It took a full two weeks before Madelina’s mother thought Madelina was strong enough to go up and down the stairs on her own. It was another month after that before she lost the gaunt, underfed look. Throughout it all, her belly continued to grow.

A month before she was due, Madelina sat down with her mother and discussed whether she needed to stay longer. Madelina had finally stopped losing her meals and no longer needed to be healed before she could eat, but it had only stopped in the last week or so.

“I hate that you’ve already stayed so long,” Madelina said. “It is nice to see Alex and Papa getting along so well, and Letice has grown very attached to both of you, but I think you could leave now if you wanted to return home. You’re welcome here, of course, but I’m thinking about how you feel.”

“We’re staying until the baby comes,” Marina told her. “We’ve already been here for six months. What’s one more? And I want to be sure you and the babe are all right before we journey back home.”

“I love that you’ve worked with Letice on her riding. She’s going to be the best big sister seven little boys ever had.”

Marina smiled. “Yes, I do believe she is. Are you getting nervous about the birth?”

Madelina shook her head. “I’m not. Now that I’m not upset to my stomach, I’m enjoying being pregnant. Well, I would like to not be quite so large, but I know that will happen eventually.”

“Too many women die in childbirth for me to be willing to go home. I will be right beside you for this birth and all the others. I’m not sure why you were afflicted so during your pregnancy, but I will not allow you to go through another minute of this alone.”

“Are you going to move in with each of my pregnancies?” Madelina asked with a grin.

“If I need to, I will. I won’t lose my daughter for anything.” Marina reached out and squeezed Madelina’s hand.

* * *

As she got closer and closer to her due date, Madelina realized she was happy. She had a sweet child, parents who loved her, and she loved her husband a great deal. He had never told her he loved her, and she had never said the words, but she was sure he knew how she felt.

She just wished she knew how he felt. He had never given her an inkling of his feelings other than talking to her about how excited he was about the birth of the babe. Being happy about getting a son and feeling love for his wife were two very different things in her opinion.

Every afternoon, they would walk around the area. Her mother felt that a woman who was soon to give birth—especially one who had been so inactive at the beginning of her pregnancy—needed to be very active leading up until she gave birth. She felt that women trained in much the same way knights did, but their battles were very different.

“I’m glad you’re getting along so well with my father now. At first, I thought the two of you would always hate each other,” she said as they walked through the garden. It was early May, and the flowers were in bloom. Madelina and her mother had taken over just a corner of the flower garden for their medicinal herbs. The garden was huge, though, so it was still beautiful.

“We’ve come to an agreement. Because we both love you so much, and we know it’s easier if we get along, we have made a real effort. Besides, he’s excited to be a grandfather again, and he knows to see the grandchildren, he has to come through me.”

Madelina looked at him in surprise. “Wait . . . you love me? Why have you never said so?”

He frowned at her. “Why do you think I was in such a hurry to marry you?”

“Because you wanted to bed me, of course.”

“Well, that too,” he said with a grin. “But I wanted to bed you because I loved you so much.”

“I wish you’d said something sooner . . .”

“I thought you knew! Why else would I let your parents stay here for six months straight? Why else would I allow you to bring home a child who wasn’t either of ours? Why else would I dote on you every day and put up with your constant headstrong ways?”

She smiled, stopping there and turning to him. “I love you, too.”

“I know.”

“How?” she asked. She’d thought her declaration would please him, and his simple, “I know” was a bit offensive.

“How do I know? Because you smile at me every day. You make sure you at least make an appearance of being obedient before you go off and do whatever you want.” He shook his head. “I really thought when I married you that you’d be obedient. I guess I lost my mind!”

“I’m as obedient as I can be.” She grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m glad you came to me with a letter from your father and a little girl who needed to be healed.”

“So am I. And I’m glad we’ve almost got your first pregnancy out of the way. Do you think your parents will feel the need to live here for all seven of them?”

She shrugged. “I think they just might. From what your mother told me, though, I should plan on having all seven boys within ten years. Then they can go back and live with Uncle Roland.”

He groaned. “I thought they would just come for one week to make you better . . .”

She laughed. “I’m still alive and so is the babe. Mother won’t leave until she knows that’s going to continue.”

Leaning down, he kissed her softly. “I love you, wife. I love you so much.”

“And I love you!”

* * *

Three nights later in the middle of the night, Madelina woke with a cramp in her side. She lay there for a while and realized that the cramp was coming and going . . . every few minutes.

She reached over and woke Alex. “You need to get my mother. We’re going to have a baby.” She felt the excitement and dread run through her in equal measures. With as difficult as her pregnancy had been, surely the birthing would be even harder.

He sat up straight, his eyes wild by the light of the moon streaming in through the only window in the room. “Baby?”

“Yes, baby! Now get my mama!” The man could move so fast when he wanted to, but now that she needed him to, he sat there dazed.

After all the trouble she’d had with her pregnancy, she’d expected a long and difficult labor, but truly it was short and easy. She was sure the easy was her mother’s constant healing of her, and the short . . . well, maybe the short was God’s way of trying to make up for how difficult her early pregnancy had been.

It was six short hours later when Marina led Alex and Charles into the room to meet the babe in Madelina’s arms. “This is Thomas,” Madelina said, a smile bright on her face.

Alex sat carefully beside her on the bed, reaching down a finger to trace the baby’s cheek. “Thomas.”

They all stood and stared at him for a minute as if they expected him to do something miraculous, and then Madelina laughed. “It’s not like he’s going to jump up and run about the room! Give him time!”

That night, Alex and Madelina lay together in bed, and Alex pulled her close. “It’s nice to hold only you again and not the huge lump that was my son.”

“It’s nice to only be me again. I was starting to think I would be the size of a house forever.” It felt strange to not have her child living inside her any longer, but not so strange that she wasn’t happy to breathe only for herself.

“You were still one of the smallest pregnant women I’d ever seen.” He sighed contentedly. “Do you think we can go through this six more times?”

“I really don’t see that we have a choice!” She smiled at him. “The babe makes it all worth it, though, doesn’t he?”

“He does. My firstborn son.”

“I will be so relieved when it’s our seventh born.”

“Do you regret marrying into a family where you’d be required to have seven sons?” he asked, concerned.

“Not at all. I’m just glad I have my mother so she can keep me healthy as I give birth . . .” Madelina snuggled close to him, closing her eyes. “I love you, Alex.”

“And I love you, Lina.”