"Lady Maria, you need to calm down!" Jack held me as I cried in his arms. "What do you mean, calm down? It's true," I said in between cries, burying my face into his chest. "Lady Maria, it was just a dream. That's all it was. Master Baron loves you no matter what. You're married to him. It's okay." I shook my head, stepping back slightly. "Look at me. I look horrible. My stomach is getting huge already and I'm only four months pregnant," I whined, wiping my eyes. "You're beautiful! You have to remember that you're carrying a child, well, maybe children. You really should calm down, Lady Maria." I hugged him again, burying my face into his chest once more as my cries filled the room. The front door opened and closed, causing me to calm down slightly. "Hey, Jack. How's Maria doing," Baron called out then looked over at us as Jack stared at him in fear. I let go of Jack and walked over to Baron, hugging him and wiped my face on his shirt. "Hey. What's the matter," he asked, putting his hand on top of my head. "She had a dream that you will leave her because of the weight gain. You can handle it from here. I have things to do. Bye!" Jack hurried out of the house without giving Baron the chance to ask him anything else. "Baby, calm down, please," Baron said, rubbing my back. "Please don't leave me. Please," I begged, looking up at him. "I'm not going anywhere, silly. You're my wife for a reason. I love you no matter what. This weight gain is just temporary. Even now, I think you're the sexiest woman around," he smiled, rubbing my cheeks with his thumbs. I looked up at him with tears still in my eyes. "I love you, Maria. Always have and always will. That's just the hormones talking. I'm not going anywhere." He pressed his lips against mine for a long time, melting all of my worries away. I smiled at him when we finally broke apart. "Feel better?" I nodded and hugged him. "I'm sorry. You probably think I'm crazy," I giggled. "Yeah. Crazy about me," he smirked. I rolled my eyes as someone knocked on the door. "Time for your appointment." I conjured up a wet cloth and cleaned off my face as he walked to the door and opened it.
Michelle walked in, smiling at me. "There's our lovely queen," she said, walking over and hugged me, "how are you feeling?" "Tired, hungry, hot, cranky, and miserable," I chuckled as Baron went down to the basement. "So completely normal then," she chuckled, "it's time to check on you and finally see what's going on in there." Baron returned with a table and a monitor, setting it up in the living room. "Don't want you going down in the basement," he said, picking me up and carried me over to the table and laid me down. "Thanks, Baron," Michelle said as she grabbed my hand and wiped my finger and I turned my head. Baron kissed my forehead and petted me as Michelle pricked my finger. I sighed as she took some of my blood and the small puncture wound closed back up. "Well, good news is that she's not anemic." She took my blood pressure and temperature, writing down everything as Baron stayed by my side. "Well, she's healthy. Gaining plenty of weight. Now for what you've been waiting for." "Finally," Baron sighed, making us laugh as Michelle rolled up my shirt and squirted some gel on my stomach. She turned the monitor so Baron and I could see and placed the transducer on my stomach and started moving it around. "Let's see," she whispered. She moved the transducer around and gasped, smiling at us before pointing at the monitor. "Baby number one and baby number two. You're having twins." I looked over at Baron and saw a big smile on his face. "Twins...," He whispered, holding my hand. "We're having twins, baby. Isn't this exciting?" I smiled and nodded as Michelle cleaned off my stomach. "Which means you will have to be extra careful with everything that you do and everything you eat. Has she done the crying over ice cream yet?" Baron chuckled and helped me sit up. "Oh yeah. Jack and I make sure that we have plenty of ice cream around." "That actually sounds good right now. Or a sandwich. Help me down," I said, squeezing Baron's hand. He chuckled and picked me up, setting down as I made my way into the kitchen. "Twins. She's in great health and we're having twins," he smiled as Michelle packed up her stuff. "Yes. Now to keep her that way, make sure she takes her meds and try to get her moving around more, but not too much. Also start pumping her with vitamin C." Baron nodded as he walked Michelle to the door. "Thanks for everything." "Don't mention it. I can't wait to tell Mark. He's going to freak out. Call me if you two need me." She change to a bird and flew off as Baron shut the door and made the table and monitor disappear before joining me in the kitchen.
I whined as I stared at the jar of pickles as Baron walked in. "What's the matter, baby?" I held up the jar towards him. "I can't get the top off." He smirked and opened it with ease, petting my head. I blushed and walked back to the fridge and started grabbing different items and put them on the counter. "Baby, let me do it for you," he said as I grabbed some bread. "I can handle making a sandwich," I giggled as I prepared my sandwich. Baron carefully watched me, as if I would make a mistake or hurt myself. "I'm glad that you care, Baron, but I'm okay. I got this." "Then why did you take out the ketchup and not the mayo," he asked, raising an eyebrow. I looked down and sure enough, I had the ketchup and not mayo. I sighed and put it away, grabbing the mayo this time. "Sorry," I mumbled as I spread the mayo on my bread and put it away. "Pregnancy brain. Can't be helped," he smiled as I put my sandwich together and took a bite. I sat down at the table and conjured up a laptop and began surfing the internet. "Online shopping again," he teased, sitting in front of me and propped my legs up and massaged my feet. "Oh thank you," I sighed, "and yes. Or at least getting some ideas for the baby...well, twins room. I can't wait to know the gender. It's so exciting," I smiled, eating my sandwich. "Boy or girl or maybe both. Who knows? Time to wait and see. I wouldn't mind a little girl," he smiled. "For the sake of the entire world, I hope I'm having boys." He frowned, looking at me. "You really think I'm that bad?" I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. "You're overprotective with me! Having a daughter would have you hiring guards and keeping us under surveillance all day everyday," I laughed. "Whatever. I just want my family protected. Now that I know that my beautiful wife and our cubs are healthy, that lifts a weight off my shoulders and I can work on childproofing the house." "What more do you have to do? You had carpet put in every room and already installed little gates at the stairs." "Well, I could always have a door installed to join our rooms," he said as he set my legs down. "Babe, I think you're doing plenty. Let's just worry about our little ones getting here," I said as I finished my sandwich. "I know. I'm just nervous since this is new to us. I also need to find a midwife to sit with you when I have business around the village. I'll call Trish to come by. You'll love her. She has two of her own so she'll help you relax." I sighed and closed my laptop, making it disappear before standing up and stretched. "Do what you have to do," I said, rubbing my eye before kissing his cheek and walked to the living room, sitting on the couch and eventually fell asleep.
Hours later, I woke up and transported myself to the bathroom to relieve myself. I washed up and looked at my growing belly bump, lifting up my shirt and rubbed my stomach. "Hey, you two. I'm going to make sure that you two remain healthy no matter what," I whispered. "I'll be by your side to help." Baron appeared behind me, placing his hand over mine. I looked up and smiled as he rubbed my stomach and he pressed his lips against my temple. "My family," he mumbled as we walked out of the bathroom. I smiled as the aroma of food reached my nose and I licked my lips. Baron picked me up and carried me down the stairs until we reached the kitchen and he sat me down in a chair. "Dinner is ready. I made beef stroganoff and dumplings, nothing to make Lady Maria sick or anything since her taste buds have changed," Jack said as he fixed plates and placed them in front of us before making his own plate and joined us. I picked up my fork and began eating, savoring the flavors. "By how fast she's eating, I'd say that you did a great job as usual," Baron chuckled. I nodded in agreement with my cheeks stuffed with food. "Thank you, but please slow down, Lady Maria so you don't choke," Jack said, getting up and walked over to the fridge, "want some ginger ale?" "Yes, please," I said in between bites as Baron rubbed my cheek. "You're just glowing, baby. It's nice," he smiled. "Thanks, Baron." "Um why are the car keys next to the milk," Jack asked, holding up the keys. They both looked at me and I shrugged. "Were you cleaning up or something, baby, and you found the keys and moved them," Baron asked me as Jack poured me a glass of ginger ale. I scratched my head, trying to think. "I did clean up my mess that I made in here and I do remember picking up the keys." He chuckled and petted my head. "Don't worry about it, baby. At least you didn't put them somewhere else and we wouldn't be able to find them." I sighed as sipped my drink, my mind all jumbled, but at least Jack and Baron aren't teasing me over it. I finished eating and sipped my drink, becoming lost in my mind. "Lady Maria...Lady Maria." I blinked and looked over at Jack. "Sorry. I got lost in thought." "That's all right. I was asking if you want some cake that I made," he smiled. "You know I do! You always make the best cake!" He chuckled and went over to cut up the cake. "Master Baron, what about you?" "Just cut one big piece for us to share." Jack nodded and grabbed the knife to cut into the cake. "I was just thinking about how it won't be quiet for too much longer here. It will be filled with laughter and cries all day," I giggled. "Yeah. Two miniature version of you or me, running around here, bringing joy to our home. This is all I've ever wanted," Baron said as Jack sat the plate down between us before leaving. Baron picked up his fork and dug into the cake, holding it out to me. I smiled and ate it as he fed himself. "I wanted this too, despite me not saying it out loud, but deep down, I know that this is what I wanted and I'm glad that I get to share it with you, the love of my life," I said before he fed me. "I'm glad. We're fixing each other for the better and it will only get better from here." He kissed my cheek, smiling against my skin as we enjoyed our moment together.
After we finished eating, I got in the shower and got dressed for bed. I walked out of the bathroom and noticed a pile of pillows on the bed. I rolled my eyes, knowing why they were there and couldn't help but smile. I rearranged some of the pillows, leaving the ones that I don't need at the foot of the bed before climbing in, a sigh of relief escaped me when my aching body relaxed. The door opened and Baron walked in, smiling at me. "Gotcha some water, just in case you need it," he said, setting the bottle on the nightstand before grabbing the pillows and put them away. "Thanks." He nodded and went to the bathroom and got into the shower. I flipped through the tv channels as I waited for him, dropping the remote next to me when I couldn't find anything on. I placed my hands on my baby bump and rubbed it. "I can't wait to hold you, little ones. I'm so excited." "You and me both, Maria." Baron walked out and climbed into bed next to me, resting his head on my chest as he rubbed my stomach. "You're going to be a great mother." "You're going to be a great overprotective father," I teased. "At least you won't have to live in fear," he chuckled and kissed my neck, "besides, I just want my offspring to be tough and well guarded which is why I have guards who will escort you if you need to go out and drive by here when I'm not home. I'm sure Jack can protect you, but you can never be too careful, especially since these are my offspring. People would do anything to harm you or them and I won't let that happen." He kissed my baby bump and smiled. "I will always protect you and your mother," he whispered, placing another kiss on my stomach. I smiled and kissed him, feeling safe and protected knowing that he will do anything to keep us safe.