Chapter 29

 

True to his word, Taylor had Phoebe under her mother’s roof within two weeks of their discussion, less than the month he had requested. The couple settled in, awaiting the arrival of their son, due sometime at the end of January.

Taylor placed his arm around Phoebe and assisted her up the grand staircase. Tomorrow was a new year. One that he hoped held promise. In the summer he would turn thirty-years-old and, God willing, have a healthy son.

Phoebe placed her hand at the small of her back and paused in the middle of the stairs.

Taylor stopped and looked down at his wife. “What is wrong?”

Phoebe smiled up at him. “Nothing. I am just uncomfortable at times.” She continued up the stairs.

Taylor glanced at her abdomen, swollen with his son. No wonder she tossed and turned a good portion of the night and her back ached.

She paused again at the top of the steps. One hand still supported her lower back and the other on top of her stomach. Taylor put his hand next to hers. “Your stomach is hard, solid.”

Again Phoebe smiled. “Mother says this is normal.”

The two made their way to their chamber to settle in for the night. Phoebe settled in bed on her side, away from her husband. As he had for the past month, he massaged her lower back, giving what little comfort he was able to.

Phoebe sighed. “That feels so nice,” she said, just before she fell asleep.

He wasn’t sure what woke him, but Taylor opened his eyes to near darkness. He turned and reached for his wife. Her side of the bed was empty. He sat up, worry knotted in his stomach. Of course, it wasn’t unusual for Phoebe to wake several times at night for personal reasons, but his gut told him this was different.

Moonlight streamed into the room and he saw her pacing at the end of their bed. Her white nightgown billowed around her. She stopped, grabbed hold of the bedpost and almost doubled over. Taylor was out of bed in an instant.

“Phoebe, what is wrong?”

Pain-etched eyes looked up at him. “As soon as it is light, could you send for a doctor?”

Taylor grabbed his pants. “If you are in pain, or if something is wrong with our child, I am not waiting until the sun rises.” He walked to the bell pull and yanked on it six times. That should awaken everyone.

“Taylor, it is only three in the morning. Let the servants rest.”

He tossed his shirt over his head. “You can’t tell me you are not concerned?”

Tears formed in her eyes. “Yes, I am. It is too soon. What if something is wrong? What if we lose the child? What if . . .?”

“Shhhh.” Taylor pulled her into his arms. “I am sure everything will be fine. As soon as your maid gets here, I will have her awaken your mother.”

Phoebe pulled back. “No. Let her sleep.”

“So she can be angry with me for not alerting her? No thank you.”

A harried maid appeared, her hair barely contained in her cap, as well as Taylor’s valet. He wasn’t sure either was completely awake, but they were properly put together, almost. “Wake her ladyship and send for the doctor.”

Taylor turned back to Phoebe and insisted she lay back down.

“No, it isn’t so bad when I walk.”

He wanted to argue that she should be abed, but didn’t want to be responsible for any further pain. After all, he was responsible for what she was facing now. Instead, he stayed by her side, reassured her all would be well.

The doctor arrived as the sun was beginning to streak the sky, and he forced Taylor from the room. Downstairs he waited with Noah, worried, pacing. It was too early to drink or he would have been imbibing heavily. Two meals of the day came and went with no arrival of his son. Holly reported regularly on his wife’s progress and the doctor made an appearance on several occasions, assuring Taylor that these things took time and that he was only staying because it was a month early.

His assurances offered little comfort to Taylor, who finally poured himself a drink at two in the afternoon, deciding eleven hours was long enough for a man to have to wait in suspense with nothing to calm him.

The hours wore on and he could hear her agonizing screams. Only Noah was able to keep him from climbing the stairs. Lady Victoria joined them downstairs as her daughter grew louder. “This is completely normal,” she assured Taylor. “While a little early perhaps, trust me, she will forget all about the pain once she holds the child.”

Taylor tried to find comfort in her words, but his wife screamed again. Taylor doubted it. Even if by chance his wife did forget, he knew he never would.

Silence came to the house as supper was being set out. That empty sound was more torturous then her screams.

Holly appeared, beaming. “The doctor says you can come up now.”

Taylor didn’t need to be told twice and he bolted past her. Everything had to be all right or surely Holly wouldn’t have been smiling. He barged into the room and was brought up short. Phoebe lay against pillows, looking more radiant than he had ever seen her. However, that is not what shocked him. It was the two bundles in her arms.

The doctor came up beside him. “That,” he gestured to the two, “is the reason for the early arrival. It almost always happens with twins.”

Taylor was speechless. He walked to the bed and leaned over to look into the faces of his two, yes two, children. Nothing could have ever prepared him for this.

“I can’t tell them apart. How will we ever be able to tell the difference at this age?” They looked identical to him. “Which is older? By how long?” The questions kept coming, not allowing time for answers.

The doctor chuckled and opened the door. “I’ll let you explain the difference, Lady Sandlin. Send word if you need me.”

Taylor ignored the doctor’s leaving and waited for his wife to answer his questions. “You can tell them apart?”

She laughed. “It is a little difficult when their faces are all you see. But there are some very obvious differences.”

“Where? Does one have a birthmark? I haven’t even asked. Phoebe, aren’t they the most amazing and beautiful children you have ever seen?” Taylor turned his attention back to the children.

“Yes, they are,” Phoebe answered, laughing. “In answer to your other question, you have one of each. That alone should answer your question on how to tell them apart.”

He raised his face to hers in amazement. “You have given me both a son and a daughter.” Tears filled his eyes. “I have to be the most blessed man upon this earth. First, I am given you. Now, a son and a daughter. Could anyone ask for anything more?”

Phoebe smiled at her husband. “I could ask for only one thing at the moment.”

“Anything. It is yours.”

“I am very sleepy,” she confessed as her eyes became heavy.

“Then rest it shall be. May I take them? Your mother is anxious, as you can only expect.”

Her eyes had drifted shut and she was barely audible. “Of course. They belong to you as well.”

 

* * *

 

He was in the garden again. No, it couldn’t be a warning. Not his children. Not Phoebe. Anxiously he searched for her.

“You have nothing to fear, Taylor. I only came to congratulate you.”

He sank onto the bench beside her. “You knew all along. Even when you said my son would be healthy and safe.”

She smiled and winked. “I had to hold something back.”

Taylor felt a little sadness envelop his heart. Heather had wanted children more than any woman he had ever met. It wasn’t fair to her to be so happy. “Heather, I am sorry. I know how much...”

“Stop.” She put her fingers to his lips. It felt like a cool breeze. “I am in the most wonderful place. I could never long for anything; I have everything I would ever need.”

He always believed she had been sent from above.

“Besides, there are two very special children that will have my attention for years to come.”

“Thank you, Heather,” he said, as she disappeared.

Taylor came awake as soon as she was gone, smiling. Phoebe was looking down at him, an odd expression on her face. Had he talked in his sleep?

“Don’t you think there is something improper about a husband dreaming of another woman when his current wife has just given him two perfect children?”

The smile fell away from his face. They couldn’t go back to the doubting again. Especially not now when everything was so perfect.

Phoebe smiled. “That is the second time you have spoken to her in your sleep. Tell me.”

This was the one aspect of his life he had not wanted to share with her. What would she think? Taylor remained silent, trying to think of something to say.

“Does she come to you in your dreams?”

She knew, he couldn’t deny it. “Yes, but it isn’t what I am afraid you may think. I have only dreamed of Heather a few times.”

“What does she say?”

“The other times, before this, was to warn me of the danger, though she couldn’t give me the answers.”

Phoebe remained silent and waited.

“Did you ever wonder why I appeared, that day at the wall, when I needed to be there?”

“No. I just assumed it was fate.”

“Heather came to me that night and told me to leave for here immediately. Before it was too late. Had she not sent me, I would have been sitting in my London Townhouse when Boris arrived.”

Phoebe relaxed back against the pillows.

“Why did she visit now?”

“To tell me goodbye. She also said she would be watching over the children for years to come. I believe we have our own guardian angel.”

“She was very special to you, wasn’t she?”

Taylor thought for a minute. “Yes, she was. It doesn’t bother you, does it? It shouldn’t.”

“No. She must have loved you very much, as well, to see that your dreams come true.”

“As I said before, she was my best friend then.”

“Possibly still is,” Phoebe offered with a loving smile.

Taylor turned at her odd words. “Perhaps.” That was all he would say. It was something he would have to consider.

He pulled his wife into his arms and held her as she slept. He had the greatest blessings on earth and one was in his arms. Additionally, he had been blessed with an angel from above. One who would watch over his children, and probably any other children his beautiful wife brought forth.

“I love you, Phoebe. Beyond even my wildest imagination.”

“I love you too, Taylor,” she replied in a sleepy voice.