Proserpina
I left the hospital with a heart full of joy and some trepidation. How would Lucien react?
My buddy Grace had responded by throwing her arms around me and sobbing with happiness. I made her promise not to tell her lover Danielle until I had spoken to Lucien, at least, to ensure he didn’t find out from her. I wanted to surprise my husband.
We returned home. I was barely aware of the drive. When I got out of the large SUV, Beatrice was at the door, wringing her hands. Claude was toddling around, searching for me, and he gave a war cry when he saw me and sped down the corridor at full speed.
“Child?” asked the elderly woman who was more than just a housekeeper to me.
I hugged her and whispered, “I think I’m going to have another set of twins, Bea!”
She tightened her arms around my shoulders, and we stood there, holding each other.
Beston’s light cough alerted me to the fact that I was standing in the doorway and he wanted me safely inside the house, with the door shut.
I gave him a dazzling smile and moved away.
Lucien would be home by dinner time, and I wanted to prepare a feast.
Although I wasn’t particularly fond of food myself, I wanted to have a small family celebration. Beatrice tried to dissuade me, but I was obstinate. I was happy.
So very happy!
***
Finally, Beatrice wore me down, and I settled on a healthy but delicious combination of rice and salad with chicken. I decided to follow it up with a Texas sheet cake. The kids loved it, and I knew that Lucien usually went for seconds and thirds, despite being a weight watcher now that he did fight once a month in the ring.
Humming, I prepared everything under the watchful eyes of old Beatrice, who hovered around, making me drink water continuously and ensuring that I didn’t stand for too long. Fussing over me, she sharply reprimanded Ria when my daughter tried to dip Claude’s face in the cake mix.
Feeling a little tired, I went to take a short nap after the food was done.
The kids were creating a ruckus, as usual, with little Claude battling his big sister for all he was worth, while Piers was kneeling on the kitchen floor, cuddling his small puppy.
***
Lucien
By the time the flight had landed and he was speeding back home, it was late—dinner time, he thought—and he remembered that he hadn’t eaten for hours. He had been too perturbed by the things he had been hearing. Dmitri had come out into the open and was trying to proposition his dealers.
He was challenging Lucien on his territory. He would have to teach the bastard a lesson.
Schwartz had also been silent and uncooperative when he had called his second in command.
“She will tell you what the doctor told her, I suppose,” he had said in a deliberately casual way that had surprised Lucien.
Scowling deeply, he looked at the house as the car rounded the driveway and sped up to the front door. Tony Beston came forward to open the door.
“Where is my wife?” Lucien rasped. He was worried. She had not divulged what the doctor had said and had spoken only in monosyllables when he called her.
Beston inclined his head politely.
“She is inside, sir,” he said in his usual unflappable manner.
Lucien strode in.
“Woman!” he shouted.
There was no response. Usually, she would appear, her large brown eyes soft with love, wrap her arms around his neck, melting against him as they kissed long and passionately.
Now she was nowhere. He walked into the kitchen; his nostrils flared.
Proserpina stood, pushing her hair away from her forehead with the back of her hand. She was wearing her favorite large T-shirt and a pair of shorts that exposed her thighs. She turned to smile at him, and he noted with alarm that she looked tired, with dark bruises under her lovely eyes. But she was dimpling at him, and after washing her hands, she came forward to him. He looked at her, and with that sultry sway of her hips, she could still entice him as she had taken him by storm five years ago.
She had been cooking alright. Something smelled aromatic and mouth-watering.
Beatrice studied him as he entered.
“She’s cooked enough to feed an army,” she snapped crossly.
He strode over, gripping her head and crushing her mouth in a hard kiss.
She looked at him, brown eyes wide with surprise. They were oblivious to the other people in the kitchen as she melted into his arms, her own arms going around his rock-hard shoulders.
“What …?”
The kids were jumping up and down in excitement.
“What did the doctor say, woman?” he asked, pulling her into his arms.
Before Proserpina could answer, Ria was shouting,
“Pappa, Pappa, guess what! Mumma has TWO babies in her belly!!!”
He froze and looked into his wife’s face, the trembling mouth, the warm eyes filled with anxiety.
“Is it true, woman?” he growled after a pause.
She stood in the circle of his arms, her small hands on his chest, trembling slightly.
“Are … are you angry?” she whispered in a small, forlorn voice.
For the answer, he lifted her in his arms, holding her up, and she laughed and blushed and cried all at once.
He lowered her to the ground, forcing her to look at him.
“Why are you crying, my love?” he said in a rough voice.
“I … I…” she shook her head, and he ran his hands over her body, stroking her belly gently. He sat down on a chair, pulling her onto his strong lap, and she squirmed, murmuring,
“Lucien…”
He looked up, his cold grey eyes sweeping the room.
“Everybody out,” he commanded. “I want to talk to my wife.” And as Ria opened her mouth pugnaciously, her small fists on her hips, he added hurriedly,
“And my children stay here too.”