It had been a little over a month since Elena went home from the hospital, and her stomach had grown to a huge bulge. She was just over eight months pregnant and feeling exactly like it. Her breathing was often labored, and her ankles had grown by what looked like an inch in circumference. She felt fat and unattractive, which didn’t contribute to her renowned mood swings.

“Elena, you really need to take it easy,” Olivia warned one day when she was rummaging in the kitchen, searching for a pot so she could ‘make herself useful.’

“How much easier can I take it?” she snapped, and the pot clanked loudly on the counter top as she slammed it down. She felt flushed after that, so she leaned against the cold marble and sighed. “I’m not used to being this useless.”

“Sweetheart, it’s understandable. But you know you can’t burden yourself. Or do you want to go to the hospital early?” Olivia’s eyes narrowed to a slit as she sized up her daughter.

“Might as well,” Elena fired back. “At least I would have this baby and get it over with.”

“It will be over soon. You should remember to be careful what you wish for. This baby will come when she is good and ready.”

As if in response, Elena’s stomach began to flutter and an elbow or knee protruded from the center of her large tummy. She closed her eyes and rubbed the spot as her now tightened stomach began to relax slowly and she could feel at ease again.

“These contractions are getting closer, Mom,” Elena told her mother as worry began to seep into her.

“You sure? You aren’t due for another month,” Olivia said, but Elena could hear the terror in her voice too.

“Yeah, I’m sure. But I don’t even know what’s normal for me. I’ve never been pregnant before.” Her trip to the hospital a few weeks before had frightened her, and though she wanted the baby to come, she didn’t want any complications that might arise from it.

Knock! Knock! They both turned as Jason’s shadow took up all the light at the screen door to the kitchen. Olivia moved quickly to open it.

He popped in as soon as she did with a broad smile on his face and a dozen roses in his hand. “For the lovely lady,” he beamed as he extended his hand to Olivia.

She clamped her hand to her chest. “Oh, for me?” she asked in surprise.

“Yep!”

“Hey, I thought those were for me,” Elena complained mockingly.

Jason stared at her blankly, like what she had said had offended him. “You wanted those?” he asked her. “I thought…” He turned to Olivia and scratched his head. Then he shoved his hands in his pockets and cocked his head to the side. “You know, I remember not so long ago I brought you flowers, among other things, and you came right back to me with everything I had given you. Packed neatly in a box. Left on my steps. I remember—”

“Fine! You don’t have to remind me.” Elena laughed.

“But I can bring you flowers next time if you want.”

“No, that’s fine,” she replied quickly.

Jason shook his head in disbelief. “Can’t please the woman,” he said, mostly to Olivia, and both she and Elena laughed. “Besides,” he continued as he pulled something from his pocket, “I thought you might like this a little better.”

“What is it?” Elena’s face was a picture of surprise and excitement as she watched the rectangular box he held in his hand.

Jason held out his hand to her. “Why don’t you look and see?”

Elena’s took the box from him with trembling hands and opened it gingerly, like she was afraid of what she might find. She gasped, and her free hand covered her mouth when she saw the gold necklace inside with a locket on one end.

“Oh, Jason, it’s beautiful,” she exclaimed. “But you know I don’t—”

“That’s where our pictures will go, and you can keep us with you everywhere you go.” Jason interrupted her and took the necklace from the box. He didn’t wait for her consent. He looped the jewelry around her neck, fastened it, and kissed her on the top of her head.

“That’s beautiful.” Olivia clapped and cried.

“I think it’s too much,” Elena whispered.

“Nothing will ever be too much for you,” Jason told her and took her hand in his.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant all this excitement is too much for me now. I think I should go lay down. My feet are beginning to complain.”

“So, does that mean you don’t need this pot anymore?” Olivia teased.

Elena fanned her off and wobbled away with Jason next to her, his hand at the small of her back as he helped her to the bedroom. She was exhausted, like she had run a mile, and the bed sank when she sat on it.

“So, how are you feeling?” Jason asked as he fluffed the pillows for her.

Elena could hardly believe her luck. She was with the prince, in her bedroom, and he was fluffing her pillows. There were times when she looked at him like an ordinary man. Mainly when he was acting the fool. But when he was chivalrous and sweet, like he was now, she was reminded of his status, that he was a prince and she was nothing more than a farm girl. What were the odds that he had fallen in love with her?

“What is it?” he asked as he read her eyes.

She blushed and looked away. “I can’t believe any of this sometimes,” she replied as she toyed with the locket, feeling the need to touch the hard metal to remind herself she wasn’t dreaming.

Jason chuckled. “I can’t believe it sometimes either. I mean, I was a jerk, wasn’t I?”

Elena smiled. “Most of the time,” she told him. “I thought you were the worst prince a town could have. You barely came here, and when you did, you never got out of the car, like you were afraid of catching something from one of us.”

Jason raked his hair back. “Yeah. I was pretty selfish. But you must understand, I didn’t know any better. I was raised around people like myself. I never had a poor friend. Before I came to the village, I thought the poor were my duty—they were there, and if I threw some money around they would go away. I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I was an idiot.”

Elena bit her lower lip and ran her thumb over his hand. “That’s all over now. You’ve changed a lot over the past couple of months.”

“Thanks to you,” he told her and smoothed her cheeks. “I didn’t realize how much my life would change when I met you that night.”

“Okay, you need to stop before you make me cry again,” Elena said as she choked back tears already forming.

“Well…” he replied as he traced his thumb over her lower lip. “We could do something else.”

“Maybe not,” she began, and tried to shuffle back to get away from the impish grin on his face that told her he was in the mood. “I don’t think we should…”

“Just…a…little taste,” he muttered breathily, and his ragged voice turned her on more than she believed she could be at that point. “We don’t have to go all the way. I just want this…”

Elena was breathing heavily by this, and she rocked her head back as she anticipated what was going to happen. “Okay,” she heard herself say, but the voice didn’t sound like her own.

He pulled her head back, brought his lips to hers, and Elena’s heart quickened at his touch. She squeezed his hand, and Jason cupped her face as they lost themselves in each other. She could feel her body calling for him, wanting to feel his cock inside her and hating the fact that she couldn’t. She started moaning when his tongue darted inside her mouth, and she caught it and pulled on it, wanting to fill herself with this man who had entered her life like a whirlwind and had uprooted everything she had thought she believed. When his fingers moved to trace her nipples that had gotten hard from his first touch, she felt her insides melt and her body liquify.

She writhed under him, wanting him to take her, and she gripped his collar, on the verge of forcing him to, when she felt a searing pain at her abdomen. She froze, and Jason’s eyes popped open when he realized she had stopped moving.

“What is it?”

Elena remained still, waiting for the moment to pass, when another wave ripped through her. She screamed and grabbed her stomach. “Something’s wrong.”

Jason started to panic. He looked from her stomach to her face in the split second before she screamed again. He didn’t know what to do other than run for Olivia.

Elena was stricken with fright as her breathing shallowed. She gripped the side of the bed for support as she heaved, anticipating another bout of pain. She started crying as another wave hit her and rendered her motionless. When Olivia charged into the room, she was lying stiffly on the bed, almost as if she was afraid to move.

“Come, help me get her up!” Olivia cried.

“Hold on. Let me get the car first,” Jason said, sounding more frightened than she had ever remembered him to be.

“Gregory!” she screamed. There was a loud bang and a slamming sound as the front door opened and Gregory rushed in.

“What?” he asked amidst the confusion.

“It’s Elena. She needs to go to the hospital. Go with Jason. I’ll get her some things and meet you there.”

Elena vaguely heard Nathan calling her name and her mother muttering something to him, but she couldn’t hear her clearly. She was completely wracked with pain, and she writhed on the bed, wanting to stand, to do anything to ease the pain, and realizing each time it was impossible.

“Stay still,” she heard her mother say in a faraway voice. “They’ll be back soon.”

Elena drifted off after that, falling in and out of consciousness for what felt like a long time. She had no concept of time, or of what was happening. All she had were the pain and the darkness. The last thing she heard were excited voices above her before she was completely engulfed in nothingness.