“That’s what happens when a girl practically raises her brother and sister!”

delivering taking care

Sitting alongside the maids, who were all watching me in awe, I stitched away at my future child’s clothes and undergarments.

“Master Fisalis insisted it would be easier to buy everything.”

“Is Cercis still going on about that? I’ve told him over and over that you can’t just throw money at every problem. When is he ever going to get it through his thick skull?” I muttered under my breath.

“Hee hee. He was only thinking of you, Madam; he wanted to spare you all this trouble.”

“One of these days, I’d like him to learn that money can’t buy love.”

“No need to worry. I think he is starting to realize that.”

“Maybe you’re right. He changed a lot.”

“Hasn’t he just?”

My hands never stopped working for a moment while I ran my mouth. The project was going right according to schedule.

“Now that I’ve finished all the necessities, I might as well use the time to make a few extra outfits.”

“I’m impressed, Madam.”

The preparations were in place. All that was left was to wait for the moment of truth.

* * *

The servants and I had soundly rejected Mr. Fisalis’s idiotic—, overprotective Wheelchair Transit Plan. Instead, we came to an agreement that whenever he was home, he would personally escort me wherever I needed to go.

He turned out to be everything I could ever want from an escort; not only did he help me through the corridors, but he would even head down the stairs a few steps ahead of me and make sure that I didn’t miss my footing.

I thought, once more finding myself moved by the unimaginable transformation he’d undergone since the early days of our marriage.

I mean, c’mon! Back in those days, our conversations (“business reports” might be more like it) would consist of nothing but “I spent the day doing embroidery (lie)” and “I’m glad to hear you passed the time without incident. See you,” before we went our separate ways. He’d always go back to his girlfriend in the cottage without so much as a backward glance...and now look! It was too funny not to laugh.

When a grin broke out across my face as I reminisced about Mr. Fisalis’s past self, he gave me a curious look from where he was walking a few steps ahead of me, holding my hand. “What’s up?”

Only now that there were a few steps between us was my gaze finally level with his. He was pretty tall, after all. It wasn’t often that we stood eye to eye; the sensation was a novel one, and my heart fluttered as I was reminded of just how gorgeous his deep-brown eyes were.

“Nothing.”

I wasn’t about to say that I was reflecting on his old ways.

“Oh, yeah...? Somehow I’m getting the feeling I shouldn’t ask, so I won’t.”

“Good plan.”

Then, he placed a hand over my enormous belly and said his usual line (or was it a command?) to Bitsy. “Make sure you’re born when Daddy’s home.”

“Something tells me Bitsy is dying to meet you, so I’m sure the little one will wait...