A Christmas Rose: A Dusk Gate Chronicles Novella (Book 4 1/2) (5 page)
Read A Christmas Rose: A Dusk Gate Chronicles Novella (Book 4 1/2) Online
Authors: Breeana Puttroff
The snow and the wind continued throughout the night, making rest difficult, but when William opened his eyes in the morning, the light pouring in under the curtain was a warm, bright yellow.
Carefully, so he wouldn’t wake Quinn, he stood up and pulled the curtain back.
Although the sky was bright and blue, the snow on the ground was deep. A thick blanket covered the ground, still untouched – much too deep for the carriage.
Leaving her sleeping, he made his way out to the kitchen, where he found Marcus, Nathaniel, and Robert sitting around the small table. Mary was standing at the sink washing breakfast dishes, and William realized that he’d slept later than he’d thought.
“How is she?” Nathaniel asked when he saw William.
“She seems to be fine. No more contractions after the tea and rest, thank the Maker.”
“That’s good news.”
“There’s still plenty of food,” Mary said. “I’m sure you must be hungry. There are plates for both of you on the stove.”
“Thank you. It smells wonderful. I’ll get some in a minute.” He turned back to the men. “So what do you think? Are we going to be stuck here for a while?”
Robert frowned. “You’re welcome to my sleigh, of course, if you think Her Majesty is all right to travel.”
“It’s Quinn, Robert. And I’m fine. It was just a little too bumpy last night, I think.” Quinn stood in the entrance to the kitchen, already dressed.
William sighed; he must have woken her when he left the room. “You should still be resting, even if you think you’re fine.”
Even as he said it, he expected her to argue with him, had already steeled himself against the look he knew was coming, so he was taken aback when her face went a little pale. “Is the baby really in danger?”
He went to her immediately, putting his arms around her. “The baby is fine, love. The heartbeat was strong, and the contractions have stopped – you haven’t had any more of those, have you?”
She shook her head, but she still looked a little scared – more than he’d ever seen her.
“Would you feel better if I checked on the baby again?”
He thought she would say no, but she surprised him by biting her lip, her cheeks turning pink as she nodded, melting his heart. “Yes.”
*
“See?” William said, holding the stethoscope up to Quinn’s ears. “Everything is fine.”
She nodded, listening to the rapid fluttering noise alongside the steady whoosh-whoosh of her own heartbeat. It wasn’t that she hadn’t believed him, it was just…
Taking the stethoscope back and folding it up, he looked at her in concern. “What’s got you so worried, love?”
She closed her eyes. “I had this dream last night that something was wrong.”
“Oh.” He pulled her up into his arms and held her there, rocking her a little. “Nothing is, sweetheart. Everything is fine.”
“What if it was one of
those
dreams?”
He rubbed her back, still holding her tightly. “Did it
feel
like that kind?”
“I don’t know. Not really.”
“It probably doesn’t mean anything. Everybody has strange dreams sometimes. Even in your world, it’s common in pregnancy.”
“I know. You’re right.” Slowly, she was starting to relax, but it was hard. This was the first time the pregnancy had really felt real to her – the first time she’d actually worried about the
baby.
She almost asked him for the stethoscope back, but then the baby moved inside her. Taking her first really deep breath all morning, she put her hands on either side of her belly.
William put his hand over hers. “What else, Quinn?”
She looked up into his eyes – those gray eyes that so often seemed able to peer into her soul, the way they were right now. She didn’t want to tell him, knew it would just make him sad for her, but she also knew that he wouldn’t just drop it. “I just … I wanted my mom.”
He didn’t say anything. Pulling her into his arms again, he held her close, stroking her hair, letting her rest her head on his shoulder while she just breathed in and out, feeling safe and loved.
*
William was just packing his stethoscope back away in his bag when they heard a commotion on the street outside, followed by lots of voices and footsteps inside the clinic.
“Is that…” Quinn stood and nearly ran toward the bedroom door.
“I think so.” William dropped his bag and followed her into the hallway.
They weren’t even halfway down the hall before they saw him, walking quickly toward them.
“Thomas!” Quinn’s voice was almost a shout until it was muffled against the shoulder of his brother’s coat. “You’re freezing,” she said, shivering.
“I rode up front with Luke, away from the heater.” Keeping her hands in his, he took a step back. “Let me have a look at you.” He looked her up and down. “Wow, you. You’re amazing. This,” he said, dropping her hands and taking hold of her belly, “is beautiful.”
She blushed, and he smiled and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.
Finally, he turned to William. “You’re not looking so bad yourself, big brother. Marriage suits you.”
“That it does,” he said, rubbing Quinn’s shoulder. “It’s really great to see you.” As he hugged Thomas tightly, an invisible weight lifted from the pit of his stomach – he hadn’t even known that was there until he was actually touching his brother again.
“What are you doing here?” Quinn asked.
“My sister becomes the queen, and suddenly I have to have a
reason
for coming to see her?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“Well, we got your messages from the birds yesterday. Once it started storming like that, we figured you had to stop somewhere for the night. We were worried you might be stuck out in the middle of the road somewhere – it was a little surprising when we realized you’d made it this far.”
“How did you know we were here?”
“News of the return of the foreign queen travels at least a little, sweetheart. There’s no mistaking that big green and gold carriage, even if it is useless in the snow. Not to worry, though, we came to rescue you.”
“Rescue us? Who’s we?”
“Yes, rescue you. Take you home. We is us. Luke and Thomas drove the sleigh.” They all turned at the familiar voice.
Quinn practically shoved Thomas out of the way in her haste to get her arms around Linnea.
“And you were inside?” William guessed, watching them hug for several long minutes. Linnea’s cheeks were pink, but she looked much warmer than Thomas.
“Finished your reunion with your betrothed so soon?” Thomas teased. “I didn’t think the two of you would ever come in from the porch.”
“It’s cold out there. And you know him – all work, no time to chat. He’s already loading things from the carriage to the sleigh.”
“You’re taking us home right now?” Quinn asked, sounding a little stunned.
“Of course. That was the plan, wasn’t it?” Thomas said, grinning. “We have a wedding to get ready for.”
Quinn followed Thomas, Linnea, and William out onto the porch of the clinic and stopped short at the sight.
“What, love?” William asked, turning to look at her.
“Nothing. It’s just … when I heard ‘sleigh’ I had visions of, you know, Santa Claus.”
The sleigh in front of her was definitely not like anything she’d ever pictured. It was much, much bigger – long and wide. The body was white with accents in the royal colors of Eirentheos, silver and purple, and although there was an open bench seat at the front, the rest of it was mostly enclosed; it kind of reminded her of a bus, although wooden and fancier-looking. There were even heavy purple curtains inside the windows.
Hitched to the front of the sleigh were four enormous horses – Quinn’s head barely came to the middle of their shoulders. She’d seen these horses in the stables at the castle before – they had their own specially built stalls at one end – but she’d never had much interaction with them. She didn’t know where they stored the sleigh during the warmer moons.
Of course, she didn’t even really know where any of the carriages or other vehicles were stored at her own castle.
“Santa
what
?” Linnea frowned at her.
“It’s a story in Quinn’s world,” William said. “They celebrate a holiday there in the winter – well winter in Quinn’s part of the world – called Christmas. And on the night before Christmas, children believe that a man named Santa Claus travels the world in a flying sleigh, bringing gifts to all of the children. In pictures, the sleigh is usually a small, open one for a single driver.”
Linnea blinked. “That’s an interesting holiday. How does a sleigh fly?”
“Magical reindeer.”
“Magical
reindeer?
”
“Don’t laugh,” Quinn said. “I really believed it when I was little. Annie and Owen still believe in Santa, too.”
“So, you celebrate a holiday about an imaginary man bringing gifts to children in his flying sleigh?”
Quinn blushed. It sounded a lot more strange when Linnea said it like that.
“That’s not what the holiday is about, Nay.” William said, putting his arm around Quinn. “The real holiday is a celebration of the Maker and how he loved the people of her world so much, that he sent them a precious gift to show his love. Santa Claus is based on a real man who showed his love for the Maker and for people by giving secret gifts to people who were in need. In some parts of her world, the two days are actually separate – the celebration of Saint Nicholas is a couple of weeks before Christmas, but in the part of the world Quinn is from, Santa Claus visits on Christmas Eve.”
Now it was Quinn’s turn to frown. She hadn’t grown up in a very religious home, and she was still reconciling her own doubts with what she knew of “the Maker” in this world. Once, Stephen and Charlotte had told her that they believed the Maker existed in her world, too, but she’d never heard it put the way William just had.
Aside from her curiosity over that though, she was sort of reeling from a new realization – there was no Christmas in Deusterros. All of this snow, this cold … it wasn’t going to lead to lights and holly and Christmas songs.
She was surprised by how hard it was hitting her. Saying good-bye to her family, leaving her world behind … she’d given up Christmas, too?
The baby moved inside of her, and for a moment it was even worse – she was never going to play Santa for her own children, would never hide gifts on the high shelves of closets, or stay up late with William filling stockings and eating cookies…
“Are you okay?” William asked quietly.
She nodded … she had to drop it, couldn’t let everyone see her getting upset over it. There was nothing anyone could do about it; she’d moved to a different
world
. This was small compared to some of the other changes she had to deal with, and still function.
“It’s always the little things,” he whispered. And for a fraction of a second, she did allow herself to melt into him a little. She didn’t know if she agreed with the decision that Charlotte and Stephen had made to send William to live in her world when he was a child, but there were times she was just so grateful they had, and that now he understood so well what she was going through.
Her almost-moment didn’t last long, though. From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of movement from across the street, and she realized then that they were being watched. A few people had actually come out of their houses and were milling about, trying to look nonchalant in the deep snow, but most of them watched from windows.
Linnea followed Quinn’s gaze. “We draw enough attention by ourselves usually, especially in that monstrosity,” she nodded to the sleigh, but now they see you – the lost Philothean princess – and
that
.” She looked down at Quinn’s belly. “You should wave or something.”
Her face was flaming hot as she waved at everyone she saw – she didn’t think she would ever get used to this. Some of the people ducked behind curtains when they saw that she noticed them, but most of them waved right back, excited to be acknowledged.
“Let’s get her home,” William said, and she gratefully followed him into the sleigh.
*
At first, the sleigh ride was exhilarating. The seats were soft and comfortable, and with just the five of them in a sleigh that could probably easily seat fifteen, there was plenty of room to stretch out.
It was actually almost warm in the sleigh. There was a little cast-iron stove in the front corner that had been burning all morning. Ben had come in and stoked it before they left.
The five of them waved out the windows as they slid out of Bay Run. More people had come outside, many of them trudging through the unexpected snow in clothing that wasn’t fully appropriate for weather they hadn’t planned on. But they were nearly all smiling at the sight of Quinn and her belly. Once the last houses had disappeared, William and Thomas closed the windows and curtains back up, and they all sat down.
Quinn didn’t know if the sleigh ride was actually faster than the carriage, but the smooth gliding of the runners across the snow felt faster. Snuggled under William’s arm, chatting and giggling with Thomas and Linnea, while they all sipped the sweet hot tea that Mary had put in lidded mugs for them, she felt happier than she had in a long time.
And then a now-familiar tightening rippled through her abdomen, causing her to gasp, and sending her mug tumbling to the floor.
“Wow! What did pregnancy do to your coordination?” Thomas teased, reaching down for the cup. “You used to be able to take out evil dictators with one flick of your wrist.”
William shook his head at Thomas. “Another one?” he asked Quinn, his hand on her belly and his face white.
She nodded. It was passing now, but it had definitely been another contraction.
“Another
what
?” Linnea asked, and Quinn realized they hadn’t told Linnea or Thomas about the contractions yesterday.
In the next instant, Nathaniel was kneeling in front of her. “Linnea, can you get my bag? And Thomas – Mary sent me with some tea that helped Quinn last night – do you think we could figure out a way to boil some water on that stove?”
“I’m sure I can make it happen,” Thomas said. “Is she okay?”
“I don’t know. We need to get her back to the castle as quickly as we can.”
“Do you want me to ask someone if we can go any faster?” Linnea asked.
Nathaniel shook his head. “I’m worried the motion might not be helping.”
*
Less than an hour passed before the castle came into sight from the front windows of the sleigh, but it had felt like the longest hour of William’s life.
For a few minutes, they thought the tea was going to help, but Quinn had another contraction only about fifteen minutes after the first one. When another one hit exactly fifteen minutes later, he started to get a lot more concerned.
By the time the sleigh pulled onto the stone driveway just in front of the main entrance to the castle, she’d had two contractions only ten minutes apart.
A huge welcoming committee had gathered at the entrance to welcome them. William’s whole family was there, his parents, his brothers and sisters, even his two tiny nephews, but he only acknowledged their presence for a few seconds.
He and Nathaniel ignored everyone as Ben and Marcus cleared a path through the people and they ushered Quinn inside.
For a moment, William wasn’t even sure where to take her – he didn’t want to go all the way behind the castle and outside to get to the clinic. But then Linnea darted in front of them.
“They’ve left everything alone in your old room,” she said, darting up the stairs. “The bed’s made and everything. What else can we get you that you need?”
He squeezed Quinn’s hand. The fact that she was quiet about all of this instead of arguing with everyone that she was fine and didn’t need the attention, spoke volumes to him. He rattled off a list of supplies to Thomas, who was familiar with most of the equipment and medicines he used.
When they reached his old room, Nathaniel asked Linnea to go back downstairs and speak with everyone, to tell them what was going on, but also to ask them not to worry yet.
“I think it’s too late for that,” Linnea said.
“Everything is probably going to be fine. Just go.” He closed the door behind his sister and turned back to Quinn and William. “That goes for both of you, too. Now, how long has it been since the last contraction?”
William looked at his watch. “Twelve minutes,” he said, hearing a little relief creeping into his voice. At least they weren’t yet staying regular and growing closer.
Of course, only a minute later, she had another one.
He was glad when Nathaniel took over, switching into his professional mode as he pulled things out of his bag. William sat on the bed next to Quinn, holding her hand as Nathaniel worked.
An hour later, things looked a little better. She’d only had two more contractions. Nathaniel had started an IV and the medicine he was giving her seemed to be slowing things down. After a quiet conversation in the corner, Nathaniel told William he would go and talk to the rest of the family and explain the situation to them.
William nodded, closed the door behind Nathaniel, and went back over to the bed to talk to Quinn.
“The baby is still fine, sweetheart,” he told her, when she looked worried again.
She nodded. “Sorry I keep making you tell me that.”
“Hey,” he said, shaking his head at her, “I’ll tell you that as many times as you need me to. I need to hear it too.” He put his hand on her belly, and the baby moved under him. “The baby’s active. That’s good.”
Quinn smiled for a moment, but then her expression turned serious again. “So what’s the bad news?”
It wouldn’t do any good to dance around the issue – he knew she needed him to be straightforward with her. “The bad news is those contractions were real. If you have many more of them, or if they become regular, the baby is going to come. The medicine seems to be working, but they could start again at any time.”
Her lower lip trembled.
“I don’t think the baby much liked not being able to see out the window while we traveled,” he joked, hoping to lighten the situation a little.
“What happens if the baby does come early?”
“Well, fortunately you’re close enough now that chances are good the baby would be okay, but there are definitely risks. We don’t have the same kinds of resources here that people in your world do. It would be a lot safer if the baby stayed in for at least another two weeks – longer would be better.”
“We can’t go back to Philotheum before the baby comes, can we?”
“No. Whatever happens, I think it’s safe to say the baby is going to be born right here in this castle.”
“That ought to thrill my grandmother.”
“Shh, love.” He bent down and kissed her forehead. “You can’t worry about that. All that matters is that you and the baby are safe. Everything else will fall into place.”
“If we are safe.”
He picked up her hand and laid it on her belly, under his. “Do you feel that? She – or he – is safe, okay?”
She closed her eyes for a moment, and then nodded.
“Now … unfortunately, Nathaniel and I both think it’s best if you stay in bed until you haven’t had any contractions for at least twenty-four hours.”
She sighed, but she nodded.
“Not quite the homecoming you anticipated, I know. But I’m sure everyone will be more than willing to come and keep you company.”
“I’ve no doubt.”
“And…” he swallowed hard, “even if the contractions
do
stop, love, we think you should probably take it easy, staying in the castle and resting as much as possible until it’s safe for the baby to come.”
She started out by nodding, and he knew that the impact of his statement hadn’t sunk in, but after a minute he saw her eyes widen. “Linnea’s wedding…”
He took her hand. “Linnea wants her niece or nephew to be safe more than she wants you sitting at her wedding, Quinn.”
