"Oh, so…"
Leslie gave a lively answer to the difficult question Annabelle had barely been able to ask.
"Why did you only give birth to Ian?"
Now, more than a year after enjoying her honeymoon, Annabelle was now seriously considering pregnancy.
Ian inherited the title and was active as a competent Duke of Wade, and Annabelle was also very well adapted to the position of the Duchess as well as the Knight Commander.
Leslie and Braden moved from the Duke of Wade's and were traveling and living a peaceful old age life.
Still, Leslie often came up to the capital to have Oscar's food.
It was the day she ate her fill with Annabelle.
Annabelle still liked to eat delicious food even though she became a duchess, especially with Leslie.
It was something Ian or other family members could understand.
And in this meeting with Leslie, she asked why she gave birth to only Ian.
It was because she thought she should know in advance if there was a story that the Wade family held precious or something.
"It's…"
Leslie replied with a quiver, as if she were appalled at the thought.
"The pregnancy was so terrible. Braden told me not to do it again, and I agreed."
"Oh, terrible?"
"Yes. I threw up just by drinking water. I had severe morning sickness. I lost 5kg, maybe?"
Annabelle dropped her fork.
Leslie's failure to eat must have been the absurd tragedy of her life.
"I was the one who ate stew on the day I hurt my leg with tears dripping down my eyes…"
Leslie went on seriously.
"At that time, I couldn't even look at a single fruit…and I felt like I was suffering from a terrible hangover just lying still."
"Oh…"
"But what was more painful was during childbirth."
Leslie frowned as if she remembered all the pain of the time, a long time ago.
"I was really, really, really, really sick."
"…What?"
"There's nothing more I can express. It hurt so much. Seriously, it's no use explaining it. It's not something you can understand without going through it anyway."
Annabelle somehow lost her appetite and didn't even think about picking up a fork.
A few months ago, Cessianne gave birth to a cute niece.
Just looking at her, the soft little being was so lovely that Annabelle wanted to have a child too. Read only at pm tl.
Then Cessianne spoke brightly and cheerfully with her baby in her arms.
"Conceiving and giving birth to life is a holy thing. It's a blessing from God. If you think about it like that, you can overcome even the biggest pain."
It was something she would say, but now that Annabelle thought about it, it means that the "biggest pain" was true anyway.
Annabelle deliberately didn't ask Marilyn about her childbirth.
She didn't even dare to ask because she said it was such a difficult birth that she lost her mind and didn't even know her child was swapped.
"Anyway, so… Both Braden and I had reached an agreement."
Leslie shrugged and continued.
"I was sometimes disappointed because Ian grew up so boring, but I couldn't even think about morning sickness. Having a second child just because the first one is disappointing also doesn't feel right."
Annabelle wasn't sure if Ian's evaluation as a 'disappointing child' was appropriate.
"But now that you're asking me this, I guess both of you are thinking about having children too?"
"To be exact, I am."
Annabelle answered embarrassingly, scratching her cheek slightly.
"I asked him a few days ago, and Ian… He said, 'I'm so happy to be with you, and we're still young, so let's think about it slowly'."
"Oh, that's unexpected."
"But the next day, he started construction on the baby room. A spacious room with the best ventilation, warm sunlight…"
"…"
Leslie sighed and shook her head.
Ian said "let's take it easy" because he didn't want to burden Annabelle, but he must have been looking forward to having a child between them.
"He's even looking for a wooden sword set for children by age."
"…That's not even the end, is it? What else has he done?"
"He ordered all kinds of parenting books and read them every night. I think he's very interested in education."
"Sounds like Braden. Braden was a big education enthusiast. Anyway, it's a big deal for a rich man."
And because Leslie smirked and answered, Annabelle said.
"And then…"
She thought she'd be embarrassed if she listed it any more.
"Do as you and your husband wish. Braden seems to want a successor, but… He can't help it without one."
"I do want to have a baby too."
Annabelle replied with a shy smile.
"And I'm happy for Aaron. So I wish I had two, but I don't want to be sick…"
"It really hurts."
Leslie emphasized again. It also meant that she really cared about Annabelle.
"It's more than any pain you've ever suffered. But it is beautiful. I can't deny that."
She smiled and held Annabelle's hand.
"Whatever you decide, we will support you. Braden and I would be very happy to have a pretty grandchild. I won't tell Braden. If I say Annabelle seems to want to have a baby, the crib will be delivered the next day."
Annabelle also smiled and nodded.
Seeing Leslie wanting her to have a baby despite saying, 'It hurts like hell,' it really felt like it was time.
That day, Annabelle confessed to Ian that she wanted to have a baby.
And soon after, news of pregnancy could be delivered to both parents.
~*~
Fortunately, Annabelle didn't have severe morning sickness.
Even Marilyn continued to work casually.
Nevertheless, when she came to full term, she was seriously troubled.
"I really can't have a second child… But I want to have two."
Her nightmare then became true.
Her condition hit rock bottom as she kept waking up at night and her hands and feet began to feel numb.
"Well."
Ian said, pressing his lips lightly on her shoulder.
"Think about it after you give birth to one. I am working hard to record this so that I will not forget it."
He was writing a "pregnancy diary" that recorded what and how Annabelle ate and showed symptoms daily.
At first, he started using simple meal ingredients for a balanced diet, but more and more things were being recorded.
"Well, yeah…"
Annabelle swallowed the words, 'how dare you take care of my pregnancy like a student studying…'.
In fact, someone might say it was too much, but Annabelle was inwardly happy that he was interested and took care of her.
Ian swept Annabelle's round belly and kissed her ear again.
Annabelle asked a hundred more questions, feeling comfortable with his winding temperature.
"Do you want it to be a daughter or a son?"
And Ian answered the same thing each time.
"I hope it's a child of any gender who doesn't make their mom suffer and comes out smoothly. That's all I need."
He was always conscious that Marilyn had a difficult birth.
Of course, he would have the best doctor, but he was worried that Annabelle would have a hard time due to the prolonged labor time.
"What about you?"
Ian asked, supporting her back so she could be comfortable, and Annabelle answered seriously.
"Hmm… A daughter who looks like you or a son who looks like me."
She also repeated the answer she had given over and over again.
"Wouldn't it be more efficient to see a new combination if possible? Little Ian, Little Annabelle, or anything like that."
Then she sighed once more seriously.
"Then it seems like I'll have to give birth to as many children as possible anyway… Oh, it's so hard to even breathe."
Even though her morning sickness wasn't too bad, it was hard for her to have any idea how hard it must have been compared to Leslie.
Marilyn looked at Annabelle's belly and tilted her head.
She said that although it was a long time ago, her stomach didn't seem to have swelled up this much.
"Did you bloat a lot? You can't have a second child, but you want to have two."
In everyday life where there was nothing to worry about, the conversation was just repeated.
Annabelle was once again caught up in her worries about a second child before giving birth to her first child, and Ian answered with a smile each time.
"After giving birth, think about it."
Ian's answer sounded uninteresting to anyone, but in the end, it was the right thing to say.
Without having to worry about the second, Annabelle gave birth to twins just before her birth month.
It was even a combination of a calm and gentle blonde-haired daughter and a playful and lively lavender-haired son.