Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Sense and Sensibility! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates on the second and fourth Saturday of each month!
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Mrs. Jennings was quick to spread the news about Marianne's latest pregnancy by utilizing the art of swift gossip.
Elinor, Mrs. Dashwood, and Margaret were overjoyed about the announcement, but worry plagued their hearts.
A pregnancy with a single child was dangerous enough, survival rates for mothers and babies during the birth of multiples were alarmingly low.
No one seemed more aware of that grim reality than Christopher.
Dr. Harris's theory about the potential of twins residing in Marianne's womb seemed more and more probable as the months slowly passed.
Marianne suffered from an exhaustion she had never felt in her life, not even during her two previous pregnancies, as well as bouts of unpredictable, uncontrollable, and violent sickness.
Christopher ended all of his travel as his wife's condition advanced, not daring to leave her side for a moment as each day presented the possibility of a new challenge.
Although, after nights when she was able to sleep and lulls between episodes of being ill, Marianne actually felt rather decent.
Whenever her stomach did not force her to empty its contents, Mrs. Brandon was besieged by a voracious appetite, which Christopher eagerly accomodated.
He watched his wife's belly grow with a gentle softness in his eyes.
One particular morning, as he and Marianne climbed out of bed to ready for their day, Christopher paused to watch her as she lifted her nightdress above her head and stood for a moment with her bare figure on display.
A look of silent awe crossed Christopher's face as he watched Marianne sigh while she placed a hand on the side of her magnificent, rounded womb.
She barely heard him walk over as he swept up behind her, splayed his fingers over the swell, and pressed a gentle kiss to her delicate neck.
"My darling, Marianne…….there are no words in existence to describe your beauty." Christopher whispered in her ear.
Marianne giggled quietly as her husband snaked one arm around her to possessively hold her belly while he moved his other hand to cup one of her heavy breasts.
"Christopher……." Marianne sighed, "...How can you even look at me like this?"
"You know how delightful I find it when you're in full bloom, my love." Christopher whispered as he planted another lingering kiss on the sensitive flesh of her throat.
"Christopher!" Marianne gasped as her husband's fingertips drifted over one of her fattened nipples.
She let her head rest against his chest as his lips brushed her throat while his hands roamed across her naked body.
"I'm…..I'm carrying your twins." Marianne gasped as she leaned forward and clutched onto the dresser for support, "I'm certain of it."
Her blue eyes widened in anticipation as her husband pressed against her and let the silhouette of his arousal rub against her bottom.
"All the more reason I should reward you, my love." Christopher whispered in his low purr of a voice.
Marianne squealed in delight as he carefully lifted her and carried her back to the bed, secure in his strong grasp.
Christopher sat her down on the bed as tenderly as if she were made of glass before he knelt in front of her and gently took her full breasts into his hands as he leaned forward.
Marianne tried to stifle the cry that forced its way out of her throat as she leaned back once his mouth found her rosy peaks.
While the rest of those who inhabited the Brandon estate rose from their beds and readied for their day, Marianne rose from the earth to soar through the sky itself as her husband sent her flying over high peaks of pleasure.
Her aching body did nothing to dull the heightened sensations of intimacy.
Christopher greedily swallowed his beloved's cries with a hungry kiss as they coupled.
He knotted his hands in Marianne's soft hair after he slipped from her once he found his own release.
She laughed as he laid down and pulled her close to him, but he purposely avoided letting his darling see his face.
Christopher couldn't stand to have his dignity ruined by allowing his precious wife to see the tears of pure sentiment that leaked from his eyes.
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No amount of kisses or gentle touches could ease Marianne's discomforts as her belly reached such a massive size that she could no longer bend over.
She needed assistance to sit or stand by the end of the season, but Christopher didn't mind in the least.
He would gladly allow Marianne to rely on him, in fact, nothing pleased him more than knowing that his beautiful wife needed him.
Emma and Cecilia played on the floor of the parlor one morning while Marianne rested on the chaise.
Christopher had purposely pulled a chair beside her so that he could sit with his hand splayed over the heaviness of her womb as he read from a book.
Whenever he felt movement underneath his fingers, he glanced up questioningly at Marianne, who would cast him an exhausted smile before she looked back over at their daughters.
As amazing as he found his unborn children's motions, Christopher understood that in the later stages of pregnancy, they caused his darling quite a bit of irritation.
He couldn't imagine how much his wife's aches were amplified with not one, but two lives wriggling in her womb.
While Emma and Cecilia laughed as they amused each other, deeply engrossed in their current game of make-believe, Christopher immediately looked up at Marianne as she gasped when a violent jolt landed sharply against the center of his palm.
"My darling, are you alright?" He asked as he furrowed his brow in concern.
"I will be if my organs ever recover." Marianne huffed as she glanced down at her belly. Her breasts heaved as she frowned at her husband and insisted, "These two will be the end of me, Christopher."
His look of warranted concern twisted into one of unspeakable horror as he took his wife's statement as an intuitive harbinger.
"I was only joking." Marianne comforted him with a warm smile.
She laughed as she noticed her husband didn't seem entirely convinced of her jest.
While the girls played, Marianne grit her teeth as Christopher spent the rest of the day fussing over her.
He ordered Mrs. Millins to bring several fluffy pillows for her to lie against, which he immediately placed behind her as he asked over and over if she were alright, if there was anything he could do, how she felt then….if she felt any better or not…..
Marianne sighed to herself as she tried to remember how very fortunate she was to have such a loving husband.
She felt that it would be easier to appreciate Christopher's attentive actions after the babes she carried had left her belly.
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Once summer ended and fall arrived, Emma and Cecilia liked to giggle amongst themselves about how much their mother's swollen abdomen reminded them of a pumpkin.
Marianne ignored her daughters' observation, but Christopher frowned.
He played with his little ones less as he staunchly refused to leave Marianne's side.
There were times when she went upstairs to their bedroom for a nap after she claimed the exhaustion brought on by her condition made it impossible for her to stay awake.
Christopher would hover outside the door, unbeknownst to Marianne, but although she lay in bed with her eyes closed, she rarely slept.
Instead, she merely enjoyed the peaceful moments of uninterrupted silence.
Once, she dared to turn and face the doorknob as her eyes stared off into the distance.
Immediately, Christopher threw the door open and strode into the room.
"Marianne, my darling?" He asked with a look of great worry on his face, "What's the matter? What keeps you from your rest?...Are you hurting? Shall I send for the midwife? I can-"
"-Oh, Christopher, please! I'm perfectly fine!" Marianne insisted as she sucked in a breath and put a hand to her head as she closed her eyes, "I'm only trying to enjoy a moment of quiet!"
Christopher gazed at his wife as if she had slapped him across the face.
A remorseful silence fell between them until Marianne opened her eyes and sat up in bed as she frowned at her husband.
"Forgive me, Christopher." She pleaded as she glanced down at her belly then back up to his face, "I……I didn't mean to show you any unkindness….You've been so incredibly thoughtful, more so than I could ever ask. I just….there's a constant feeling of frustration that lingers and my temper, it's grown so short….along with my patience! Not only with you, or the girls, with everything….A butterfly at the windowsill will annoy me!"
"You feel……frustrated, Marianne?" Christopher asked.
"I do, yes." She nodded as she chuckled dryly, "I know that must sound mad, but there's little I can do about it."
"Did you feel this way when you carried the girls?" He asked as he walked over and sat at her bedside.
"I did, yes." Marianne frowned as she thought, "Although not nearly anywhere as much, I can say with confidence that it's as if it's worse with two."
Christopher looked into her face.
The soft devotion expressed in his gentle frown helped soothe Marianne's rageful hostility.
He leaned in ever so slightly as she did the same……
Closer and closer they moved towards each other until their eyes closed as their lips met.
Christopher knew not the aches and pains of carrying children, but for the next blissful hour, he did his very best to relieve his wife's frustrations with every fiber of his body and soul.
Later, two shouts rang out and interrupted their peace.
"Daddy!"
"Daddy, it's nearly time for dinner! Where are you?!"
By the time Christopher stood from the bed and dressed hurriedly to answer his daughters' calls from downstairs, Marianne was on her side, asleep, with a wide smile on her face and every bit of her irritated anger pleasantly purged.
