"I think the baby will okay," Margaux said finally.
Kenna breathed a sigh of relief.
"I think you should stay in bed for a few days though, just to be safe."
"But Mary and Francis are leaving soon. I don't want to be stuck in bed for the rest of their visit," Kenna protested.
Margaux just gave her a look that Kenna knew not to argue with.
"Alright, off to bed I go."
"That's a good girl, I'll have some of your favorite tarts sent up."
When Kenna was almost out of the room Margaux spoke up again, "And Lady Kenna," Kenna turned to look at her, "I'm glad you're home safe. We were all quite worried about you."
Kenna smiled, the older women might be no nonsense, but she knew that she thought of her like a daughter.
7 Months Later...
"Do we have to invite her?" Kenna asked, her and Greer were addressing invitations for her and Mary's baby shower and she had gotten to a name she certainly hadn't included on the list.
"Kenna, she's my mother, the baby's grandchild. Besides, she hasn't seen the house yet and that's part of the reason for having this party," Bash explained.
"But she hates me," Kenna complained.
Bash circled around the table and put his hands on her shoulders, "She wasn't overly fond of you when you were unseating her position at court, but now you're her daughter in law. She's had time to get used to the idea of you. And besides, I love you, so she'll just have to love you too."
Kenna sighed but addressed the invitation. She hoped that Diane de Poitiers was not one to hold grudges.
"Greer do you have Mary's list?"
"Yes, she sent it along with me. There isn't many people on it, though. Most of the people she wanted to be there, you were already inviting. There's going to be an official party after their baby is born that will include all the noble guests."
Kenna nodded, both her and Mary had agreed that they wanted just a small gathering before the babies were born and Mary would be tied up with lots of visits to the royal heir.
Kenna raised her eyebrows at one of the names on the list, "She's inviting her mother? This is certainly going to be quite the get together. Diane de Poitiers, Catherine de Medici, and Marie de Guise all under one roof."
Thinking about all the grandmothers made Kenna sad that her own mother wouldn't be there, but then she thought of Odete, Genevieve, and Margaux. The three ladies had been sewing up baby clothes, sharing advice, and helping Kenna oversee the decorating of the nursery, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the baby. She would have to drag them out of the kitchens but she wanted them to be a part of the party.
"Ugh, I'm so huge. This is going to be one big baby," Kenna complained that night while she was standing by her dressing mirror.
"You're not huge," Bash said.
Kenna turned around and shot him a look.
"Okay, so your belly is quite huge but you're still beautiful. And I'm just relieved to know there's a healthy baby inside. After your little adventure I thought we wouldn't make it to this point."
"Me too," Kenna smiled as she walked over to join him in bed. "Oh!"
"What?" Bash asked.
Kenna placed his hand over her stomach. "Feel that?"
Bash beamed as he felt their baby kicking. "Have you thought about names yet?" he asked.
Kenna had known from the beginning that if it was a boy she wanted it to be Andrew and if it was a girl, Carolyn. She shared that with Bash and he agreed.
They were quiet for a while before Bash spoke up, "Kenna, I know you're worried that my mother is going to stir up trouble but she's a reasonable woman. She'll leave the past in the past."
"But what if she doesn't? What if she still resents me?"
"I will stand by you," Bash promised taking her hand in his.
Twins? Kenna was still processing Margaux's words. "Are you positive?"
"Well it's hard to know for sure but I'm fairly positive."
"No wonder I'm so huge," Kenna commented.
She noticed a sad look on Margaux's face, "Are you okay, Margaux?"
"There are obviously more complications with twins. Childbirth is risky to begin with. I don't mean to scare you Lady Kenna, but we're going to have to take extra precautions. I have a friend who's a proper midwife and I will have her come help when the time comes." Margaux must have noticed the horrified look on Kenna's face because she quickly added, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up. You'll be fine, you're healthy and young."
But Margaux's words did little to reassure Kenna and she went outside to look for Bash.
Bash saw Kenna approaching with tears in her eyes.
"Kenna?"
She just walked up to him and buried her head in his shoulder.
After a few minutes she looked up to him and said, "I'm having twins."
Bash was confused as to why that was such a sad thing, "Kenna, that's great! We can handle two kids at once just fine."
"If I don't die in childbirth," Kenna muttered.
Oh. Bash hadn't even thought about that. He stroked her hair and did his best to comfort her, "What did Margaux say?"
"She's going to bring in a friend to help with the birth, she thinks I'll be okay though. Will you be there? To hold my hand?"
"Of course, where else would I be?" Bash replied.
"Mary and Francis are here!" Greer shouted from the downstairs.
Kenna and Bash broke apart from their kiss and Kenna quickly smoothed her hair and straightened Bash's shirt.
"Coming!" Kenna shouted.
"I'm looking forward to when I can stand closer than a foot away from you again," Bash muttered, which made Kenna laugh.
As anxious as she was about giving birth she was ready to be not so...round.
"Just a few more weeks," Kenna replied, giving Bash one last kiss.
They walked hand in hand down to the entryway to greet Mary and Francis.
After they had exchanged hellos, the brothers went outside to discuss some piece of court news and the ladies talk of course turned to their pregnancies.
"Mary, how are you feeling?"
"A bit tired but good. I'm ready for the baby to be here though. I feel fat as a cow."
"At least you're only having one..."
"What? Wait Kenna, are you having twins?"
"Margaux is fairly sure and believe me, there is no way it's just one baby in here," Kenna answered patting her stomach.
Kenna noticed the crinkle that Mary gets between her eyebrows when she's worried appear for a split second, but it was quickly replaced with a smile, "That's wonderful Kenna. Perhaps you'll have a girl and a boy, wouldn't that be lovely? Oh and Greer, it's good to see you again. I have some news for you about Leith that I'll share later."
Greer raised her eyebrows at that but just nodded.
"Mary, Greer come down to the kitchen with me. I want you to taste some of the foods the women have been preparing for tomorrow..."
"Oh Genevieve you have outdone yourself! These tarts are delicious. Thank you for putting in so much extra work to prepare the food for our party," Mary said after they had tasted everything the cooks had laid out for them.
"It's an honor Your Grace," Genevieve replied.
"So Mary, you said you had something to say about Leith," Greer prodded.
"Ah yes, he wanted me to inform you that he was hoping you'd decide whether or not you would marry him... soon," Mary replied.
Greer buried her head in her hands. It was clear to Kenna that her friend was very conflicted.
"I know it's not fair to either of them to keep things undecided. I mean Castleroy doesn't know, he's still away, but I haven't signed my marriage contract with him yet and I just can't say yes to Leith. If I was only thinking of myself, I would marry Leith, but I have to think of my sisters and what my marriage to Castleroy would offer them," Greer lamented.
"Greer, I know it seems like you'll never love Castleroy like you love Leith, but look at me. Was Bash my first choice or the person I thought was my true love? Absolutely not. But now, I couldn't be happier that Henry forced us together. I love him and can't imagine my life with anyone else. If you feel that Castleroy is the right choice, you can come to love him. Or if you feel that you can't possibly imagine a life without Leith than marry him," Kenna advised.
"Thanks Kenna real helpful, you basically just reminded me of why I can't decide. I think Castleroy is the right choice but I don't want to be without Leith. You're lucky, you didn't have to decide and it turned out great for you," Greer replied sadly.
Kenna had never quite realized how nice it was that she didn't have to make a choice of who she should marry, she just got stuck with Bash and it worked out perfectly.
Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed! Sorry it took so long, I had so much trouble deciding if I wanted to do a time jump or where I wanted to go next with the plot. The next few chapters should be up a lot sooner :)