"Well, he is certainly prepared." Sylphiel commented with a smile as she palpated Lina's stomach, "He's already head down."
"He's not going to come out so early?" Lina asked as she pushed herself up on her elbows in alarm.
"No, some babies turn earlier than others." Sylphiel assured her as she put a hand on her shoulder to coax her down and got out the tape measure and measured Lina's stomach. "He's growing well, right on target."
"Then why does her stomach look so much bigger than mine?" Amelia asked, a genuine note a curiosity in her voice.
"At least I'm not covered in stretch marks!" Lina snapped.
"Some women just show more." Sylphiel said, her voice slow and calming as Amelia blushed, "His heart beat is good. Are you feeling some good movement?"
"Yeah, he can give some good kicks." Lina said as she put her hands on her belly and smiled affectionately.
"Perfect. Everything is as it should be."
"Thanks," Lina said as she pulled her shirt down and stood up.
"Miss Sylphiel, when you did my check up a few weeks ago you said mine hadn't turned yet." Amelia said, and her voice was higher than usual as though she was trying to hide how nervous she was.
"There's nothing to worry about." Sylphiel said, and Lina noted she was using her soft, placating voice, "You still have two months to go. How early a baby gets into position has nothing to do with how quickly they arrive."
"But I need to do everything I can to encourage her to get out as soon as she can!" Amelia cried as tears formed the edges of her eyes, "My daddy will be here any minute! And he needs to get back to Saillune before winter to be with my stepmother when she delivers! The timing is going to be so close, and it would be a huge injustice if he didn't get to meet her!"
Sylphiel's eyes brimmed a bit as she listened to Amelia, "I understand how important it is to have your parents with you when you deliver. First, let me see if she's turned since I last checked you."
"Thank you," Amelia said as she laid down, and groaned, "Heartburn."
"It just means she'll have a full head of hair." Sylphiel said as she smiled.
"I thought you said princesses had easy pregnancies." Lina said with a sly smile as she pulled an apple out of her pocket and bit into it.
"I seem to be the exception to the rule." Amelia said miserably as Sylphiel started to examine her. "I was thinking of having a lot of kids! Eight or ten at least! Right now I'm thinking one is enough. How do people do this over and over again?"
Even though her pregnancy was easier than Amelia's, Lina found she couldn't argue. She was also starting to get heartburn, and she was also so small that she felt as though he was already stretching her to the limit even though she still had two months to go! Getting comfortable was becoming more and more difficult. And then there were the leg cramps!
"I think women tend to forgive and forget." Sylphiel explained as she frowned, "Well, it looks as though her head is still up."
Amelia groaned as Sylphiel looked at Lina, "Dame Lina, do you have a music box?"
"Yeah," Lina said as she pointed at the fireplace mantle before she walked over to it, "Let me get it."
"Let's see if this works." Sylphiel said as Lina handed it to her. "Go ahead and sit up."
Amelia swung her legs over the bed as she followed Sylphiel's instructions, and Sylphiel quickly turned the crank and then put the music box at the bottom of Amelia's stomach as the tinny melody played. Instantaneously her stomach rippled and Amelia gasped as her eyes widened and then a huge smile broke out across her face, "She just did a somersault!"
"Lie back again, please." Sylphiel directed, and once Amelia was lying down again she palpated Amelia's stomach and nodded, "She's head down now."
"Thank you! I wouldn't have been able to sleep with worry. Not that I can sleep anymore. I can't get comfortable, and when I do I have to use the bathroom or something." Amelia said as she sat up and then wrapped her arms around her stomach. "Oh, I can't wait for this to be over!"
"At least Phil is taking over your ambassadorial duties when he comes down and all you'll have to worry about is growing that baby!" Lina said as gathered her hair in her hands and held it off her neck. At least with fall coming the weather should be cooling down soon! Unfortunately it also meant there would be no more cooling dips in the lake. "The kids are returning next week, and I'll be teaching again in addition to all of this discomfort."
"It could be worse." Sylphiel pointed out, "Peasant women spin, weave, cook and clean houses and do other hard labor until they deliver. And once the baby arrives they go straight from not sleeping due to the discomforts of pregnancy to not sleeping because they have an infant."
Lina let out a low whistle as she thought about the life she was lucky to have escaped. At least the hard part would be over once her baby was delivered! The friends she grew up with, such as Kate, and even Luna, were not so lucky. That was, provided no one attacked when she was in labor.
"Well, what can I say to that? Come on, let's go down and get lunch." Lina said as she moved to the door.
"Are you getting nervous?" Amelia asked Sylphiel as they walked into the dining room. Leia waved at them as she looked up from her sandwich as Gourry turned and smiled.
"Only about getting my dress finished on time. I'll be working on it once I finish lunch." Sylphiel said as she took a seat and poured herself some tea.
"Things are moving fast!" Leia said, "At least you'll have time for a brief honeymoon before classes start. Where are you going?"
"Just to a cabin by Ratia Lake." Sylphiel replied.
"Dame Inverse." Nellie said as she came in from the kitchen, her face tight with anxiety.
"Yes?" Lina asked.
"Well, there's a problem, you see, the wine. It keeps disappearing."
"Huh?" Lina blurted out as she nearly dropped her sandwich.
"I can't keep the wine cellar stocked! Between five to ten bottles go missing a day! For the past five days now." Nellie said, her words rushing out in a tumble as she paled, as if worried about being accused of theft, "I can't see any of the staff taking it, and the students are all home right now. But I can't keep the wine cellar stocked!"
Lina grinned and patted Nellie on the arm, "Don't worry. It seems as though we have a rat. I have no concerns about it being you or the staff. Just do your best."
"Thank you, ma'am." Nellie said, and then she quickly raced back to the kitchen.
"A rat? Lina, you seem so calm about this." Gourry said as he looked at her.
"A big house like this, stuff happens." Lina said nonchalantly as Leia's eyes narrowed as she looked at her.
"You're up to something!"
"Whatever do you mean?" Lina asked sweetly as she batted her eyes at her mother.
"But rats don't drink wine. They eat cheese, so if the cheese was missing I could see that." Gourry mused aloud as he put a finger on his chin, "And they aren't strong enough to move the bottles."
"Gourry, Gourry," Lina said as she patted him on the head.
"Milady," Jeeves said as he walked up, "Prince Phil's carriage is approaching. He will be here in five minutes."
"Daddy!" Amelia exclaimed as she nearly flipped the table in her excitement as she stood up and raced out of the room.
Lina shook her head as she ran her hand through her hair, "Well, I guess we'd best get this meeting with that oversized orc over with."
"Now Lina," Leia said sternly, "He can't be that bad. He raised such a sweet, adoring daughter, and she is a beauty! And even if he is, he is a guest in your house."
"Wait till you see him." Lina snapped as she stood up. The prospect of being lectured like a child by her mother was displeasing enough that seeing Phil suddenly looked like an appetizing idea. "Sylphiel knows what I'm talking about."
Sylphiel paled a little as she seemed to shrink as though being displeased over being put in the spotlight, "He is a very kind person, and that matters more than appearances."
"Anyway, everyone get up. The Crowned Prince of Saillune is gracing us with his presence! We'd best go and meet him." Lina said.
Lina kept her eyes on her mother as Prince Phil's carriage drew forth. Leia was currently glowing with romantic ideas about meeting a prince as she watched the carriage, eyes wide with anticipation. Lina was looking forward to the moment it crashed down under the realization of just what a hideous beast Prince Phil was! Sure, it would be hard to contain the laughter, but it would be worth it, especially after enduring months of Leia telling her that Phil couldn't be that bad!
The door opened, and Amelia squealed, "Daddy!", warring with Phil's cries of, "Amelia!" Lina did not watch as they raced to hold each other tightly, she kept her eyes firmly on Leia who, to Lina's befuddlement, sighed with longing.
Longing? Lina thought that it couldn't be right! There could be no longing with Prince Phil! But to Lina's horror Leia's eyes took of a shiny appearance as her lips parted with lust. Lust! Lina's stomach turned as she looked at Leia in disbelief as she realized that her very own mother was lusting after Prince Phil!
"Mom!" Lina exclaimed. Phil and Amelia were too wrapped up in greeting each other to notice them.
"He's just what I expected!" Leia said as she clasped her hands and brought then to her face. Sylphiel joined Lina in looking at Leia in disbelief. Lina could not fathom that Leia was looking at Phil like some star struck school girl.
"You're joking. That's what you expect a prince to look like!?" Lina exclaimed as Rick and Zelgadis came outside.
As Zel walked forward to greet his father-in-law, his jawed squared with repressed anxiety, Leia replied, "Well yes. So rugged and full of vigor and strength!"
"Oh man," Lina said as she briefly looked over at Zel, Amelia and Phil. Zel was looking rather uncomfortable, as though he still hadn't formed a bond with Prince Phil and was working to get his approval. With the three of them distracted, Lina said, "There's strength and vigor, but then there's too much! How can you see anything attractive in that!"
"Well, you know how sometimes men can be so ugly there's an attractiveness to it? Trust me, he would have been quite the heartthrob in the village I came from! He reminds me of an older version of Leo."
Lina shuddered at the mention of her mother's first crush, who she reminisced about often. The idea that Phil and Leo shared a similarity and that her mother genuinely thought Phil was hot was too much for Lina to process.
"There is no cuteness coming from that ugliness." Lina said as Sylphiel looked a little green. "Must be an old woman thing."
"Excuse me!" Leia yelled.
"Come, it's time you meet Lina's family!" Amelia said as she grabbed Phil by the hand and brought him over to Leia, who actually blushed. "This is Leia Inverse."
"A pleasure." Prince Phil said as he grabbed Leia's hand. Lina would have pulled away in disgust, but Leia shivered with delight as he kissed it. "You raised an incredible young woman."
"Oh, I'm going to be sick." Lina muttered to Sylphiel, who put a hand over her mouth the stifle a laugh.
"Lady Lina." Phil said.
Lina plastered on a smile, "Phil! How are you?"
"Doing well. Sir Gourry. You two look like you're getting along well and growing a family."
"Well, I am growing." Lina said as she put her hands on her stomach as Gourry wrapped an arm around her. "And it seems you have been working on growing your own family."
"Yes, I'm afraid it seems like a bit of a race as to who will pop first. But hopefully everything will work out." Phil said as he laughed boisterously. "Ah, hi Sylphiel. I hear you're getting married!"
"Tomorrow." Sylphiel said as she squeezed Rick's hand, "This is Rick. Rick, this is Crowned Prince Philionel."
"Good to meet you." Phil said.
"Are you hungry?" Leia asked breathlessly. "Lunch is currently being served in the dining hall."
"That sounds wonderful." Phil said, and Lina felt like retching one more as she watched as Leia showed Phil inside.
"Oh boy. I don't think I can eat." Lina said.
"We might as well get back inside though." Sylphiel said.
"Yeah," Lina agreed as she walked back inside and saw her father coming down the stairs. "Where've you been?"
"Showering. I was putting that sword through some paces, worked up a bit of a sweat." Han said.
Lina suddenly ran to him and grabbed his hands, "Well you'd better get into the dining room. Mom is currently drooling over the most hideous man to walk the planet, and you'd better put a stop to it."
Han laughed a little, "Yeah, she has some strange tastes. It's amazing she landed a handsome guy like me."
Lina punched him on the shoulder, "Good thing, too, considering I got my looks from you."
"Well, I guess I'd best confront this prince sent to steal my wife's heart." Han said in deliberately overdramatic fashion as he walked to the dining room and Lina laughed.
The sun had reached its zenith as Lina and the others stood by the door with bags of rice and waited for Rick and Sylphiel to come out. Their wedding had been the polar opposite of Lina and Gourry's. Small, intimate, and without any violence or bloodshed. But the strength of the love between the couple seemed just as strong.
The doors flew open, and Sylphiel and Rick emerged, holding hands. Lina grabbed a fistful of rice and threw it at them as she yelled, "Congratulations!"
The rest of the people there joined in as the newlywedded couple ran to the carriage and got in. Leia wiped her eyes as the door closed, "That was a beautiful ceremony."
"Too bad there wasn't anyone single for Miss Sylphiel to throw the bouquet to." Amelia pointed out.
"Sylphiel seems like the type who knows how to preserve flowers. She can make it into a keepsake." Lina said.
Amelia exhaled as the carriage drove off, "Well that's that. I'm going to take a nap."
"Get some rest. You look exhausted." Phil said, the concern evident in his voice.
Zel wrapped an arm around Amelia and walked with her into the manor, and Leia followed in with Han as she commented, "I am so glad we have a maid! I would hate to have to clean all of that up."
Phil followed them in, and Lina was about to go in herself when Gourry put a hand on her shoulder. "What?" she asked.
"It's been a bit over a year since we married." He said.
She smiled, and walked forward and leaned against him as he leaned forward to kiss the crown of her head. "Any regrets?" he asked.
She slid her arms around him, "None, my treasure." Then she rested her head against his chest so she could hear his heart beat as he rested his chin against her head, "What about you? Thought on what could have been?"
He reached a hand to lift her chin up so she was looking at him, "She was never a potential for me. You know that."
"I still like hearing it." She said as she reflected again on how much easier things were now that Sylphiel had a love of her own.
He leaned down to kiss her, and she wasted no time in returning it as her hands gently wrapped around his hair as he tilted her back a bit. The discomforts of pregnancy had not dulled her ardor one bit, if anything, she always noticed them less afterwords. When he pulled back he smiled and said, "Not that I mind the neck cramps, but perhaps we should move this to our room?"
She patted him on the back as they walked back into the house, "Good idea, Gourry. Good idea."
AN: Whew, had the idea of Leia finding Phil attractive for a long time and sitting on that one was hard! Hope ya'll enjoyed. I started thinking about how my mom and aunts thought celebrities from their time were cute and I just didn't see the attraction and put it down to a generational difference. Also, for those of who are pregnant with babies who won't turn, the music box trick worked like magic for getting my daughter to turn! Unfortunately for Amelia she was also clinging to my ribs chanting, "hell no, I won't go" and didn't arrive until 41 frickin' weeks (that's three weeks post due), but hopefully her luck with be different, bwahaha!