Winning the Queen's Heart: Contemporary Christian Romance (The Brides of Belles Montagnes Book 2) (18 page)

Lizbeth trailed behind, taking all of it in as Yvette took her time studying the different flower arrangements and looking through the portfolios. She asked few questions, but the ones she did ask were good ones. Several times, the vendors looked like they wanted to say more, to give a more thorough pitch, but the look on the princess’s face didn’t invite the comments. Instead, the work had to speak for itself.

After looking at all the floral arrangements, she turned to the photographs lining the chapel. All of them had worked on the property before, including the one who had done Christiana and Alexander’s wedding. She walked up and down the pews, not the ones with the pictures leaning on them, but the row in front. At one series of pictures, she stopped, put a knee up on the pew in front of her and studied all of them for a long time. Finally, she nodded and started back up the aisle.

Lizbeth wasn’t sure what she’d seen in that particular series. All of the photographers were very, very good.

Back in the entry, Yvette did much the same. Quietly tasted every cake offered. Looked carefully at the portraits set up of their work. Flipped through the portfolios. Made notes on her phone. That part was new. Probably because she needed to decide not only
who,
but
what
. And multiples. There would be cake in multiple flavors, after all.

Finally, she turned to Christopher. “I’m ready to go back to the office.”

Once seated again, she told him exactly what she wanted. She’d liked florist A, but not what was set up, one of the things in the portfolio. She’d picked photographer C, the one who took the pictures she’d stood in front of for so long. Baker D and three different cake types. She also mentioned a groom’s cake to be designed by the groom - should he happen to arrive at least a week before the wedding.

He wouldn’t.

But it was an interesting way to keep people guessing.

Lizbeth’s stomach grumbled, and Yvette smiled for the first time in a while. “Why don’t we go back to the palace and get some food?”

Christopher laughed. “I think that sounds like a great plan.”

PHOTO: Queen Christiana and Prince Alexander on their wedding day

~

After three weeks of speculation and very few sightings of the queen, the palace made the official announcement.

Queen Christiana and Alexander, Duke of Testudines are pleased to announce their first child will arrive later this year. Due to hyperemesis gravidarum, or extreme morning sickness, the queen has been working a much lighter schedule than the norm. This will continue for the foreseeable future.

Experts guess the new prince or princess will arrive sometime in late summer or early fall, perhaps as late as the royal couple's first anniversary, but likely earlier.

The sudden, searing pain doubled Christiana’s body onto the floor. She cried out in pain, but before she could actually call for anyone Alexander was at her side.

“Call Dr. Chambers!” he yelled toward the door of her bedroom. “What is it?”

“I hurt,” she whimpered.

He lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the bed. “I thought you were resting.” His voice held no accusation.

“I needed to use the restroom.” Fear flowed through her heart. “I should have asked Diana to help me.”

“Don’t start second guessing yourself, Tia.” He sat next to her, holding her close as though to give her some of his strength. The cramp had dissipated, but she could not shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong. Could it just be her imagination running wild?

Oh! She prayed it was so.

Her ears tuned into her husband’s voice. He too prayed for peace and for the health of the baby, but, he prayed, most importantly for her health and for the strength to deal with anything that came their way together.

No!
her heart cried. The life of their child was just as important as hers, though intellectually she could admit without her, there would be no child either. They stayed there until Dr. Chambers arrived, his nurse in his wake along with the ultrasound technician and equipment in tow.

Though she had been tired, the nausea had started to abate, and he had seen no reason to do another ultrasound in the last couple of weeks. This would be Alexander’s first chance to see their child. She prayed it would not also be the last. When directed by Dr. Chambers, Alexander moved away from her, though he reappeared a moment later on the other side, lacing his fingers through hers while she told the doctor what happened.

“First, we’re going to do an ultrasound. Then likely an exam. I’ve called a friend of mine who is a perinatologist. As long as things remained fairly calm, I was comfortable managing your care, but I’d like an expert at least for today.”

“Of course. Tell Diana...”

“I got her on the list weeks ago.” Dr. Chambers looked straight in her eyes. “I would never,
ever
endanger you or your child, Your Majesty. I would not have invited her if I did not trust her implicitly. A background check has already been done, but you have nothing to fear, either for your health or for her to discuss things she shouldn’t.”

Christiana nodded, tears still leaking into her ears. Not very queenly. “Thank you, Dr. Chambers.”

She managed to stifle her gasp as the goo hit her stomach. Her eyes squeezed shut as the wand came to rest on the exposed skin. Alexander’s grip on her hand tightened.

“Is that him?” her husband whispered, awe coloring his voice.

“Right here,” Dr. Chambers confirmed. Likely he was pointing. She could not bring herself to watch. “And there’s the heartbeat. It’s a bit faster than I’d like but not so much that I’m extremely concerned.” A bit more pressure and movement on her stomach as the doctor muttered to himself and had the nurse or technician make notes she did not understand.

“Okay. I’m done for now.”

She opened her eyes.

“I do want to do an exam, but I think I’d rather wait until Dr. McCall gets here. She likely will want to do one herself, and there’s no sense in two if we don’t need to.” He asked her more questions about the last few days until Dr. McCall arrived.

Time would tell.

* * *

Alexander couldn’t begin to give voice to his thoughts. They weren’t coherent enough to mutter aloud. Thank God, He understood the inane ramblings of Alexander’s heart of hearts.

Seeing the baby was just about as close to an other-worldly moment as he’d ever experienced. Hearing the heartbeat and seeing the flutter on the screen was a moment he’d never forget.

Now another doctor was asking questions. Christiana answered them, though Alexander couldn’t focus on the words.

“Alexander!” Dr. Chambers’s voice had a bit of a bite.

He shook off his stupor. “Yes?”

“Dr. McCall would like you to step outside, just for a moment. Can you send Diana in?”

Alexander’s gut churned, and he wanted to protest, but a glance at Christiana’s face sent him to the door. She was stressed enough without him arguing with the doctor she trusted. Besides, though he’d been sleeping with her again for a while, she would be more comfortable with Diana if they needed her to change clothes.

Instead, he paced in front of the floor to ceiling picture windows, staring out over the crashing waves as they met the rocks below. He prayed as he’d never prayed before though he still wasn’t sure they were coherent. A glance at his watch told him it had been over ten minutes. Then twenty.

“Your Royal Highness?”

Alexander turned to see a tired looking Dr. Chambers standing there, and he felt sucker punched. “Is she...?”

“She’s fine, for now.” There was a wariness in his voice and his eyes. “She’s bleeding, worse than spotting, but not enough that we feel miscarriage is imminent. For now, she’s on complete bed rest. We’ll both check in on her often and reevaluate as necessary.”

“Thank you.” A sigh of partial relief escaped.

“I don’t think this would be a concern, given how much you care for her and her condition, but she’s also on complete pelvic rest.” The slight lift of the other man’s eyebrow told Alexander what that meant. No...marital activities. “I just needed to tell you. I don’t think you’d...” Dr. Chambers shook his head. “Never mind. She’s on both bed rest and pelvic rest. Whatever food she can keep down, let her have. Even if it’s pickles and barbecue sauce over sauerkraut at three in the morning.”

Alexander’s stomach turned at the thought. “Really?”

Dr. Chambers shared his grimace. “I hope not, but yes.”

“Okay. I can do that.”

“Would you like to see her?”

Before Dr. Chambers finished his question, Alexander was in the bedroom. He sat in the chair still pulled to her bedside. “How are you?” She looked pale and the streaks from her dried tears begged him to wipe them away.

“Tired.”

“We’ve given her some medicine.” Dr. McCall made a note on her tablet. “It can make her sleepy. She needs to rest.”

“Absolutely. If I’m not here to help her, someone will be. Twenty-four, seven. She won’t ever be alone.”

After a few more minutes of instructions, everyone left, leaving the two of them alone, though Diana was just outside. He moved to the other side of the bed and stretched out next to her, though on top of the covers. One hand protectively rested on her lower abdomen, something he hadn’t done before. “Promise me you’ll be careful?”

“I promise. Dr. Chambers said it likely would have happened when I stood up, even if someone helped me, but I will not attempt to do anything more than roll to the side without assistance from now on.”

“Thank you, love.” He kissed the side of her head. “Why don’t I let you get some rest?”

“I do not want to be alone, Xander.” Big, trusting, eyes looked up at him. “Will you stay?”

“Of course.” He pulled his pillow over and bunched it under his head. “Do you want to rest or talk?”

“Will you talk while I close my eyes?”

“Name the topic.”

“Life on the set of
2 Cool 4 School.
Was Derrick DiMarco as cute as everyone said?”

Alexander chuckled. “I never thought of Rick as cute, though the girls seemed to think so. The tabloid stories Christopher and I mentioned? A lot of them could truly be attributed to him, though he never got the press we did, even though we didn’t do those things. I think he resented us for that.”

“Do you keep in touch with any of them?” She sounded as though she was starting to drift.

“Not really.” Her head slid slightly to the side, and he knew she was asleep. He rolled until he could stare at the ceiling. Prayers tossed around and around in his head until he dozed off for an afternoon nap himself.

* * *

“How on earth do you work this thing?” Christiana lay nearly flat and held a remote the size of her tablet.

Alexander lay on his side next to her and held out his hand. “I’ll show you.” He pressed one of the buttons that looked like a movie screen. A slight whirring sound and then a screen lowered out of the ceiling. A monstrous screen.

“Why do we need a screen this big?” The installation had gotten her out of the room for a bit, but just to the couch and not for all that long.

“Because you can work from here with a big enough screen.” He brushed her hair back. “Look.” Rolling to the other side of the bed, he picked something up and handed it to her. “Wireless keyboard and mouse. Your computer is hooked up to the projector, too.” On the remote, he pointed to another button. “Just click here.”

She pressed it and the screen suddenly switched to her login screen. A picture of Alexander kissing her on the forehead at their wedding hovered behind the password box. This was the other picture though. Not the full color one, but the backlit shadow version. She felt her face color as he grinned.

“You like that picture?”

It was her favorite. It showed a loving, tender side of Alexander. Her eyes were closed with an almost wistful look on her face, but she didn’t answer.

“Well, I love it.” He kissed the side of her head. “So that button brings up your computer. This one takes you to movies and TV shows.” It looked like a DVD disc. “Every movie ever created pretty much is on here.” She raised her eyebrows, and he shrugged. “What? I have an extensive collection.”

She scrolled through the movie choices with the swipe of her finger. “Impressive, I’ll give you that.”

“There’s also a bunch of TV shows. Most of them are American, but there are a few others, like
Dr. Who
.”

A thought occurred to her and she scrolled quickly to the numbers. “Every season of
2 Cool 4 School
? Really?”

“Topher gave them to me as a wedding present.” He pointed to another button. “You can use this part here to make playlists so it’ll show one program or movie after another. You can just put a whole season of a show in there or your favorite episodes.” Alexander pressed the TV button. “This is the television and remote.”

A news story popped up as he changed the input to television. The visual of herself being wheeled into the ambulance brought her up short. “Turn it up?”