Work Text:
Sophie Baek - now Bridgerton - could not deny that she had made mistakes in her life. But then again, who hadn’t? There were times when she had stained the good linens and burned the biscuits and she had even dropped the tea service on the way up the stairs one time. Araminta had made sure there was hell to pay and Sophie had made sure she paid more attention to the oven going forward and only took one step at a time when carrying something heavy.
There were other mistakes that were much more life-altering. Stealing her stepmother’s shoes to sneak into a ball that she wasn’t invited to, for example. Though she might have gotten away with it if she hadn’t had the bright idea to follow a man she had never met before out of the ballroom and onto an isolated terrace where no one else could see them. Then she danced with him. Then she let him kiss her. Even worse, she kissed him. By the time she was sprinting out the door to the carriage (also borrowed without permission), she had made a lifetime’s worth of mistakes in a single night.
One would think that Sophie, sensible woman that she was, would eventually get herself back on the right path. She hadn’t of course, and by the time she had found herself stuck at an oddly-named country estate in Wiltshire with the very man she had kissed, she was beginning to wonder if she was cursed. Perhaps ‘cursed’ was a strong word, but it did seem like her judgment was seriously impaired whenever Benedict Bridgerton was around.
There must have been someone looking out for her though, for she now found herself married to Benedict and living with him at the aforementioned country estate. And she could not be happier.
One summer afternoon, she came into the kitchen after a long morning picking blueberries in their garden. Mrs. Crabtree looked up from her cutting board as Sophie lugged the basket onto the counter with a heavy thump.
“Did you leave any berries on the bushes?” the older woman asked, her amusement obvious.
Sophie let out a deep exhale now that she had been relieved of her burden. “I did, but it looks to be a bumper crop this year.”
“Oh, that’s no problem. I’m sure we’ll find good use for them,” Mrs. Crabtree said.
Sophie rolled her neck a few times to rid herself of some remaining stiffness before pouring the berries out into a pot for washing. She really should be more careful, especially now. “I’m sure.” There was always something to do, whether that was baking, preserving, or taking them into town to sell in the market but that would have to wait. The house had been suspiciously quiet since she had returned and she was going to get to the bottom of it.
“Where are Mr. Crabtree and Benedict?” she asked innocently. Hopefully including Mr. Crabtree in that question would make her end goal less obvious. Her hopes were dashed immediately because Mrs. Crabtree gave her a knowing look.
“Mr. Crabtree is in the stable,” she replied. “He discovered a problem with the carriage harness on the last ride into town. It needs to be fixed immediately.”
Sophie waited a moment and inwardly sighed when Mrs. Crabtree did not inform her of Benedict’s whereabouts. Was she really going to make Sophie specifically ask? “And… Benedict?”
Sophie could swear she saw the older woman’s eyes twinkle with amusement. “Mr. Bridgerton said something about it being much too hot to stay indoors today,” she said.
The implication of course being that he went somewhere to cool off and there were only a few options where that could be. She quickly cleaned her hands to get any remaining dirt off. “Thank you,” she said before hurrying back upstairs.
Sophie quickly retrieved her shawl from the peg near the door, wrapped it around her shoulders, and set off for the lake. At this point, she could probably get there blindfolded with how often she and Benedict went there together and how often she followed him there. Go down this path here, veer off to the left at that bush, then cross over the little stone bridge and so on. How odd, she thought. The site of yet another one of her mistakes had become one of her most favored spots in the world.
The first time she’d followed him to the lake, it hadn’t been intentional. Benedict often teased her about that in the time since, but she was being completely truthful. She hadn’t known he was there and she would swear to it. Of course, that did not justify her later actions but that was neither here nor there. Up until that point, she had been able to suppress her attraction to him. His grin, the way he made her smile. She had a handle on it. Until she came across him swimming without a scrap of clothing on and it was all over. Seeing him like that made him real. He was no longer just the mystery gentleman from her dreams but instead a flesh and blood man. Of course, he had caught her notice and then she had confessed that to him and then they had kissed - again - and it was all downhill from there.
She had tried to learn from her mistake. She truly had. Immediately after the kiss, Sophie had tried to erect a barrier between them and it had lasted. Until it hadn’t. But through all their trials and tribulations, it had all come out right in the end. Here she was, happily married to a wonderful man and if her calendar was correct, they were soon to be three.
What a wonderful thought. Sophie took a moment to lean against a tree trunk and put her hand on her stomach. It did not look any different and she had not yet felt any physical symptoms. She didn’t want to assume anything and be disappointed - her courses had been late before after all - but she wanted to hope. Benedict would be thrilled, of that she was certain. That was the primary reason for her secrecy. She did not want to get her husband’s hopes up only to be disappointed by a delayed cycle. But if Sophie was honest with herself, it was not the only reason why she had kept her suspicions private.
Though she had not seen her stepmother in nearly a year, Araminta’s words still echoed in her ears when there was nothing else to drown them out.
‘You were his mistake. His error.’
Sophie knew that her stepmother had been trying to cut her as deeply as possible, but had she truly been lying? Had Richard Gun intended to father a child on a lowborn maid? Somehow, she doubted it. Did he ever curse the day his by-blow had been left on his doorstep because there had been no one else to care for her? Her father had fed her, clothed her, and put a roof over her head but she could count the times when he had acted as a true father to her on one hand. Had her mother intended to fall pregnant and then succumb to illness while her daughter was still an infant? Sophie doubted that even more but here she was anyway in spite of it all.
If she truly was with child, Sophie vowed right then and there that they would be the most loved little child on this earth. She and Benedict would do everything in their power and beyond to make sure that their baby would feel nothing but warmth and affection from the both of them. No child of hers would ever be made to feel like a stranger in their own home. She pressed her palm to her stomach even more firmly. I love you, she thought with a ferocity she didn’t know she possessed. On a purely logical level, she knew she was talking to herself but she didn’t care.
Sophie steadied herself, took a deep breath, and continued on her way to the lake. Just as she was about to round the final bend, she heard the telltale splashing that confirmed Benedict’s presence. Then she stopped. He hadn’t seen her yet and would not be able to from this angle. A mischievous smile spread across her face. She hadn’t had the chance to play a joke on her husband in a while and the perfect opportunity had just fallen into her lap. It would be a crime to pass it up.
So Sophie took her spot behind a particularly dense bush. She crouched down carefully and found enough of a gap in the foliage to give her the perfect view. Just as expected, Benedict swam by completely bare. He was in shallow enough water that she had an excellent view of his broad shoulders and back.
She only got to enjoy the show for a few seconds before he stopped and stood up. “Sophie,” he called. “I know it’s you.”
Drat. That had to be his fastest discovery yet. He’s getting too good at this. If Sophie wanted to keep things competitive, she would have to adjust her strategy.
“Sophie,” he called again, this time with more obvious teasing. “Come on out.”
With that encouragement, Sophie stood up and strolled on out from behind her bush. She gave him her most innocent smile and a pleasant “good day, husband.” She even threw in a little mock curtsy as well.
He laughed and waded closer to the water’s edge. “Good day to you as well.”
Sophie stood there and said nothing. Instead she admired her husband’s shoulders. It was so quiet she could hear the birds chirping but she really was quite distracted by a very pleasant sight.
Benedict spoke again. “Is that the only greeting you have?”
“Well, I was afraid of disturbing you and did not want to interrupt your swim.”
“Sophie, you know you do not need to spy on me. We’re married in the eyes of the law and the eyes of God. There’s no scandal in a wife seeing her husband in such a state of undress.”
No, it was not a scandal. Sophie understood that perfectly well. She just spied on him because it was amusing and he knew that just as well as she did.
Benedict fully emerged from the water and walked right up to her without bothering to pull his breeches on. This man was going to be the death of her. Before that thought could continue, he pulled her into his arms.
“Benedict,” she laughed, already feeling water seep into her dress. “You’re all wet!”
He gave her a quick kiss and looked down at her. “I do not believe you care that much.” Then he gave her another kiss.
On that point, he was correct though Sophie would not give him the satisfaction of saying it out loud. Her dress was sure to be damp by the time he was finished with her but it was a warm day. It would dry on the walk back. Sophie kissed her husband in return and pressed her forehead to his shoulder. She subtly tried to shift so that her stomach, and hopefully their child too, was tucked between the two of them. Love magnified as Benedict had so eloquently put it all those months ago.
“I love you,” she said to him and she meant every word of it. Benedict would probably suspect something soon - he always had that way about him - but for now, Sophie was content to bask in her little secret. As she looked up into Benedict’s eyes and admired his wide, joyous smile, she knew that she had no regrets. Everything that had happened had only led them on the path to each other and Sophie would do it all again if it brought her right back here. She brought her hand up to his face and caressed his cheek. His smile grew even wider if possible and Sophie stood on her toes to kiss him again before he tucked her head under his chin.
“I love you too,” he said, voice muffled by her hair.
She was not her mother and Benedict was not her father. The child that currently rested within her would grow up as the most wanted little darling the world had ever known. On that fact, Sophie could finally rest easy. All would be well, she thought to herself as Benedict further enveloped her in his warm embrace, an embrace she returned wholeheartedly.