The Frenchman's Revenge (78 page)

“Hmm, I guess I best wake up.
Something tells me I need to have my wits about me.
”

Elena laughed again and her eyes were shining.

“
I have a
question
,
Bai.
”

“You know the answer,
cherie
. I
love you more than anything in the world and I always will.”

“
No
,
that isn’t my question.
And you are right.
I do
kn
ow that.
No
,
I have a different question.
”

“Ask away,
ma
jolie
, ma
petite fille.”

“
Do you plan to spank our children
?”

“No
,
I don’t spank children
.
I told you that long ago
.
I don’t spank children and I
don‘t
hit women
.
But I
do spank
a
naughty girl like you who ha
s a
beautiful ass begging to be spanked.
No
,
I
won’t
be spanking any children
. Y
ou’ll
always give me
plenty of
reason to be
spanked.”

When she
laughed
,
he looked up at her with a slight frown.
He rolled over
and pulled her next to him.

“Wait
a minute
,
Elena
. I
s there something more about that question
that I should know? A deeper meaning?
”

She propped herself up on her elbow and looked up at him. H
er eyes
were
dancing,
teasing
.

“I’m just curious.
What i
f you ha
d
two children wanting your attention, acting as naughty, as disobedient as their mother?
”

He frowned
, fully awake
now
and pushed
himself
up on one arm. He pulled away from her
,
h
is
face was
stern.

“
Elena
,
what are you saying?
”

“
I
’m
pregnant
, Bai.
”

“
You
…you’re
pregnant?
”

He s
at up
straight in bed
,
his face white with shock

He lifted her up and propped her up
against the
pillows. His face was tight,
deep furrows lined his usually smooth face.
He
pull
ed the sheet down to her thighs and
look
ed
at her flat
stomach, her
slender waist
. Lifting an eyebrow he
shook his head in disbelief.

With a soft smile
she took hold of his hands
and put them over the tiny swell below her navel
.

“I’ve missed two courses, Bai. I know I am pregnant.”

“
Mon dieu
.
Jesus, Elena.
I…I …don’t know what to say. What to think
…
Damn, Elena!
”

She smiled and stroked his cheek.

“
Think about what we have created, Bai.
What we did together.
I hope, I know you will be as thrilled as I am
…
You will be.
Won’t you?”

“
Mon
dieu,
Elena.
Of course
,
I will be thrilled.
D
oux Jesus
, I
…I’m j
ust surprised…
overcome.
”

“Bai?

“Yes, Elena.
”

“There is one more thing I need to tell you.

“
Jesus, Elena, What for
God’s
sake?
”

“
Lei says,
a
mother always knows
.”

“
Knows what
,
Elena?
”

She kissed him and smiled her eyes filled with
tears of
joy
.

“
Twins.
”

He choked
a deep gulping breath.

“T
wins, Elena?
”

“
Yes, Bai. Twins.
”

Epilogue

Seven months later…

Bai paced
from one end of their
chamber
to the other. H
e
was
relieved that at
least for the moment
Elena seemed
to be dozing
.
Mon dieu
, he couldn’t believe what was happening.
This was far worse than
he imagined
. None of the hundreds of articles
he had read
,
doctors he consulted,
midwives
he interviewed
,
and parents
he met—none of them
prepared him for the horror of the birthing process.

He looked anxiou
sly at Elena’s lovely face. Her
lips
were
swollen from biting them
, holding back moans.
A sheen of sweat glistened on her face
and the sips of water he
gave
her didn’t seem to
relieve
her parched throat.
She was so
brave;
she
never once cried out or screamed.
He
was
prepared for that.
He read an article specifically about how to calm a hysterical woman.
Elena
scoffed
at the author’s premise
,
but
Bai
was confident she would appreciate his knowledge when they got to the screaming part.
He
also
knew how to help
with
the breathing process
,
or at least he thought he did.
He hadn’t found the definitive article he had been searching for
,
but the ones he had read would have to do.
As the time neared, he
began to have some doubts
about the efficacy of his research
.

As he lit his seventh cigarette
,
lighting it from the embers of the previous smoke
,
Bai
admitted
to admit
to
a number of
doubts—serious ones.
Seven months ago when Elena gave him the news that she was pregnant, he made a pronouncement.
He
h
ad always been a possessive son
of a
bitch
,
but
t
he horror he felt
knowing that
Elena
was
pregnant the night of the Governor’s
B
all
threw
him into a frenzy. If he
was
possessive before
,
he was insufferable now
.

Much to the amazement and amusement of the family and virtually everyone else, he declared that no one would touch Elena except him. He
proclaimed that he
and Elena
w
ould deliver their babies.
He needed to
be
in c
harge
.
He
refused
to turn her over to Dr. Oleong or his intern group
,
particularly since he would never let another man touch her. When
Elena demurred mildly
suggesting
they engage
female midwives, he
was
equally fierce
.

He insisted that this was
something
Elena could teach him. After all he declared,
Wyatt
delivered
all five of his children under the
direst
of circumstances
. He ignored Wyatt’s wry observation that he had delivered more than a hundred babies and twice that many foals
. He added
that his first delivery was on an Indian reservation when he was sixteen years old
,
younger than
Nickolas
Deshi
.

Elena humored him and
gave him a thorough anatomy
lesson on the
intricacies
of the female body
. She
includ
ed
a systematic review of the stages of labor and the
corresponding
changes
in the birth canal
.
He spent months pouring over
obstetrical
journals
reading
everything he could lay his hands on regarding the latest birthing techniques.
Every supply and instrument they
c
ould possibly need
was
bi
vouack
ed in their
chambers
f
rom
the time that Elena was five months pregnant.
He ignored the titters of the s
ervants
and raised eyebrows of Wan,
Wyatt and L
ei
. E
ven Elena questioned whether they need
ed
twenty sheets, four stacks of towels
,
and twelve additional pillows. He ignored their humorous jibes
,
knowing that it was better to be prepared.
Up until
Elena
went in labor
,
he was confident of his abilities.

Now four hours in
,
he knew he had met his match
,
his
Waterloo.
The man who led a
n international force of
warriors and was feared
worldwide
had to admit
at least
to himself
that
he was terrified.

Looking at the overflowing
ashtray
on the cabinet
, he thought,
Christ, at this rate he would go through his entire supply of Turkish cigarettes before the
night was over
. A
s much as he knew he should forego brandy
, there was no question he needed it.
Jesus, this was much worse than he
expected
. He needed a breath of air.

“Elena,
cherie
, I need to refill your water jug
. Will you be okay for a few minutes?”

Elena smiled at him and gave him a reassuring kiss.

“I’m fine, Bai.
I won’t have another contraction
for three
or four minutes.”

Bai groaned. Three to four minutes? Damn, then she would be in that awful pain again? Steeling himself, he stepped outside the door and g
ulped
a large breath of fresh air.

To his relief
,
he saw
Wyatt lounging in an arm chair outside the door
.
Wyatt’s
feet
were
up on the ottoman and
he’
d
pulled
his Stetson
down over his eyes
,
covering most of his face
.
Bai realized with a start that he was dozing.

“
E
xcusez-moi
.
Sure as hell sorry to wake you
,
Wyatt.
”