A Fiery Dalliance

Epilogue

Perrie flicked his temple. "Oh, hush. Gone are the days of the little imp," she sniggered.

"Oh, no. My Little Imp is in there somewhere behind the pumpkin you're smuggling beneath your dress." Joe grinned as he carried Perrie back towards the house. The moment they crossed the threshold, Perrie realised just how cold she was having been outside.

Their house was modest in comparison to the grand estate that was Ashwood House. Every manor house within fifty miles could barely call itself a manor where Ashwood was concerned. But Althorpe Cottage was stately enough for Perrie, Joe, and Ed. It was their home. Perrie, of course, would always consider Ashwood the home of her heart. But seeing the Parish brothers experience a true home for the first time had warmed her heart in a truly unique way.

Despite being a working woman of sorts, Perrie had no discernible skills to keep house. They thankfully could afford their own household, though modest in comparison to the staff at Ashwood, who took care of the housing maintenance, and she was grateful that the house was warm when she entered.

"I don't know why I thought you would be upstairs packing your things," Joe mused with a knowing smile and the roll of his eyes. "You're only imminently about to give birth to our child."

"When have I ever done what I am supposed to do?" Perrie challenged Joe smugly.

"Did not you vow to obey me on our wedding day?" Joe's eyebrows rose.

"You know it was merely a suggestion and not a rule," Perrie retorted.

"Oh, is that so? Just as you growing taller than a pitchfork was merely a suggestion." Joe clicked his tongue with a grin.

Perrie straightened her posture as she supported her large belly with one of her hands. "Don't you ever get tired of making fun of my height?"

Joe bent down to her eyelevel and smiled deviously. He shook his head, before he whispered, "Never."

"You're terrible."

"You're incorrigible," countered Joe before he quickly closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to Perrie's.

Perrie suddenly pulled away, gasping, as she felt a popping sensation from inside of her. Within seconds, an uncontrollable flow of liquid escaped from her and splattered down on the floor, soaking both her and Joe's feet.

"Please tell me you were just too late for the chamber pot and that was not what I think it is." Joe's voice was low, and suddenly filled with an intense fear. His demeanour had changed in seconds, from joking and teasing Perrie as they normally did, to one of pure terror.

Perrie had been experiencing dull aches for days, but her mother had told her that was common as an expectant mother went into their confinement. But the waters meant that the child was really on its way.

She had not told Joe about the pains. Not the subsequent pains, anyway. As soon as she had mentioned pain the first time, this had happened. He turned into a terrified puddle as he feared what would happen to Perrie when she entered childbirth. Perrie did not want to put Joe through that fear, and she had also not wanted to frighten herself for what she was about to experience.

Truthfully, she had been glad that it had been a couple of years into their marriage before she had become with child. She most definitely was still discovering her maturity at twenty, just as she had been at nearly eighteen when she had married, but it had given her time to prepare.

And that illusion of preparedness had all but disappeared in an instant as an incredibly sharp, debilitating pain suddenly radiated throughout her body. Perrie gripped both of Joe's arms as she squeezed her eyes shut and moaned through the pain of it.