18. Edward

The days floated by, one seamlessly merged into the next and soon it was a full month since Lucy entered our household.

I couldn’t deny the pleasure of having someone to talk to. I mean, I talked to people all day long, but it was nice having an actual conversation without having to play charades with someone. I don’t think not talking to my princess would have bothered me so much if it hadn’t been for the secrets and her unwillingness to utilize pencil and paper or even write notes on a computer. Her stubbornness in that regard was beginning to fester inside me.

Still, when she lay in my arms or when we snagged a few moments of privacy, my heart beat just as fiercely for her as it had the first time I saw her. My love for her only grew with each passing day and the joy of soon having a family was indescribable. For giving me that, I loved her even more.

Lucy turned out to be more of an asset to us than I had thought when we hired her. Her knowledge and skills made the playground and park I envisioned a reality we would soon start construction on.

The first equipment had been ordered and I was amazed by what was available now compared to when I had been a kid, despite all the things my father’s money had been able to buy at the time.

I couldn’t wait to take my sons to the playground, to watch them on the swings or climb on the pirate ship.

My greatest worry was that my princess would begin labor at night and I wouldn’t be there for her. I broached the subject during one of our doctor visits. Doctor Weiler gave me a funny look, one that conveyed her disapproval of me at what she thought was me putting work ahead of my sons.

“There is one option, we could schedule a C-section,” she suggested. Warming up to the idea she added, “It might be the best solution anyway. Twins are often born during an emergency C-section, we would avoid that.”

“But she could carry the babies to term without it too, right?” I asked, hating the idea of having her cut open because of my curse.

“Anything is possible,” Doctor Weiler agreed, waiting for my princess to weigh in.

She made a slashing move over her belly and nodded. She was on board with the C-section, even giving me an encouraging smile and nudge with her elbow.

I asked the doctor to lay out the risks for us, because I wanted my princess to be fully aware of them before she made such a decision.

When we left the office, my love cornered me in the elevator. She pointed her finger at her nose, I, she painted a heart over my chest, love, then she touched the tip of my nose tenderly, you.

I pulled her into my arms. “I hate the idea of you being cut open because of me.”

She pushed me away to move her hands between her and me, linking her fingers, she mimed pulling them apart and shaking her head.

“I don’t know how I got so lucky finding you. I love you.” I kissed her tenderly until the elevator doors opened on the ground level.

I meant it too. In moments like this, we were a team, a couple, lovers, unbreakable. Forgotten were the mysteries and secrets, the stubbornness and nettles and night outings to graveyards. When it was just her and me like this I was the happiest I had ever been. Especially now when her large baby bump pressed into me, reminding me of the treasure she carried for the both of us.

We returned home and found Lucy on the floor, picking up nettles that had fallen on the ground.

“I’m so sorry,” she mumbled.

My princess let out a cry of dismay and nearly violently pushed Lucy aside, picking up nettles with tears in her eyes.

“What, ouch!” Lucy fell to the side, landing on more nettles.

“Lucy!” I helped her up. “Come, I have some ointment in the study.” I gently pulled her along while staring at my princess, who didn’t even once glance at us. She only, nearly frantically, picked up nettles. Burning her fingers, as if she was possessed.

“I’m okay, but Mrs. Seymore”—we had thought it easier to have Lucy address her like this, since she stubbornly refused to take on a fake name—“her fingers, that can’t be good for the babies.” Lucy pointed out to me.

She was right. I took my love’s elbow to pull her up, just when eleven angry swans descended on me, pecking, trumpeting, and hissing in anger.

The chaos was complete.

It took a few minutes to get things under control and both women into the study, where I kept a large supply of calamine lotion handy.

“I’m sorry, I thought it was trash when I found it in the hallway,” Lucy explained dabbing calamine lotion onto her hand and arm.

It didn’t escape me how my princess lifted her head and narrowed her eyes at Lucy and I didn’t blame her. There was no way one of her nettle bags had stood in the hallway. She guarded them closer than—forgive the pun—a dragon guarded his horde.

Unless one of the swans had brought the bag out, but I scolded myself at that thought—I was giving the feathered animals way too much credit, because it would have meant planning and forethought. It would mean they didn’t like Lucy—which I suspected—and would mean they would have come up with a plan to get rid of her—which was highly unlikely. The plan would have been to place the bag in the hallway, where Lucy would find it just like she did, and haul it out, making it appear as if she had been snooping in the swan’s room—which she might have had.

Why though, I asked myself, would she bring a bag of nettles out of the room she snooped in?

“I thought it was trash and wanted to take it out, when one of the swans tripped me,” Lucy interrupted my train of thought and unwittingly added to my suspicions.

The swans had followed us. The one with a barely visible scar on his side from a fight with ghouls, glared at me.

Who the fuck are you? I glared right back. Feeling, for the first time, uneasy around him and the others.