A/N: The conclusion and resolution of the cliffhanger I left behind in the last story. Hold onto your seats, everybody… :)
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§ § § -- September 8, 2003
They had seen Duke Sebastian Markelius off on the early-afternoon plane and had been more than a little amazed at the fact that Ingela had agreed to allow her son to spend some time with his father at the duke's family home in Lilla Jordsö. Kurt and Sebastian had already begun forging a solid relationship, and Ingela had been surprisingly amenable about it, saying that Kurt had never known her father and it would allow him to get to know Sebastian while she dealt with the aftermath of Torvald Vikslund's passing. Christian had also provided Sebastian with Anna-Laura's e-mail address and urged him to get in touch with her, and to refer her to him and Leslie if she questioned him.
Now, back at their own home, Christian was in a very good mood, enough that when Anna-Kristina had called looking for solace in the wake of an argument with Mateo, he'd patiently talked her into a calmer state and made a few suggestions as to how she could resolve the problem. Leslie watched him; he was speaking with his niece in jordiska, so she couldn't understand his end of the conversation, but she could read his facial expressions, and at one point he smiled a little slyly at nothing in particular and made a suggestion whose tone told Leslie its meaning. She giggled, catching his attention and making him grin broadly and wink at her.
That had put an idea into Leslie's head, and now that she'd finished straightening the kitchen she headed out to put it into practice. Despite it being mid-afternoon she set about giving the bedroom a soft, dusky atmosphere conducive to romance. There was a method to her madness, and she felt slightly guilty about doing this with an ulterior motive in mind; but it wasn't enough to stop her. Christian had never objected to making love with her, no matter the time or place; she had no reason to believe he'd start now.
Once she had finished preparing the bedroom, she changed into a sheer gown that Christian had given her for their second anniversary nearly seven months before and settled on the end of the bed to wait for him. Faintly she could still hear his voice from the kitchen; she got up, went to the spiral steps that led into the living room and perched on the top step so she could hear him better. The sound of Christian's voice did amazing things to her: it could calm her when she was upset, soothe her when she cried, seduce her when she least expected it. She didn't often have the opportunity to listen to him using his own language, and whenever he did she found it impossible to keep from eavesdropping. Hearing him speak jordiska fascinated her, and if he happened to lapse into it during a romantic moment, as he did occasionally, it had an unexpected effect on her that never failed to surprise her.
Leslie drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around them, daydreaming with her husband's voice providing background. She closed her eyes, smiled, lost herself in a dream world for a little while, and forgot about everything else for some time.
"Well," said Christian's amused voice all of a sudden, "wherever you are, my Rose, it certainly isn't here in this room!"
She blinked and sat up straight, then groaned softly and scrambled to her feet. "I spoiled my own surprise," she muttered, disgusted with herself.
Christian looked around the room and grinned knowingly. "Are you so sure it's been spoiled?" he asked, reaching out and tracing the neckline of her gown. "It seems obvious enough to me what your intentions were, and trust me, I'm interested."
Leslie smiled, turned away and drifted toward the bed, glancing over her shoulder at him; he stood near the steps, watching her. "Are you waiting for something?" she asked.
He grinned again. "Pretend I didn't discover you dreaming here on the steps," he said, "and do what you had originally intended to be doing when I came looking for you."
"I was going to be sitting just about like this, waiting for you to find me," she said.
"Ah, I see. And presumably I was to act on that as I saw fit?" he teased her.
"You're catching on, my love," Leslie teased back, trying to hold in her giggles.
Christian's grin softened into a gently suggestive smile and he approached her slowly, removing his shirt at some leisure and tossing it aside. Then he sat down behind her and drew her back till she was leaning against him and he could freely caress her from behind. "So tell me, am I still doing this as you wished?" he asked softly.
"Hmmmmm…my darling, you learn fast," she murmured, closing her eyes.
He bent his head and began to nuzzle her neck. "Hard not to…with such a beautiful teacher…" he breathed, and Leslie lost herself again in the sound of his voice and the warm touch of his hands on her.
Then she whispered dreamily, "Talk to me in jordiska."
Christian stilled. "What?" he asked in soft surprise.
Leslie opened her eyes and turned to look hopefully at him. "I can't explain it, but when you speak jordiska it does something to me. Try it now and see what happens."
He thought that over for a moment or two, one hand kneading her thigh, and then smiled—very slowly. "Is this some new seduction tactic?" he asked.
"It could be…for you," she replied, relaxing against him and closing her eyes.
"Ah, I see," he said again. "Perhaps, as you said, if it 'does something to you' when I use jordiska, then the fact that you just heard me using it with Anna-Kristina put you in this unusually romantic mood, and I'd better take advantage of it before I lose my chance."
"I married a truly brilliant man," Leslie murmured, smiling a little. "Oh, keep touching me right there…oh, Christian…" At the same time her hand slid up his leg, and he let out a soft sigh before whispering to her in his native language, weaving a spell around her.
Some little time later he stirred sleepily in her arms and mumbled something else in jordiska, making her smile and reach up to smooth his hair. He lifted his head, caught her expression, and suddenly grinned. "You thought that was romantic?"
She stared up at him and asked suspiciously, "What'd you say, then, you awful tease?"
"I said, 'I think I need something to eat'," Christian answered, dissolving into laughter even as he spoke, and then flinching aside when she scrambled out from under him and tried to pounce. "Well, I did!"
"Christian Enstad, I swear to you, one way or the other I'm going to learn that language of yours!" Leslie threatened, despite herself joining in his laughter. "I keep telling you I want to learn it, and you never teach me anything!"
"Well, you should have remembered what your grandmother tried to teach you all those years ago," Christian teased, still laughing. "All right, all right, my Rose, don't attack! If you're really serious about learning some jordiska, then I see no reason not to teach you. I only wonder if it will change the spell I can cast over you when we make love."
She giggled again and grabbed his arm, tugging at it to make him come back to her. "I don't think so," she assured him. "In fact, it might enhance it…I could maybe say something back to you in your own tongue."
Christian looked intrigued. "That presents some interesting possibilities," he said thoughtfully, still half grinning. "I'll have to look into it. But in the meantime, I suspect you already know a few words. I still have a memory of our last parting before I was able to return here to marry you, in which you said something very beautiful to me in jordiska and made me nearly cry in public. Do you still remember that?"
Leslie nodded, sitting up beside him and settling into his lap, kissing him softly. "I do remember it. Unfortunately, I forgot most of the words I memorized."
"For shame," Christian murmured, speaking now between kisses. "What do you remember, then?"
"I remember…" Leslie mumbled, but he cut her off with a long kiss and she was lost. In time, when he lifted his head and waited, she looked blankly at him and a slow smile crossed his features.
"Tell me what you said to me then," he whispered against her lips.
Half drugged by his touch and his kiss, she tried to dredge her memory, but all she could come up with was, "Jag älskar dej."
"That's very good," he breathed. "Ock jag älskar dej, med hela hjärtet ock i hela livet, that's what you told me." He kissed her again.
Leslie's soft moan made him pull back. With her eyes still closed, she whispered, "With all my heart and for all my life."
"Exactly so," he said. "You're a fast learner too, my darling. Now you say it to me."
"Med hela hjärtet…" she murmured obediently, let herself drown in another kiss, and then struggled to think when he pulled back again.
"Just one more phrase," Christian coaxed softly, gently teasing, his lips brushing her cheek. "I know you remember."
"Ock…i hela livet," she moaned. "Oh, Christian, you're killing me…please…"
"I haven't even started," he assured her. "Ah, min söta vackra ros, min älskling…" And with those words he kissed her again, finally falling as much under her spell as she was under his. They didn't speak again in either language for quite some time.
§ § § -- September 10, 2003
Christian barely managed to hold back a yawn before hanging up with the longtime manager of his Sundborg office, and shook his head in an attempt to clear it. Leslie had kept him awake later than he was accustomed to the previous night, and while it had been the most pleasant of ways to pass the time, he was paying for it today.
It wasn't lost on his employees either. "Late night, Boss Prince?" Jonathan asked with a knowing grin.
"I've had a few of those lately," Mateo murmured unexpectedly, and both Jonathan and Julianne began to laugh. With a grin, he focused on Christian. "Wives have a way of doing things like that, I've found."
"So it seems," Christian agreed, unable to stifle a new yawn. "I'm not objecting in the slightest, but herregud, I need a nap in the worst way. Don't they take afternoon siesta periods in Mediterranean countries? I should e-mail King Errico and ask him if that's an Arcolosian habit as well. Listen, you two, you're both easily old enough. You should find suitable mates and get married, and that might entitle you to join in the banter about marriage around here."
"Anton's not married either," Julianne pointed out.
"Anton doesn't make suggestive remarks," Christian retorted good-naturedly. "Yes, I think both of you need to get married. I expect your siblings could testify to the advantages of marriage."
"Well, Jennette's kind of dopey about it," Jonathan said, rolling his eyes. "Give her half a chance and she'll spout off about how romantic Pat is all the time. I bet they aren't half as romantic now that they've got a baby in the house. And our sister Andrea just got a divorce. She's coming back to the island with her kids—she has two teenage girls."
"There are so many of you," Christian remarked, eyeing him with a teasing glint. "I can't keep track—I know the two of you, and I know your sister Camille because she and Leslie are close friends. Just how many are there?"
"Andrea's the oldest," Julianne explained. "She's 42 now and her girls are 16 and 13. Our brother Tommy's 40 and he has a company in Hilo that writes antivirus software. He's married and has a boy and a girl. Camille's the third and she's got David and Craig and Robin. And us quads are the youngest. I was born first, then Jonathan, then Jeremy, and Jennette's the youngest with Pat and her little boy. And hey, Boss Prince, that reminds me—Tommy heard about you opening that branch in London, and he wanted me to ask you if you were interested in offering his software here in the office."
"It's not really a retail operation I'm running here," Christian said thoughtfully, "and I can defeat a virus, but they usually come to me only when the affected computer is beyond all other help and I have to go in and completely clean it out."
"You're usually too busy for quick fixes that antivirus software can handle," Mateo put in. "It might be a good deal for you, Christian."
Christian nodded. "Well, Julianne, suppose you contact your brother and tell him I might be interested, and if he has the opportunity to call, I'll be glad to talk with him." He yawned yet again, then groaned and fell back in his chair. "That's if I can stay awake to do it. If you three would hold down the fort for about fifteen minutes, I'm going to check with Mariki at the main house about some coffee. She uses the Kona stuff and that seems to keep me awake more than what I normally buy."
"Just don't let Miss Leslie catch you," Jonathan said slyly.
"There are days," Christian said in mock threat, "when I have serious thoughts about sending you off to work for your brother and finding another accountant who has a smaller mouth than you." Julianne burst out laughing, and Jonathan snickered, making Christian add with false disgruntlement, "And you take my insults far too well. Mateo, I hope you can keep these two brats in line. I'll be back shortly." They all agreed, and he left, walking to the main house in the hope of waking himself up.
Roarke was alone in the study and looked up in surprise when Christian came in. "Good morning, Christian! I hope there's nothing urgent."
"Not at all, Mr. Roarke…I just wanted to find out if I could talk Mariki out of some coffee. I seem to be unusually sleepy this morning." Right on cue Christian yawned again and then grinned sheepishly at Roarke. "I rest my case."
Roarke laughed. "If it helps at all, Leslie has been yawning all morning as well. I hope you two are sleeping well, especially now that last week's ordeal has been resolved."
"Oh, sleep isn't the problem," Christian said and turned reddish. "She's been quite…uh, well, romantic lately, shall I call it. It's a little unusual for her, but I'm not objecting. I only wish we didn't have to get up quite so early." He chuckled with Roarke. "Please, don't let me interrupt you. I'll get out of your way…excuse me."
Roarke watched his son-in-law go off to the kitchen, his amusement fading. Leslie had been in much the same drowsy state as her husband, but she had been bright and cheerful all morning, a gleam in her eye that had made him wonder. It was good to see her back to her usual self, after her uncharacteristic submissiveness in Ingela Vikslund's presence; but he still sensed a disquiet in her, a restless unease that he wasn't certain Leslie herself was aware of. If she continued to exhibit it, he'd have to ask her about it. He put the problem aside and returned to his work.
Just about then, with Roarke trying to clear out paperwork and Christian cadging some coffee out of Mariki, Leslie pulled up at the marina where she was to carry out a little business for Roarke, and got out of the car just in time to see Lauren, Camille, Myeko and Maureen all come out of the little shack that Brian and Lauren still used as the office for their hydrofoil business. Her friends instantly recognized the red car that had for so many years been symbolic of Roarke's operation and charged in her direction, towing Lauren along with them. "Come on, you have to spread the news," Myeko was insisting.
"That's right, we'll be telling Tabitha and Katsumi as soon as we can anyway," Camille added. "Will you get over here and stop looking like you're dying of something?"
"What's going on?" Leslie asked curiously.
Camille grinned. "The unthinkable happened." She nudged her cousin and urged, "Come on, Lauren, for crying out loud, tell her!"
Lauren looked up and twisted her mouth, then sighed with resignation. "I'm sure you guys are gonna get the world's biggest laugh out of this. Fine, all right…Leslie, you're never gonna believe this, but I just found out I'm pregnant."
The news froze Leslie completely; a cold tingly feeling swept through her, and she gawked in shock at Lauren, who nodded. Myeko remarked, "That's about the way Lauren looked when she got the news. Camille and I were with her at the hospital when she heard, and we bumped into Maureen in town and told her. Poor Brian doesn't even know yet, but we can't help that…he's on the morning hydrofoil run."
"You okay, Leslie?" Maureen asked, peering at her.
"Yeah," Leslie mumbled dazedly. "I'm fine…really…" She forced herself to move forward and give Lauren a quick hug. "That's fantastic, Lauren."
"She's not even sick," said Camille with mock disgust. "She never had a clue till this morning, and the doctor said she's ten weeks along already. I'm so jealous, you can't imagine. And this is my cousin, who was always so grossed out by our pregnancy horror stories that she swore to everybody in sight that she'd never get pregnant because she'd wind up projectile-vomiting three times a day and watching herself gain six hundred pounds. I could strangle her…I was sick for six months with Robin."
Leslie smiled, ever so faintly. "You're probably going to be just fine," she murmured.
"Yeah, I guess," Lauren said and shrugged, then socked her cousin in the arm. "And now that you've blabbed that, you've probably jinxed me. Tomorrow morning I'll be throwing up everything I've eaten since June." They all laughed. "So what brings you around here, Leslie? You're in one of Mr. Roarke's cars, so I guess you're here on business."
"Oh…yeah…I did have something," Leslie said, trying to gather her wits back together. "Father said there's a party of tourists coming here from South Africa, on some kind of group tour of South Pacific islands, and they're supposed to get here Saturday afternoon and stay till next Wednesday morning. They've got quite the itinerary, and they're supposed to do the local island group here…Coral and four or five others. And they want to use your hydrofoil to make the trip, so this could be really lucrative for you guys."
"Hey, that's great," Lauren said. "I'll get hold of Brian and tell him…and something tells me I'd better mention that before I break the news that we're gonna be parents. After I tell him that, he won't hear anything else."
"How do you think he'll take it?" Maureen asked.
"I don't know," Lauren said. "He seemed happy enough with it being just him and me, and to tell you the truth I kinda liked it that way myself." She gave the other girls a knowing smirk. "We had great company in Christian and Leslie, you know. Us grown-ups could have adult parties with wine and stuff, and not have to watch our language if we didn't want to, and talk about anything without having to keep it G-rated. I guess those days are over. Sorry, Leslie." Leslie smiled faintly. "Now will you guys please keep it quiet till I've managed to inform my husband? He was supposed to be the first one to know."
"Well, geez, then go tell him already," Camille said, rolling her eyes. "It kills me…you, the one who said she'd have a baby only if she didn't have to get pregnant—pregnant. I'm going to have the world's best time watching you go through this."
"Shut up," Lauren said and gave her another whack in the arm. "I'm going in to call Brian." She headed back for the shack; Myeko and Camille followed, but Maureen lingered a moment, eyeing Leslie with some concern.
"Are you really sure you're okay, Leslie?" she asked. "I mean, you looked like Lauren had hit you when she first announced she's pregnant."
Leslie gave her friend a half-smile. "Don't worry about me," she said. "It's just a big surprise, that's all…like Camille said, seeing Lauren pregnant after all the grossed-out reactions she was always having to hearing everyone's horror stories." She suddenly grinned at Maureen. "I bet nobody'll stop picking on her for the next seven months."
"You're probably right," Maureen agreed through a laugh. "Well, okay, as long as you're sure. Don't let me keep you from your job…see you later on."
It was a relief for Leslie to watch Maureen head for the shack after the other girls. She set her jaw, got into the car and started it, backing out and swinging around, with one purpose in mind. Dr. Lambert was about to have an unexpected walk-in.