Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 66 Little Love Birds

James‘ question caught me off guard. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean,” he sighed. “Talon took the witness away to talk to him in private

the other day. Why?”

“Because the man was overwhelmed by all the people in the room,” I explained.

“By all the people, or by you?”

I knew there was no point in arguing about it. Not only because James was a competent king, but also b

ecause he knew me well– he knew us well.

I sighed and looked away. “One person‘s word wouldn‘t

have been enough to leap to any conclusions. I didn‘t want to cause panic or suspicion in the room.”

“I understand that. That‘s why I didn‘t say anything there.”

“I appreciate it.”

“What are you going to do about it?” James asked.

“This is between me and him,” I said quietly.

“It might just be personal before, but now, as you are aware, things are not going well in our border pack

s. The people are suffering. This troubles me.”

He looked towards the crowd of the displaced civilians. Worry and sadness were in his gaze. I understoo

d his concern for his kingdom and his people, our people.

| softened my voice. “I‘ll take care of it.”

James looked me in the eye quietly, and he nodded, “Good, I‘m sure you will.”

Soren took a sip of wine. “So, Ro, I‘ve talked to my assistant about referring you to a job. But we almost

overlooked something important.”

I put down my silverware and waited for him to continue. Having dinner

with Soren had become much easier and more pleasant now that I‘d gotten to know him better.

“What was it?”

“You‘re pregnant.” Soren pointed out. “Any of the jobs you mentioned could require you to carry weight, a

nd you would be on your feet all the time. Are you sure it‘s the best for your baby?”

I couldn‘t answer. I might have oversimplified the process of “settling down” in my head, especially since

I had lost all of the money and valuables.

“I‘m sorry,” he said, “I didn‘t mean to make you feel bad. I was just trying to be thorough.”

“This is not your fault, I didn‘t think it through.” I murmured.

“Oh, on the bright side, talking about pregnancy–I do have good news,” he

chirped, clearly trying to cheer me up. “Want to guess?”

| smiled, but shook my head.

“I had posted a job ad for a midwife, and we‘ve gotten quite a few applicants, and,”

He paused intentionally, and seemingly waited for me to ask him what he was holding off.

T held my breath and replied in disbelief, “You found her?”

He grinned, and finished, “one of the applicants is named Seraphine.”

***

I immediately recognized the face

that I hadn‘t expected to see again so soon. Seraphine stood with a bright smile across her lips, her eyes

locking with mine, and I could tell she was happy to see me, too.

A few days ago, Soren offered to find me a midwife. I told him about Seraphine and that I had

lost her address along with my other belongings. With Soren‘s help, we posted the job ad in the local

newspaper, and now.. here we were.

I walked around and gave Seraphine a warm embrace. “I missed you, Seraphine!”

“So

glad to see you again dear.” She replied, we will need to get you set up for an appointment very soon, th

at way, we can see how the baby is doing.”

***

“The heartbeat sounds very strong today,” Seraphine said, holding a stethoscope to my stomach.

We were sitting on the edge of my bed, in one of the rooms that

had been furnished already when I‘d moved into the cottage a few days earlier.

I loved to hear the baby‘s heartbeat myself, so once Seraphine had finished listening and confirmed that

everything was well, she handed me the stethoscope so that I could hear.

Theld the bottom of the stethoscope

against my abdomen, which was growing larger by the day, it seemed. The thunk, thunk sound of my bab

y‘s heart reverberated like a drum in my ears and brought a smile to my face.

“Oh, it sounds so fast today,” | said with a grin.

“It‘s about the same as yesterday,” Seraphine assured me, writing

down some notes. She kept a careful record of everything

that had to do with the baby. “Just a tiny bit faster. That‘s fine. It can vary.”

“What would cause that?” I asked.

“It could be a lot of things.” She looked around the room and noticed the breakfast tray Lola had yet

to remove. “Oh, well, I see you‘ve had some more of Soren‘s famous blueberry jam. That could be it.”

My eyes widened. “Is that not good for the baby?”

It‘s perfectly fine. It just has sugar in it, and it can make the baby a little more

active than normal for a little while.” She patted my shoulder and laughed a little. “No need to worry. Your

baby will be fine, Ro.”

I tried to relax, but I had to wonder if I should start cutting all sugar out of my diet, just in case it wasn‘t go

od for my child.

“You‘re going to be such a good mother,” Seraphine said, finishing her notes and standing to put her med

ical

equipment back in her bag. I knew that meant she was going to take her stethoscope away, and that me

ant that I was going to have to stop listening to that tiny drum in my ears.

“Listen to you later, tiny peanut,” I whispered as I gave Seraphine her stethoscope.

As she put it away, I said to her, “Thank you, but why do you say that?”

“Because you care so much about all of the little details.” She turned and grinned at me

over her shoulder as she zipped her bag.

A warm feeling radiated throughout my body as I thought about what it would be like to have

my baby here and hold him or her in my arms. I liked to think

about rocking the baby, holding that tiny person in my arms, wrapped

in a blanket, kissing that little head… I would do anything for them.

Treally didn‘t care if it was a boy or a girl, though imagining

a little boy that looked like his father would make me happy.

As delicious as the blueberry jam was, I didn‘t mind not eating it for the next few months. Or any sugar, f

or that matter.

Before I could respond, Lola came into the room. “Miss Ro, Mr. Soren is here to see you.”

I got up off of the bed and walked past Seraphine. She was still

packing up, but she looked at me curiously.

I paused and gave Seraphine a hug, “Thank you for coming over today. See you in a few days.”

She laughed, spared one hand to wave at me. “See you around. Enjoy your date, you little love birds.”

I froze. “No, no! It‘s not like that,” I tried to explain.

“Okay, okay, I know,” she said, but her expression told me that she didn‘t.

I sighed. Soren was charming and he treated me very sweetly, he treated everyone sweetly.

However, I wasn‘t ready for any kind of relationship. Soren was well aware of

this as well. He told me that he was glad we were friends.

However, Seraphine didn‘t buy that.

By the time I got to the front door, Soren was standing in the hallway, a bouquet of daisies in his hand.

“Good morning!” he said, his smile so cheerful that it immediately made my steps feel lighter.

“Good morning, Soren.”

He extended the flowers to me. “These are for you.”

“Thank you,” I said, taking

them and lifting them to my nose to inhale their fragrance. “They smell wonderful.”

I had gotten used to him bringing me something every time he came over. Most of

the time it was flowers, but sometimes it was chocolates, or something else thoughtful to make me feel be

after the attack.

I was mostly healed now. Seraphine said she‘d never seen anyone heal so quickly before, but I had alway

“You are most welcome, beautiful lady.” I had gotten used to his compliments to

girls, all girls. “What are your plans today?”

Lola came to take the flowers from me to put them in a vase of water. She knew my routines by

now and expected to need a fresh vase if Mr. Soren was visiting.

Once I handed her the flowers, I turned back to face him.

“Well, I was intending to spend some time in the garden and possibly do some light exercise, but… nothin

set in stone.” I assumed he had something in mind if he was asking. “Are you not out for work today?”

Soren shook his head. “I was supposed to have a business

meeting, but it got canceled, so I wonder whether you have any interest in doing a little shopping with me?

My face lit up. I had been wanting to get some yarn to do crocheting. “You sure it wouldn‘t take up too mu

“I wouldn‘t offer if I didn‘t mean it.”

“In that case, yes, I would love to. Thank you.” I smiled at Soren, who offered me his arm.

Thesitated. From the corner of my eye, I saw Seraphine step out of the

room. She smiled when she saw us and gave me a “see, I knew it” look.

I shook my head, pretended I didn‘t see his slightly arched arm, and looked up to Soren, “Let‘s go. I will fo

you.”