AN : And here we go for chapter 6, I hope you will like it hihi :)
Disclaimer : I own nothing and do not make profit out of this story
Chapter 6 :
Henry pushed it open and went inside with his wife. Not even three seconds before he closed the door, his seven years old son Charles came running towards them and his eyes widened when the saw him before rushing into his arms and hugging him.
"DAD !"
"You're back !"
The general dropped his bags and caught his boy in his arms : "Hello buddy" he ruffled his hair and made him laugh even more.
His son was attached to one of his legs "I missed you dad" Charles smiled brightly.
"I missed you too" he smiled softly at his son. Catherine was observing the scene from the couch where she had sat and couldn't help but smiled softly. Henry looked up at her and saw her watching them, then he looked down at his smiling boy. His son was so surprised and happy to see him that he had completely forgotten about his mother's return. Henry smiled softly and kissed his cheeks "Let's go see mom Charles". He made sure to hold his hand so he wouldn't jump on his mom like he usually did. "You must be careful with your mom, she is still in a fragile condition".
Now Charles remembered "Oh yes ! Mom…" Charles eyes widened and he slowly walked to his mother with his father.
Catherine smiled softly at her son and stretched out one of her hands for him to take. "Come here sweetheart."
He took her hand and his smiled widened as he saw a little baby in her mother's arms "Ooohh… is it my sister ?" he walked closer to see more of the baby's face.
Catherine smiled softly and showed him his sister more closely while Henry sat softly beside her on the couch. Charles smiled and gently stroked the baby's cheek with a careful finger : "She is cute…" Both parents smiled at their son's carefulness.
"Her name is Margot" Catherine smiled softly.
"Could I hold her ?" Charles was still observing his baby sister.
"Come sit here" Catherine petted the couch beside her and Charles climbed the sofa to sit where his mom has said he should. Then Catherine carefully placed Margot in her son's arms. Charles was smiling from ear to ear "She is so little".
Henry and Catherine observed their two youngest children and smiled but then, Margot burped and milk came out of her mouth.
"Oh Oh…" Charles eyes widened. "It's alright sweetheart" Catherine reassured her son and took her baby back in her arms while Henry got up and went upstairs to look for fresh clothes for Margot.
Just then, the sound of the door opening disturbed the scene and Francis came through the opening.
"Hello everyo…" The seventeen year old teen was so shocked to see his mother had given birth that he didn't finish his sentence. "Mom ?!"
"Yes Francis, I know… but it's alright, come here" she smiled at her eldest son. Not knowing what to say, Francis did exactly as his mother had asked and came closer there he could take a closer look at the baby.
"It's your sister, Margot" Catherine smiled proudly and Francis smiled too when he saw the baby's cute face. "She is adorable" he sat beside his brother and sat him on his lap "It seems we have another adorable sister…" and Charles gladly nodded. Catherine smiled at them silently but after a few moments, Francis broke the silence : "Mom, why didn't you call me ?" his mother sighed softly "well, it was quite unexpected and I didn't want to bother you on your weekend… - Francis had spend the ending of the week at one of his best friends house – moreover, I got a special and unpredicted help…"
Francis was outraged "But mom, you wouldn't have bothered ! You probably needed help…" he sighed "and whose help are you talking about ?" he frowned.
Henry who had finally found a fresh nappy and clothes for his baby was descending the stairs when he heard the conversation between his wife and sons : "Mine I suppose…" he answered Francis' question.
"Dad ?! You're back ?!" he was astonished.
Henry smiled "Yes, I'm back…" he walked to his son. "It's a long story… come with me."
He waited for his son to get up while he gave Margot's things to Catherine "here are her fresh clothes" his wife nodded "thank you"
Then, the general placed his hand on his eldest son's shoulder and walked with him to the terrace outside while Catherine took care of Charles and changed Margot's clothes.
/-/-/-/-/
Outside on the terrace
Francis was still so surprised "We didn't get word from you." He looked at his father intently and waited for the explanation. Henry sighed, "Yes… I know… it's a very complicated story." Henry explained to Francis the story without getting into too much detail "The person responsible for the mail at the camp lost the letters… so you never received mine and I never got yours… or your mother's…"
Francis frowned "I see… but that's odd… mom wrote a lot of letters to you… especially since she learned she was pregnant…" Henry sighed more "I know… she told me… in fact it's sabotage… the responsible I was talking about is an old acquaintance of mine… and she didn't take it too well when I chose your mother over her…" he looked at his son's eyes. Francis nodded slowly in understanding of the situation "Oh… I see…" he looked up at his father's eyes… "I think mom will be upset for a while… and Claude too…". The general sighed more "I know… and this time it's not even my fault…" he observed the wide garden of their house and sighed again. Francis put his hand on his father's shoulder "I understand…" Henry turned around and smiled softly, he had known his eldest son would understand, "Thank you…" as he spoke, his attention was caught by the scene that was happening inside. He could see through the glass of the patio door that Margot looked quite upset and was crying loudly… Francis saw his dad's eyes leaving him and observing something from behind him and turned around to see what it was only to be confronted to the same sight as Henry. "Well… it looks like mom could use some help…" With his eyes never leaving Catherine and Margot Henry quickly walked back inside "Indeed…"
Francis chuckled softly and shook his head in amusement before following him inside.
/-/-/-/-/
Back inside of the house
Catherine was trying to calm her baby girl but she wouldn't stop crying and the new mother was exhausted… "Shh… come on Margot, calm down" she kissed the baby's forehead and cheeks but nothing could appease the little girl…
Henry walked to her silently and saw their baby was quite upset "Can I try ?" he didn't know if his wife would let him take Margot now. Catherine sighed and looked up at him "She is miserable… she can't stop crying…" Henry nodded and held out his arms "Let me take her" he smiled slightly. Catherine sighed "Alright…" she gave Margot to him, she was absolutely convinced that he would never succeed to make her stop crying… if she couldn't, he certainly couldn't…
In the meantime, Francis had taken Charles to play in the gardens and the little boy had quickly run outside in his great excitement and his older brother had followed.
Back inside, Henry took his baby in his arms and whispered softly in her ear "Shh… come on sweetheart, you are far more adorable when you don't cry…" he kissed her soft cheek and made sure she was warm in his arms. Just when he said that, the baby gradually stopped crying and cuddled in her dadda's arms. He smiled, he was very satisfied with himself and was even more when he looked up and saw his wife's astonished expression.
Catherine's eyes widened in surprise… this couldn't be possible. "How…? How did you do that ?"
Henry grinned, he was very happy with himself now "Well, I certainly know how to speak to my little lady…"
Catherine sighed and walked to go upstairs, it reminded her of the story with Diane "You certainly do know how to speak to ladies…" Henry sighed and followed her as he understood what she was thinking about and cursed himself from having said this "Catherine wait… I didn't mean it like that…" he took her arm.
Catherine sighed and took a step back so he wouldn't touch her, she didn't feel like being touched now… "I'm tired Henry…" she didn't even give him time to answer and fled upstairs… Henry sighed in disappointment and went back to sit on the couch with Margot. He had just made this comment as a joke and he didn't imagine that it could trigger such a reaction with his wife. "Maybe your mama is just tired…" he told his now calm baby.
/-/-/-/-/
Upstairs – in Catherine's chambers
Catherine laid down on her bed right away and cuddled underneath the covers… she sighed and closed her eyes… but as soon as she did that, images of that snake Diane with her husband appeared before her eyes… she was seeing this woman wrapped in Henry's arms and kissing him softly just like she would… Even though she knew now that nothing had happened between them, she still saw the same images… and she began to doubt… what if her husband had just lied ? He could very well have made up this story of letters with the position he had in the army, it would have been easy for him… even though she had seen the picture of her letters with his, she was doubting… doubting her husband's sincerity… maybe he was just trying to manipulate her… just this thought alone made small tears run down her cheeks…
AN : Here we go with chapter 6 ! I hope you like it :) Thank you for all your reviews and messages on insta, it warms my heart and really motivates me to continue :)
Take care
Laura D.
