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There were many things that Benedict had in common with Anthony and even more things they did not share but there was one thing he never realised he shared with his older brother until now…
It was a beautiful day and both he and his brother had decided to take their wives out for a picnic in the grounds of Aubrey Hall. They had been the first to arrive at the country home and were having a few days of just the four of them (plus Kate and Anthony’s two boys who were with their nanny)
This was Sophie’s second visit to the Bridgerton’s ancestral home, they’d been there for Christmas but this was the first time she was seeing it in its glory during the summer.
She and Benedict had just celebrated their first wedding anniversary and though Benedict had been reluctant to travel to Aubrey Hall as Sophie was about 6 months pregnant, he knew there was no way he could say no to his wife when Kate had suggested they all go for the summer.
It was Anthony who suggested a picnic, the rest of the family were due tomorrow and they had a few child free hours and since the sun was shining, he’d suggested they take Sophie down to the meadow, it wasn’t a long walk so Benedict didn’t complain about them going.
It had been a wonderful hour, they laughed and eaten the fruits and breads their cook prepared but it was when Kate retrieved the strawberry Jam out for Sophie as it was one of her cravings when they heard the noise that made Anthony freeze.
*buzz buzz buzz*
“It’s okay, it’s not near us” Kate said soothingly to Anthony reaching over and placing a hand on his arm causing him to relax.
Neither Sophie nor Benedict looked confused as they were aware of Anthony’s phobia of Bees and Benedict, whilst he was not a fan of the flying insect, did not have the same aversion to the insect…
Or so he thought.
As Kate reached over to comfort Anthony her hair, which was down at the behest of her husband, whipped in the wind, flicking the bee slightly causing an angry buzz, its flight path moving so it landed on Sophie’s arm.
“Oh” Sophie said as she went to swat it away, unaware it was already angry and as her hand went near, it sank its stinger into her arm, “owwww” she yelled and as Benedict watched the now dead bee fall off Sophie’s arm.
The colour drained from his face as his mind went to his father, gasping for breath as he fought the venom. “Oh my god… oh my god” he gasped as Sophie blasphemed with the pain, bringing Anthony and Kate’s attention to the pair.
“Soph… are… oh you’ve been stung!” Kate said
“I’m fine… it hurts but i’m fine. I’ve been stung plenty of times… Ben… are you okay?” Sophie said, as she caught the very pale complexion of her husband.
“You… you’re… you’ve…” he stammered
“If she’s been stung more than once in the past I am sure she will be okay” Anthony said to his brother, attempting to keep his own calm head, as he remembered what Kate had told him, but he too could feel how clammy his cheeks were.
“We…she… baby” Benedict stammered
“We’re fine…” Sophie tried to sooth but Anthony cut across her
“We’ll get her to the house and i’ll call for Dr Neil.”
“But…” Sophie tried to argue but as she glanced at Kate, her sister in law shook her head.
“Just for their piece of mind, let them call the Doctor? It would be best and they can clean the stinger out properly” Kate said
Sophie tried to resist the urge to roll her eyes, she had been stung on multiple occasions and she was sure she’d do a better job than a doctor in cleaning it up but seeing the abject terror on her husband’s face, she knew it was not worth the fight.
“Very well” she said as she let Kate help her up, as Anthony got Benedict up.
Benedict was more unsteady on his feet than Sophie, and he kept reaching out to touch her back, her uninjured arm, trying to reassure himself that she was okay, that she wasn’t going to drop dead in front of him and with each step to the house, with each passing minute he felt his breathing becoming steadier and calmer, but his terror moved from his wife to his unborn child.
The thought that their baby would be in trouble, that they could lose their baby, was just as terrifying.
The moment they arrived at the stately home, Anthony sent his fastest rider to fetch the doctor, and Sophie was sent to the drawing room with Kate to wait as Anthony steered his brother into his study, knowing both of them needed a stiff drink.
“Here” he said after he deposited his brother in a seat and poured them both a large brandy, offering it to his brother.
Benedict took it and without even looking at what his brother had offered him, he poured it down his neck, relishing the burn “how… how…” he stammered, he had no idea how to ask what he wanted to ask.
How do you get over the fear…
It was a fear he didn’t even realise he had until today, it was something he had learned in the last two years that his brother carried around with him for nearly two decades. It was a bee sting that had brought him and Kate together, and it was something he knew still terrified his brother.
“You don’t” Anthony said, realising what his brother was trying to ask “you can’t get over it really, but knowing that they’ve been stung plenty of times before… helps but the one thing that Kate told me, is how I can try to live my life…”
“What was that?” Benedict asked, desperate for something to cling to.
“You have to live each hour as if it's your last and each day as if you were immortal.” Anthony said.
“Easier said than done but you seem to be over it, you didn’t lose your head when she was stung” Benedict snorted
“That may well be but really Ben, it’s how you live your life anyway. You’ve always been freer, you’ve got that free spirit, you did something incredible in marrying Sophie, you decided to follow your heart, rather than what is expected of someone in our position” Anthony said “I don’t say it enough, but I am proud of you”
Benedict blinked and stared at the glass that his brother was holding and the one he had emptied “are you feeling alright?”
Anthony chuckled “I know. I am. It’s about time I told you really. I guess I spent so long trying to be father to our siblings that I neglected you as a brother… you never really needed me, until today. Seeing you go that white… seeing that terror that I felt seeing Kate stung for the first time, knowing you were feeling the same thing I felt… that's why I didn’t lose it. You needed me. Sophie needed me.”
Benedict looked at his brother, things making sense as he glanced at his empty glass “she… she is going to be okay… the baby?”
“I am sure they will both be fine. Sophie’s been far worse than a bee sting, and she’s stronger than that, and your baby is half her, and half you, and you are stronger than you give yourself credit for…” Anthony said
“I’m not…”
“You are. You were there for mother when I could not be, you helped her, you helped our siblings as an older brother. You need to give yourself more credit” Anthony said “if your baby is anything like you or Sophie, then they are going to be just fine…”
Benedict took a deep breath, for his brother to be saying such things, he knew he had a point but right now he couldn’t think of himself, he had to think of his wife and unborn child.
“Do you think the doctor would be here?” he asked his brother, it had been about 45 minutes since the rider had been sent, and he knew the doctor wasn’t far.
“We can go find out” Anthony said, draining his own drink and jumping to his feet and leading his brother out.
“Has Dr Neil arrived” he asked Humboldt, their butler.
“Yes my Lord, about 5 minutes ago, he’s with Lady and Mrs Bridgerton now,” the butler replied, bowing at both gentlemen.
“Thank you” Benedict said, turning to head down the hall towards the drawing room.
After a few minutes he arrived to see the Doctor using tweezers to take the sting, a compress had applied, and Sophie was looking agitated.
“It would be easier if you sit still Mrs Bridgerton” the doctor admonished
“That may well be the case but tweezers trying to pick up a tiny sting is not the most comfortable thing, and it is easier to remove them with just a fingernail or the back of a knife scraping it over the top” Sophie said “it worked perfectly the last time I was stung several times”
“I am the doctor,” Dr Neil said sternly.
“Please Sophie… just let him work” Benedict said from the door, seeing his wife looking thoroughly fed up.
“Thank you sir” Dr Neil replied before turning his attention back to Sophie’s arm.
It took another 10 minutes of no so gently prodding at the wound, a few hissed pain winces and a lot of silent blasphemies in her head before the doctor finally declared it removed.
Sophie scowled, the tiny little bump was now redder, angrier and bleeding, with a small hole in her arm from his attempts.
“That should heal on its own but should be washed out” the doctor said.
“And the baby?” Benedict asked
“The baby should not be affected, there has been no severe reaction but once the baby is born i would recommend it being checked out” he replied.
“Thank you doctor” Anthony replied
“Let us see you out Doctor, allow Mr and Mrs Bridgerton a moment” Kate said to both her husband and the doctor.
Anthony nodded and walked out of the drawing room with his wife and the doctor and the moment the door was closed, Benedict hurried to Sophie’s side and engulfed her into a hug.
Sophie winced at the pain in her arm but hugged her husband “you had nothing to fear you know”
“I didn’t know that… you know what caused my father to die… I could not lose you, or our child” Benedict said.
“I was once stung by 5 bees at once. If you’d just let me explain…”
“5?!” Benedict asked “how…?”
“Araminta” was all Sophie had to say and Benedict’s cheeks flushed red with anger.
“Say no more” he said, he didn’t want to know anymore, he didn’t need to know as knowing would mean the next time he saw the dowager countess, he would commit murder. “But that does not mean our child would have been fie”
“One of the maids was pregnant with me and she’d been stung at the same time as me and her child is fine” Sophie said matter of factly.
“Soph… please… just… i’m sorry but you are far too precious to me, you’re carrying precious cargo, if you stopped breathing so would I… you die, I die… that’s the deal remember… and I am not ready to die” Benedict said.
Sophie rolled her eyes “you are a ridiculous man but I am sorry you were scared, but I hope this hole in my arm now means you are calm and reassured?”
“It does, a little, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be anxious when you have our baby” Benedict said.
“I am sure I will be as well, but you made me promise not to think about my mother, to not think about what could happen…so I need you to do the same” Sophie replied “i will need you to be strong for us both in that moment…”
“I think i can manage that…” Benedict smiled, dropping a gentle kiss to first his wife’s lips and then her stomach.
“Good, because this little one is going to be just fine… here” she said, pressing Benedict’s hand to her stomach, allowing him to feel the kicks that had just started “they’re reassuring us both that they’re still there and well”
Benedict smiled, resting his head against Sophie’s as he felt his unborn child kicking, thinking that he could not possibly be more scared about losing their child… unbeknown to him that the worst was yet to come.