Accidental Surrogate

“Well,” Henry answers, hesitating. “Cora and Roger will see the prophecy.”

My face falls a little when I realize the implications of this. “Really? Unfair,” I declare, pouting.

Henry laughs a little along with me. “It will bring them closer to him, give them a bond.”

“Well,” I sigh, “I want them to have that. What sort of things do you learn, though? Do you share them with the parents?”

“If you choose,” Henry shrugs. “I always did. And Sinclair and Roger’s godparents shared with me, for which I was grateful.”

“What did they tell you?” I ask, curious.

“That Sinclair would be a great leader of men,” Henry says, looking down at the baby again, clearly remembering his baby who looked so like this one. “That was no surprise. But Roger, that was…”

I pause, curious, suddenly fascinated. “What did they say?”

He hesitates and then meets my eye. “I never even told Roger about it. But they told me that his destiny laid less with who he was, and more with the children he would sire. The many children, who would be…” he looks away a bit, trying to sort his thoughts, “it was hard to understand. But something about a set of extraordinary children who would bring much joy to the world.”

I work hard

Cora

his destiny, even. And if Cora can’t give him children… Henry meets, my

quietly. “Don’t think too hard on her messages they

–

him a little smile, fighting against my own disappointment. I sit up straighter in my chair, smiling down at my baby, who’s staring up at me with his wide eyes, which are just

at him again. “And his future is very, very bright. This I know

all of them – especially Isabel, James, and Sadie, who I think I hugged for a

I wanted to, as I have to greet all of our guests and introduce Rafe around to his new friends and family. But still, Isabel and I make plans to have a good long talk later this week before Cora comes to stand with her, giving me

for the occasion. It’s perhaps too much for a trip to the woods, but we’ll be having champagne later – and then everyone coming back to the house to celebrate all evening – so it seemed

it right? God, I don’t know. I’ve never

reassuring hands on my shoulders. “Everything is in order, Ella – you don’t need to micromanage everything. It’s all

“I just want everything to go smoothly, and everyone to have a nice time,

he does it. “You don’t need to be everything to everyone, trouble. They’re here to help you. You

cared,” I say, turning on him with wide eyes.

a quick kiss. “What I mean, Ella, is that you should just calm down and enjoy the night. It’s for us, as much as for him. The guests are just happy to

right,” I murmur, smiling against his lips and then looking down at my

around my shoulders and moving towards the door. “It’s good that you figured that

waiting to take us all out in the woods. “Oh, Dominic!” I say, spinning in his arms and looking towards the kitchen. “Did we remember the