Lady Pirate (38 page)

“I am in labor, my lord,” she explained dryly.

“What?”
He was off the bed in a heartbeat, and Valoree glanced over her shoulder at him with a pained laugh.

“It is a bit late for that, my lord,” she pointed out. “You should have done a little more leaping out and a little less leaping in several months ago to avoid this.”

Daniel gaped at her. “How long has this been going on?”

Sighing, she shook her head. “I felt a bit odd when I got up this morning, but thought it would go away. It didn't. It just got a little stronger and harder as time passed. But it didn't really set in until all the excitement was over.”

“You mean you were in labor the whole time the pirates were…” He paused at her nod and stared around blankly for a moment, then shook his head.
“Well, make it stop. You cannot have the baby here on a ship with a bunch of pirates. We need a midwife and—”

“Oh, aye, of course,” Valoree snapped, then peered down at her stomach. “Did you hear that, little Jermina? Your father says to stop now. You should wait till we reach Ainsley and he can find a midwife.” She paused, cocking her head slightly, then nodded. “I see.” Turning, she smiled at Daniel. “She says to sod off. She's coming now.”

Daniel's eyes widened in the horror of a sudden realization. “Oh, God. I am going to have two of you on my hands!”

“Aye. Lucky you. Now do you think you could go call the women in here? Maybe one of them would be a bit more useful than yourself at the moment,” she suggested.

Valoree's husband was out the door in a heartbeat, bare-arsed in his linen shirt, shrieking at the top of his lungs that she was in labor and for Meg to come quickly. There was a roar as the men and women all exclaimed in mingled excitement and horror, then the sound of a stampede as everyone raced across the deck, eager to be in on the action. There was no doubt in Valoree's mind that Henry and the rest of her men would insist on being in on this. Any why not, she thought. They had been a part of every other aspect of her life. No doubt they would all try to vote on what to name the babe, too.

Sighing, Valoree rubbed her belly soothingly. “You shall love your father, Jermina. Mayhap almost as much as I do.” Then she laid her head on the bed and tried to relax as she awaited the arrival of the people who loved her. This was such a large family to replace the few she had lost, she thought. And with that, Valoree suddenly realized that sometimes curses created blessings.