My Once Handsome Husband

The next morning it was Delaney who woke early and left Vincent sleeping. Ms. Bird came in but was silent upon seeing her new master still asleep. She quickly helped Delaney dress then gathered up some of her things and signaled for them to go to the next room.

"Oh my Lady I'm so happy to see you and Lord Adair were able to work through things. I said a prayer for you both last night."

Delaney was touched to hear that and smiled fondly at her new maid, "Thank you, Ms. Bird. You were exactly right with your guesses about his thinking on the hunt. Honestly, talking about it all actually brought us even closer together."

Ms. Bird beamed, "Well I'm happy to hear it. Now let me do your lovely hair up nice so you'll look even prettier for him when he wakes up."

Delaney giggled but sat back and let the woman go to work.

Once she was ready, Delaney peeked in her room to see Vincent was still asleep. There was some time until breakfast but she decided to go ahead downstairs anyways.

When she looked down from the top of the staircase, Delaney was surprised to see Miles was already up and slowly pacing. When he caught sight of her he hurried to meet her.

"Delaney I'm sorry about yesterday. It was my idea to go on the hunt and I knew you were worried about it. I should have thought to send Harris back with word we were alright. Cora would have killed me if I'd done that to her."

"Miles it's..."

"I'm sorry we got involved with the bear too but I promise you I never would have let him get hurt. We were together against it."

Her brother-in-law seemed to realize she was smiling then and came to a stop, looking at her in confusion.

"It's alright Miles," she assured him, "Vincent and I have talked about it and we're fine. Actually, we're better than fine now."

Miles frowned, studying her, "Better than fine?"

"I did what you'd suggested. I realized last night that I have fallen in love with your brother and I told him so. And it turns out he loves me too."

Miles looked at her in surprise before a smile slowly started to grow on his face.

"That's wonderful Delaney," he smiled at her, looking like his brother, "I'm glad you and Vince have been able to find happiness together. Does that mean he's going to call off your arrangement?"

The question caught Delaney off-guard and her face fell, realizing she hadn't thought to ask that.

"I'm sorry," Miles said quickly, seeing her droop, "I'm sure he will. You wouldn't even need to ask. If you're in love with one another then it really goes without saying that he'll not go through with it now."

"Yes," Delaney nodded slowly, considering his words and convincing herself he was right.

Miles smiled, "I truly am very happy to see you and Vince happy together. I always wished it would work out for you both. You both deserve to be happy."

Delaney smiled warmly at him, "You deserve to be happy too you know. I think you and Cora will be."

He chuckled as he held out his arm for her to escort her to the dining room as the bell announcing breakfast rang. "You know I think we will be too."

Vincent didn't make it to breakfast so Delaney and Miles ate together and she had him tell her about his first days out with Cora and how he had gone from being annoyed by her to being in love with her.

As they laughed and talked together for the first time in all their years of knowing one another, Delaney realized she actually rather liked Miles.

She had never had any siblings but sitting at the table and spending this time with him, she knew this must be what it felt like to have a brother.

They were just finishing their breakfast when Vincent joined them at last, still walking a bit stiffly from the day before.

"There you are old man," Miles smirked at him, "I was beginning to wonder if you'd gotten lost up there or something."

Vincent rolled his eyes at his brother before leaning down to give Delaney a quick kiss. "Good morning my Lady," he smiled at her, and her heart leaped.

"Well brother," Miles sighed once Vincent was seated and eating, "I think it's time I am on my way home."

Vincent looked up at him while chewing but nodded.

"Are you sure you need to go already?" Delaney asked, feeling unexpectedly saddened by this announcement.

"I am," Miles smirked, "I have a beautiful young woman of my own you know. I'd like to go and visit her."

Delaney and Vincent chuckled at his words.

"When are you going to marry that girl?" Vincent asked between mouthfuls.

"Soon I hope," Miles grinned, "I'm actually hoping to speak to her about it when I see her next."

"That's wonderful," Delaney exclaimed, "You'll both be so happy! Do you think you'll have a big wedding?"

Miles looked down then, seeming suddenly uncomfortable. Vincent looked at his brother out of the corner of his eye but didn't say anything, just continued with his toast.

"Uh no I don't think so," Miles answered to Delaney's surprise, "I think we may just do something small with just the two of you and mother if we have to."

"But why?" Delaney looked at him in confusion, "Why not have a big beautiful wedding? You and Cora's family both have money and she would love it!"

Miles shifted in his seat and Vincent looked back down at his plate.

"We've talked about it Delaney," Miles sighed, "Cora is fine with the small wedding."

"Well she may be fine with it but that doesn't mean that's what she wants," Delaney argued, "All our lives we've wanted big beautiful weddings!"

"It's because of me Delaney," Vincent spoke up then, and they both turned to look at him, "He doesn't want to have a wedding without me there and he knows I won't go to anything with a lot of people because the exact same thing that happened at our wedding will happen there."

Delaney shook her head, "What... what do you mean?"

"You remember how terrible our wedding was," Vincent sighed, "My mother invited all those people and they sat there staring at me and laughing at me and just being disgusted by me. That tends to happen where ever I go."

Delaney looked at him in surprise.

"He insists on not having a wedding without me there despite the fact I've begged him to. I don't want to be the person keeping Cora from having her dreams. He won't budge on it though and neither will I."

"We're both stubborn like our mother I suppose," Miles commented.

"Obviously," Vincent replied.

Delaney stared at her husband, "Vincent you really won't go to their wedding if it's big even though you know that's what they want? You will really make them pick between having us there and having the wedding they dream of?"

"You can go to the wedding no matter what size it is. I won't though. I want to be around as few people as possible. I don't like scaring people when they see me or being the subject of their jokes and gossip. I want them to have a large wedding without me."

"Let's not worry about it for now," Miles sighed, "I haven't even discussed it much with Cora yet."

They were quiet while Vincent finished his breakfast. Delaney thought about her sweet husband and knew, even though it wasn't fair to Cora and Miles, she couldn't blame him for not wanting to be a spectacle.

When they were finished, Miles's carriage was brought around and they walked outside with him to say goodbye.

"Thank you for coming to make sure I was safe," Delaney hugged him, "And for making sure my husband was safe."

"That's what family does," Miles chuckled and his words touched Delaney's heart. They were a family now after all.

Once the carriage was out of sight, Vincent took Delaney on his arm and led her back inside.

"You're going to miss him," Delaney commented as they walked through the halls, "I'm going to miss him too. I never would've imagined saying that about Miles."

They both chuckled at her words and Vincent nodded, "I will miss my brother. We've been nearly inseparable for the majority of our lives. It's good though. It's time we both settle and have our own families."

Delaney was quiet, thinking about his words. She had been thinking a lot lately about having a family now. She had been thinking about what it would mean for them to grow their family.

"Vincent," she said quietly, "Do you ever think about... having a family? Having sons?"

Her husband slowed, looking towards the ground. She could see in his expression that he was turning it over in his mind and considering his answer.

"I suppose I hadn't really thought about it since the night we had our bad fight," he answered quietly, "I've been happy just being with you. I didn't want to ask about it and chance ruining the happiness we've found."

"Well... if you think about it now... what are your thoughts?"

Vincent came to a stop then and pulled her to face him. There was a frown of confusion on his face when he looked down at her.

"Delaney, why are you asking me about this?"

"Because," she started, looking down as her cheeks grew warm, "Because I have... I have been thinking about it."

"And... and what are your thoughts?"

Delaney looked up at him, biting her lip for a moment before she spoke.

"I want us to have a family. I want us to have a baby."