Chapter thirty-nine: Aerial Tal

The cucumber sandwich was delicious! Cook had done it again. She'd added diced cranberries and walnuts to the cream cheese mixture. Before Kate realized it, she had polished off almost three of the sandwiches. Maybe her discomfort was because she was just hungry! Or at least, that's what she thought until she felt her stomach churning, threatening to expel the contents. She reaches for her tea and takes a huge gulp of her raspberry tea to quell her stomach, which seems to only fuel the rising bile. She takes several more large gulps, hoping to send her food back down.

Thomas glanced at her, seeming to sense her discomfort. "Kate? You alright?"

She can't answer him. Kate drops her cup of tea, jumps up and heads towards the trashcan by the door. She drops to the ground just in time to vomit her sandwiches and tea inside. She groans as Thomas kneels beside her.

"Elton, Kate needs water." After a few moments, her stomach gives her a break. Thomas offers her his handkerchief. "Here."

"Thank you." she croaks, until her stomach decides to empty more of the contents. Kate groans as she retches, spewing more tea and sandwich in the basket.

Tommy turned to Polly. "Call the maid please." She nodded and loudly rang the bell and Thomas turns to Elton. "Send for the doctor."

"Thomas," she rasps as she wipes her mouth. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not." He picked her up and carried her back to the couch. She rolled her eyes as he set her down. He pressed a hand against her forehead and his eyes narrowed. "Poll, she feels like she has a fever."

"I'm fine."

"Shut up." Polly ordered as she felt her forehead. Polly removed Kate's gloves and undid a few of the buttons at her neck. "She is warm, so it's probably a slight fever."

She shakes her head. "No. I just got over the influenza."

Jodie runs in, causing Thomas to look up at her. "I need ice water; a damp cloth and I need her room prepared for when the doctor arrives."

"Thomas!" her voice rose. "I am perfectly-

She began gagging again. Thomas grabs the flower centerpiece, emptied it onto the ground and holds it up under her mouth as she spewed up the last bit of tea. "Tell me that when you're not vomiting." She smacked his hand while another stream of tea went from her mouth into the vase.

Marietta and her father stood. "We'll take our leave; don't bother to see us out. I hope you feel better soon Mrs. Shelby."

Kate spits into the vase. "Thank you. I think…it was that jar of marmalade I had this morning. It tasted off." The thought made her stomach roil and she began dry heaving.

"Forgive me if I don't see you off." Thomas states as he rubs her back as Jodie runs back in the room.

The maid puts the cloth on her head. "Here you go Ms. Kate."

"Mrs. Shelby." Thomas said sharply.

She waved at him as she sat up. "Thank you Jodie." She shot Thomas the look. "She's a friend, I asked her to call me Kate."

Jodie hands her the glass of water. "Here you go."

She smiled and took a few sips. The cold water felt good as it swirled down her warm system. She exhaled and smiled. "Ok, I feel better. Maybe I was just dehydrated."

Thomas shook his head. "You're not well. You've been working too hard."

Jodie steps behind her and undoes the choker necklace, placing it on the table in front of her. "Here you go."

She chuckled. "Look at you three, don't be so concerned." She sighs as she puts her feet up on the couch. "I'm sure I'm fine."

"You've been vomiting for the last two mornings this week." Jodie pointed out gently, causing Thomas's eyes to narrow. "You should be sure you're alright."

"What else has she been doing that I don't know about?" Thomas asked.

"Nothing!" she snaps before taking another sip of her water.

"Aside from that Sir, nothing." Jodie hesitates before asking. "Would it be impertinent for me to suggest that…she may be…with child?"

Kate gags on her water and looks at Thomas. He shakes his head. "Definitely not possible. Please, go ready her room."

Jodie nods and hurries out of the room. "Are you sure?" Polly asks. "She could

"Positive." Kate adds. "We haven't even discussed the idea of having children."

"Besides," Thomas adds in a lower voice to Polly. "Kate and I haven't been intimate yet."

"He's making me wait until January first." Kate glowers at him.

"I have my reasons." He assures her, with a cocky grin.

Polly frowns. "You have the date picked out?"

"His choice," Kate huffs. "not mine, but at least you know that it's virtually impossible for me to be pregnant."

Polly snorts. "You two are idiots. Tell me, are you two going to have children at some point in the future?"

Kate frowns. "Not right away, I don't think. My hands are full with Ruby and Charlie right now."

Thomas nods in agreement. "Yes. Now's not the right time. Maybe in two years?"

Kate shrugs. "My biological clock is pretty much shot. The odds of me having children are extremely unlikely."

"Don't you want children?"

Kate grips his hands. "I've got your children and that's enough for now. If we're blessed with any more children, then that's wonderful."

Elton comes in the room. "The doctor happens to be visiting his mother in Birmingham today. His secretary got a hold of him and he is enroute. He should be here within 20 minutes."

"Honestly," Kate yawns. "all three of you are making a big deal out of nothing."

"Let me put it to you this way Kate," Thomas states as he takes a hold of her hand. "if you go down, the whole house goes down."

"Comforting." She juggled her water in her hand, cleared her throat. "So, how'd the merger go?"

"He was impressed with how I managed to keep 'my wife on a leash', so, he agreed to the merger."

"Funny." She exhaled. "I'm going to burn in Hell one day for all these lies I tell."

15 minutes later,

"Doctor Blake is here." Elton announces.

"Hello." Kate moves to stand up, but Thomas forces her to sit down. "I should almost move my residency out here. This whole family has been very beneficial in helping me pay off my mortgage."

"Happy to help you out." Kate states sarcastically. "However, there is nothing wrong with me. All three of them are getting all worked up over nothing."

"She's been vomiting for three days." Thomas states.

"It's been a stressful week." Kate states. "There's been a ton of Christmas preparation to be done."

"Then as a Christmas present for me, let the doctor examine you." Thomas stands up and looks towards the doctor. "She doesn't take care of herself and I want a full report on her health."

Doctor Blake nods. "Of course Mr. Shelby. Now, if everyone could clear the room, I'd like to examine her now."

Everyone grumbles and files out of the room. "I get very little privacy around here."

"Well," he smiles at her as he sits down opposite her and opens his bag. "you're lucky to have a family that cares for you."

She nods. "Indeed I am."

"So, how has your husband been? He able to kick the opium?"

"He's been doing well with it. He even found a few packs that we'd missed when clearing them out of the house and flushed it."

"That's good."

"It's…the nightmares that are hard for him. Is there anything to help him with that?"

"Try looking into natural herbal remedies to help him sleep. I am corresponding with a colleague of mine, Arthur Frederick Hurst. He's been working with shell-shocked soldiers for years and he's been having success. I hear that he's able to cure a man with just one session."

She frowns. "How does he do that?"

"That's what I'm endeavoring to find out. But what I gather is, he takes them into the hills and has them recreate the battle they were in."

"Interesting. Could you give me his address? I'd like some advice."

"Of course. But now, enough about your husband. Let's focus on you for the moment."

Kate nods as she allows the doctor to check her pulse, temperature and ask her several questions. Some of them were rather personal, so she was glad no one else was in the room. Thomas probably would have had a fit at some of the questions.

She wasn't sure what was wrong with her, but nothing had prepared her for Doctor Blake's diagnosis. "Well, the good news is you appear to be pregnant."

Kate blinks before laughing. "Not likely."

"The signs point to it."

"No, no, no." she grins. "It's really not possible. Mr. Shelby and I have a celibate marriage."

He frowns. "You're positive?

"Of course, I'm positive."

Doctor Blake frowns. "I'm sorry to ask this question, but, were you intimate with anyone at least seven weeks ago?"

"No, I've not had relations with anyone other than my husband."

"I thought you two have a celibate marriage? When did you two have relations?" Kate freezes as the thought hits her like a ton of bricks. She covers her mouth as she counts back the weeks. He smiles as he asks smugly. "Remember something?"

She would have smacked him, were her blood not running ice cold through her veins right now. "We… consummated our marriage." He continues to smile at her and she speaks desperately. "But you can't get pregnant from doing it once! It's not possible!"

"Well, not usually, but in your case," he sighs. "it appears that the two of you managed to create a child. Congratulations."

Kate shakes her head as her ears begin to buzz. "Bloody…Hell." And those were the last words she said before she passed out cold!

Angel029: Yes!

Idcam: Yes, she is. But I'm not sure she's crazy about the idea!