“Ma’am? Has your morning sickness finally tapered off?” Mo Won quizzed Mi Sook early one morning as she greeted her employer and found the woman unusually cheerful.
“I believe so!” Mi Sook declared brightly.
Her lady’s maid grinned. “That’s wonderful!”
Mi Sook glanced down towards her abdomen. “Am I showing yet, Mo Won? If you didn’t know that I was pregnant, would you be able to tell?”
The girl stared at the young woman’s torso. “Not with your robes on, ma’am. But when you take them off…”
Mi Sook sighed.
Mo Won was right. As soon as Dan Se returned, the instant he saw her without her robes on, he would know. The only question was…
How would he react?
––
She didn’t have long to find out.
Two weeks later, after spending twelve weeks traveling with the king, Dan Se returned to the royal city. After the king released him, he stopped by the hwarang house before venturing home.
Soo Ho was the first of the soldiers to greet him. “Dan Se! You’ve returned! I have the most splendid news!”
Dan Se quirked his eyebrows at his garrulous friend. “Yes?”
“Jung Sook and I are going to have a baby!”
This news stopped Dan Se in his tracks. And he felt an odd tugging at his heart. He stared at Soo Ho.
“Are you?”
“Yes,” the cheerful father-to-be bobbed his head enthusiastically. “Isn’t that great?! In five months, I’ll be holding my son in my arms.”
“What if he’s a girl?” The words rolled off of Dan Se’s tongue without him even giving them a thought.
Soo Ho’s face lit up. “Wouldn’t that be wonderful? A miniature Jung Sook?! Watch out, world! Here she comes!” he chuckled.
Dan Se felt the corners of his lips tugging upwards. Without his permission. And he found himself happy for his friend. “Congratulations, Soo Ho,” he murmured as he turned to head for his old room.
“What about you and Mi Sook? Are you going to start a family any time soon?” Soo Ho’s voice drifted towards him.
Dan Se’s feet halted. And he turned back towards his friend. “I haven’t the faintest idea,” he muttered.
Soo Ho’s brow crumpled in consternation at his friend’s odd tone, then he watched Dan Se pivot and head towards the barracks. Almost like he was fleeing from him.
––
A half an hour later, Dan Se came bursting into his wife’s bedchamber as she stood working on her latest painting.
“My love! How I have missed you!” he gasped as he reached out to pull her into his arms.
She turned in surprise, and the tip of the paintbrush in her hand slid across his cheek. Staining his skin violet. And Mi Sook giggled.
Dan Se quirked a dark eyebrow at her and reached up to grab the paintbrush. He set it down on the tray of her easel before turning all his attention on his wife. He bent towards her and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss. He had spent nearly three months yearning for her. He had no desire to wait one more second before whisking her off to that big bed a few feet from them.
But a few moments later, as he removed her robes, something unexpected caught his attention. And made his blood run cold.
––
Dan Se stared down at her protruding belly in consternation. There was no denying the evidence. Mi Sook was clearly pregnant. Quite pregnant.
For a few moments, he stood frozen, caught between his desire and his fear. Finally, Mi Sook’s soft voice shook him from his reverie.
“Dan Se?”
He could hear the trepidation in her tone. And he recalled a conversation which they’d had a few months back. When he’d told her that he had no desire for a child. And now, clearly, she was pregnant with that child. The one whom he had feared leaving alone. Should he ever die in battle.
His wife must be terrified right now. Of his reaction.
Slowly, he lifted his gaze to meet hers. And read the anxiety in her eyes.
He dropped his gaze to her belly again and reached out to set the flat of his palm against that tiny bump. The heat of his hand instantly enflamed her skin. And she felt oddly comforted by his touch.
“How far along are you? When are you due?” he whispered.
And he felt her relax. Tension slipping from her rigid frame as it began to melt in relief.
For Dan Se did not sound upset. Only curious.
“The same day as Jung Sook,” she breathed. “I’m nearly four months along now.”
“Is that all?” he queried as he furrowed his brow. “You look further along than that.”
“I know,” she spoke softly. “Jung Sook said so too. I’m quite a bit bigger than she is. But I just figured that it might seem that way since I’m so tiny.”
His fingers caressed her abdomen then as the ravine between his brows deepened. Another sword pierced his consciousness. A fear that seldom awakened anyone. For its probability was so small….
Was it possible that Mi Sook was carrying twins?
But he didn’t have long to ponder that possibility, for a moment later, his wife distracted him from that disturbing thought.
“Dan Se…are you…upset?” she asked sheepishly. For she had seen the thundercloud now darkening his countenance.
His gaze flew to snag hers. “Upset?” he queried hollowly.
“I know that you didn’t want a child—”
“I was a fool,” he whispered.
“What?” she gasped. Shocked.
His eyes caressed hers then as his hand slid around her, and he pulled her gently closer to him. “How could I not want a child with a woman as beautiful and wonderful as you?”
“You feared leaving that child defenseless, I think,” she murmured.
He still did. But he didn’t wish for her to know it. For Mi Sook’s love had changed several things within his heart over the past few months. And he was fairly certain that she greatly desired a child of her own.
“Ah, but now I know just how many brave soldiers would surround my child in my absence,” he muttered as he bent his head and kissed her cheek. “I have more friends than I could possibly ever deserve.”
“I’m happy to hear it, Dan Se. Are you…content then?”
His lips slid down her throat a moment later. “Right now, I am more than content. I am most delighted to be home with you.” His tongue flicked across her skin, and she giggled at the pleasure that spiraled through her at that tiny sign of his desire for her.
“I meant about the baby,” she mumbled as his lips released a bubble of breathlessness within her belly.
“Yes,” he whispered as he lifted his head to peer down at her. “I am…surprised. I…” His eyes widened suddenly. “Did you know about the child before I left?”
Hesitantly, she nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He stared down at her. His face a blank canvas. Hiding his feelings from her.
“I didn’t wish to distract you from your mission.”
His gaze delved the depths of hers. What she meant was that she’d feared putting him in harm’s way. Distracting him in the event of danger.
“Our trip was uneventful,” he murmured evenly.
“I’m glad to hear it,” she breathed. “May all your trips be uneventful.”
Silence passed between them for a few moments as their eyes continued to tangle. And each of them faced the danger of his duties to the royal family.
“Does anyone else know?” he quizzed her suddenly.
“Just Jung Sook. And Mo Won.”
“Mo Won?”
She bobbed her head. “She’s my lady’s maid now. She helped me hide my symptoms from the rest of the household.” She peeked sheepishly up at her husband. “I wanted to tell you first.”
“After Jung Sook.”
She bit her lip and admitted, “I was afraid that you’d be angry with me.”
“Angry?” he asked, startled.
She nodded.
“But…why?”
“I thought you might be angry with me for getting pregnant…after you said that you didn’t want a baby.”
“Mi Sook,” he breathed.
She blinked up at him. Her eyes growing wide. They were so luminous.
And the scent of lilacs was lingering on her skin. Its fragrance was driving him wild right now. Reminding him of the last time that he’d slipped between the sheets with her. It seemed to swirl around him. Enticing him to hurry along. Even as his heart was still trying to find its equilibrium after digesting her unexpected news.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
And his heart bent as he detected distress in her gaze.
“No, Mi Sook…I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I made you feel like you couldn’t tell me something that must be making you so happy right now.”
A ripple of vulnerability fled across her face. “It is, Dan Se! It is making me happy! I want this baby,” she glanced down as she set her hand on her abdomen and caressed her baby bump. “I want this baby so much.”
He could hear the tears in her voice. And they tugged at his heart too. His lips trembled as he smiled down at her.
She glanced up at him. “I hope that…when you meet him, you’ll change your mind.”
“Change my mind?”
“I just mean that I hope you’ll be filled with ecstatic joy when he arrives.”
For a moment, he imagined that joyous arrival. And his heart flooded with a very strong emotion.
“Of course, I will be happy to meet our child,” he whispered then. Overwhelmed by the thought.
“Will you?” she queried. Still uncertain.
“I told you. I was a fool.”
“No, Dan Se. You weren’t. You married me to save me from my father. We shared no friendship. You had no way of knowing that I would fall in love with you. And your job is dangerous. Why would you want to risk bringing a child into the world with a woman whom you believed might never even really like you? Especially when you might someday leave that child alone with her. I understand. But…”
“…things are so different now,” he muttered.
“Yes,” she breathed. “They are. For I adore you, Dan Se!” She gazed up at him with glowing eyes.
She was so thankful that he had returned to her. Safe. And sound.
“And I’m so glad you’re home.”
She lifted her face to brush her lips across his. But, of course, though their baby had flourished in his absence, his wife hadn’t grown any taller while he was gone, so she still needed his assistance to reach his mouth. He gladly accommodated her. Bending his neck until his lips bumped into hers.
After a few blissful moments, he drew back and glanced at the bed. “Can we still—?” he questioned.
She giggled. “Of course, Dan Se! I’m pregnant. Not broken.”
He chuckled. “Glad to hear it.”
Then he bent his head and kissed her again before gently guiding his wife towards their bed. So very thankful that he was home. With Mi Sook. The lilac-scented love of his life.
