Scorched

Chapter Thirty-Five

Another day, another squabble. Rachel had a raging headache the next morning, and Adriane was in a less than perfect mood. She’d ended up storming from the room and slamming the door of her suite in his face…again.

When was this going to get easier?

Maybe she should just leave with her parents.

Today was their last day in Corythia and she was almost in tears. Maybe leaving would actually help the situation between her and Adriane. But she didn’t expect him to be thrilled about it, and if she and Adriane entered into a full-scale battle, her protective parents would join in. She definitely didn’t want them to get caught in the cross fire.

Lying down on the couch, she held a cold compress to her forehead and waited for the Tylenol to kick in. Someday soon, this pregnancy had to become more manageable.

A slight smile crossed her lips as she lifted her shirt and rubbed along her belly. The bump was more noticeable now. Not enough that you could see it when she had her clothes on, but when she looked in the mirror and turned to one side, she could see the signs of life growing within her.

All her fears about the pregnancy and impending motherhood had gone away, and now she just felt excitement when she thought of holding her twin babies. OK, OK, that wasn’t entirely true. She did feel some fear. How was she going to handle two of them at one time? She’d just have to figure it out after they were born.

Her head was beginning to clear, and she was starting to feel a little more human when a hand landed on her arm, making her sit up too quickly. She felt nausea fly straight to her throat as she let out a squeak of fright.

“It’s all right, darling, it’s just me,” came the sweet voice of her mother.

Her heart pounding, she opened her eyes and turned her head. “You scared me to death, Mom,” she gasped, then laughed when she realized how stupid it was to be afraid. The palace was literally surrounded by guards. The chances of someone getting in there to hurt her were slim to none.

She looked around, found her compress on the floor, picked it up, then lay back down and put it back it on her forehead.

“I’m sorry. Your father and I are leaving soon, and I just wanted to make sure you were OK before we left. But you’re not, darling. You’re obviously not well. You can come with us, you know,” her mom said for the hundredth time.

Rachel understood her mother’s unhappiness at leaving without her daughter. But the king wasn’t likely to do anything rash a second time. Though he still didn’t want his “baby mama” to go, Rachel didn’t see him risking a major diplomatic incident to keep her there, and now, with the cell phone her brother had given her, she had communication beyond the palace walls.

When it came time for her to leave, she would do so, whether he was ready for her departure or not.

“Besides having this killer headache, I’m fine, Mama. I promise,” she added when her mother looked at her skeptically.

“You realize I’ve always been able to tell when you’re fibbing to me, right?”

“Yes, Mom. None of us has ever been able to get anything past you. It’s always been quite inconvenient,” Rachel said with a fond smile.

“A good mother knows her children, knows everything about them, the good and the bad. A great mother loves them regardless. I love you and your sister and brother and would do anything for each of you — including supporting you even when I think you are making a wrong choice. I am not saying that I think you’re making a bad choice right now; I just think you need to take care of yourself, or let your parents take care of you. No matter how old you get, Rachel, you will always be my baby.”

“Oh, Mom, I love you so much.” Rachel sat up and wrapped her slender arms around her mom’s neck, with tears beginning to stream from her eyes. “Dang hormones,” she grumbled.

“I love you too, sweetheart, and I’m so sorry that you’re going through such a terrible amount of pain right now. If I could take it away, I would,” she said, tenderly rubbing the length of Rachel’s back in comfort, the way she’d always done since Rachel could remember.

“I’m just so confused,” she admitted.

“Then tell me about it. Let’s see if we can figure things out together,” Rosabella said.

Rachel hesitated for only a moment longer before sitting back and clutching the blanket beside her to her chest. This was her mom, the woman she’d always told everything to. Of course she was the one who would give her the best advice.

“I know Ari filled you in, but I don’t know exactly what she told you, so I guess I’ll give you my version of the events. You’ve probably been told that I had a weeklong affair with Adriane in Florida,” she began, feeling bad when her mom winced. Though she’d heard it already, no mother liked to be told about her daughter having an illicit affair with a man she didn’t know.

“I’m sorry, darling. I know you’re an adult now, but it’s still something hard for a mother to hear, especially when I’ve heard it twice,” she said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I know. The thought of my children growing up and behaving the way I did fills my heart with terror,” Rachel admitted.

“You followed your heart and you’ve always been responsible. I’m not faulting you for that. I just wish you’d been more careful this time. Adriane could have turned out to be a serial killer,” Rosabella admonished her.

“Worse! He turned out to be a flipping king!” Rachel countered.

“We will have to disagree on which of the two is worse,” Rosabella said with another laugh.

“Everything was great with Adriane. I only knew him as Ian at the time. We laughed, talked, and, well…had fun. Then, it was just something carefree and exciting. Now, I realize how irresponsible I was,” she said, not quite willing to tell her mom that she’d had the best sex of her life. Not to mention the only sex of her life, but who was counting? Anyway, Rosabella seemed grateful for her discretion.

As Rachel repeated her story, her mother sat there patting her leg, listening without interruption. Though Rachel hadn’t been listening to anyone recently, she was eager to hear her mother’s advice.

“Have you decided if you want to stay with him?” Rosabella asked when her daughter finished her tale. “It is to Adriane’s credit, I hope you know, that he wants to marry you. Many a royal man wouldn’t be so principled.”

“I am honored by his offer, Mom, but no. I’m not going to marry him. I learned from watching you and dad that a marriage can only be about love, and anything less would be settling. I deserve better than that. I do, however, want to know him. I want to be able to tell my children good things about him, and I hope we can be friends for their sake. I think the reason I want to know him so much is because I feel that after we leave, that will be it, that he’ll move on, get married to a proper woman, and the kids will never see him again. At least if I’ve spent time with him, then I will be able to share with them who their father is. When I read them fairy tales, I can tell them that their father is a real live king. I would have been excited to know I was a princess when I was a little girl.”

“I’m so very proud of you, Rachel. The choices you’re making aren’t easy ones, and the way you are already putting your children ahead of anything else shows me that you are more than ready to become a mother. A lot of young women think being a mom is all glory and nothing messy. Many teens think they will have this child who will love them always. The reality is that children are difficult. They are demanding and it’s all about them — always. We make sacrifices as a mother, and those sacrifices are well worth it, because then when our children grow into fine young men and women, we get to sit down with them and share their life. I wouldn’t change a thing about being a mother — well, I might change those sleepless nights.”

“Thanks, Mom. Sometimes it scares me to do this alone,” Rachel admitted.

“You will never be alone; you have your family. Plus, you never know. Maybe Adriane is the one — maybe you will fall hopelessly in love,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“I will never fall in love with that man. He is too pompous and he thinks he’s always right. He would drive me insane!” she cried, narrowing her eyes at just the thought.

Rosabella chortled as she looked at her daughter. “That’s what I said about your father. He stormed into Italy like he owned the country. I wanted nothing to do with him. But look at us now. Married for almost forty years, and I love him now more than ever before.”

“That’s because you and Dad are perfect together,” Rachel said, only hoping she could someday have a marriage even half as beautiful as her parents had.

“We weren’t in the beginning, darling. I kept turning him down flat when he asked me out. Not interested, I kept saying. It took some time, but he was so persistent that eventually I agreed to a date, thinking he would grow bored after I spoke in a monotone and refused any of his advances. I was wrong. He stirred my blood that night, just as he does now,” her mom said with a dreamy smile.

“Ugh, mom. I don’t even want to think about dad stirring your blood,” Rachel said with a fake gag, but her cheeks turned pink at the thought.

“I’m not in the grave yet, Rachel. I still have feelings.”

“OK, you can still have feelings. I just can’t hear about them. That’s my dad you’re talking about,” she said with a grin.

“I will miss you so much, cara. I want you to come home soon, OK?” Rosabella leaned over and embraced Rachel with the magical comfort of a mother’s love.

“I will miss you too, Mama. I promise I won’t be gone much longer. I can’t give birth to these babies without you by my side.”

“I want you to be strong and stand on your own two feet. I raised you that way, but I do want to be there. Some events are just too important for a mom not to be a part of them with her own baby,” Rosabella said.

“I agree. You raised me well, Mama, but I will always still need you.”

Rosabella held her for several long moments, and then it was time for her daughter to walk her out. Saying goodbye to her mom and dad together was going to be even harder, and Rachel took several long breaths before she met them at the front entrance to the palace.

“You are both welcome here at any time,” Adriane said as he joined them there.

“Thank you, Adriane. We appreciate the invitation,” Martin said as he shook Adriane’s hand.

“It was my pleasure to have you both,” Adriane said as he turned toward Rosabella and lifted her hand, kissing the back of it before smiling. “Your daughter certainly received her beauty from you.”

Oh, the man was smooth.

Rosabella giggled and a slight blush entered her cheeks as she moved in front of Rachel.

“I love you. Call me the minute you need anything. Or just call to tell me about your day. I look forward to your coming back home,” Rosabella said, and Rachel noticed Adriane’s body tense as if afraid she would just run away with them right now.

Tempting.

But no. She was committed.

“I will miss you, baby girl,” Martin said as he pulled Rachel gently into his arms.

“I will miss you, too, Daddy,” she said, leaning into his embrace and allowing a few tears to escape, though she’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry. It wasn’t as if she were losing her parents forever. But they’d just be so far away.

“I will take good care of her and our babies,” Adriane assured them as he walked up and put his arm around Rachel as soon as Martin released her.

Rachel stood there with Adriane and watched the two walk from the palace and get into the awaiting car that would take them to the helipad.

“I won’t make you feel trapped ever again,” Adriane said as he turned her and looked into her eyes.

Rachel wiped her tears away as she looked at him with suspicion. What was he doing now?

“It was wrong of me. I’m truly sorry, cara. You have free rein to speak to all of your family. I can admit when I’ve done wrong,” he said with a rueful grin.

“I may need to record this,” she said, her heart clattering just a bit too much at the gentle way he was speaking to her. She was a bit too vulnerable right now.

“How about joining me for lunch?”

“Yes.”

Rachel didn’t hesitate. The thought of going to her room and being alone at this moment was unbearable. It was time to let down her guard and really try to know this man, try to tear down some of the walls that both of them had in place.

“Thank you,” he said so quietly, she almost missed it.

It seemed he was feeling the same way as she was. When he took her hand into his, she didn’t pull away, just followed him deeper into the palace.