.·。.·゜·༺♥༻ ·゜·。.

"What do you mean you aren't flying home today?" Gigi fumed angrily on the telephone as her husband told her that his homecoming was, again, delayed by a day. She would've understood had it only occurred once, but it had been happening for a week. Three weeks in total he'd been gone to Archambault only to take care of those refugees! He only planned to go for two weeks!

This morning she had expected him to have arrived home, arms wrapped around her so she could rest snugly against that warm, broad chest; palpating her palm on that supple ass. Only to have her yearnings disintegrated into dust.

"I am terribly sorry, my darling. Apparently, my associates needed two more days to get here since they're being paralyzed by the disaster. Also to avoid being discovered by that King."

"Sounds like you're the one avoiding me! And there will be a disaster if you don't come home now! Today's our scheduled fitting for Junior's party; do you really want to do this for his birthday?" she demanded. "It has been over a week now, Sire. A week! You have never been late before. Have the emissaries from that troublesome country poisoned you with their bad attitudes?"

"Do mind your temper, Gi, you're forgetting yourself," Cal warned.

"Am I? If there's someone who has 'forgotten' anything, it's you!" Gigi rasped, feeling herself getting angrier. "You've put off your family only because that distressed damsel named Seol-il is screaming for you to save them! I really hope you are happy together!" Her husband said nothing at the other end of the line, and she spilt a few tears as she heard his regretful sigh. "Do your son and I really mean anything to you? You... you won't even come to touch me— you've lost interest in me!"

"Of course, darling. If only you could know how much I've missed you! Can't you see that I'm dying to— which is why I offered you about the telephone thing... right?"

"That's not real intimacy, that's perversion!" she spat in disgust. "How could we do it over the telephone?"

"Gi, I'm sor—"

Without saying another word, she hung up. Her whole body felt hot and tingly due to all the tension. Taking a gulp of air, she tried to digest how she could feel so incredibly upset that she allowed her anger to get the best of her. She'd always kept her anger in check, but this time she felt angrier than usual. Mother had always said that losing control was very unbecoming for a queen or an empress, much less to their own husband, she should just apologize to him later.

...Or not.

The front door opened, revealing Gita Dian bringing in a wooden-legged breakfast tray. "Enjoy your breakfast, Your Majesty." She laid the tray over Gigi's lap. "Anglese cottage pie, as you requested."

"Thank you, Dian. This looks really good, I'm starving." Gigi beamed brightly, the delectable smell of the pie filling her nostrils. Eagerly taking a spoonful of pie, she shoved it into her mouth. Ever since she had eaten it on their honeymoon, the pie had been one of her favourite Anglese food. It might be a little heavy for breakfast, but Prajans were used to having a full meal in the morning and she had been craving something savoury to dig into. Perhaps it was because she'd been missing Cal, too.

"Since His Majesty isn't arriving yet and you're having breakfast in bed, how should we serve the Prince's meal?"

"Oh, His Majesty isn't coming home today," she revealed sadly. "Another setback in his schedule, he told me. Just bring the Prince's breakfast to his room, would you? I'd hate to have him eating down there by himself."

Gita Dian smiled at her empathetically, noticing her tone of voice. "Understood."

"Silly husband; he asked me to be intimate over the phone," she ranted, before realizing Gita Dian had frozen in place aghast. "...Forget I ever said that."

"I'm so sorry, Your Majesty. I'm sure he'd love to be home, if you don't mind me saying."

She chuckled bitterly. "I'm starting to think he has forgotten having a wife and son—" Having devoured two-thirds of the pie, a strange stench suddenly caught her senses. The smell quickly became stronger and the food in her mouth slowly started to taste weird, making her lose all her appetite for the rest of the food. Fighting the urge to throw up, she forced it down her throat. "...Did they add something new to the pie?"

"Not that I know of. Is there anything wrong?" Gita Dian looked concerned.

"It smells weird, and then it tasted weird. I didn't notice at first, I had been eating too fast." She nudged the tray over to Gita Dian who was now leaning down to check and smell the pie as well. "Could they be using old ingredients?"

"I don't catch any weird smells but let me take it down to the kitchens. They might have some answers," replied Gita Dian, collecting the pie. "Would you like something else to eat?"

"I'll just take the milk and biscuits, thank you," she said for the last time before she exited the room. Gigi curled up into the blanket, rolling into the spot which Cal used to sleep in, lingering in his scent.

***

With Junior's seventh birthday getting closer, Gigi was having a major role in preparing for the celebration. Knowing her son's favourites, she was confident that she could arrange a magnificent party for him. Since it would be held on the last day of fall, it was the perfect time for them to throw a costume party in which they could easily incorporate fantasy themes with lots of candies.

A lot of noble kids from the empire were set to receive an invitation, but of course, to respect the main star of the party, the bullies would not be invited.

Having a costume party would mean that the three of them would also have to wear costumes. Cal would dress up as a vampire, as decided before he left while Gigi she was to be the Fairy Godmother. Meanwhile, Junior would become Cinderella, per his wishes.

Since Cal was absent, only Gigi and Junior would have their costumes fitted today.

As expected, Junior looked absolutely spectacular in his Cinderella costume. In a tunic and floor-length cape, made of a fine periwinkle blue silk which matched his exquisite eyes. To go with the costume, the designer team also created a pair of matching glass slippers for him. They wouldn't be really made of glass, though, but encrusted with crystals.

Hopefully, they wouldn't slip off when he ran.

As soon as his session was done, he escaped to a corner with a book. Fitting required a lot of adjusting and altering, and Junior hated being touched by strangers.

Gigi sat on a sofa as the designer presented three models with similar height, build, and hair colour as hers parading the variations of the Fairy Godmother costume on a small stage. One of the perks of being an Empress, she had lookalikes to model her clothes for her so she could picture how she'd look in the dresses without having to try each one. They also did the same for Cal, but she never missed noticing how none of the male models had his beautiful shapely rear.

Her choice fell on an off-shoulder tulle dress with a layered skirt shaped like flower petals in the shade of a peony; a nod to the new peony flower that was named after her by its creator Mr. Bryon in last summer's flower show.

Yes, she should become a lovely flower fairy and leave Cal alone with his gothic vampire attire!

But as she tried it on in the changing room, she felt that it was incredibly tight, particularly around her chest and hips. It shouldn't be, as the designer had taken her measurements merely two weeks ago. ...Had she gained weight?

It must be the midnight snacks! She and Junior had always brought in sweets to accompany their late-night book marathons. His father would never allow it, worrying Junior might get a cavity, but Cal is now an absent father and she'd always made sure that they would brush their teeth together before bed.

Still, it wouldn't make sense that she'd gain that much weight in such a short amount of time.

Then it hit her. When was the last time she had her period? Wasn't it a few days before she first had sex with Cal in their new room? That was August. Since it's now October, it meant that she had missed her cycle for almost a month, and she'd rarely been late before.

She reached over to her belly, trying to look for a lump or anything that resembled a baby bump. Her body looked relatively the same, but if her clothes felt so tight...

She summoned the designer over.

"I don't think I could wear the Fairy costumes anymore. May I get another one, Sir Janvier?"

"But it's what the Prince wants!" said the designer nervously. "Is there any particular reason, Your Majesty? Are they not to your liking?"

"None of your faults, really," Gigi answered. "It doesn't fit. I think I've gained some weight."

"Well if it doesn't then I could just retake your measurements, Ma'am."

"It'll be no use," Gigi gulped. "I'm certain it'll change again by the time I wear the dress."

"But creating a new costume would take a week, at least! We wouldn't have the time to do the fitting and make the accessories."

"We'll make do. I'll find something that you'd be able to make faster. What kind of fabrics do you have?"

"I have a satin green from the remains of your other dresses," he pulled a piece of deep green fabric out of a wooden box, allowing it to sit on Gigi's hand.

Gigi examined the material for a moment. "I think I know a way."

Suddenly, a footman came through the door. "The patisserie has sent their samples of birthday cake decorations and sweets for His Highness's birthday!"

"Present!" Junior bounced out of his hidden corner; ever so enthusiastic when it came to sweets. "Bring them in!"

Soon, a number of footmen came in, reeling in trays of candies and cake. The plan was to allow Junior to pick the cake and candies he liked to be served at his party, but as soon as Gigi came across the aroma of butter, cheese and freshly baked buns, the urge to vomit came back much stronger.

"Come on, let's taste them!" Junior happily grabbed her hand, dragging her over to the trays.

"Junior, can you make do on your own for a moment? I don't feel so well," she swayed herself from him, trying to avoid the awful smell.

"Mamma, are you alright?"

"Oh I'm fine, I'm fine. I just need- I just need to—" staggering across the room, Gigi wobbled around aimlessly till she could hold it no longer, and threw up all over the cake.

***

Gigi ended up cancelling her appointments for the rest of the day, locking herself in her room. She didn't want any more incidents, and she had been woefully sorry and embarrassed for what happened this afternoon. But most of all, she wasn't ready for the world to know that she might possibly, just very possibly, be pregnant. Or sick. But most probably pregnant.

Leaning against the headboard, she let the possibility sink in. She and her husband did have a lot of sex, but she didn't think it would be this easy to get pregnant. A lot of women tried for years...

Her husband should be told, sooner or later, but not without certainty. So she'd summoned a doctor.

Cal wouldn't be home in two or three days, and she would have time before then, she thought before drifting off.

Hours later, she was awakened by the touch of a warm hand caressing her hair. Opening her eyes, she saw her husband by the bedside. He looked like he had just arrived, judging from the military uniform he was still wearing.

"I thought you were still waiting for your Seol-il delegates..."

"Junior telephoned me, saying you're sick and threw up all over his birthday cake. Your handmaiden told me that you almost did this morning too. So I dropped everything and left." "I should've come home sooner, Gi. I'm sorry."

"Junior..." she sat up, rubbing her temple, "I should've told him not to tell..."

"Sssh, just stay in bed, it's midnight." He kissed her hands. "So, are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Never mind, Sire. I am just a little ill, that's all," she rose up from bed, ignoring her husband's mistrustful stare. "I called a doctor. I'll get better in a day."

"Are you sure?" Rising to his feet, Cal ran his hands all over her body, before settling them on her breasts, squeezing gently.

"Whoa, Sire, what are you doing? Did you miss me that much?" she giggled bashfully. Her breasts were very sensitive and tingly at the moment.

Cal looked her straight in the eyes. "You're pregnant."

.·。.·゜·༺♥༻ ·゜·。.

'In trouble' is a synonym for 'getting pregnant'.