Throwing up didn’t make me feel any better, and the dizziness never went away. All I could do was wait for the doctor to arrive, Mimosa continuing to pat me on the back in the meantime.
Mr. Fisalis had been plenty exhausted himself, yet he’d cut his dinner short to come nestle up next to me. “I hope it’s nothing worse than fatigue... I didn’t hear anything about a bug going around the villa, but you never know.”
“It’s just motion sickness. It has to be.”
“I knew you weren’t good with horses, so I ought to have called for that carriage from the start. I really should have been more considerate... I’m sorry, Vi.”
Mr. Fisalis seemed to be feeling awful about his poor judgment call, but I was the one who had agreed to it. I had no one but myself to blame, so I hoped he wasn’t going to beat himself up too hard about it.
Not long after that, Rohtas led the usual doctor to our room. Once the men had been kicked out and only the maids remained behind, he began his check-up.
“I apologize for the wait. How are you feeling?”
The old doctor’s ever-friendly smile both put my heart at ease and made me feel a little less queasy.
He asked me all the usual questions: when I’d started to feel sick, what symptoms I was experiencing, how I’d been feeling yesterday, and so on. He took his interrogation nice and slow so as not to overwhelm me in my less-than-peak condition. But c’mon—was it really necessary to ask me when my last monthly was?
After staring long and hard at the notes he’d taken, he suddenly broke into a smile and announced, “You’re in the family way. What you’re experiencing right now is morning sickness.”
“Huh? I’m in the family’s way? Wow... So I’m finally getting thrown out of the manor...?”
I was hit with an enormous wave of gloom and nausea.
I can’t believe it... I’m just in the way...
Hearing it spelled out for me certainly came as a shock.
And here I thought things were going really well with Mr. Fisalis these days. Just when did he decide he didn’t need me anymore?
I just sat there in a daze, unable to process what was happening until Dahlia picked up on what I was thinking and cut in to correct my misunderstanding. “He said you’re in the family way, Madam! He means you’re having a baby!”
Bwuh? A baby? That’s what he meant by “the family way”?!
“Huuuuh?! Talk about a misleading turn of phrase!”
“Did you finally catch up with what’s happening?”
“Oh, Madam, you silly goose!”
The doctor and the servants around me all had a hearty laugh.
Now that they knew I wasn’t seriously ill and I’d made a goof to boot, the maids were practically in stitches. Jeez, you guys! Can you blame me?! “In the way” would make more sense in my circumstances!
Mr. Fisalis, who had been waiting outside, was invited back into the room, and the doctor once again explained the cause of my “symptoms.”
“What? Viola is pregnant?”
“Indeed she is. Congratulations.”
“And...you’re sure about that?”
“I’m almost positive. Just to be on the safe side, we’ll have the midwife—my wife, that is—come take a look at her tomorrow.”
“A...All right.”
Mr. Fisalis was struggling to process this, if the way he kept glancing back and forth between me and the doctor was any indication. The words “I don’t believe it” were written all over his gorgeous face! Not that I had room to talk—I was feeling so out of it that the reality had yet to fully sink in for me either.
“How far along is she?”
“Let’s see now... Though I can’t say for certain just yet, I’d estimate she’s in the second month of her pregnancy. This is when her morning sickness will be at its peak, so she should take care not to—”
“AHHHHH!”
“Huh? Cercis?!”
“Duke Fisalis?”
“Master Fisalis? What’s wrong?!”
Boy, did he give everyone a scare when he started screaming like a madman right in the middle of the doctor’s explanation! What’s gotten into him all of a sudden?!
Everyone’s eyes traveled over to Mr. Fisalis, who seemed to be having a miniature meltdown in his corner.
“We rode home on a horse today! Was all that bouncing up and down bad for her body? Will she be okay?” he demanded, nearly jumping down the poor doctor’s throat.
Oh, so that’s why he started freaking out.
He had a point—I had spent almost half a day getting jerked around on horseback. Though we hadn’t been going all that fast, it was still a whole different beast compared to getting jostled around inside a carriage.
Wha—oh no! He’s right! Was that bad for the baby?! Suddenly feeling a whole lot more worried myself, I cast a glance the doctor’s way.
“Ah... Since she’s still in the early stages, I don’t think it should be an issue. Now, that’s not a free pass to overdo it in the future, mind you.”
“Thank God!” the two of us cried out in sheer relief.