Princess's Nine-Month Secret

Maria glanced up. ‘If you’re sure of it...’

‘I’m sure. It was June twenty-fifth.’

Colour scorched Halina’s cheeks and she stayed silent while Maria calculated her due date. ‘So you are just over ten weeks along,’ she said cheerfully. ‘And your due date is March nineteenth.’

Halina let out a shaky laugh and instinctively pressed one hand against her still-flat middle. Somehow just those words made it feel so much more real. For the last two months she’d been merely existing, feeling wretched and uncertain and afraid, barely able to contemplate what was ahead of her. But now the reality, the good reality, of her situation hit her with encouraging force. A baby. A child.

‘Now we can check the heartbeat,’ Maria continued. ‘You’re just far enough along perhaps to hear it with a Doppler. Would you mind lying down?’

Halina lay back on the examining table, feeling weirdly vulnerable as Maria lifted her top. She switched on the Doppler and then pressed the wand onto Halina’s stomach, hard enough to make her flinch.

‘You’re hurting her.’ The words seemed to burst out of Rico; he looked tense, almost angry, his jaw clenched. Unfazed, the doctor gave him a reassuring smile.

‘Halina is fine, Signor Falcone, and babies are remarkably resilient.’

Rico still looked unhappy about it and Halina reached out one hand, almost but not quite touching him. ‘I’m fine, Rico.’

He nodded once and then they heard it, the most amazing sound Halina had ever listened to. It sounded like a cross between the whooshing of waves and the galloping of a horse. Their baby’s heartbeat.

‘There it is,’ Maria said with satisfaction. ‘Nice and strong.’

‘That’s amazing.’ Halina felt near to tears, but when she turned to look at Rico, instinctively wanting to share this moment with him, he’d turned away as if he wasn’t affected at all.

* * *

The sound seemed to fill the room, rushing and strong, the sound of hope. Rico clenched his jaw, forcing the sudden and unexpected rush of emotion back. It was just a sound, yet it filled him with joy and terror in equal measures. Their child. A human being that they had created, that he would be responsible for. That he would love.

He glanced at Halina out of the corner of his eye and saw how moved she looked, her eyes bright with tears. No matter how much he wanted to keep things on a businesslike level between them, this was an emotional business for them both. How could it be otherwise?

‘Halina’s been feeling very nauseous,’ he told the obstetrician, his voice terser than he meant it to be. ‘As you can see, she hasn’t been taking care of herself.’ Halina sucked in a quick breath and belatedly Rico realised how that sounded. But he was worried, damn it, and he didn’t like being worried.

‘I can prescribe something for the nausea,’ Maria said. ‘But first I’d advise fresh air, plenty of rest and lots of good, wholesome food. Have you been able to have all those recently, Halina?’

Was there a knowledgeable glint in the doctor’s eye? Rico hadn’t informed her of their circumstances, and he didn’t like the thought of her knowing.

‘Not exactly,’ Halina murmured.

‘But she will now,’ Rico said firmly. Taking care of Halina would be his priority. Taking care of his unborn child.

‘Then I’d suggest you come back to me in a week or two, Halina,’ Maria said. ‘And we’ll discuss medication then. You do look a bit run down.’

She smiled sympathetically and Halina nodded and rose from the table, pulling down her shirt. ‘All right. Thank you.’ Her head was bowed, her dark hair swinging in front of her face. Rico had no idea what she was thinking. Feeling.

Why did he care?

Because of their baby. For the sake of his child, he needed to care about Halina. About her moods as well as her health. It was all part of the same package. Satisfied with his reasoning, he took her arm as he thanked the doctor and then escorted her out of the building into the waiting limo.

‘What now?’ Halina asked listlessly as she stared out of the window at the city streaming by. Rico wished she didn’t sound so damned downtrodden. When he’d met her, he’d been as intrigued by her humour and spirit as he had been by her lush, curvy body. Now both were gone and he wanted to bring back the Halina he’d only just come to know—bring back the sparkle in her eyes, the impish smile to her mouth and, yes, the curves on the woman whose body had made his palms itch to touch her.

But bringing a smile to her face felt like the most important thing right now.

‘What would you like to do now?’ Rico asked, seeming to surprise them both. She turned to him, her eyes widening, jaw dropping in shock.

‘You’re asking me what I want?’

‘Why shouldn’t I?’

‘Because you’re King of the World, Maker of All Decisions Ever?’