“And why not? Admit it: they haven’t gotten many nice surprises lately.”
“That’s true…” He thought back to the conversation he had just had with them, while the doctor had been consulting Amelia. He looked at the rosy tint her cheeks had finally gotten after she had felt sick for the past few hours, and realized he couldn’t say “no” to her. What was the worst that could happen, anyway? Blake coughing her wine out through her nose? That would be rather funny. “Okay, if that’s what you want. I’ll go talk to the cook and the maids. Any preferences for the menu?”
Amelia tried not to gag. “Whatever you want… I’ll probably just drink water. You know better than me what Blake likes. Ask the cook to prepare that.”
Seth smiled. “Yes, ma’am!”
***
It was difficult to avoid Blake until dinner. After the doctor left, Blake gave Seth and Amelia some space, but when she saw they weren’t getting out of the room or calling her to join them, she took it upon herself to find out what was happening. After all, she too cared about Amelia’s health. Seth made his escape by running out of the room and telling her he had something important to take care of. Amelia told her it was nothing and that she felt too tired to talk about it.
“Has the doctor given you any pills? Was it the food?”
“Yes, most likely. It will pass.”
“But you haven’t eaten anything since breakfast!”
Amelia waved her off. All she wanted to do was sleep for the rest of the day, and Blake was getting on her nerves. “If I tell you it’s nothing, then it’s nothing.”
Blake crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her friend. “Are you PMS-ing? Nevermind. I don’t care anymore.” She walked to her desk and opened the books she had been studying before all this drama interrupted her.
Both Blake and Roman were surprised when Amelia invited them downstairs for dinner, and their surprise turned into something between shock and confusion when they saw Sebastian, Julian, and Charles were already there.
“To what do we owe this pleasure?” asked Julian, albeit a tad condescendingly. “We haven’t had a proper family dinner in years.”
“To what? Better ask to whom…” commented Blake while sitting down.
Asian-steamed sea bass was Blake’s favorite, and it was a good thing Amelia’s sickness had passed, leaving her hungry, otherwise the rich smell would have made it impossible for her to even enter the dining room. She was sitting between Roman and Blake, with Seth, Elena, and Aaron right across from her. It helped that Roman’s brothers were lined up by the old In
ari’s side and she couldn’t see them quite well unless she leaned to look past Roman’s frail body. Surrounded by the people she loved and considered her friends, she felt protected.
“It’s me you have to blame,” she said. She wondered if they could tell how nervous she was. She was really trying to keep her voice under control. She threw Seth a quick glance and his smile encouraged her, so she turned towards one of the servant girls. “Please pour the wine.” The girl carried out her request immediately.
Amelia was aware Blake was glaring at her again. She offered her a sweet smile, then turned to look at Roman. The old Inari was looking at the red wine filling his glass.
“Well, this is nice,” said Sebastian. He raised his glass and nodded towards Amelia. “I see things are changing around here. Amelia, darling, I liked you the moment I saw you, but now I must say I like you even more.”
“Indeed,” intervened Charles. “Blake, I think you have a lot to learn from your bride. It’s clear she knows how important it is to keep your family close.”
Blake smiled tensely. Her mind was going in circles, trying to figure out why in hell’s name would Amelia do something like this. She had never given any signs that she actually liked her uncles, so why invite them to dinner? Of course, if they had been a normal family, it wouldn’t have been so strange. But they weren’t. They hated each other most of the time. Amelia was the Alpha bride now, but since when had she taken it upon herself to make decisions without consulting Blake first? She looked at Seth and it suddenly struck her that he didn’t seem very concerned. “Hmm… I wonder…” she thought.
Amelia wasn’t sure the conversation was headed in the right direction.
“I… I’m glad you accepted my invitation.”
She swallowed hard before continuing, then grabbed the glass of wine and stood up. It crossed her mind that maybe, just maybe, she should have thought about this better. There was no turning back now, and she did know that if the Sylfurs had been a normal family, what was happening now would have been absolutely natural. They weren’t. That didn’t mean they couldn’t at least pretend.
“In fact, I wanted you all to be here tonight because I have something to tell you.”
Her words got their attention, and now everyone was looking at her. She saw a glint in Elena’s eyes and she was almost sure the vixen had just guessed what she was about to say.
“Well, go on,” said Sebastian. “Don’t leave us hanging like this.”
Amelia cleared her throat. This was it. The moment of truth. She reached for Blake’s hand, which was resting on the edge of the table, and felt her flinch.
“Blake and I are going to be parents.”
Silence. At least from Blake’s part. The second Amelia spoke the words, Sebastian cheered and Julian and Charles stood up to congratulate the lucky couple. Roman threw Seth a glance, and when his Yako nodded, he finally looked up at Amelia. He stood up slowly, carefully, his old joints popping in protest.