"And then," I said, wiping my eyes with my handkerchief, "I came here." Mercer nodded as he listened to my story.
"Well Miss Norrington, "he said, shifting, "I understand why you wanted to show him your letter, but I also understand why he got so mad."
"Exactly who's side are you on, Mr. Mercer?" I asked with no emotion in my voice.
"Neither. But he does care. That's probably the whole reason why he got mad."
"Why?"
Mercer took a drink of his wine, and said, "Because he was scared. He actually started crying a little in the doctors office today while you were in false labor. He thought that he was going to loose the three of you."
I instantly felt horrible for saying those things to Cutler, but didn't show it. "Mr. Mercer, you don't think that it's un-proper that I was at your house without my husband, do you?"
Mercer instantly looked down, and blushed, catching on to what I was saying. "No," he said quietly. "You have feelings for Lord Beckett, and I have feelings for someone else."
I had never known this about him. "Really? For whom? I swear not to tell," I said, crossing my heart.
"For your friend, Rayanna."
I was taken a back. "Rayanna? Really? She's nothing like you!"
Mercer smiled, the first time I saw him do so. "Love is strange like that, isn't it, Miss Norrington? Complete with twists and turns in its many branches."
"That it is. But it is a wonderful thing, love. The thing that a man and woman share with each other." I felt a flutter in my stomach, signaling that one of the twins was awake, and that gave me an idea. "Mr. Mercer, come here, quick." He came over to where I was sitting. "Feel," I said, looking down at my tummy. He pressed his hand against my stomach, and waited for a second. It was so weird, the feeling of a man's hand on me that did not belong to Lord Beckett. After a second or two, one of the babies gave his hand a sharp kick.
He grinned widely, slowly taking his hand back. "Magical," he said under his breath. "Utterly magical." As soon as he said that, there was a knock at the door. Mercer got up to answer it, and a minuet later, came back, with Beckett following him. Cutler and I stood in front of each other, barley getting up the nerve to look at each other.
Mercer excused himself to go upstairs, leaving Cutler and I alone. I told him thank-you for letting me stay there, and bid him good-night. I opened my mouth to say something, but Cutler spoke instead, saying words I would never expect to hear from him.
"Heather, I'm sorry." He grabbed me, pulled me into a kiss, and then continued. "I was wrong. I was scarred, was all. Scarred that I would loose the three of you. Scarred that I would have to go to bed alone."
I shifted lustfully as he said that. "None the less, the day that we were up at the alter," He said, "I made a commitment to you that I would be there for you, through good times and bad. I did not fulfill that commitment today. You made a mistake, and I accept that. But after you went through, which must have been a lot scarier and painful than what I went through; I had no right to scold you."
"I accept your apology. If anything would happen to you that I felt you could have controlled, god forbid, I would have done the same exact thing. And I'm sorry for grabbing you, and for calling you those terrible names. I should not have been so brain-less, and realized that you were scolding me out of love."
"I deserved every name you called me, Heather. And, I rather liked it, even though it hurt, when you grabbed me. It reminded me of our wedding night." Then, leaning in close to him, I whispered, "But if you want to relive more of our wedding night, we shall go home."
A smile slowly crept across his face. We shall," he whispered back, taking my arm in his. We walked out the door and into the carriage together, hugging each other the entire way home.
When we got home, I picked out a scrawny little night gown, and went into our bathroom to change. When I got out, I saw Cutler standing by the balcony door, looking out at the sea, the moonlight reflecting beautifully off of his pale shoulders. I saw he had no shirt on, which made my hormones go wild. I sat down on the bed and looked at him for a short while, before he finally spoke up.
"One thing I love about when we fight, Heather," He said, turning and walking towards me, "is that I always want you more when we make up."With that, he knelt down before me, took off my slippers, and started planting kisses on my leg. Soon, he was lying in bed with me, as we accepted each others apologies, our own way.
Authors note
Oh, wow! So much lust in this chapter! Thank-you to my faithful reviewers! Without you, I would have never wrote this many chapters. Tell me who you support more; Mercer/Rayanna, or Rayanna/Jack.