Chapter Forty-Two

Ruth's heart was still racing in her chest, but her breathing was getting back to normal. The sweat on her body was starting to cool. She hummed happily, still buzzing with pleasure.

Harry's head rested on her bare belly. He shifted to press soft kisses on her skin. Ruth ran her fingers through his riotous curls. His hair was noticeably thinner now, but he was forty-five years old. All the rest of him seemed just as strong and virile as ever to her, though she had to admit he'd put on a little weight and now his hair was starting to go. But she did not care. She could not imagine not being attracted to him, what with their history together and the skillful way he made love to her with nearly frightening frequency.

Her legs were wrapped around his torso as he rested between them. Her heel stroked his back affectionately. "Nice way to start Sunday," she quipped.

Harry chuckled and shook them both slightly. "I thought so, yes. Your birthday is on a weekday and I know how you hate waking up early, so I didn't want to bother you before work on the day of."

"That's very considerate of you." He was right, of course. She would have absolutely hated to be woken at five in the morning on her birthday for him to make love to her. Perhaps back when they were working together and kept the same work hours, it would have been fine. Actually it was. He'd woken her up that way when she turned twenty-seven, she recalled. A wonderful gesture, of course, but he had to go to work and their time would be limited on Tuesday this year. Sunday was a much better option. They could lie in bed together uninterrupted for as long as they wanted on a Sunday, so long as there were no events planned. And today was, thankfully, an entirely free day. Ruth would have been happy to lie here forever with him, just like this.

"You know, I've got a feeling," Harry began.

"I'm going to need a little time to get back into it if you'd like me to do anything about a feeling you've got, Harry," she teased.

He laughed. "No, not that. Though perhaps we can work ourselves up to another round in a little while. Since this is the only birthday celebration I can give you in bed. But no, I've got a feeling that you might be pregnant."

She frowned. That was not a situation she wanted reminding of just now. Or ever, really. But particularly now. They were happy and having fun. They were not consumed with this horrifying need to procreate. She just wanted to enjoy herself for once in these last horrible seven months without a goal in mind. But Ruth did not want to be cross with him for bringing such a thing up. And so she tried to be as tactful and calm as she could. "What makes you say that?" Her voice came out cold, and she was sure Harry noticed.

His hands traced her hips and waist and up to her breasts. She gave a slight jump at his touch, oversensitive as she was. "You see? You're not usually so reactive. Not like that, anyway. And you…well…"

"Harry, are you blushing?" she asked, laughing from his hesitation. For all the delicious, filthy things they'd done together over the years, she hardly thought he'd be shy about anything in their sex life.

"Well perhaps I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, now you have to tell me," she insisted, taking her chin in her hand and forcing him to look up at her. "What is it?"

"You…erm…taste different," he confessed awkwardly.

That was not at all anything she expected. "I taste different? What on earth does that mean?"

"Just what I said, Ruth. The number of times I've gone down on you over the years, I have a certain familiarity. And this time it was a bit different."

Ruth did not know what to do with that. "Was it…I mean…did you mind? I don't want it to be unpleasant or anything." Christ, now she was blushing.

"Very pleasant always," he assured her. Harry pushed himself up to reach her lips and kissed her. "I never mind getting to do that for you. Quite the opposite, in fact. I love getting to taste you and make you fall apart on my tongue. This was like milk chocolate as opposed to dark chocolate. Decadent and delicious always, just somewhat different. That's all."

She took great pleasure in kissing him again after that. His words had caused a tingle of arousal in her once more, and since it was Sunday morning, she was eager to take advantage. Ruth bent her knees to cradle Harry between her thighs and slipped her tongue into his mouth. His hands were all over her, and she could feel him growing hard against her once more.

All of a sudden, the shrill ringing of the telephone across the bedroom shattered their moment. Harry rolled off her with a groan of frustration. She sat up, trying to calm herself down, and watched her husband walk across the room stark naked. Ruth smiled. Yes, even having gained a little weight, he was still quite a specimen. Particularly with an erection. It was flagging a bit, but she was sure she could solve that problem after he got off the phone. Unfortunately it was not a feasible option to not answer the phone. Between Harry's intelligence work and Ruth's royal duties, they did not have the luxury of ever being unavailable.

"What?" Harry barked into the receiver. It was the switchboard that patched in the calls, and they'd all learned about Harry's grumpiness by now. He hummed in annoyance and then held the phone out. "Ruth, they want you."

With a sigh of annoyance of her own, Ruth hauled herself out of bed. Unlike Harry, she was not as comfortable being naked all the time, and she slipped her silk dressing gown on over her body and tied it as she crossed over to him.

"Don't be long," he whispered, kissing her cheek and giving her bottom a squeeze.

Ruth was still giggling slightly as she picked up the phone. She watched Harry walk back to the bed and lie back to watch her. "Yes?" she asked, still smiling at her husband.

"Your Royal Highness, Doctor Parkins for you."

"Yes, alright," she said. Doctor Parkins was the fertility specialist giving her blood tests every two weeks to determine if she was pregnant. They were always negative. But the doctor knew to inform her as soon as the results came in, so the Sunday morning call was not unprecedented.

"Good morning, Your Royal Highness," came Doctor Parkins' cool voice. "I'm sorry to bother you on a Sunday," she said.

"No, that's alright. Your calls are important ones," Ruth told her.

"Your test results have come back, and I'm pleased to inform you that you and your husband have successfully conceived."

Ruth felt like she might have blacked out for a moment. "I…what?"

"You're pregnant," Doctor Parkins explained.

"Y-you're sure?" she asked weakly. She could hardly believe such a thing.

"Very sure, Your Royal Highness. About three weeks along. The last test we did was too early to detect pregnancy. Your levels on all relevant hormones and proteins are perfect. We'll have to monitor you closely, given your circumstances, but I am optimistic that you will have a healthy pregnancy and have a healthy baby in about thirty-seven weeks from now."

"Okay." Ruth could not put together a full sentence just yet.

"I'll be in contact with your scheduler so we can have regular appointments to keep an eye on everything. But congratulations to you and Sir Harry."

"Thank you."

She was vaguely aware of the doctor saying goodbye, but Ruth just hung up the phone, feeling quite stunned. This whole ordeal had been…well, an ordeal. She'd never really wanted children of her own, but knowing she had to produce an heir to the throne made it necessary. And in the necessity of it, in knowing she would be a mother whether she wanted to or not, Ruth had allowed herself to think of having a baby, of raising a child with Harry, of creating a life that was a mix of the two of them, of seeing their son or daughter grow and learn and become the next monarch of their nation. And she wanted it very much now. She was desperate to be pregnant and have a baby and all the rest. It had taken them so long and there had been nothing but disappointments until now. Until right now. Two days before her thirtieth birthday, Ruth had gotten the best gift imaginable.

"Harry," she said, finally blinking herself back to reality.

He was watching her with concern on his face but knowing her well enough to not press, to wait until she processed enough to speak to him, to not crowd her before she was ready to share with him. "What is it, Ruth?" he asked warily.

It was then that Ruth allowed herself to smile. Tears pricked her eyes and she didn't bother to blink them away. She ran over to the bed and leapt on it and into Harry's arms. "Harry, I'm pregnant!" she told him triumphantly.

"Bloody hell, I was right!?" he asked disbelief.

She laughed, not having recalled his theory of her already being pregnant from just ten minutes ago. "You were! I'm pregnant. Harry, we did it, we're going to have a baby!" Ruth felt like she might be going mad. She was so overwhelmed with joy and confusion and disbelief and excitement.

Harry, it seemed, was equally stunned. He just laughed and grinned and kissed her. He quickly rid her of the dressing gown and they got back to where they'd left off, this time celebrating so much more than Ruth's birthday.