Disclaimer: I neither own Reign, nor profit from this story.
Ch 20 - Expanding the Family
By the time they walked home Catherine was significantly calmer but the tears marks were still evident on her face.
Because it was unusual for their parents to be gone at such an odd time, all but Mary, Francis and Elisabeth rushed out to meet the couple as they approached.
Francis sauntered out not long after and joined in with the chaos.
Noticing the evidence of his mother's distress he intended to inquire about more details later on, but for now he would simply try to keep the little ones as occupied as possible.
While they were walking back Catherine and Henry decided how to tell the children. Having had so many pass through her body already Catherine knew she would soon begin to show, had she been paying attention she probably would have noticed it already.
Once the meal was finished Henry called for everyone to quiet down and made the announcement that there family would be growing again. The children were all stunned into silence at first but eventually they responded each in their own way.
Margot, Little Henry, and Charles were jumping up and down and came over to hug their mother.
Claude and Elisabeth were subdued in their answer though they did smile and passed on their congratulations, at which point Hercule started crying hysterically at the commotion. Elisabeth went to comfort him but both girls were no doubt already thinking about what it would mean to have another infant in the house.
Francis and Mary were both happy for them but were equally concerned that there was something else going on that they weren't being told. It seemed to big of a coincidence that their parents would come home so late and subdued and then make an announcement like this without them being connected.
Lessons passed by with little to note that evening. Catherine appreciated the ritual as it not only settled everyone but allowed her a moment to breathe.
Soon the little ones were sent off to bed and Henry sent Catherine to sit before the fire.
"But Henry I…"
"Have been exhausted, and should take every opportunity to rest that you can? Yes I fully agree my queen."
She looked at him crossly but moved to comply.
"Really Henry, if I am your queen than shouldn't you be answering to me and not ordering me around?"
"If you had not named me your king, and the king did not have authority over the queen I might agree. But as it stands, both are true and so my statement stands."
Now pouting slightly Catherine merely diverted her attentions, noting that her mending pile had grown quite a bit and she she decided to grab that before settling as requested by the fire.
All of the children came out to wish her goodnight as they finished readying for bed, with Mary, Francis, and Hercule coming out last. Catherine gladly set her work aside to take her youngest for his evening feeding.
His fussiness had calmed but only slightly. Indeed he was fairly acrobatic and at times refused to stay latched.
Eventually Francis could stand to it no longer and he asked plainly, "Mother we know that something else is going on that you are not telling us. You may not want to worry the younger ones, but Mary and I should at least know."
Catherine remained distracted with Hercule for a moment longer, taking the time to consider her words. Henry in the mean time stood up and moved to the side of Catherine's chair, placing one hand on her shoulder in a gesture of comfort. His movement caught her eye and she looked up at him before addressing their oldest children.
"There is not really anything wrong, it is more so a concern of the toll this pregnancy might take on me."
"Mother are you concerned that you will, I mean that you might…" Mary jumped in clearly aware of the dangers of childbirth and assuming the worst.
"We will know no more than we do a day at a time Mary," Catherine cautioned, sounding much calmer than she felt herself. "But yes, there is some concern that this will not be an easy pregnancy and there there may be some complications, particularly as the months near their end, and during the birth itself."
"I can seek out training in the ways of a midwife. I know I am young still, but it might at least help a little. I can go tomorrow once Francis and Bash are here so there will be plenty of help and…"
"Thank you Mary, but Nostradamus has helped me through most of my labors and I should be fine." Catherine answered, amused by Mary's desire to fix things and her impatience in doing so.
"Then what can we do to help?" Francis interjected, taking on the voice of reason, for which his father smiled, noting how grown up he sounded."
"Though your mother will not like this, we will all be making an extra effort to help out around here." Looking down at his wife with a look that left no room for her protests," The more she rests, the better off this will be for her and for the baby."
Hercule decided at that moment to flail himself nearly out of Catherine's lap.
Lunging for him, Henry decided that it was time for their littlest one to be put to bed himself.
"I will be back shortly," he spoke to no one in particular.
Leaning down to kiss Catherine on the forehead briefly he retreated back into their room.
Mary and Francis continued asking Catherine questions. Though they had not been unaware of what occurred during pregnancy as they were the eldest, they had never asked about the specifics.
When Henry returned the discussion was still continuing.
Sitting down at Catherine's feet he began removing her shoes and stockings.
"No Henry really, I am fine." Catherine protested, but to no avail.
This was one way that Henry had shown affection for his wife during every pregnancy since he figured out the magic of kneading her feet.
Mary and Francis tried to hide their giggles and snickers respectively as Catherine turned to putty in Henry's hands. Somewhere along the way her hands naturally moved to cradle her lower stomach.
The group dropped into silence, and the siblings eventually noticed that Catherine had nearly fallen asleep.
Henry nodded to Mary and Francis to retire and they each approached their parents to give them a kiss goodnight.
Catherine roused just enough to return their sentiments and Henry paused long enough to bid them good night properly. Eventually returning his gaze to his wife he could she that she had woken up just a little more and seemed relatively calm but pensive. It was an improvement from earlier but still one he was to fond of.
Offering his hand Catherine obliged, reaching out and grasping his fingers with her own.
As expected he helped to pul her her her feet but instead of beginning the journey to their rom he puled her closer and began swaying to a song Catherine could not hear.
"Henry what are you doing?" She questioned him sleepily.
"Well soon you will begin to grow and we will be unable to do this comfortably, so I thought I would begin storing up for later."
Appreciating the gesture but still thinking him silly she shook her head but laid it down on his chest anyway.
They continued on for a time, watching the fire die down and letting the peace of the night settle firmly over them.
Later, once they were tucked into bed, Catherine allowed Henry to cradle her securely. Not that she minded, but he was always more physically affectionate, sometimes a little too enthusiastically.
Tonight through she appreciated it as it helped to quell her spinning thoughts.
He had promised to be there for her, and always had.
No matter how these next months turned out, she knew he would be by her side.
He had earned her trust, and her love.
Her husband, her king.