The Duke's Masked Wife

To Alessandra, life after the dinner seemed to move faster than normal. What felt like months they had to prepare for the arrival of their child suddenly felt like a few weeks had passed, and now the day for their child to arrive was getting closer and closer.

As her body became heavier, as Edgar would always point out, she moved around less, but with the care from those inside the Collins house, her friends, and her grandmother who came to visit, the many days she spent inside were never boring.

One week ago, the kingdom was blessed with a little prince, and though it was time for a celebration, there was never peace in the palace. Edgar was called to aid Tobias, and then he would be back home by Alessandra's side.

It was something he deeply regretted, as it was the day their children decided they wanted to make their debut in the world.

"Edgar!" Alfred called to Edgar, who jumped out of his carriage before it could stop.

"Has it happened yet?" Edgar asked, taking off his coat as he ran up the steps, skipping two if needed.

"They are not here yet, but it has been a while since it started, and no news of a baby has come out of the room. The duchess's screams are something I cannot take. She is in great pain, and there is nothing we can do but wait for her," Alfred said, taking Edgar's coat and following behind him. He wished Alessandra did not have to go through so much pain. It was expected, but to hear her screaming twisted his heart.

Edgar rushed to the room on the bottom floor where they had moved Alessandra when he decided it would be better for her there than having to make long trips up and down the stairs to their bedroom. The door was shut, and before Edgar could try entering, Alfred grabbed his hand.

"You are not to enter, Edgar. You would only get in the way of the women and the doctor. You are to wait-"

"Do you hear her?" Edgar angrily pointed to the door, where Alessandra's cries of pain could be heard. "The least I could do is hold her hand and comfort her."

"It is what I would like for you to do, but they have all stated that no one should enter the room and let them do their job to bring your child into this world safely and watch over Alessandra. Your presence will only throw them off of what they are doing now. We must not interrupt for Alessandra's sake. Please stay out here," Alfred said.

Most of the time, husbands were not welcomed inside at this time because they were seen as useless to be there or because they would get angry over something they had no idea how to do. Other times, husbands simply did not want to be there to listen to the cries and see the blood. They only came when the child was here for the gender to be known.

It took a great deal of strength for Edgar to back away from the door. He did not wish to interrupt what the midwives and doctor were doing, though he desperately wanted Alessandra to know that he had made it on time and that he was there to hold her hand.

Though he had stated many times that he would like to have many children with her, Edgar now felt like these first children would be enough so Alessandra would not have to go through this pain again.

Alfred watched Edgar tense up each time they heard Alessandra's voice. "Would you like to go to another-"

"I am staying right here," said Edgar. This was the furthest he would be from Alessandra. As soon as it was all over, he would go inside to see her.

"Edgar! I'm terribly out of shape already."

Edgar looked up in the direction of the front door, where he heard Tobias's voice. "We are over here," he said.

"Good! It doesn't seem like I missed anything," Tobias said, holding over to catch his breath when he found Edgar. "You didn't notice me coming behind you. I felt bad that you were helping with my family and almost missed the arrival of your child, so I came. Hazel is well protected by the knights so… Can I have a bit of water?"

"Right away," Alfred said, leaving the two. He was glad Tobias was here to distract Edagr. The two of them talking would help the time go faster.

"Why are you so out of shape? You rode a carriage here, didn't you? The most you had to do was run up the few steps in front of our home," Edgar said, disappointed with the state of Tobias.

"Hey! Children make you run around constantly. Then there are the sleepless nights. Nobody told me that I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. I've had a lot of arguments with those fools who try to convince me to let the servants take care of my son in our place. I'm tempted to just kill all of them. Come sit, Edgar," Tobias said, patting the wall beside him. He slid down onto the floor. "I remember hearing Hazel. You can't get those screams out of your head."

Edgar went to the wall and sat down beside Tobias. There was nothing else he could do at this point but wait.

"I am now realising that our first children will be one week apart like us. I was hoping for a little girl on your end now that I have a prince, but I wouldn't mind there being a future duke on the way right now. Hazel sends her congratulations. If not for her still healing, she would have come with me," said Tobias.

"Thank you for coming," Edgar said, appreciating the fact that Tobias returned the favor and came to check on his family. "I am never coming to help you in the future when Alessandra is close to giving birth."

"Fair enough," Tobias replied. "I should have told Alfred to get some alcohol instead of water. I- Did you hear that?"

"I did," Edgar answered, quickly getting to his feet. Inside the room, everything had gone silent, and then there were the cries of a baby.

"It sounds like a healthy baby. Congratulations," Tobias patted Edgar's back.

The door of the room opened, revealing a woman wiping blood from her hands. "You-"

She was unable to get a word out as she felt a breeze pass her.

Edgar entered the room and went straight to the bed, where Alessandra lay with blood between her legs. Her hair stuck to her body because of sweat, but in her arms was the tiny person they had created, wrapped in a soft blanket. Only one, unlike what Edgar had been claiming.

"You made it in time," Alessandra said, happy to see Edgar. She was tired and wanted to rest, but she had to find out first if Edgar was here and have him see their son. "He needs to be cleaned, but I just wanted to hold him before I fell asleep. I am tired."

Edgar sat next to Alessandra on the bed while the women in the room moved around to clean up the blood, and the doctor was off in a corner. "You did well," Edgar commended her, leaning forward to give her a quick kiss on the lips.

"You can hold him now. We must name him," Alessandra said, carefully passing their son to Edgar. "What about Edmund-"

"You have plenty of jokes, Alessandra. Would you like me to suggest Desmond? See, it isn't funny, isn't it? What about Elijah Collins? Eli for short," Edgar suggested, looking down at his son gripping his finger.

"I like it," Alessandra said since it was better than the other names she thought of.

"Are they sure there is not another in there? I had a feeling it was two-"

"Edgar, if not for you holding our son and my body feeling weak, I would hit you," Alessandra replied, glaring at Edgar for still believing there was more than one child.

Edgar didn't mind that there was only one now. If Alessandra was up for it, there was always next time.

Aside from the joys of their family slowly growing, what filled Edgar's mind was how much he would have missed out on if he had not visited Demond's home. From his beautiful wife to their son, he would try to be the best father that he could be. Edgar was glad he had accidentally met Alessandra that night.