And time worked for them. Rather quickly too, to be honest. Very quickly.
He remembered quite well Cora telling him that she was supposed to bleed in the new moon, a moon that that had happened half a month before, with no bleeding in any day, or after. His wife, however, seemed to have forgotten about that detail. Lady Coraline was adapting to her role as Queen Cora very well, already arranging a marriage for Lady Rosamund Dudley and Edmund Bryton – an important member of his council – right on her first week, after asking for Leo's permission to be the one caring for that business. It was the Queen's duties to care for the marriage of her ladies, but Lord Bryton was too out of her reaches. She had also started working on teaching him how to speak French – and he had to admit: she was a very rigid tutor, and not in a very sexy way.
Their schedule wasn't very easy for any of them, either, so he couldn't blame her. That morning, they were just working in the laws of marriage when he noticed something rather strange happened.
It was a simple affair. During his reign, Blackhall had passed laws prohibiting pairs of the same sex to marry, something Leo's grandmother – Queen Philippa – had made legal quite early into her reign, and they were going to undo his action.
And maybe they had some personal problems with that law too, not just originated from Royal fairness. Paul – Leo's best friend – had been courting Philip Lancaster, the royal painter, since he moved into the castle, and had manifested it to Leonard that he really, really, wanted to marry him. So, the law had to go as quickly as possible.
Lady Hannah, Lord Lancaster's older sister, had just walked into Leo's study room with sweet threats for them to eat before lunchtime, and his wife immediately reacted with a grimace, something quite different from her usual cheer and affectionate welcomes to her ladies.
"Your majesty?" the young woman asked, looking clearly confused.
Cora didn't answer her, and his reflexes quickly kicked in when she placed a hand over her mouth and another on her stomach, picking up a random empty vase decorating his study and placing in front of his wife, who vomited into it.
"Take this away," he instructed, pointing at the plate. "And ask the kitchen for something to help with nausea."
"Yes, your majesty," she curtsied, quickly walking out to the door, trying to hold in a smile.
Leo knew what they would be gossiping about at night.
"Lady Lancaster," he called.
The dark haired lady stopped in the middle of the way and turned to him with big eyes.
"Let's keep this private, please," he requested. "Tell them I'm the one who is sick."
"Of course," she nodded. "Excuse me, your majesty."
Lady Hannah skipped away, and he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, giving to his wife and watching as his sweet Cora cleaned the corners of her lips.
"I'm sorry," his wife blushed. "I don't know what happened, I've been a little strange since the morning, and the smell just made me feel a little sick."
He just smiled, caressing her pinking cheek and watching her face.
"May I ask, lady wife," he spoke gently. "Do you feel anything else that might be strange?"
Cora frowned, tilting her head at him the littlest bit.
"Anything else?" she asked.
Leo nodded.
Most of his life, his mother had been the one responsible for his education, and she didn't spare him any details of anything. Leo had books about physiology that detailed every sign a doctor should look for in a woman who could be expecting a child, from the strangest ones to the most common, and many theories about how babies grew in their mother's bellies. Judging by how innocent and sheltered his Cora was, he wondered if she knew of any signs.
"A strange taste in your mouth?" he questioned. "A strange thirst or hunger?"
His wife blinked a bit, thinking to herself, and Leo couldn't help but remember she had protested quite much about her breast being sore for the last three or so nights, and had gotten up to use the loo more times than she usually did during their bedtime.
If those signs had made Leo question himself, this was certainly what he needed to be sure of what was happening.
"I think so," she mumbled, at last. "Why is that?"
"And you haven't bled yet?" he questioned.
Her blue eyes widened as she stared at him, finally connecting the dots.
"It was supposed to happen..."
"Two weeks ago," he finished her sentence. "Yes."
Cora continued to stare at him in silence, slowly rationalising the news, and finally smiling.
"I'm expecting!" she exclaimed.
Leo nodded.
"Yes, my love. You are."
Cora threw her arms on Leo's shoulders, squeezing him and pressing several kisses on his cheek and jaw, so happy he could barely hold her and not fall onto the floor.
He only realised she was sobbing into his arms and he himself had tears falling onto his cheeks when his wife started shaking in his arms.
Leo slowly stood up, sitting down and letting her squeeze him was sat on his lap, crying into the crook of his neck, making him a little confused.
He thought Cora wanted to have a child with him, that she was happy.
So why was she crying so much?
"My dear?" he asked, rubbing circles on her back. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Cora shook her head as she pulled back from him.
His wife tried to control herself, continuously drying her tears while she sniffed, but it wasn't of any use.
"Come on," Leo whispered, cradling her face. "You can cry. Just talk to me."
"We're having a family," Cora spoke through soft hiccups. "I always wanted a family."
He felt his shoulders dropping as he relaxed, finally understanding.
Cora only had her grandparents, and as much as she loved them, it was different.
"We are," he agreed, kissing her shoulder.
Cora only sobbed more, clinging to his shoulder, kissing his cheeks again and again.
"Thank you," his wife whispered. "Thank you so much."