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Angela just wanted to feel the sun's rays in her face and the refreshing breeze blowing her hair for a little bit. That wasn't supposed to be that difficult. However, Lizzy, who held the parasol, predicted her Duchess every step before she decided on a direction to try to escape from the shade.
Not just that, the group of servants who accompanied her anticipated her every need - if her lips felt dry, she received a glass of juice before she realized she was thirsty! - was so numerous that the breeze couldn't touch her.
Angela didn't have the heart to ask them to step back. They kept looking at her with those big eyes full of reverence. They were so excited!
In the end, she sat in the chaise longue that was brought to the yard when she said she would take a walk there. So she just stayed there - missing Rayburn silently.
In the morning, when Angela woke up, he was already gone. Even the sheet in his side of the bed had lost the warmness. So she rubbed her face in his pillow with the willingness of those who think of themselves without witnesses.
Of course, Lizzy was there and saw everything.
She tried to comfort Angela, saying the Duke would be back soon, probably in the next day. But "the next day" appeared to be an eternity ahead.
Angela touched a spot in her neck and then other in her collarbone. They weren't itching, but, for some reason, her fingers kept brushing them. She needed a moment to guess the reason.
The refreshing blowing of a fan hit her flushed skin before she could understand that she was feeling ashamed.
Last night Rayburn had kissed here and there. He had been so caring.
The next day would take so long!
"My Duchess, were you fine?" The Housekeeper asked. "Should we help you back inside?"
"Haha. I'm fine." To think she would remember things like that when she was surrounded by other people. Argh, she was so embarrassed.
"Please don't push yourself too hard."
Angela couldn't help but respond with a gentle smile. Even if it was a little awkward, it was kind of nice to have so many people concerned with her wellbeing. Also, she had almost gotten used to the aching sensation in her cheeks.
To go back to her room could be a good idea. Maybe Rayburn's scent was still in the pillow. She was about to say something, with her lips already parted, when a commotion broke out. The servants moved, opening a clear line of vision.
The sides of Angela's lips twisted up.
Rayburn was back!
While everyone else was busy greeting their Duke, she got up - which had been a mistake.
She stumbled even before getting to her feet. She didn't fall, just sat down slightly less gently than usual. But that had been enough.
"Kyaaaaah!"
"The Duchess!"
"Kyaaah!"
"Call the doctor!"
While everyone else was shouting, Rayburn crossed the distance between them in a beat. On one knee, he studied her with that intense gaze of his. Angela didn't understand how anyone could be afraid of the stare that made the butterflies in her stomach flutter.
"Welcome baaaack~~!" She said before letting her cheek rest over the hand that came to place a lock of her hair behind her ear.
"Are you unhurt?"
Pfffff! Of course, she was!
However, before she could say that, something extraordinary happened.
***
Duke Espelind didn't want to stay away from his wife. In that moment more than ever. He spent as much time of the day with her as he could allow himself, and every night they shared the same bed.
Rayburn wasn't sure if Angela was aware that she could have a room of her own even after the marriage. He wouldn't be the one to tell. He liked the scent of her hair in the pillows in the morning and appreciated watching her sleep, as he had done before leaving that morning - lips slightly parted, eyes heavily shut, and blond locks stormed out. She was an incomprehensible mixture between serenity and chaos.
He even liked hearing her cheery voice chatting on and on, giving him a glimpse of her storm of thoughts. Which he honestly still found hard to keep up.
Rayburn wanted to have stayed until he could see those blue eyes opened filled with joy at the sight of him. But, despite his own desires, there were some issues that, if ignored, could do more harm than good. So he left early in the morning so he wouldn't be back late.
Problems always found Angela. Or, maybe, she was the one that always found them. Rayburn preferred to be at her side then. Though it seemed he had arrived a moment too late.
He didn't even remember walking towards her. The screams of the servants became a muffled noise. The hand he rose to arrange her hair was shaking.
"Welcome baaaack~~!" She smiled as if nothing had happened. The gaze he had wished to see all day was there, locked in him.
It was good to be welcomed.
He sighed. "Are you unhurt?" But then, her eyes opened widely, and she sucked her breath in. His heart almost stopped. "Ange-"
Angela took his hand and pressed it over her abdomen in front of everyone. "Say something, anything ." She seemed too hectic to remember her shyness. Which made him the only one disconcerted between them.
"What ar-?" Then something happened. It was new and strange. And he had no idea that was supposed to be.
She beamed at his confusion. "I believe our baby likes your voice."
The baby was still unborn - they couldn't know his voice, even less like it. That was so... "Absurd."
That happened again.
"The baby is moving!" While the servants spread the news between them and celebrated, Rayburn stayed there, looking to her abdomen completely froze.
He didn't know what to do. He didn't even dare to move. It felt like his heart was going to burst, and he couldn't think anything else besides that he would ruin everything.
The baby would be tinner than Angela and even more delicate. Rayburn wouldn't know how to be a good father. He didn't even know what to say to his own baby.
Startling him, Angela took his face in her palms and drew it closer to hers. They stared at each other while she spoke a low tone meant just to him. "Rayburn, do you know how to sing? Or, do you prefer to read stories? I think the baby would like to hear your voice a little more. They got so excited when you spoke! Well, I also love to hear it, so it's a win-win situation! I know it seems silly to talk to a belly, but it would do no harm, right? And you can do that when we are alone. What do you think?"
He almost laughed. Angela wanted him to read and to sing.
"I think... I like the sound of your voice."