"Vera, stop it, you look fine." Hamish commented as she went to play with her hair for the third time within an hour. Actually she looked more than fine, she looked 'fine'. Nobody could pull off the little black dress like Vera could. Despite her previous complaints about not fitting into a lot of her skirts Hamish was finding it hard to notice if anything had actually changed about her. Actually from how little she ate every day and how sick she often was, normally from sun up to sun down he had trouble imagining she hadn't just lost a bunch of weight which was probably more concerning for him. She had put her hair up in a very beautiful bun with a single braid that held it all together and there was something distracting about having her hair up. She had an amazing slender neck, one that was in constant temptation of being kissed. It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't also have those beautiful slender shoulders as well.
Her black dress just hung lightly from her shoulders giving him a good view of her porcelain skin contrasted by those ruby red lips and almost midnight colored hair. The only thing breaking it up was the delicate silver chain around her neck, Tiffany of course because despite Vera having come from simple beginnings she was still a lady who liked the finer things in life. That and Hamish had gotten it for her the day after she told him they were keeping the baby. Maybe it was a thank you gift or perhaps more realistically he just wanted to spoil her a little. As she went to correct his placement of the silverware on the table Hamish just stood there quietly thinking of how much he enjoyed seeing the more domestic side of her. He pictured a time in the future where they threw a party at their home for their friends and family, maybe a Christmas party since it had always been his favorite holiday.
He could picture her with a glass of champagne in her hand chatting with his sisters and that smile on her face that brought the whole room to life. He could see her charming his friends from back in his home state, winning them over with her wit and shining personality. He could see them making a house a home and carrying their child up the steps late at night when they'd fallen asleep to a family movie, tucking them in at night, kissing them on the cheek, and looking back unable to recall what life was like when they'd both been alone. Hamish was only snapped out of his daydreaming when Vera walked up to him and snapped his fingers. "You still here?"
Hamish shook his head a little and smiled at her, "Oh, sorry, I was just thinking of something." They'd spent the better half of the day getting his apartment ready while Vera made an amazing meal. He'd left her that task since unlike him she was actually a fantastic chef in her own right. Vera grabbed hold of his tie, fixing it up a little since Hamish had sort of frantically gotten dressed. He wasn't his usual calm self, not surprising from what she knew of his parents. Feeling a little left out Hamish moved her belt on her waist and then moved it back since it had actually already been in the right spot. Once there was a knock on the door Vera tensed up and walked away from him looking more nervous than before. "Don't worry Vera, they are going to love you."
He started walking towards the door to open it, stopping when he saw Vera pick up a glass of champagne and start drinking it. "Vera."
She paused swallowing hard, "Oh, it's sparkling white grape juice. I didn't want to feel left out and I need something carbonated to help with the baby woozies."
He still felt bad about that, Hamish was counting the days until Vera started feeling at least a little better. It was hard enough having to remember to never put anything overly smelly on and a few times even just the smell of his aftershave had made her super sick. He was trying to play it so safe no everything he used from his shampoo to his laundry detergent was odorless. "Alright, just making sure." Another knock on the door made Hamish pick up speed.
On the other side of the door he could hear a rather pompous upper New York accent, "Hamish dear, it's mother. Are you home?" Oh god, his mother was one of those kinds of people. Vera slammed the rest of her drink wishing she could have alcohol now but at least this should help keep her from throwing up. She was suddenly feeling a little extra nauseous. Hamish opened the door letting in a woman who wore pearl earrings and her own style of a little black dress. Everything was designer and her blond curls were cropped short, just above the shoulder. Walking into the apartment she hugged Hamish and gave him a kiss on each cheek. Oh great, now she was feeling extra sick. After her little greeting to her token male heir she handed him a bottle of wine. "We should crack that open, I've spent a three hour drive alone with your father."
Behind her came a tall slender man, now Vera could see where Hamish got all that height from. He had darker hair but not quite brunette. His blue eyes reminded her a little of Hamish's but the rest of him didn't. He was a rather cold and daunting looking guy, too much like Edward. He walked in without even saying hello to Hamish and instead handed the boy his jacket before instantly looking at her. As Hamish hung up his father's jacket he brushed off his vest and walked towards Vera. "Mother, father, this is Vera, my girlfriend." Hamish shook his head after hearing that word out loud. It sounded so wrong now, first off Vera wasn't a girl but ladyfriend seemed even stranger. Of course Tundra's option of calling Vera their mate wasn't going to fly with Vera.
She didn't linger on the awkwardness for long though as she stepped forward and gave one of her charming smiles. Vera was after all used to dealing with strangers and politics more than Hamish cared to think about. Shaking his mother's hand first and then his father's Vera took another sip of her drink and addressed them. "A pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Duke."
"Charming." His father spoke up, his voice almost monotone. "Surprised you managed to find someone with a little more class than that last girl. Do you have a name too or should I just call you by a possessive title."
Vera already wanted to put a murder curse on him and Vera was highly against them. Hamish looked like he'd been punched in the gut too. Cassie. She should have known, his father had been speaking of Cassie hadn't he. For the love of god this asshole was going to be her child's grandfather? She'd almost prefer the father who didn't even know she existed. "Vera Stone."
"Vera Stone." He paused running the name through his head. "You are the chancellor of Belgrave University aren't you? Or her daughter by the same name?" Honestly she was a bit young for the chancellor of a university but who was he to say what age she had to be? Still older than Hamish.
"Yes, I am the chancellor of Belgrave University."
"A bit young for the task aren't you?"
"Not at all, I graduated two years ahead of time and obtained a doctorate shortly after."
"Smart and beautiful, maybe you can show my son how to push himself a little better before he drops out like he did with law school."
Vera felt her hand clench into a fist as she took a deep breath and smiled. Vera, you can't murder your baby's grandfather no matter how much he deserves it.
"Yes, well." Hamish's mother seemed a little more down to earth minus her spoiled rich brat vibes she gave off. She already had a glass of wine in her hand and Vera couldn't blame her. She'd drink too if she was married to that man. "I'd like to retire to the dining room. It smells delightful in here and it's been a long drive. You know your father always gets cranky when he's hungry." She smiled and pinched the man's cheek. Seemed like she was the only one who could get away with it. If that wasn't fucking love then Vera didn't know what was.
"Oh, you'll love it mother, Vera made lobster since I told her that you were a seafood aficionado."
Was it bad she wanted to run from this whole situation? Suddenly not having a family seemed so wonderful. She didn't even realize she was resting her hand over her child when she internally made two promises to them. 'I am never going to be like this to you and I am never leaving you alone with these people.' Now Vera had to snap out of her own mind. "Hamish do you want to help me grab everything while your parents go sit down?"
"I would love to." He rested her hand on her lower back and walked into the kitchen with her. Once they were out of earshot Hamish pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry Vera. At least you can look on the bright side, I think my father likes you."
"I think I hate him." He kissed her on the cheek and smiled at her.
"Me too." Hamish grabbed the plate of lobsters and let Vera take the salad since she was convinced that was all she was going to be able to eat today anyways. "He thinks you are smart and beautiful though. Well, I knew he would have thought you were beautiful, you are his type." Vera snapped a look at him that said shut up. "He has a bit of a wandering eye."
"Gross." Vera felt sick to her stomach again.
"Don't worry Vera, I think you have outgrown his preferred age range."
"I'm never letting our baby stay with them, ever." Hamish smirked at her and kissed her on the cheek.
"I'll second that." Vera grabbed the bread before they both walked out into the dinning room and set the food down. With candles lit and wine glasses surprisingly filled Vera couldn't help but notice his father was in her seat at the head of the table. For a moment Vera just looked at him mentally wanting to fight him. One thing would forever be true, Vera was not only a leader but she was an alpha female. Perhaps why as a leader to the wolves with a very alpha female hide he was so attracted to her.
Vera saw that Hamish's mother had gone ahead and poured her a glass of white wine which Vera had to take and set down at Hamish's seat. "Sorry, I don't drink." That hurt to say out loud. What Vera wanted to say is 'I'm sorry, I want to drink but I also don't want to give this baby brain damage.' Once Hamish dished out everyone's lobsters he sat down, his mother looking over at Vera.
"Not hungry dear?"
"No, I just am having a salad." She tried to dish her salad out on her plate when the woman spoke up again, finally making Vera not like her so much.
"Maybe for the best dear, you look like you are carrying just a bit of extra weight."
Vera put down her fork and let out a sigh as Hamish reached under the table and took her hand. Personally he hadn't noticed but he saw her every day so perhaps it just wasn't obvious enough to him next but a small part of him wanted to be excited about it. Unfortunately for Vera she didn't hear the idea that maybe their baby was getting bigger, all she heard was his mother calling her fat. Still holding her hand he did something that just made Vera tense up more. Better to rip the bandaid off now than play this out slowly. "No mother, that's just the baby weight. Vera is actually a bit underweight at ten weeks."
His mother almost instantly dropped her fork while his father choked on a sip of his wine. "Oh." His mother seemed a little foolish. "You're pregnant."
Vera had been ill prepared to deal with the situation, rather than giving an answer she stood up from the table and walked away storming through his apartment and walking into his bedroom. With a wave of her arm she slammed the door shut and cracked the frame. Falling into the bed Vera pressed her face into the pillow to stifle the sound of her sniffling. Hamish's father sat there looking at him, nodding his head towards the direction Vera had taken off in. "You are just going to sit there?"
Hamish got up following after her and reaching for the bedroom door. He tried to open it only to realize it was locked. "Vera, open the door please." Hamish jiggled the handle again until he was finally able to twist it and open the door. Walking inside he headed over to the bed sitting down beside her and putting a hand on her upper back. "Maybe I should have told them before they came or maybe I should have let you tell them when you were ready. I just didn't want my mother to start picking at you. I know you already are having a hard time with all this."
"I hate this." Vera spoke up and turned around facing Hamish. "I don't do families."
"I know you aren't too happy about it Vera but you are in the Duke family now. Admittedly not how I wanted you to meet them. I was sort of hoping we would do the family meeting and do all the having kids down the road."
"Can I just turn them both into bookends? I think my life would be so much better if you just let me turn them into bookends."
Hamish laughed and kissed her on the lips before nuzzling his nose against hers. "I really wish I could tell you yes but i think my sisters would get worried. Good news is Emma and Luci are nothing like my parents. Emma will be so excited to meet you and my nephew Lucas will think you are the coolest person on earth." Vera groaned, the thought of meeting more people gave her a headache. Just meeting these two was giving her anxiety. "Don't you groan at me Vera Stone." He kissed her again. "We should probably get back to dinner."
Vera turned around putting her back towards him again. "Just tell your parents I don't feel good. I'm not going back." Hamish rubbed her shoulder trying to make her feel better.
"Well then get to sleep early. You don't need to constantly be exhausted. I'll come in later and if you are not asleep then missy, I'll be so upset I'll put you to sleep." Hamish tickled her side making her squirm and try to hold in a snort.
"Shhh." Vera put a finger up to warn him. "I'm Grand Magus, you don't give me orders. I give you orders."
Hamish took her hand with a smile and kissed the back of it. "Oh course Grand Magus."