Work Text:
Overcome
Ever since Penelope had discovered she was expecting, her moods had become rather erratic as of late. One moment she could be on top of the world and the next hysterical over the most minor of inconveniences.
It was driving Colin to spare.
“What happened to the biscuits?” Penelope questioned upon entering their drawing room. Her eyes had narrowed in on the now empty plate sitting on the table.
“I got peckish”, he confessed sheepishly, expecting that she would simply roll her eyes fondly as she usually did.
“Do you hate me so?” she suddenly burst into tears causing Colin to leap from the settee to rush to her side in an instant.
“Of course not, Pen, why would you even ask such a thing?”
“Because I wanted a biscuit and you did not save me even one”, she sobbed.
Colin, bewildered, rushed to the kitchen to ask their cook for some more biscuits. When he returned to the drawing room, Penelope had fallen to sleep on the settee.
Another incident happened at a garden party thrown by Lady Danbury.
This time however Benedict was the unfortunate target of Penelope’s unpredictable moods.
“Colin, dear sister”, Benedict greeted them merrily as they headed towards the refreshment table for some cake and lemonade.
Colin rolled his eyes at his brother’s greeting and again at how he kissed Penelope’s hand.
“You must try some of the delectable macaroons, Penelope! Before you know it, they will all be gone!” Benedict smiled.
Suddenly Penelope’s mouth began to quiver. “You think I shall eat all the macaroons? Why? Because I am a pig?!”
Benedict’s eyes began to bulge comically as Colin almost got whiplashed from how fast he turned to look at his wife.
“That is not at all what I meant!”, Benedict looked at his brother in horrified panic. “I merely meant to state how delicious the macaroons are. I dare say it’s more likely that Colin would snatch them all up!”
To the men’s great relief, Penelope quickly calmed down and then proceeded to help herself to a chocolate macaroon and act as if nothing had happened. “You are right, Benedict, these are very good”, she agreed and floated off towards Violet who was heading their way.
“Good god, brother, how are you still alive?”
“By the skin of my teeth, I’d wager”, Colin sighed, leaving a traumatised Benedict by the refreshments.
Later in the week, the ton was invited to a soiree hosted by Lord and Lady Cromwell to celebrate their spaniel’s new litter of puppies.
Upon seeing one of the newly born pups, Penelope burst into tears.
Colin stared at her, bewildered.
“They’re just so cute but they will soon be separated from their mama”, she blubbered. “It’s so sad”.
He took her hand and led her from the room and away from others gawking, spending the rest of the event cuddling his inconsolable wife. Colin even missed out on the extravagant four-tier lemon drizzle cake that the Cromwells had commissioned for the day.
Desperate, Colin turned to his mother for advice, stopping at Bridgerton House at breakfast the next morning.
“One moment she is content as can be, the next she will be in tears over something as mundane as a ladybug landing on a leaf”, he moaned.
Violet Bridgerton struggled to hold back her laughter at her son’s plight. She patted his hand, forcing a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay dear, she’s simply overcome by the pregnancy. Once the babe is here, Penelope will be her old self once more. Right now, all you can do is offer her your support and understanding. I do remember how I would cry for the most absurd of reasons. Your father was always so patient”.
Colin knew she was right.
And later in the evening, Penelope herself apologised for her ever-revolving door of emotions, her cheeks flushed from embarrassment.
“I must apologise for how I have been behaving recently”, she said as he pulled her into his lap on the chaise in their bedroom. “I cannot seem to help but find myself getting upset and angry at the drop of a hat”.
“My mother told me that it is perfectly normal when a woman is carrying for her to become overcome”, Colin assured her gently. “My mother went through the same thing. If this is what I must bear as you endure the discomforts of pregnancy, then I shall manage it just fine”.
He kissed her and felt his cheek dampen from a stray tear that fell from her eyes.
“I am so lucky to have you for a husband. You are a good man, Colin Bridgerton”.
“And I’m the luckiest man in the ton to have you for a wife, Mrs Bridgerton”.
The two of them kissed tenderly until Penelope’s mood changed into one, not of distress but rather amorous.
Indeed, it wasn’t long before they found themselves in their bed and Colin reaping the rewards of this latest mood swing.