HI Folks! Well, this is turning out to be a little more than a one shot. William and Eliza have a beautiful moment together, but William has some news not only concerning the case and the person who shot her but also news concerning a change of position for William. Love to know what you're thinking about this one. Thank you for continuing to read and comment. Love - Carebearmaxi
Frightened
Chapter 3
Some weeks later when Eliza was almost fully recovered, she sat one night at her vanity. It was late and William had just come home from investigating the person who had shot her. Coincidentally, it would solve the case as well.
William removed his jacket as his green/blue eyes met his wife's big blue ones in the mirror. Her long blonde hair was down and hung over her shoulders and down her back. Eliza had been preparing for bed dressed in a long virginal white silky nightgown with a thin robe covering her.
Eliza was in the midst of brushing her hair, so it shone brightly in the dim light. She took his breath away with her beauty. Her skin was more translucent than ever, and her cheeks were rosy making her less pale than her normal complexion. Her hair was even more luxurious and thicker. William was sure that her beauty was even more enhanced by their child that she now carried.
"Eliza, why are you still awake? You need your rest," William said as he unbuttoned his shirt and removed it. He came over to where she sat and bent over the back of her seat so he could talk to her in the mirror.
"Any success, William?" Eliza asked knowing full well that if he had been successful he would have been a little less serious than now.
"I guess not. You're not smiling."
Then William did smile at her in the mirror. He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her cheek. They both laughed and Eliza patted the one hand on her shoulder.
"Well, there's always tomorrow," Eliza said with a resigned smile.
She had thought to resume brushing her hair and then stopped. William took the brush from her.
"Let me do that," William commanded gently.
"William, I can brush my own hair," Eliza gently protested eyeing him in the mirror.
"I know, but I just want to try it."
"I guess this is payback because I hurt your head brushing your curls after your bath yesterday," Eliza mentioned smiling up at him.
William smiled and sighed.
"Yes, you weren't very gentle. What are you going to do with our child's hair?"
"That's different. I know the difference between my husband's scalp and our child's. At least I hope I will," Eliza responded allowing William to take the brush from her hand. They both smiled at each other at Eliza's remark.
He took his wife's large soft bristled brush with the ornate handle. He had given it to her with a matching hand mirror and comb as a first anniversary gift as the set she had when they married had been so frayed and worn that he was surprised they still did the job. She had told him at the time that they had been her mother's. However, Eliza was very happy to receive her own and from her husband. It meant he cared how she kept herself. At least that was what she had told him at the time. She had kissed him and had begun the nightly ritual of brushing her long blonde hair.
Her brush and bristles were so different than his. The bristles were soft animal hair, and his hair and beard brushes were made of much stiffer material. William took a section of her long blonde tresses and gently stroked the length of it. He did this several times and was rewarded that it procured a soporific effect on Eliza. Normally they would chat about a case they were working, but since her convalescence Eliza had been more interested in recovery and, surprisingly, her pregnancy.
He stopped brushing his wife's hair to which Eliza's eyes immediately flew open.
"Why did you stop?"
William came around to the other side of the seat on which Eliza sat. He placed the brush on the table and swiveled Eliza to face him as he kneeled in front of her. He noticed Eliza's hand was lying across her little mound where she carried their baby. He placed his hand over hers.
"Guess what!" Eliza whispered excitedly. She smiled widely and her eyes sparkled. The same sparkle William noticed when she solved a case or got the better of him. Her smile was infectious, and he could not help but respond in similar fashion.
She took her hand out from under his and held William's hand on her belly. She bent forward a little bit and whispered in his ear.
"I felt our child move today. I had wished you were here! However, maybe we can wake him up and he'll do it again."
William swallowed hard and tears came to his eyes. Their child was alive and well. He kept his hand right where Eliza had placed it. He was about to speak when Eliza quieted him.
"Can you feel that? It looks like we woke him up!"
William swallowed hard again, and this time found his voice.
"Him? You're sure it's we're having a son?"
"Well, I am a private investigator with good deductive skills and my maternal instinct knows for sure I am carrying our son," Eliza said wiping away a tear of happiness from her own eyes as well as her husband's.
"I hope those are happy tears, my love," Eliza said.
"Did I tell you how much I love you today?" William asked smiling.
"No, you haven't so far. Don't let me stop you," she joked back at him. "I don't think I told you how much I love you either. I'm a bit behind since you always say it first."
William rose and swept Eliza up in his arms. He carried her over to their bed and laid her on it. The fluid stand that was once there was now reduced to nothing but a glass of water and some crushed ginger in the event nausea overtook her before she rose. In the beginning the nausea was severe, William remembered, but now Eliza never seemed to suffer from it.
Eliza did not move from where William had laid her on the bed. Their eyes riveted on each other as William finished undressing. After he removed the rest of his attire except his shorts and never taking his eyes off his wife he got into bed and lay down beside her. Propping his head up with one hand he lay his other hand gently over her belly.
He looked into her eyes and saw her smile.
"You have made me the happiest of men, Eliza. I love you and now our child." William laid a gentle kiss on her belly. He rose up and gazed at his wife.
Eliza then put a hand to his face which was so close to hers and drew him in for a long kiss.
"I never knew how happy I could be, William. Once I thought all I needed was a job and the thrill of being a detective. I was wrong. Being your wife and becoming a mother to our child is much more thrilling than I could have ever wished."
William smiled and kissed her warmly. Being gentle and careful with his wife's body carrying their precious cargo, he held her close.
Eliza awoke some hours later with a small bout of nausea. It happened infrequently now as she was in what the doctor termed her second trimester. Being pregnant was not exactly a mystery to her, but like all things mystifying and scientific, Eliza wondered about it and wanted to gather knowledge. Luckily, here in New York she had not run into many obstacles that prevented her from discovering the changes her body were undergoing in order to accommodate the child she carried and compare them to what was considered the latest information.
She knew how she became pregnant she just was not sure what happened afterward. Since Eliza's mother had died so long ago and Ivy had never been pregnant (as far as she knew), all the research had to be academic. She found some resistance from her doctor although he was all for sharing the dos and don'ts of pregnancy but nothing about the coming months. Eliza was not naïve; she knew that labor and delivery were going to be difficult and painful, but she wanted to know why.
Eliza watched William sleeping. Her heart swelled so much when she looked at him. She loved him. She sometimes wondered why she had been so reluctant to tell him. William was not like other men of the age. He loved it that his wife was an equal partner in their agency. Unfortunately, due to the times she could only have her name on the sign as a favor. She was not considered an officer of the agency because of the stupid laws in the United States that wives were not allowed to "own" anything if they were married.
It was the same in England, but she had inherited her father's business so that had allowed her to have her name as owner. She was Eliza Scarlet Wellington legally and that was what the focus remained for now - a married woman.
The law did not sit well with William either and he did protest and acknowledge the fact of Eliza's former agency in England. Their American lawyer, though, said they would only get themselves in trouble if Eliza's name appeared anywhere on their leases and contracts as a contributing partner and officer of the company.
"So, in another words, I can be a nameless employee but not a boss," Eliza had confirmed at the time with Mr. Wilson Berry, their American lawyer who also had a practice in London.
"Yes, that would be correct. You can get your detective's license. There's no law against that and your maiden name can be on the signage out front of the office but your name, married or maiden, is not allowed to be on the ownership papers. I do apologize, Mrs. Wellington," Mr. Berry had commented at the time.
William had protested again as well, but it came to nothing. It never stopped them working cases together or individually if the need arose.
William turned in his sleep and sighed. She noticed this sleeping habit the first time they had slept together. It usually meant that William was having a dream. William was an affectionate man and, many times, to Eliza's pleasure she awoke wrapped in his embrace or with his hand lying somewhere on her body; mostly, his hand lay on one of her breasts, Eliza thought with a little smile.
Eliza lay back and took her husband's large hand in hers. His hands were fascinating to her. They were both large and wider than hers with long fingers and clean fingernails. William was nothing but fastidious about his appearance. It was somewhat an obsession with him she found. She assumed it was because he had been raised in the Scotland workhouse and then turned out into the streets at 19 with no clothes and no means of support until her father found him. She had to admit the second time he had appeared in their foyer, she had been very attracted to the young now clean Scotsman.
Henry Scarlet had been Detective Inspector then as William had been before they decided to leave England. When William was first off the train from Scotland, he had witnessed a murder and that is how the deep love between her husband and her father had begun. William became like the son that Henry had wanted but never had. There had been some rivalry between her and William at first simply because her father could afford him opportunities that were not open to women like the police academy and becoming a police officer.
This circumstance of Eliza being more of her father than her mother did nothing to drive a wedge between her and William it only enhanced it. Eliza was used to using Scotland Yard as a place of social interaction when her father had been there. The officers and others were used to seeing her breeze in and out. However, once her father had died and Eliza had assumed her father's business, Scotland Yard and William had become more of a place where she could scout for cases or information. She had managed to put William's position in jeopardy many times with her shenanigans, but William knew that Eliza was a good detective and he tried to employ her as much as he was allowed because her skills were invaluable. Eventually, though, the decision to be together or to continue the way they were finally drove then to compromise. Hence their American Detective Agency, Scarlet and Wellington, was born.
She looked down at him again as William lay there. She carefully stroked his head disrupting a couple of curls from his forehead. She bent down and kissed the top of his head and squeezed his hand. His gold wedding band caught the sunlight from the window. She weaved her small thin fingers between his longer ones and brought his hand to her lips. She kissed it and then scooted back down the bed again holding his hand captive against her heart. Her back was to him, and she immediately knew that she had stirred him as William's arms surrounded her as he dreamed.
William woke up an hour later noticing that he could not dislodge his hand from his wife's firm grasp.
"Eliza, love, I need my hand back," he whispered quietly in her ear.
She fudged around for a second pulling him even closer and mumbling about ownership.
"Eliza," he said a little louder and more firmly. "Could I get my hand back?"
She woke with a start and looked back into William's face
"Oh, I am so sorry, darling," she said smiling and releasing his hand.
William shook his hand.
"You've quite a grip. I hope you don't plan to take my hand off once you're in labor."
Eliza smirked at him. She decided not to say since I am in this condition because of you, it's only fair that you bear some of the pain while I push it out. Instead, she smiled and asked, "Did you want some breakfast?"
"Yes, I'm famished," William said with a large, noisy yawn. He shook his hand out again. "You've quite a grip for a small woman."
Eliza moved her head and then with a swish threw the covers away and scooted out of bed. The baby bump protruding from her body. She stood before him throwing on her robe. She saw his hand reach out for her. She smiled as she took it and laid it against the bump.
"You're really fascinated by that, aren't you?"
William smiled a little ruefully. He then looked up into his wife's bright face.
"I'm just amazed that inside you is a living breathing human. One that we made," he said.
Eliza smiled and went into his arms. She kissed his forehead again.
"It's amazing that we've only been married two years, and you trust me enough to make eggs for you that won't kill you."
"I'm sure if you were going to kill me, Eliza, you would've thought a better method by now."
They both laughed at that.
Eliza cooked their breakfast and they both consumed it as if they had not eaten for days. As they sat at the table, William told her the outcome of his work the previous night.
"So, I brought the police in because I thought I had him in my grasp. We did catch is assistant and brought him into custody."
Eliza asked, "Jimmy? The one we determined was the mastermind behind the entire robbery scheme." She chewed on a piece of toast and looked thoughtfully into the air.
"William, when I get a little better, I think I know how to get to Scandanlon. He hasn't seen me…"
"NO! Eliza! Absolutely not! You are in no condition to be doing anything remotely than staying in the house safe," William protested ferociously. He remembered the doctor's warning and how scared he was as William sat there and held a bleeding Eliza until the doctor had arrived that night.
"I think I have a good plan. I won't risk the baby's life or mine if that's what you're worried about. I'm not that careless!"
William gave her his warning look and then he took Eliza's other hand that lay on the table in his and squeezed it.
"No. I would like nothing better than to have you by my side, but I can't risk losing you or the baby this time. You have no idea how fortunate you were that you didn't bleed to death or lose the baby last time."
Eliza nodded.
"I understand William. Just remember I do not want you to be in danger either. You were shot previously, too. That was just as scary for me just as it was for you."
There was a knock on their door.
"Must be Ivy. She said she wanted to go clothes shopping for me since I'm getting so fat."
"You're growing a human, Eliza. That's supposed to happen," William said. "Besides, as he rose from the table. "I think you're more beautiful now than when I met you when you were 16. No doubt that I was taken with you then, too."
He bent and kissed her.
Eliza blushed and became quiet. William's affection always did that to her.
William answered the door. It was Ivy and her husband, Barnabas Potts standing there.
"Good morning, William! Where is Lizzie? Is she fine?" Ivy asked excitedly.
"Good morning to you, too, Ivy, Barnabas," William said as Ivy breezed past him and called for Eliza frantically.
"She's just a little worried. You know how she is," Barnabas explained.
"Yes," was all William could say as he closed the front door of their townhome. He ventured back into the kitchen and began taking the dishes to the sink. He and Eliza had awoken rather late, so both were still in their dressing gowns.
Eliza rose and stopped William from any additional housework and told him to sit down.
"Would anyone like some coffee?"
"No, we've just come from a lovely breakfast at the restaurant across from your office," Barnabas explained.
"Lizzie, sit down!" Ivy commanded.
"No, Ivy, you sit. I'm fine. I'm having a baby. I'm not crippled," Eliza protested. Just as she said that she felt a twinge in her side where the bullet had shot her a few weeks ago. Every now and then a muscle would twinge, and it would temporarily paralyze her.
"Eliza, please sit down," William had said because he saw her grab her back.
She looked up at his stern countenance and then acquiesced. He accompanied her back to her chair to be sure she did as she was told.
William did not sit this time, nor did he do anything else but lean his arms on the back of the last empty kitchen chair. He leaned forward and then began to speak.
"I'm glad we're all here together because I want to tell everyone my news," William said hesitantly.
"What news?" Eliza asked. "You mentioned nothing to me last night, William."
"I became distracted by other things, Eliza, but I want to tell you now."
"If this is about what I said this morning, I told you…" Eliza stopped.
"No, Eliza. Please let me get a word in because this is an important announcement,"
"So, you said, dear boy," Ivy said.
William paced a few minutes around the table as the three other people in the room watched him. Finally taking a deep breath William began.
"I'm rejoining the NYPD as Chief…temporarily," William blurted. There was no other way to say it.
"No, you're not!" Eliza protested. "What about our agency? What about the cases we're working? The promises to our clients?"
"Eliza," William said holding his finger up which meant for her to be quiet as he explained.
"William!" Eliza exclaimed and stormed off.
Ivy motioned to William. "I don't mean to get in the middle, but I think you need to leave her alone for a few minutes."
"Ivy, no disrespect intended to you," William said in a low growl, "but I think I know how to handle my own wife!" William stormed off then leaving Barnabas ad Ivy staring at each other in the Wellingtons' kitchen.
"I'm sure he does not," Barnabas said aloud.
Ivy just gave her husband a peeved look.
Eliza had slammed the door of their bedroom right in William's face as he approached it. The kitchen was situated on the other side of the house from their bedroom, but their voices would carry, so Ivy and Barnabas would hear everything.
"Eliza! Open this door!" William shouted.
Eliza let him stand there few seconds as she decided whether she wanted to hear his explanation or just let him stew for a few minutes. The baby kicked and she rubbed her belly.
"Your father has the worst timing, little one," she complained looking down at her bump.
"Eliza!" William shouted again. "Open this door so I can explain!"
Eliza decided to open their bedroom door. She greeted her husband with a painted smile on her face. She showed no teeth.
William wordlessly stomped into their bedroom and waited for Eliza to close the door.
She did so and took a seat at her vanity table where last night they had shared such a wonderful moment. Now Eliza just wondered about their marriage, their child, and their agency with what William just announced.
"So, William," Eliza began trying not to get hysterical and remain calm. She looked at him as he had taken a seat on the end of the bed. His massive curly hair had not been brushed or pomaded into place, so it hung a little long on his forehead. He sat with his legs apart with one hand on each knee. His expression was one of impatience that Eliza had seen many times. It always reminded her that he sometimes thought William felt he was negotiating with a petulant child not a grown woman. A grown woman who happened to be his wife. The same familiar look he always gave her when she frustrated him in some way.
"Eliza, if you remain calm, while I explain my position then you will have the answers to your questions," William said in a low deceptively even voice. This tone Eliza had heard before and it usually preceded some horrible announcement where she would be without him. As it had the night he had left England and taken the secondment which led to their new lives in the United States.
"What did happen last night other than the police apprehending the mastermind behind our client's robbery?" Eliza asked.
William rose and began to pace.
"Yes, Jimmy, the mastermind behind this elaborate shipping, fraud, robbery case was apprehended but there was a casualty."
"William!" Eliza rose. "I thought you were safe working with the police. If I had known this…"
"What could you have done, Eliza! Mmm?"
"I don't know, but I could have been there beside you."
"In danger! I cannot have that on my mind when we are trying to solve a case and it becomes deadly!"
"Oh! So, I guess you're above getting hurt again!"
"Eliza! It's not the same, I'm not a …."
"A woman!" Eliza shouted back at him. "There's the problem. I'm a woman! As such I am incapable of doing anything remotely valuable when confronted by the enemy! You forget, William, I saved your life more than a couple of times…:
"You weren't carrying our child when you did that!"
"Is that all I am to you now? A vessel? This is what I was afraid of when I agreed to marry you!"
"Stop it! Stop it right now, you two!" Ivy said opening the bedroom door and scolding them like they were two children.
"Now, see here, I want you to stop this before you both say things you will regret. You two have way too much pride. Lizzie, sometimes I wonder if you ever matured in the first place!"
Eliza having been chastised quickly moved to the edge of the bed and taken a seat next to William. She looked at William and took his hand and then he looked at Ivy with raised eyebrows and then he looked at his wife.
Eliza and William both began to laugh when they realized how childish they had sounded.
"All right. Now we will return to the kitchen after you two have had a moment to compose yourselves and then we will listen to William's news."
With that last statement, Ivy strode from the room slamming the door behind her.
William and Eliza sat there next to one another for a few minutes. Eliza moved her fingers lying dormant in William's hand as his thumb massaged her knuckles. They both had hung their heads and then they raised their chins and looked forgivingly at each other. All they really wanted to say was conveyed in that one look.
"I hate it when we argue, Eliza," William stated quietly. "From time to time we will need to discuss items that concern our future."
"I am sorry I got so overwrought. You're right, of course. I think expecting this child has done something to my disposition."
William blew out a short laugh. "No, Eliza, your taking umbrage at me even hinting a what you may think is a diminution of your role professionally or personally is not due to you carrying our baby. You just still think that your husband is like every other man in this society who does see women as nothing but brood cows."
"How eloquently put, my love," Eliza said squeezing her husband's hand. "Nevertheless, I apologize. I know you're not like other men. Otherwise, I wouldn't be happily married.
William smiled happily his eyes crinkled as the smile encompassed his whole face. He then continued to hold Eliza's hand as she rose to presumably get dressed. He pulled her to him and placed a hand on her cheek and they kissed deeply.
