The Consort, Chapter 32
Author's Note: Wedding next chapter, and then I'm going to try something a bit different with the honeymoon bits, and make it funny. And that, my friends, will wrap up this story. But I have many thoughts for follow-up one shots and multi-parts.
I still can't believe how long I've been letting myself stay in Fluff Mode.
DG felt like her feet might leave the ground any moment. She rarely spoke of the people who’d raised her, who she loved as parents, because to do so was simply too painful. Privately, she missed and mourned them, something most people didn’t realize. Cain knew, though. He was always the one she’d called on when she had to talk about it, long before they were married. And now, what he’d done…well, it just made her doubly disappointed that she wasn’t sharing a bedroom with him for a few nights and so could not thank him properly.
She dragged her parents all over Finaqua, introducing them to everybody. They had to meet Az, and Jeb, and Raw, and eventually Ahamo, although she left him until the end. She worried that it’d be awkward, but happily it was not. Ahamo was gracious and welcoming, and he didn’t seem threatened. In between she babbled like a crazy person, relating random stories and talking too fast and generally behaving like a teenager, but she thought she might be forgiven.
After dinner she took them for a walk in the gardens, each of her arms through one of theirs, contentment welling inside her until she feared it’d spill out her eyes in the form of yet more tears. Being Queen was certainly proving to be a weepy proposition for her.
“I wish we’d been able to be at your wedding,” Emily said. “I hope you have pictures! How beautiful you must have looked.”
DG smiled. “It wasn’t bad. But really, this is the wedding that matters, and you’re here for it. This is the one I’d want you at.”
“And your coronation! Oh, Hank…we’ve missed so much!”
“There’s video of the coronation, Momster. Along with practically everything else I’ve done since!”
“Not the things that really matter,” Emily said. “There isn’t video of you sitting under a tree and drawing, or waking up with bed-hair.”
DG smiled. “No, I guess not. We’ll just have to move you into the Palace when we get back so you’ll be around for all that great bed-hair from now on.”
“Your friend Mr. Ambrose said he was already arranging it. He must be a very good friend, honey.”
“Glitch? He’s the best. I don’t know what I’d do without him. I couldn’t rule over a wading pool without his help.”
“And your sister, she’s so lovely and charming. Not like…well, you know.”
“That wasn’t her. The witch was nothing like her, she was just wearing her body. Az is great. She’s smart and sarcastic and she never lets me get away with anything.”
“Then there’s your Mr. Cain.”
DG smiled to herself, happy warmth blooming in her stomach just to think of him. “Yeah,” she said, blushing. “I think he’s a keeper.”
“You should have seen him while he was arranging this,” Emily said. “He was so excited for you to see us. So glad to be doing something to make you happy.”
“He does a lot of things to make me happy, although all he really has to do is exist.”
Emily sighed. “Every mother just wants her child to find love and happiness. I always hoped you’d find somebody who appreciated you, who thought you were as amazing as we always have.” They stopped and sat down on a bench near the central fountain. Emily touched DG’s cheek. “I just had to see you with him to know you’d found that.”
DG met her mother’s eyes. “I have, Mom.”
“He treat you right?” Hank said, gruff.
She grinned at the fatherly inquiry. “Of course, Pop.”
“Mm. He better, or we’ll have words.”
“I’ll make sure to warn him.”
“So!” Emily said, brightening. “When are we going to see some grandchildren?”
DG deflated. So much for the happy warm fuzzy feelings. “Oh. Well…”
Emily looked stricken. “Oh dear…what is it? I didn’t know that was a bad question.”
“No, it’s fine, it’s just…” DG clasped her mother’s hand in both of her own, dragging it into her lap, restlessly squeezing and stroking it. “We’ve been trying. For quite a while, more than six months.”
“Well…sometimes it just takes time, honey.”
“It should have happened by now!” DG cried.
This was the thing that had been waiting to land on her with both feet, the thing she’d been pushing away. Cain’s return had been such a joyous time, for several weeks she had barely thought about their difficulties conceiving, she’d been so occupied with exploring their newfound closeness. Then, when she got her period again while he’d been out on the inspection tour, she hadn’t mentioned it to him, and hadn’t really let herself dwell on it. Just be grateful you have him back, worry about the baby problem later. But it couldn’t be put off forever, and now it was so much worse. Now it wasn’t just about needing an heir. Now it was about starting a family with the man she loved, it was about bearing his child and raising it with him, and she wanted it not for the kingdom, but for herself.
Emily had her arm around DG now. “Have you seen a doctor?” she asked, gently.
“Yes! We’ve both seen the doctor and there’s nothing wrong with either of us. I’m just not pregnant.” DG took a deep, shaky breath and fought off the tears. “I have to keep thinking positive, I guess,” she said.
“That’s the spirit,” Hank said, squeezing her hand. “You’ll be popping out babies in no time flat.”
DG snorted. “Do you have to put it like that?”
Hank laughed and hugged her with one arm. DG let her head fall to his shoulder, lacing her fingers through her mother’s. “I’m so glad you guys are here,” she said, quietly. “Don’t ever go away again, okay?”
The kitchen was dark and deserted when DG entered, feeling like some kind of recipe-stealing spy. She checked her watch; the note she’d received had asked her to meet him here at 10:00. “Wyatt?” she whispered, suppressing a giggle. It was all so ridiculous.
Suddenly her wrist was grabbed and she let out a very un-heroic squeal as she was pulled into the dry-goods pantry. She stumbled to the back counter and turned around just in time to see Cain shut the door and flip on the dim under-shelf task lighting, just enough light so they could see each other. “Hey there, princess,” he said, but he curled the old greeting with a little smirk of naughtiness.
“This is so stupid,” DG said, grinning. “I feel like I’m back at school sneaking around under the bleachers with Tommy Hortigan.”
Cain put his hands on her hips and drew her close. “Hmm. Who’s this Tommy Hortigan? Someone I need to go have a talk with?” he growled.
“Nope. Just some kid I used to know.” She pulled his head down and kissed him hard, pressing herself tight against him. His arms wound around her back and he returned the kiss eagerly, diving into her open mouth. DG’s body felt flushed and malleable. God, what he does to me. Cain grabbed her leg behind the knee and hooked it around his hip, then slid his hand up the back of her thigh underneath her skirt.
“I barely…saw you…all night,” he murmured, his words broken into choppy phrases as he kissed his way down her neck, sucking and nipping at her pale skin. DG raked her nails through his hair, letting her head fall back to bare her throat to his mouth.
“I was with my folks,” she said.
“I know, and I’m glad…but I still missed you,” he said, moving back up to her mouth and attacking it with relish. DG gasped and hung on tight; he had her bent back just to the point of overbalancing and she didn’t want to fall over. “I thought we weren’t going to have sex,” she said, pulling away briefly to sneak in the sentence.
“We aren’t. This isn’t sex.” His words were belied by his hand kneading her ass.
“It’s going to turn into sex if we’re not careful,” she said, smirking. Cain hissed as she slid one hand over the front of his pants. “You’re saddled up and ready to ride, cowboy.”
“It’s an unconscious response to a beautiful woman,” he said, going for her neck again.
“This sleeping-apart thing was your idea, you know, and now here you are trying to sneak in some unauthorized nookie.”
He pulled back and looked at her, one eyebrow raised. “Nookie?”
“Otherside term for this,” she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders again and claiming his mouth with her own.
They went on for several minutes, necking in the damn dry-goods pantry, until suddenly the door slammed open. DG gasped and clutched Cain’s shoulders. Their heads both whipped around to face the doorway, caught red-handed by the backlit figure there.
“I might have known,” Azkadellia said, stepping into the pantry with her hands on her hips. DG and Cain sprang apart, guilty looks on their faces. “DG, I am surprised at you.”
“It was his idea!” DG cried, pointing at Cain.
“And as for you, Wyatt…I would have expected better,” Az scolded. “Can’t you control yourself for three days?”
Cain looked mortified. DG slid her hand into his. “She’s just giving us a hard time, honey. Aren’t you, Az?” she said, shooting her sister a look.
Az chuckled. “I just wanted to know when you were turning in and I couldn’t find you. Little did I know you were making out with your husband in a pantry.”
“Give me five minutes, okay? I’ll be right out,” DG said.
Azkadellia nodded and moved to the door. “Now, I expect you both to remain clothed, you hear me?” she said, wagging a finger. She shut the door before DG could protest.
“Honestly,” DG said. “She is a caution.”
Cain fetched a deep, long-suffering sigh. “I don’t think I’ll ever live this down.”
“Why did you ask me to meet you? Not that I’m complaining, it’s just..not really your style.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I was trying to be…what do you call it? Spontaneous.” He stepped closer. “And I really did want to see you before you went to bed. Without me.”
She pushed out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout. “I know. I don’t like it either.” She slid her hands up his chest as his went to her waist. “But I’m glad you did, because now I have the chance to thank you again.” She kissed him, soft and lingering. “I can’t tell you what it means to have my parents back.”
He nodded. “I know how much you’ve missed them.”
DG held on to Cain’s arms, her brow furrowed, thinking of how to say what she meant to say. “I just…I’ve never had anybody think about me the way you do,” she said. “I mean, think about what I want, what I need, and then try to make it happen.”
He thought about that for a moment, his eyes downcast. “It’s my job to take care of you,” he said. She opened her mouth to object, but he was a step ahead. “And yes, I know, you’re a modern woman, you can take care of yourself,” he added, lifting his head to look at her, a wry smile on his face. He sobered and lifted one hand to brush a hair off her cheek. “It’s still my job, and I’m still going to do it.”
“But…do I do that for you?” DG asked, voicing something she’d worried about for awhile. “Sometimes I feel like I just sit back and reap the rewards while you do all the worrying and caretaking of high-maintenance little me.”
He blinked. “Are you serious?”
“Yes! You, you’re always thinking of me and doing stuff for me, what do I do?”
“DG…” He looked incredulous. “You do plenty. You are not…high-maintenance, if that means what I think it means. You take care of me all the time, you just don’t realize you’re doing it. But you do it when you make an effort to have a good relationship with Jeb. You do it when you walk around with Azkadellia after Receiving because you know I hate making small talk with stuffy nobles. You think I don’t know that we have blueberry pie every week because you told the cooks it’s my favorite? How many times have I casually mentioned that I don’t like something, or that I do, only to find out later that you’ve had it changed to suit me?” He bent and peered right into her eyes. “I am looking at a woman who opened her private family graveyard to accommodate my late wife, just so I would be spared a painful choice. You think just any woman would do that?” He shook his head. “No, you take great care of me. You do it every time you let me touch you.”
DG smiled, his words lightening her heart. She pointed at him. “I don’t let you touch me, bucko. I demand it, you hear me?”
He grinned. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
Her shoulders lifted with a happy sigh. “Okay. I feel better. Gimme a hug before I have to go sleep with a girl.”
Cain hugged her tight. “Goodnight, kiddo.”
“G’night, Wyatt.” She rested her forehead against his. “You make me crazy happy, you know that?”
He gave her that slanty half-smile. “Yeah?”
She nodded. “Yeah.” She kissed him once more, then stepped out of his arms and ran out of the dry-goods pantry before she talked herself into staying just for one more minute.