Page 78 of A Bachelor’s Lessons in Love

She needn’t have worried. Daphne had chosen well.

Felicity turned her head, sweeping her gaze across the gardens where guests would soon gather, before moving toward the long table beneath a trellis. As she reached for the silverware, a sharp cry split the air.

“Mama!”

Felicity’s heart lurched as she hurried toward the sound, skirts swishing. A small figure stood near the edge of the rose bushes, his little face scrunched in distress. Three-year-old Anthony Halstead, his dark curls tousled from mischief, clutched one tiny thumb in his other hand, tears welling in his deep brown eyes.

Felicity sighed, stepping quickly around the table. “Oh, my darling, what happened?”

Little Anthony sniffled, bottom lip sticking out. “I pickeded a flower.”

Felicity knelt beside him, gently prying his fingers open. A single red mark bloomed on his thumb. It was nothing serious, but quite enough to bring a small tragedy into his young world.

Oh, that the days when soothing hurts so easily could remain forever. She reached into her bodice, retrieving a soft handkerchief, and dabbed carefully at his skin. “You mustn’t grab the roses, my love. They are beautiful, but they bite.”

Anthony’s lip trembled. “It hurts.”

“Yes, but it will stop soon. Here.” Felicity kissed his tiny thumb, then smoothed back his unruly curls.

The tears stopped instantly as her son beamed up at her. Then he bent down and, immediately doing what he had just been warned not to do, picked up the flower which had caused the mischief, careful this time of the thorn. “For you, Mama.”

“Oh, darling. It is lovely. Thank you.”

A deep, exasperated voice interrupted Felicity’s raptures. “I only turned away for a moment, Felicity. But I cannot find—” Edward appeared at the garden entrance, somewhat harried, his coat missing and his cravat slightly askew. His words stopped and he huffed upon seeing the little boy holding his mother’s hand. “Our son escaped again.”

Felicity arched a brow at him. “Escaped, or outmaneuvered his father?”

Edward bent down and plucked Anthony up with ease, settling him against his side. “Are you terrorizing your mother again, pup?”

Anthony grinned, clinging to his father’s lapel. “I picked-ed a flower.”

Edward kissed the top of his son’s curls, eyeing the rose Felicity held. “Ah. And how did that adventure end?”

Anthony frowned dramatically. “It bit me.”

Felicity laughed and held her hand up for Edward to take, relying on his steady strength to get to her feet again. It was indeed an awkward thing of late, she reflected as she smoothed a hand over her rounded stomach.

“You must sit down, Aunt Felicity.” She turned to see Daphne coming quickly down the garden path with a cushion in hand and a frown across her brow. “This is utterly ridiculous. You need to let everyone else do the work for once.”

Felicity sighed, reluctantly accepting the inevitable. “I am not an invalid.”

“You are eight months along,” Edward countered, guiding her toward a shaded bench. “Humor our niece.”

“Uncle Edward, you are as concerned as I am about her overworking herself.” Daphne followed them, settling a hand on a hip as she flapped the cushion in her aunt’s direction. “Why am I the only one with any sense today?”

Felicity settled onto the cushion, muttering about overbearing family under her breath, but Edward simply smirked.

Anthony climbed up beside her, snuggling into her side with the complete trust of a child who knew he was adored. But as Felicity put her arm around him, her son wriggled upright, pointing excitedly.

“James is here!”

And, indeed, the familiar figure of James Thornton was entering the garden. James was taller now, broader, his dark hair catching the sunlight as he strode forward. His eyes—Edward’s eyes—were bright with happiness as he approached.

“Apologies for the delay,” James said somewhat sheepishly, his smile warm as he turned toward Daphne. Without hesitation, he bent and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Daphne blushed, but did not shy away, instead jutting out her chin to present her cheek. “You are lucky you are so agreeable, or I would be quite put out with you. You may kiss me again.”

Felicity’s whole body relaxed as she watched the exchange, the reminder of her niece’s heart kept safely by a trustworthy gentleman making some of her anxieties fade.