“And your mother.”
“She went on vacation, too, to see her aunt in Denmark. She won’t be back for another week.” Emrys shrugged his head to the side. It wasn’t true, but Caitlyn would feel more comfortable going to the palace if she thought she wouldn’t be dealing with his parents. “Imelda might be there, but you know she’s always busy with work.”
Caitlyn seemed to be thinking on it. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, furrowing her borrow and huffing a little sigh.
“I would love to have you come with me for the shoot, but since you are obviously sick, you wouldn’t enjoy it much. Sometimes significant others will come on-set with the stars, but usually only for a short time,” Emrys explained. “Maybe if you start to feel better in a week or so.”
“And I doubt we’ll be immune from cameras on the set where Emrys Sébire is filming.” She lifted her head a little to give him a fresh, minty kiss. “I could stay at the palace for a little, I guess. But I’m not really sick—“
“I just heard you in there, Cait.” Emrys stroked one hand down her back. “But our family doctor at the palace will take care of you, and the staff will attend to whatever you need.”
Caitlyn frowned again, but then nodded. “All right. I’ll wait there for you.”
***
Caitlyn simply couldn’t find the words. She’d tried several times to explain to Emrys that they were expecting a child, but each time she felt her heart in her throat, and something stopped her. She knew that their relationship was on more precarious ground than it had ever been. What would happen to them with the stress of a baby?
She could just take care of the problem herself, but she didn’t want to do that behind his back. Secrets had never been good for them, and if she were honest, she didn’t know if she could take a child away from Emrys, no matter how he’d hurt her in the past. Besides, if she didn’t have this child now, she would probably regret it when her unpredictable fertility made it impossible. And she did want children, if it was an option.
Still, they’d never talked about children or their future together, unless Emrys’s ridiculous “trial engagement” week counted. Caitlyn wasn’t even certain, in spite of the paparazzi’s certainty of her status as both the fiancée and the mistress, whether she even counted as his girlfriend. Behind his ruse, everything they had seemed to be an extended fling.
And now it was turning into a long-distance fling while Caitlyn tried to decide what to do with this baby.
They said a tearful (on her part) goodbye at the jet, since he would be traveling in another direction, and when she arrived at the palace, Imelda was there to greet her.
“We’ve put to rest the rumors,” Imelda said after their perfunctory greetings. “The media is always a problem. They’re always looking for something sensational, even when it’s quite the opposite. You’d think that the prince’s sudden engagement would turn them on, but it’s not scandalous enough, I suppose.”
“They had to have known, though, right?” Caitlyn walked with her arms crossed over her. Somehow, Imelda seemed to be the kind of person who might look right through you. Plus, she’d had four children herself. She had to know the signs. “They had pictures of me here in Cabeau and in Greece. The first paper to leak the story must have known they were making it up.”
“I don’t know whether they did or not. I doubt they care, as long as it sells, and in the global scheme of things, it’s unlikely that certain countries think too hard on what the royal family of Cabeau is up to. Emrys only gets their attention because of his career.” Imelda took Caitlyn’s arm, obliging her to unfold them and walk with a straight back. “I expect now they’ll do some digging on you and try to publish an exclusive. I hope you don’t have any skeletons in your closet.”
“My closets back home are too small for my wardrobe. I couldn’t fit anything else in them.”
Imelda stared at her blankly.
“There might be some pictures of me in clubs where I’ve traveled, but I haven’t exactly led a life of debauchery. I’m a web designer. We spend a lot of our lives indoors.”
“That is good. They always have enough on Emrys. No need to give them more. In fact, if your background is that clean, it will probably encourage Father to give you his blessing to marry sooner.”
Caitlyn’s chest tightened. “How long do you think he’ll take to decide?”
Imelda shook her head. “I couldn’t guess. But I don’t think he’ll refuse you. At this point, marrying Emrys off to anyone of the female sex would be a beneficial end to this war between them.”