NOTE: Some mild drug use. If you were fine with Benedict's and Colin's tea, you'll be fine with this as well.
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Miss Sarah Cranleigh had proved out to be a surprisingly good babysitter, or in other words Lavender had accepted this stranger remarkably well, so Amelia had no problem in leaving her daughter alone with Geoffrey's number one nemesis, in order to have a moment alone with Eddie. As much as Amelia did enjoy having people – most of all Lavender – around her all the time, a quiet moment with her husband was all she needed right now, when the early pregnancy made her feel tired and constantly on edge. She was dipping her fingers into the cool water of Eddie's bathtub a bit absentmindedly, resting her arms on the rim of it.
"Why don't you slip out of that dress and join me in this bath?" Eddie purred, grabbed her hand that was floating around in the water and gave it a soft kiss.
"No, we both know what would happen then..." She smirked at him. "Besides, this water is freezing, you would never get me into it. No matter how tempting your body might be..."
"It's not freezing, it's wonderfully chilling after all the hay mowing." Eddie replied with a smile. "Argh, my every muscle aches and still that damned Augie went and beat me..." He growled and squirmed around in the water.
"Poor little lordling..." Amelia chuckled in a teasing tone. "Some people do this kind of work everyday, you know." She stated, moving her chair so she was sitting next to his head. "But most people don't have such a lovely wife as you do..." She grinned and began to rub his shoulders.
"Oh God, yes..." Eddie moaned. "You are definitely the best wife in the entire world..." He hummed with pleasure, while she worked her way through his sore muscles.
"I'm glad that we agree on that." She smiled and massaged some soap into his wet hair.
"But, um... Don't get mad, but I simply must say that... You do spend quite a lot of time with Geoffrey..." Eddie began in a hesitant tone.
"Yes, because he is my good friend." Amelia replied a bit dryly and kept lathering the soap.
"But he was also your fiancé..." Eddie muttered, making Amelia stop washing his hair.
"So it bothers you that we are friends?" She enquired quite sharply.
"No, but... Yes, a little bit maybe...?" He stuttered.
"Eddie Bridgerton." Amelia snapped, grabbed a tight hold of his hair and bent his head backwards so she got to look him in the eyes. "You have also been the best possible husband in the entire world, so far, so please don't turn into some jealous twat now and especially not over Geoffrey Dorset." She said sternly while Eddie grimaced when she did not let go of his hair.
"Ow, ow, ow, alright, you're hurting me...!" He complained, so Amelia eased her grip of his dark chestnut locks and he sank underneath the water to wash away the soap. When he surfaced again, he turned around in the tub to sit with his face towards her, but also to keep his head at a safe distance from her claws. "You wouldn't like me hanging out with Cornelia either." He pointed out, a bit sourly. "You said that she kept staring at me during the ball."
"Yes, but that's completely different!" Amelia exclaimed loudly. "Everyone knows that Cornelia Ber– Dorset was deeply infatuated with you and apparently still is, judging by what I saw!"
"How is it different?" Eddie huffed. "I took the girl to that damned ice cream parlour once, because I was forced to! I was not engaged to her and did not stand on an altar with her!"
"Eddie..." Amelia sighed deeply. "Just please believe me that Geoffrey has never wanted to sleep with me and never will. We have always been just friends... Even back then, he just wanted to help me and my mother financially, that is why we were getting married."
"I'm sorry, but look at yourself!" Eddie snapped vexedly and pointed at the large mirror on the wall. "You are bloody gorgeous! What kind of man would not want to sleep with you?!"
"Yes, what kind of man, indeed..." Amelia muttered to herself and thought long and hard about whether or not she could tell the truth about Geoffrey to Eddie. She had promised Geoffrey not to tell anyone, but Miles knew now, so perhaps she could tell her husband too, under the circumstances. Then again, Eddie would quickly figure out that there was a possibility of something more than just friendship going on between his brother and Geoffrey Dorset, which would make the whole thing even more complicated. Or would it? Miles hated Amelia and they did not even know each other so well, so she could certainly not try to talk to him about Geoffrey. In all honesty, Miles seemed to hate Eddie too, nowadays, but Eddie was still his brother, so he might have some leverage or trust left with him. Amelia would gladly welcome another helping hand into this mess, because God forbid, Geoffrey and Miles needed every bit of help they could get. "Eddie, darling..." Amelia began and pondered still on her decision. "The reason why I'm so sure Geoffrey is not interested in me is because... He is not interested in any woman." She finally revealed, but Eddie still looked confused. "He is interested in other men." Amelia explained patiently.
"But... But he's married to Cornelia." Eddie blurted out, still abashed. "They have a child."
"Of course he is and of course they do, it is not like he can go outside and blare out his true desires to everyone in the street! You cannot tell anyone either." She said sharply.
"I won't, certainly not, but..." Eddie stammered. "Do you think he's interested in Miles?"
"I don't know, do you think Miles is interested in him?" Amelia replied enigmatically.
"Christ, I have no idea..." Eddie exhaled and splashed some water on his bemused face. "I mean... I have never thought that Miles would be interested in other men, he has certainly visited brothels more than I have, and the female kind as far as I know, but... Then again, I don't think he has ever had a meaningful relationship with a woman either, so..."
"So... There is a possibility...?" Amelia concluded.
"Sure, maybe, I really do not know..." Eddie breathed out.
"Perhaps you could talk to Miles and try to figure out if that could be the thing that is bothering him so much?" Amelia suggested, striving for an innocent tone and deciding not to tell Eddie about the kiss on the hayloft, at least not yet. Miles could tell it himself, if he wanted to.
"I mean... I can try, but not tonight... Tonight I just want to relax and enjoy a well-deserved and lovely summer evening with my family and friends." He said and put on a smile.
***
When Eddie and Amelia returned to the gardens in the sunset, Sarah had apparently handed her Lavender guarding duties over to Geoffrey, Jack and Charlotte, while Augie and David tried to make up a fire and Miles stood a bit further away talking to Oliver. The hot day had turned into a soft, peachy and warm evening. Amelia noticed that Sarah had left to admire some especially beautiful roses with Oliver's twin sister Amanda and Geoffrey was switching between casting sour looks at her and broad smiles at Lavender.
"Come here and give me a hug, Lavender. Be my substitute Gina for a moment..." He smirked while squatting down on the ground with his arms wide open. Lavender immediately ran up to him and closed her little arms around him, as much as she could.
"Oh, look at her..." Jack smiled fondly. "You must miss your own daughter?"
"Yes, tremendously..." Geoffrey sighed while squeezing the girl as tightly as he dared.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your sweet moment, but the Gina substitute needs to go to sleep..." Amelia smiled a bit apologetically and picked up Lavender from the ground when Geoffrey had let go of her. Meanwhile, Eddie marched up to the fireplace that still looked awfully cold.
"What the hell are you two messing around? Let me come and show you how it's done..." He announced proudly and pushed the two Basset brothers aside.
"Please, do! Oh, you mighty woodsman." Augie teased with a raised eyebrow. He had his victorious – and quite ridiculous – dried up old hay crown on. It looked like the boys had tied it up together many years ago, without any help from someone who might have been a bit more skilled in the task.
"Jack, a word. Please." Charlotte uttered sharply and pulled her husband away from the others when Amelia had left with Lavender to the nursery. "I don't like the way you look at her."
"What, who...? Amelia...?" Jack wondered with wide eyes.
"No, Lavender...!" She hissed.
"How have I looked at her?" Jack enquired, but sounded a bit annoyed.
"In a dreamy way, like you would want to have one of your own. We agreed that we would not have any children in this marriage." Charlotte said in a dry tone.
"I know." Jack replied bluntly. "But you can't blame me for liking children."
"I do not blame you for that, I am simply worried that you might get silly ideas into your head while watching my niece...!" Charlotte retorted and Jack sighed deeply.
"Well... I do admit that I had always thought I would have children of my own, at some point in my life. What is the purpose of having the mill and the bakery, if we do not have anyone who wants to continue with it after we're gone?" He blurted out.
"'After we're gone'? We are not going anywhere at the moment, Jack. We are building this life for ourselves, not anyone else." Charlotte snapped back. "And someday, we can give what we own to a friend, or maybe some relative."
"What relative, Lottie? My sister lives with a woman and will presumably not have any children either, my brother will probably never come back from the military and all your relatives are fine lords and ladies, they will not want a bloody mill and an old bakery...!" Jack pointed out with clear desperation.
"I don't know, some friend then...!" Charlotte exclaimed. "You promised me, Jack..."
"I know..." He exhaled and kicked some dirt underneath a rosebush. "I just don't quite understand, if this unwillingness of having children started when you were so traumatised by Lavender's birth... Now, Eddie and Amelia will have another one. Surely Amelia cannot be that traumatised herself, so you shouldn't be either and –"
"It's not just that...!" Charlotte interrupted him. "Sure, both me and the child might survive the whole ordeal, but then I would have to give up my work at the bakery and I am not ready to sacrifice that, not when I finally found something I love to do with my life! I do not want to be some little housewife, Jack! What you are asking me to do is too much! I know you would help and your mother too, but it would still be me who would have to offer a lot of my time to the child... My life is completely fulfilled without any children, with you."
"I don't mean that my life is not fulfilling with you and without children, I could never have even imagined to acquire such happiness as I have with you, but..." Jack began.
"But what?" Charlotte sighed and looked him sternly in the eyes.
"You should know that I really, really would have liked to have children, but I did want to have you more than anything else – and I still do, I will always do. But... If there ever is a chance you might want to change your mind, it would mean the world to me..." He said slowly, before walking away from her back to the others. Charlotte took a deep sigh and gazed into the nearby forest for a while, until joining the others and sitting down silently next to an even more silent Jack, but everyone else seemed to be too busy with something else to notice their quite obvious distress.
"Haha, look at that, I am the god of fire!" Eddie rejoiced when the flames finally started to climb up the big pile of dry wood in the fireplace, which they had now all gathered around.
"Do we really even need a fire? It is terribly hot out here already..." Miles complained and sat down between Oliver and Geoffrey on one of the tree trunks that were surrounding the fire. Geoffrey instinctively pulled his hand away when Miles' hand accidentally touched his as he sat down. Then, he quickly realised it might not have been an accident, so he put his hand back where it had been against the tree, moving it ever so carefully, until the side of his hand slightly nudged the side of Miles'. His heart skipped a happy beat when Miles did not pull away his hand, and then... Geoffrey's heart suddenly jumped up to his throat and almost choked him when Miles deliberately brushed his little finger over his own.
"Don't mind him, Eddie, he's just mad because he lost." David sneered.
"And you are just being cocky, when for the first time you are not the one who lost." Miles snapped back at him, pulled his hand away from Geoffrey's and wiped his forehead with the back of it.
"I have to agree with Miles this time, it is indeed quite warm to have a fire going, but how are we otherwise able to have the traditional celebrations after the hay mowing?" Augie grinned, just as some servants brought up several baskets with food and a large ale barrel.
"So... Are we truly going to sit here, almost on the ground on tree trunks, by a campfire and grill sausages like some peasants...?" Sarah wondered when she had sat down with Amanda.
"Yes, is that a problem?" Augie enquired and pierced a sausage with a sharpened stick. "If you don't like sausage, there are corn cobs too and chocolate covered strawberries." He pointed out, before opening up the bottle of scotch he had won, in addition to the crown of hay.
"I have nothing against sausages." Sarah smiled and grabbed one from the basket that David was offering her. Oliver chuckled and poked Miles in his ribs.
"Did you hear that, Mi-Mi? Miss Cranleigh has nothing against your sausage... You should forget about your librarian and marry her instead." He whispered to Miles with a mischievous grin, but loud enough for Geoffrey to hear too.
"'Mi-Mi'...?" Geoffrey smirked, before his face turned more grim. "And what librarian?"
"Ah, sorry. I thought you knew, since you're Mi-Mi's best friend, but..." Oliver continued in a hushed voice and glanced a bit hesitantly at Miles, who had now covered his eyes with one hand and looked like he wanted to vanish into thin air. "Apparently he has a huge crush on some librarian at Cambridge. Sorry Miles, I thought Geoffrey knew..." He added with an apologetic grin.
"At Cambridge...?" Geoffrey blurted out, utterly confused. "But they were all angry old ladies?" He said and looked at both an equally baffled Oliver and poor Miles, who had now covered his face with both of his hands.
"There is no goddamn librarian, I was just painting up a scenario for you, Olly..." Miles growled through his hands, while Geoffrey had to let out a sneeze. He had already hoped that this summer would prove out to be an easier one with his hay fever, but obviously toiling on an entire field of hay had probably not been the wisest decision today.
"Why? Who is it then? Why can't you just tell us, your greatest friends?" Oliver argued.
"Eddie, why do you not sing something for us! That is a part of this stupid tradition too, right?" Miles suddenly exclaimed, removed his hands from his face and flashed a strained smile at his older brother, who had to swallow down a big bite of sausage before replying.
"Gladly!" Eddie beamed. "Could you bring my guitar from the music chamber?" He hooted over his shoulder to a servant, who immediately hurried away towards the house.
"Guitar? What happened to the sitar?" Oliver wondered.
"This one has a nicer ring to it, trust me. It's from Spain and it's my new favourite instrument." Eddie smirked, before cursing when his chocolate strawberry caught fire.
"I told you not to keep it there for too long!" Amelia laughed next to him.
"It wasn't that long..." Eddie muttered while stomping the burning strawberry on the ground. "Ah, thank you." He turned around and grabbed the guitar from the servant.
"Do you play any instruments?" Sarah asked Miles with a coy smile. She was sitting on the opposite side from Geoffrey's, Miles' and Oliver's tree trunk with Amanda, Charlotte and Jack.
"No. I mean... I do know my way around a piano, but I am not terribly interested in it." He replied indifferently, shoving a corn cob on a grill stick.
"But he sings like an angel." Eddie grinned, strumming his guitar to check its tuning.
"Really?" Geoffrey wondered with a slight smirk.
"No, I do not." Miles said sourly.
"Haven't you ever heard him sing?" Eddie asked Geoffrey, who shook his head. "Alright, that's it. Come over here, at once!" He commanded his younger brother, making room for him next to himself and Amelia while patting on the tree like he was luring a dog.
"No, absolutely not!" Miles protested and pointed his grill stick at Eddie like a sword.
"Come on, let's sing Scarborough Fair together, like we did when we were young! You can take the lower tune and I'll take the melody, Charlotte can take the higher tune." Eddie decided and glanced at his sister, who did not seem to be in such high spirits.
"Fine, but only if we will sing it as a he-version." Charlotte muttered. "We always did a she."
"Yes, whatever, it's just a song. Come now, Miles!" Eddie ordered, sounding very much like his father.
"Just that one song, then..." Miles sighed, handed his grill stick over to Oliver and trudged to Eddie's and Amelia's log, slumping down next to his brother with a frown.
"Great." Eddie smiled and found the right tune on his guitar. "Please, feel free to join us on the 'parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme' part." He instructed everyone else.
"Are you going to Scarborough Fair..." The three Bridgerton siblings began in perfect harmony, while a few jaws dropped and admiring looks were directed at them.
"Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme..." The rest of the party joined in, as requested.
"Remember me to one who lives there, he once was a true love of mine..." Eddie, Miles and Charlotte continued. For a moment Geoffrey felt like Miles had cast a look at him during that last part, but it was so brief that he had probably imagined it.
"Tell him to make me a cambric shirt..." Eddie and Miles sang while Charlotte filled in with the 'in the deep forest green' part and the others joined in on the 'parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme' chorus, again.
"Without no seams nor needle work..." The brothers went on, accompanied by Charlotte's
'bedclothes the child of the mountain'. "Then he'll be a true love of mine..." They finished the second verse – and this time Geoffrey was, astonishingly enough, sure that Miles had indeed looked at him, because this time he kept staring at him through the entire last part. Geoffrey forgot entirely what he was doing, in fact he forgot about the entire rest of the world, until the song stopped after three more verses. His lips probably moved to the words of the chorus every time it came around, but his mind was completely elsewhere and his eyes kept on finding their way back to Miles', who was truly singing like an angel, like his brother had said.
"Are you going to eat that?" Oliver teased, finally breaking Geoffrey out of his hypnosis when the song had ended and he had been holding his grill stick in his other hand and a sausage in the other, all that time, incapable of doing anything with them.
"Oh, yes I am...!" Geoffrey quickly blurted out, pierced the sausage with the stick and put it over the fire while Charlotte had enclosed both of her brothers into a group hug.
"That was wonderful, you should do it more often!" Amelia applauded with a wide smile.
"We should, but now it's your turn, sing something with me." Eddie smirked and gave her a kiss while Miles walked back to his own place between Geoffrey and Oliver.
"Here you go, maestro." Oliver chuckled, giving him back his grill stick and corn.
"Thanks..." Miles muttered and sat down, staring at the fire instead of Geoffrey, now. Amelia and Eddie had broken into a song and Geoffrey had to breathe in heavily while digesting everything that had just happened. The tension between him and Miles, the mere two or three inches between them, felt suddenly like an electric storm. He wanted to put down his hand again and maybe touch Miles' with it, but Miles seemed to be busy with his grilling.
"That is not tobacco..." Sarah sniffed a bit suspiciously as Augie was rolling up something on his lap.
"No, it's not, Miss Cranleigh." He smirked back at her.
"Don't worry, it's completely harmless." David smiled reassuringly at her. Augie lit up his masterpiece and inhaled from it deeply. "No thanks, not for me." David said sternly, when his older brother was offering it to him. Augie looked a bit surprised, but passed it on to Oliver instead.
"Oh, this is good stuff..." He wheezed and puffed out some smoke, before giving it to Miles.
"You shouldn't be smoking that, either..." Amanda scolded her brother.
"Oh, come on... This is as bad as your drink there." Oliver snapped back and nodded towards the big glass of ale in her hands. Meanwhile, Miles was having a long indulging breath from the joint, before tilting his head backwards and puffing the smoke up towards the sky.
"No, give it to me." Geoffrey chimed in, when Miles was about to stand up and pass the joint to Eddie. He quickly snatched it away from the fingers of a flabbergasted Miles.
"Really...? But you rarely even smoke cigarettes." Miles pointed out.
"Well, I do need this now." Geoffrey said curtly and propped his grill stick on the ground between his foot and a rock, before sucking on the joint and coughing violently.
"No, mere priy, not like that..." Miles laughed fondly and took it away from him.
"Wait, does that not mean...?" Amelia hissed into Eddie's ear.
"'My dear', yes." Eddie replied hushedly and blinked his eyes in confusion.
"Just breathe in like you do normally, try not to cough." Miles instructed, holding the joint against Geoffrey's lips between his own index and middle finger. "Good, now hold it. Hold it. Hold it... And breathe out." He said gently and smirked when Geoffrey ended up coughing again. "That's enough for you, chhota aadamee. You do not want to overdo it on your first time." He then stated with a smile and stood up with the joint, but had another long suck himself while stepping over to Eddie with it.
"What did that mean?" Amelia whispered into Eddie's ear again.
"Just 'little man'." Eddie replied hastily, before turning towards Miles with an innocent grin.
"Get that thing away from me and my child." Amelia said sharply, so Eddie obeyed, of course, jumped up and went a bit further away to smoke. Miles made a whip noise while walking back to his own place, making Augie and Oliver chuckle and Amelia glare sourly at him.
"I do not feel anything." Geoffrey uttered when Miles sat down next to him.
"You will soon." Miles smirked and rescued his charred corn cob from the fire.
"Oh, maybe I do..." Geoffrey admitted, when he suddenly started to feel a bit lightheaded but also extremely blissful, as if he suddenly had no care in the world, when he in fact was getting more and more badly caught up in this spiderweb between him and Miles.
"I miss being a bachelor." Augie suddenly said while staring into the fire, apparently having already drunk a third of his triumphant Scotch bottle.
"I don't." Eddie claimed, sitting back next to Amelia and giving the joint to Jack.
"Well, of course you say that when your wife is present." Augie sneered.
"No, I really don't." Eddie replied in a serious voice. "I love the security of having Amelia by my side. I can trust that she'll always be there for me and I can plan my future with her. A future, which looks a lot brighter when she's in my life." He continued with a smile and took her hand in his.
"Ah, look at the two of you..." Amanda sighed with a dreamy look in her eyes when Amelia and Eddie shared a long kiss, but Augie just rolled his eyes at them.
"Anyway, I do miss it... The thrill and excitement of courting girls." He muttered.
"Don't say that, Augie... Roberta is a wonderful woman and you have a lovely little son together with her." David said silently and sipped on his ale.
"Why don't you marry her then, if she's so wonderful?" Augie growled, slurring.
"Hey, Augs! Why don't we go and take a turn around the gardens?" Eddie suggested, stood up and checked that his guitar was leaning steadily enough against the ale barrow.
"Why...?" Augie complained when Eddie was pulling at his arm.
"Just come now, let's talk a little." He said quite sternly and did not let go of his cousin until he was up on his feet and they went off sauntering through the dusky gardens.
"Sorry about that." David smiled apologetically at everyone, but mostly Sarah, once again, Amelia observed. A cunning smirk spread on her lips as a plan formed in her head on how to get Miss Cranleigh out of Geoffrey's way. She tried to cast a meaningful look at him, in case he had noted the obvious attraction from David's side, but Geoffrey seemed to be concentrating on the perfectly grilled sausage that he had just removed from the flames.
"Miles, could you pass me the –" Geoffrey began. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry...!" He blurted out and clapped one hand on his mouth when Miles had turned to him at the same time when Geoffrey was reaching for the mustard, so he had accidentally smacked Miles right on his cheek with his sausage. Miles glared sourly at him for a moment, before bursting into uncontrollable laughter and making Geoffrey giggle too, though he still held his hand pressed against his mouth while grasping the sausage with the other.
"Yes, I will give you the mustard. Please stop waving your sausage in my face..." Miles laughed, wiped his cheek and picked up the jar of Aubrey Hall's cook's finest strong mustard.
"I'm sorry, I did not mean to slap you in the face with my sausage..." Geoffrey sniggered.
"Here is your damned mustard, you sausage assassin..." Miles smirked, opened the jar and smeared the orange sauce on Geoffrey's nose with his forefinger.
"No, what are you doing?! You moron...!" Geoffrey laughed and wiped it away on a napkin while Miles was grinning at him like a madman.
"Alright, just ale for the two of you, from now on. You are already giggling like a couple of school girls..." Oliver stated with an amused look on his face, but then he suddenly turned more pensive, like he was trying to piece something together whilst looking at Miles together with Geoffrey. He was not the only one whose attention they had caught, Amelia was gawking at them too, with eyes as wide as tea saucers and a surprised smile on her lips. She could not understand how Geoffrey himself could not see it, or maybe see it, but not believe it.
It was as clear as day to Amelia that Miles was as besotted with Geoffrey as he was with him. The conversation and celebration kept on going around them; Amanda was telling a ghost story now that darkness had descended over the gardens while the others drank, ate and laughed, or looked a bit worried over how the story might end. Meanwhile, Miles seemed to be sitting as close to Geoffrey as he dared, did not wince away if Geoffrey's knee or hand grazed his and every time Geoffrey talked – even when he did not talk – Miles was gazing at him like he was his most valuable treasure. Sure, he did also look blissfully intoxicated, but it could not be just that, Amelia convinced herself, while stealing yet another look at the two of them.
Miles and Geoffrey seemed to fit together so easily, so naturally that nobody would probably even have noticed if Miles had suddenly wrapped his arm around Geoffrey in the dim light of the fire. Nobody except Geoffrey, of course, who would probably freak out and run away again, Amelia thought to herself. She wished that she would have Lily with her to document this moment with her impeccable drawing skills, so that Amelia could later prove it to both Eddie and Geoffrey, who would most likely not believe her when she would tell how she had seen Miles behave next to his supposed friend. Alas, Lily was still too young to have been allowed to participate in such an ale-filled evening, so Amelia had to settle with nothing more than her words as evidence.