I thought about it. Of all the changes I faced, labor and delivery were dwarfed by things like moving to Aldayne to possibly lead as its queen. “Sometimes,” I confessed. “I’m mostly afraid I’m going to make some stupid decision that will affect him for the rest of his life.”
“Inevitable,” he said with a resigned shrug. “Why do you think I’ve never had kids?”
“You know how to work a condom?” I joked. He laughed.
“There is that,” he agreed.
I thought back to Christopher’s confession. What would my life have looked like had Auggie not intervened? How would I have handled the fallout because some random fucker wanted to circumvent my consent and take what he wanted anyway? I never had any choice in the matter, he had taken it away. And he got to walk away without feeling the pain of any of it.
It wasn’t enough that Christopher got to fuck me. He wanted to punish me for wanting to.
I absently caressed Jack. My beautiful son would never know the truth of his ugly, brutal conception.
Ever.
“What’s the matter, Pea?” Archer probed softly, watching the emotions march across my face.
I sighed. “Pregnancy’s an emotional roller coaster, what can I say?” I sidestepped.
Once inside, Archer was greeted by Gav, Fern and Dash. We sat in the front row while they rehearsed, and Dash was center stage in his sparkly black and purple tutu with the Quinn family crest, a gift from none other than the Queen herself.
“We should talk,” Archer said softly under his breath, leaning towards me and away from Audra.
“What’s there to say?” I replied.
“I’m scared for you, Pea. Something is wrong. I feel it.”
I sighed. I could bring him into my confidence, but it was a moot point. Christopher was a non-issue now. The only thing that mattered was whether Auggie and I stayed in Aldayne or retreated to the States, and he certainly couldn’t help me with that.
This was a whole new world, and the Byrnes sounded like formidable enemies even the great Archer McPhee couldn’t handle.
I took his hand in mine. “I love you for being concerned. But I’m fine.”
“Tell that to your face,” he commented.
I touched my face and didn’t say anything.
After rehearsals we all headed to the resort hotel next door to the Symphony Hall for dinner. The rest of the McPhees were already there, so they kept Archer preoccupied as Fern, Dash and I went upstairs to the penthouse suite, where Jorge Navarro and Darcy Masters waited to transform us, once again.
I flung my arms around Jorge like we were old friends. Because we were friends, he commented, “That’s quite a shiner,” when he cleaned my face of any old makeup for him to perform his magic.
“I just fell,” I shrugged, feeling like a world-class phony as I did so. I hated lies anyway, but that was such an obvious one that made the wrong man look bad.
Jorge didn’t call my bluff, he simply treated me with kindness as he swiped the evidence of Christopher’s attack away with coats of concealer.
Darcy put me in the purple dress I was certain Auggie had wanted for the Jubilee. “He changed his mind,” she said with a wink. “You’ll see tomorrow.”
My stomach gurgled with apprehension.
“But why this dress tonight?” I wanted to know.
“You’ll see,” she repeated, putting the finishing touches on the dress.
We took an underground tunnel back to the Symphony Hall, which had begun to fill with an excited crowd eager that the Duke had finally returned home.
Mom, Dad, Archer and Dallas followed Audra up to a special box seat. Fern, Dash and I stayed backstage with the troop.
They all gathered in a circle, holding hands. Gav led a prayer. “Dear Lord, we ask your guidance and favor as we perform tonight. Thank you for bringing us home. Thank you for bringing us together. Thank you for bringing us the McPhees to complete our family.”
There were tears in both Fernie’s eyes and mine as we lifted our heads to say “Amen,” in unison. Even Dash had to wipe a tear away. He squeezed my hand and smiled wide.
Jack was tumbling away in my tummy as the minutes inched forward to the show. Backstage was a flutter of activity, with stagehands loading instruments onto the stage, including a massive black piano with keys that sparkled purple under the light.
“Aldrite,” Fernie whispered. “He had it custom-made.”
The longer it took for Auggie to show up, the more nervous I got. I glanced out at the crowd,