“Perfect, that is an excellent way to get Dougal and the doctor’s daughter together.Not to mention other young couples who might not otherwise approach each other.I hope someone asks Miss Keane, the lovely bookshop owner, to dance.Oh, look!Uncle Rupert is walking toward her.”
“Marvelous.However, I was thinking quite selfishly of myself because it has been far too long since I’ve held you in my arms.At least three minutes.”He led her onto the dance floor and drew her into his arms.“There, much better.”
They twirled once around the dance floor, and then Alex motioned for everyone to join them.
Marigold was delightful and bubbly as she drew her often serious and reserved Leo out to waltz with her.
Dillie did the same with Ian who adored his wife too much to ever deny her anything.
This.
This is what she now had with Alex, this deep commitment to their union and their growing bonds of love.
As the dance floor began to fill, Alex drew her closer.
Tulip realized he was now in full, protective wolf position.“When were you going to tell me, love?”he asked, staring at her stomach.
She looked up at him and let out a soft breath.“Oh, you guessed!I was going to surprise you with the news tonight.I think I am with child.How did you know?”
He placed his cheek against hers and slowed their pace as they danced off to the side in a small circle of their own.“Sweetheart, I know every inch of your body.Does it not follow that I would notice the slightest changes?The tenderness of your breasts.The way they seemed fuller in the cup of my hands.That was the most obvious sign.I probably realized your condition before you did.”
Her eyes widened.“Why did you not say anything to me?”
He cast her a wry smile.“Because it was your secret to share.I just did not expect you to take so long about it.”
“It is not even three months yet.”But she knew that she ought to have told him sooner.Why hadn’t she?Did he feel hurt by it?“I only began to suspect a few weeks ago.I should have mentioned it then, but I was scared.”
He frowned.“Scared?Why?”
“Not scared, exactly.I’ve heard the first three months are the most delicate and anything can happen.I was afraid to disappoint you if I turned out to be wrong…or if something had gone wrong.”
“Oh, love.You could never disappoint me.Don’t you think I would want to be by your side, especially if anything went wrong?I would never want you to endure the pain or sadness on your own.Tulip, I am here to love and support you.”
“I know.”She smiled up at him.“Truly, Alex.I know that you will always be there for me.I’m sorry I did not confide in you sooner.”
He shook his head.“No apology necessary.I could have said something to you, as well.It is a bit overwhelming, isn’t it?”
She laughed.“Yes!I was raised by two very loving families, the Hesters and the Farthingales.Oh, just look at them all enjoying themselves here with us.Isn’t it a dream come true?But to now be about to start our own little Davenport dynasty…it is quite daunting for me.”
“Same for me, but we’ll figure it out together.”
She thought of his unhappy upbringing and the sorrow both his parents had endured.How could he not be worried about raising their sons and daughters when his examples were the hedonistic Davenport dukes?
“My children will have you as their mother, so I am not all that worried,” Alex said when she asked him about it.
He guided her in another slow twirl.
She looked up at him with bountiful love shining in her eyes.“Truly?”
“Who better than you to give them the love they deserve?Who better to raise them with their heads on straight and their hearts filled with compassion?Most of all, who better than you to show me how to be a good parent to them?”
“You were London’s top investigator.I think you are smart enough to figure out how to raise a child.”
“Need I remind you?Davenport, here.Look how my predecessors turned out?Look how Harold Havers and his idiot brothers, Neddy and Barton turned out?”
“True, but look how you turned out?Completely marvelous and admirable.And do not grimace, because I am being completely objective about it.”
“Says the wife who looks at me with magic in her eyes.If we are to becompletelyhonest about this, since this suddenly appears to be your favorite word…it is your influence that is going to matter most to our children.”
