the fifth plan: to protect the child (2)

    “our carl, your little sibling will soon be born~”

    “huh!”

    “if you have a younger sibling, will you then become a dignified and cool older brother?”

    “huh!”

    carl smiled with that round face of his and nodded his head eagerly. our carl was always good at answering like this and i proceeded to pat him on the butt, but the doctor then cautiously added.

    “it’s still in the early stages, so please take care of yourself… and i think that you should also be careful when hugging the young master.”

    since i was still half-lying on the couch, carl’s body began draping over from my chest to my stomach. duchess dowager became startled and she straight away reached her hand out to carl.

    “yes, you are already carrying a life in you now, so i have to be careful at all times too. in other words, carl, please come here.”

    the duchess dowager groaned as she took carl away. carl, whose second birthday had long passed, became quite heavy already. therefore, whenever i or the duchess dowager held him, it turned out to be quite tiring indeed. carl then quietly moved into his grandmother’s arms before extending his arms to me once again.

    a very brief conflict flashed through my mind, but my hands still reached out for carl. i raised his upper body and put my hands under the child’s armpits to bring carl back into my arms. certainly, holding carl had become very difficult these days, but it was all because carl had still wanted to be held by me.

    “carl! amanda!”

    right at the duchess dowager’s sudden stern voice, carl instantly pursed his lips and cried out.

    “hie—”

    i patted carl on the back as he buried his face in my shoulder. it didn’t seem like the young carl had fully understood what i said about having a younger sibling for himself. however, it still seemed that carl noticed that something had already changed and that it would still continue to change in the future.

    “i will be more careful in the future. today—just for today, it seems like carl still wants to play around…”

    they said that older children would tend to get lonely when they were to have younger siblings and perhaps, carl was feeling like that as well. carl still continued to hug me tightly. the duchess dowager looked at us as she let out a small sigh before she finally changed the subject.

    “i have to find a nurse first before i start to decorate the birthing room and i still have a lot of work to be done. ah, before all of that, we should inform gellerhard and viscount bentta as well.”

    the duchess dowager quickly counted things that needed to be done. and as she had said, there was really a lot of things to do. while i was still in a daze, the duchess dowager began to stroke my shoulder gently before she continued.

    “anyway, congratulations, mandy. you will definitely be a good mother to both of your children.”

    “thank you.”

    “and i bet gellerhard would be delighted as well. so, hurry up and tell him the good news.”

    “wouldn’t he be busy right now? plus, i don’t think that i’ll be having the baby before he returns…”

    it wasn’t even an emergency, but when she thought of sending out a call to the battlefield separately, she suddenly became worried that she might eventually be seen as being particularly unusual. to notify my husband who had already gone to the battlefield of a confirmed pregnancy. it was only natural since there had been a means of contact, but i was already scratching my head about how the others would then judge me for my actions in return. the duchess dowager soon shook her head as if she was wondering what in the world was i truly talking about.

    “his wife is now pregnant—what other news could be more important than that? but it must be a little bit harrowing to come back so soon too.”

    “perhaps.”

    but would he be happy with my news of pregnancy? although we had already spent many passionate nights without any contraceptives as a couple before, we never really talked about the issue of pregnancy.

    as she saw me with a faint smile as well as rather vague affirmation without readily saying that i would soon contact gellerhard about it, the duchess dowager instantly retorted.

    “leave it then. i’m the one who will be going to inform my son that my daughter-in-law is pregnant, so who is to say anything anyway? they had to eventually say that a precious baby would soon be born to the duke of demancier. so, don’t you worry and just relax. this mother of yours will do everything for you.”

    it was such a reassuring statement as if she had peered straight into my head. i didn’t even want to imagine what it would have been like if madame blone had still been here instead—and if the duchess dowager hadn’t been called over.

    “i’m so glad that you’re here.”

    “yeah. therefore, don’t worry and take a good rest in return. do take good care of yourself.”

    “yes, i will.”

    her concern was really so sweet that i instantly smiled and nodded in response.

    “what about carl?”

    “i’ll just hug him a little more before taking him to the nursery soon.”

    the duchess dowager was really concerned about me, who had been pregnant, but she soon nodded for she was also a grandmother who absolutely loved carl. both the doctor and the duchess dowager eventually cleared out to let me rest while leaving me and carl behind together. carl’s dog was wagging and barking under the couch, but carl didn’t go to the puppy as usual. instead, he burrowed himself into my arms even more. as i patted the chubby butt of the child who still had his face buried in my chest, i hummed along with my nose the lullaby that i often sang to carl.