Hello all!

Bit of a shorter chapter today, but well worth it I think ; )

I love you all. I hope you are all staying happy and healthy.

Please let me know what you think!

xoxo

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Over the next week the significant snow fall which had ensured a very unique Christmas in the Rochester home began to melt with a flush of warmer weather, so it became possible for carriages to travel on the main roads again. As a result, the full house began to empty as the guests departed within a few days of one another.

The first to leave was Lady Denver and, to Jane's great happiness, Mary. It had been somewhat of a surprise that both she and Lady Denver had thought that Edward's idea of spending some time together was a good one, and it took relatively little arranging as Mary had brought all of her necessities with her when she had come to the Rochester's for Christmas. The only point of difficulty was leaving Daniel- not because Diana and the Captain were reluctant to take him on their own, but because Mary found it more challenging on the day of departure than she anticiated she would. Lady Denver had drummed her fingers impatiently on the door of the carriage as Mary stepped out again to say goodbye to her son for a third time, holding her hands to her mouth in hesitation as she reluctantly stepped away from him. In spite of this, Jane could not help feeling that such would be exactly what Mary required in order to feel more herself when she returned to him and her sister in a month or so. As for Lady Denver, she was happier then she let on to have a companion for the month, a time which she had previously confided to Jane was lonely for her. In Lady Denver's capeability of expression, this was practically a confession gushing with feeling.

The next to depart were the Eshtons. They were hesitant to return to their house while guests still remained at the Rochesters, yet they were forced to leave in anticipation of some of Anne's family arriving within the week. Eshton was not as thrilled as his wife at this prospect, but he was well natured about her excitement overall. Jane never would have known apart from him speaking to her in a moment where Anne was distracted with other conversation. He had told her that he knew his house party would not be half so plesant as the one he was leaving and Jane had tried to incourage him by offering that he might be surprised this time around, but she even doubted this based on some of the stories she had heard. Anne lamented more that she would miss spending so much time with other women, and Jane could understand why. She, unlike herself, had grown up with a sister, nannies, cousins, and friends who all spent much time together as young girls. She knew what it was to miss this where Jane, in truth, did not. She counted herself exceptionally lucky to have the fiends and family she now possessed, but to have these friends from youth and miss the sensation in adulthood was not something she could relate to. Still, she left contented enough with a promise from Jane that she could come and visit before the baby came.

It was several days after this before the Franklins or Hogwoods left. Diana and the Captain had further to ride than the others and so the roads were not safe enough to travel on until after a few additional days of sun. Similarly, the Hogwoods had an even further way to go and did not want to chance their trip on poor roads, so they also remained a few additional days. Over this more quiet time Jane continued to discover that she enjoyed the company of Baron Hogwood. He was very sensible, and his age had wisened him in a way his young wife could not relate to. When she was around the conversation was kept generally to topics such as town, the weather, and aquaintances in social circles that possibly knew one another. When Georgiana was with the others, though, Jane and the Baron primarily spoke about his children's youths and his own young life married to his first wife. Jane had the impression he liked to talk about his past, but rarely got the chance with his young bride and she did not mind letting him reminice as long as he liked. She did not mind, for she knew he loved his new wife in his own way. Apart from this, Jane enjoyed her time with Diana. They spoke at length about her life, her home, and how her husband going away was perhaps a positive thing for them both. Diana mused that she wished Jane would come and stay with her and Mary, but that it was of course impossible given that she was married with a child. Jane agreed that it would be nice, even reminicent of old times, but her cousin's wish reminded her that Diana was more rooted in the past more than she was, longing for a comfortable time which had long passed. Never having been in a position that granted her such happiness before the present, Jane felt somewhat sorry for her cousin but confidant she would feel better as a little more time passed.

Edward spent much of his time with Captain Franklin and, when he was not talking to others, the Baron. Like Diana, Captain Franklin was also feeling a little disconnected in his life. He had confided to Edward that being in his company made him miss the constant fellowship of men such as he had known when he served in the navy. It was no insult to female company, he had explained, but men were more free to be opened when eachother when women were not around. Jane understood this attitude to a degree, especially even if it was even a fragment of what women relied on each other for. But for the Captain this must have been a strong feeling, for he had been in the Navy right up until the week before he was married. It had been all he had known. It made Jane think that the time they were about to spend apart would satisify yet another complicated feeling that had been hanging over both their heads.

The Rochester's waved goodbye to the last of the houseguests on their front steps one a crisp January morning, the air sharp and brisk as it blew through the barren trees. Edward, holding his son in his arms, Jane, and Adele all waved to Baron and Baroness Hodwood as they waved back. Jane had known from her and Georgiana's departue that this was only safe travels, not goodbye. Though their relationship had not changed that much, in thought and feeling there had been quite a dramatic shift. Jane had seen her for what she truly was, cut adrift from her previous sheltered life with few people in the world to be honest with her. Jane knew she had been more of a friend to her cousin her perhaps Georgiana could ever be to her, yet she was quite content with this. She smiled back with genuine appreciation as Georgiana beamed at her, and thought as the carriage vanished from view that she would not prevent any future visit.

. . .

The days which followed Old Christmas Day slipped into weeks with so much ease that February arrived with hardly any notice.

Adele had returned to school excited to see her friends and tell them all about her Christmas, Henry continued to grow daily, crawling, and exploring the world around him with much enthuasium as any child ever had, and Jane and Edward settled back into their normal and more quiet routine. For Edward, this meant resuming household duties and tending to the endless amount of paperwork which always seemed stacked at the end of his desk. For Jane, this included a number of things, but in truth she did not have the energy to carry it out as of late. She found herself becoming tired around the middle of the afternoon, having to rub her eyes to stay awake. She did not tell any of this to her husband, for she had no doubt that he would read into it far too much and make it more of a deal then it was. A few times she thought he had noticed something- her rubbing her eyes or taking an extended amount of time to reply to questions, but nothing was ever said. Besides, if he did ask her she would have no answer to give him. The time to speculate on what could be the possible cause was lost to all the moments she spent with her son. But one morning she noticed something which was too real to ignore, too vivid and concrete to overlook.

Jane found herself dressing quietly one morning after her husband had gone downstairs to finish work he had neglected the day before. She had been playing with her son for a while before she regretfully laid him in the middle of the bed so that she could change for the day. She smiled to herself when she found that she was sneaking over to kiss him inbetween each layer of clothing that she put on, incapable of resisting his sparkling dark brown eyes. When she had lifted her chemise over her head, however, the only thing in the room which could have taken her attention away from him made her look twice. Small but dark stretch marks had appeared on her stomach and side. She dropped her chemise, not thinking she had seen right, but pulled her shift up as the vision swam up in her mind again. When her eyes moved over herself she saw in more detail what she suspected. She ran her fingers over herself slowly before walking quickly to the mirror. Turning, she could see the marks were longer than she initially thought, and yet there was no possibility they were there the day before. Stunned and curious, Jane twisted around and saw that on the other side of her body they were there too, just as dark and apparent.

She was frozen to the spot, her mind whirling with confusion when the bedroom door opened suddenly. She dropped her shift instantly before turning to see Jenny shuffling awkwardly through the it holding several heavy dresses in her arms. She walked back and picked up Henry from the bed.

"I've got your dresses, Ms. I'm sorry it took me so long to find. They were all the way down in the laundry. I forgot we had said we would wash them"

"That is quite alright, Jenny. Would you mind doing something else for me?"

"Of course"

"Could you please tell Mr Rochester that I wish to see him, right away".

"Of course, miss" she said, looking slightly worried before leaving the room promptly.

Once the door was closed Jane started bouncing Henry absentmindedly in the middle of the room. Everything was suddenly very quiet, and she could hold nothing in her head except for her own turning thoughts. She tried hard to make sense of them, but Henry reached up and pulled at her hair, bringing her back to the present as the latched clicked and Edward entered the room.

"Darling," he said, reaching her quickly and touching her elbow "Are you alright?"

"I am" she assured, trying to proceed but not knowing how, which was a rarity in the face of her husband. Instead she kissed her son's head and cradled him close to her.

"Is Henry?"

"Oh, yes"

He nodded, but did not pressing her. Instead, he pulled her close to him and kissed her forehead comfortingly.

"Tell me" he entreated gently.

She handed Henry over to him before hitching up her shift and turning so that he could see her side.

"Look"

He survayed her curiously before touching where she indicated.

"What is it?"

"These marks" Jane said, tracing again the new and dark stretch marks with her finger.

He paused, looking thoughtfully at his wife. She could see he still did not understand.

"What is it?"

"I did not have these before this morning".

He survayed her seriously, his eyes piercing her with their intensity.

"Jane, tell me what is going on".

"Edward, I think I may be pregnant".

He opened his mouth but closed it again quickly, looking as stunned as Jane felt.

She dropped her shift and sat down on the bed, looking up into her husband's face.

"I did not suspect pregnancy until I saw these marks this morning, but then several other things I have been experiencing suddenly made sense. The changes have been minimal at times, so they did not register to me as anything unusual, but they have nonetheless been present. I have been more tired in the days and less hungry overall. I have been emotional and my breasts have been sore in the mornings. And do you remember when I sickened after dinner a few nights ago?"

"But these are also conditions which can occour in the everyday, Jane" he said, rocking his son who was slumping into sleep in his arms.

"Yes, but do you also remember how I could not fit into some of my dresses at Christmas time? They were my smaller dresses and since there have been two more I have not been able to comfortably fit into. I had no explanation for this at the time and I did not much care, but it all makes sense now if my being pregnant is true".

"But when you were with child last time you suspected straight away"

"Yes, I was miserable. But pregnancies can be different, in fact they often are. Ms Temple told me such herself once. With one symptom, or even two, I would not suspect it. But all of this coupled together, and a growing stomach?"

Edward walked slowly towards his wife and sat down beside her, looking forward with a sightless gaze as a silence fell between them.

For the first time in their marriage, Jane could not guess what her husband was thinking. He was very serious, evidently immersed in thoughts too unexpected to articulate right away. Possibilities of disagreement crossed Jane's mind and she shuttered instantly, never having had the chance to imagine such happening before now. They had always wanted more children, but Jane also knew that Henry's difficult pregnancy had frightened him. She could not help but wonder if he had been perhaps relieved at the thought that she could not concieve another child for a while. Perhaps he did not want another child yet. Maybe he felt that having two babies would be overwhelming, that it would take away from the relationship between them. But here they were, and Jane could not read his mind.

He looked up suddenly and saw his wife's worried face,

"What is it?"

"I cannot work out what you are thinking"

"Can you not?" he asked, "Perhaps it is because I am too happy to convey all of my thoughts at once"

Reflief instantly broke over her and cut through the thick fog of worry which had been descending. She sighed before inhaling sharply, her emotion choking her and betraying her fears.

Edward looked more shocked at this than anything which came before.

"Jane" he said in surprise, taking her hand in his and kissing it softly.

Her eyes blurred with tears.

In realising his wife's feelings he stood up and placed his now sleeping son in his crib before he pulled her to her feet and hugged her tightly. His embrace was all warmth, all safety. His arms around her felt like strength for anything. Her heart was flooded instantly with impenetrable peace that flushed every other thought away. He kissed the top of her head protectively and swayed with her on the spot. In that moment, Jane could not imagine a better place in all the world.

"Sweetheart" he said gently, "Did you not think I would be happy?"

"I suspected you would be. But I also worried that for the first time we would have something to disagree about"

"Why would that ever be the case?" he asked, moving he hair out of her face.

"Because, I did not think I could get pregnant- not when Henry is still so young, and we had not discussed the possibility. And then I know how much you worried about me the last time, and then I lost one of our babies, and all I want is your happiness".

"Happiness?" he croaked, his own emotion now pulling at him as he tried to speak through broken phrases. "Jane, it is not right that any man should feel as happy as I do, and it is all because of you. You have given me everything. And I know we did not plan this, and that we did not think it possible, and that last time it was hard, but I do not care. You say you want my happiness but you are my happiness. It cannot exist without you".

She looked at him, turning her face to kiss the hand which rested on her cheek. His thumb swept away a tear that fell from her eyes as she closed them.

"But Edward, what if I have said all this and it is not true?"

"Then I shall call the doctor, and we shall know for sure".

She nodded, and Edward's face broke into the widest grin before he picked her up and spun her around. She laughed, gripping him tightly before he laid her slowly back on the ground.

"Thank God you were brought into the world, Jane Eyre"

"Jane Eyre?" she said curiously, drawing back to look at the man who had been, from the moment they married, insistnt on refering to her as his wife.

"Mmm" he confirmed,

"Why am I suddenly Ms Eyre again?"

"Because that is how you came into my life, and I fear you will always be my Jane Eyre, no matter how long you are my wife".

She smiled and hugged him again, feeling the safety of his arms close around her once more.