Chapter Thirty-One
Cassian
Gazing out the window of his Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, Cassian was biting his fingernails and bouncing his leg.
Beside him, Ethel was humming while moving the pendant on her necklace back and forth on its chain.
In front, John Quinn was humming along with Ethel.
After some time, Cassian began to hum with them, if only to take his focus off of how much time was left for their trip to his cottage in Upstate New York, though when Cassian soon fumbled behind the happy couple, forgetting the rest of the tune, his blunder ruined the song.
Ethel laughed lightly, and Cassian bumped her leg with his knee in silent chastisement, although he couldn’t contain his smile.
It was nice that he and Ethel had become so comfortable with one another.
He rather enjoyed their occasional playfulness.
“How much longer until we reach the cottage?” he asked John.
Glancing over his shoulder, John replied, “Five minutes, maybe. Not to worry, Cassian, sir, you’ll see James soon enough.”
“You know, it isn’t exactly fair that you and Ethel are constantly together, while James and I have to spend weeks apart at a time,” Cassian complained.
“Isn’t there a relevant saying for this sort of thing?” Ethel asked. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or something like that?”
Cassian smirked at her. “Does this mean that you have grown sick of poor John Quinn by now?”
“No, not yet,” Ethel said with a light chuckle. “I’m quite taken with him, in fact.”
“Yes, you’ve certainly proven your fondness for the man, I think,” Cassian jested, purposefully letting his eyes fall to Ethel’s slightly rounded stomach.
Ethel smacked Cassian halfheartedly with the back of her hand.
“Everyone must think that you and I couldn’t bear to wait until our wedding,” Cassian said haughtily. “Not that anyone could blame you, of course, seeing as you were engaged to someone so handsome.”
“You’re incorrigible,” Ethel said with a shake of her head.
“I’m obviously kidding,” he said. “For the most part.”
After huffing a soft laugh, Ethel let out a sigh.
“I’m still not sure how we’ll manage to uphold our little ruse once the baby is here. Children are not particularly adept at keeping things a secret, are they?”
“We’ll figure something out,” Cassian reassured her.
“Besides, the child will see our strange situation as normal for a while, considering the fact that it will be all they know for the first portion of their life. Hopefully they’ll understand the importance of discretion by the time they’re old enough to head off to school. ”
“Hopefully,” Ethel echoed, her hand finding her pendant again.
John briefly looked back at her before returning his eyes to the road.
“Don’t worry, miss,” he said. “I promise we’ll think of something.
In the meantime, though, we ought to keep our spirits up, for the child’s sake.
And our own. Remember how lucky we are. And how lucky our child is, too.
Imagine how magical their childhood will be, since they’ll be surrounded by so many wonderful people who love them. ”
“Yes, that’s true,” Ethel replied, letting her hands fall to her lap.
Cassian patted her knee. “James and Maggie are already excited to spoil your little one. After all, this is the closest that either James or I will ever get to becoming parents ourselves. And Maggie said that she isn’t eager to have children of her own, either.
So, I have to concur with John on this. Your child will be surrounded by love, Ethel. Always.”
“Thank you, Cassian,” Ethel said with a warm smile.
Finally, they reached the road to the cottage.
Cassian rubbed his hands together as John Quinn turned onto it, excitement making his heart pitter-patter as the modest-sized stone house came into view.
Surrounded by nature, the house was perfectly secluded for the benefit of their privacy, yet still close enough to nearby small cities and towns so as to not be inconvenient when it came to purchasing necessities.
As soon as the car stopped, Cassian hopped out, leaving his pregnant wife behind with the love of her life so that he could see the love of his life as soon as humanly possible.
James must have been watching for him from the window because the moment Cassian reached the door, James opened it and flung his arms around him. Cassian squeezed him back.
“Oh, God, I missed you,” James said, clinging to him. “I know it’s only been fourteen and a half days, but still, I missed you so much.”
“I know you did,” Cassian replied, pushing a hand through James’s soft brown hair. “I missed you, too.”
“Thank the Lord you’re finally here, Cassian,” Maggie said cheerily, coming up beside them. As soon as Cassian and James parted, Maggie insisted on a hug as well. “James has been so eager to spend time with you. He’s been worried as well. About Ethel traveling in her condition.”
“Yes, well, I think this will be the last big trip for us for a while,” Cassian said, pulling back from Maggie’s hug. “We’ll live here through the holidays and then head back to the city whenever the weather seems favorable enough so that she can have the baby there.”
“Can I be present for the birth, maybe?” James asked, somewhat shyly.
Cassian smiled fondly at him. He’d known James would most likely want to be there for the birth, the sweetheart that he was.
“Of course,” Cassian said. “I’d been considering having you with me as well, though we’ll have to be on our best behavior while you’re staying at the main house, what with all of my servants constantly milling about.”
“I believe we can manage,” James said, his lovely smile blossoming.
Oh, how adorable he was. Cassian took hold of his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. Dammit, he could barely resist the urge to order James right into the house and up to one of the bedrooms. Groaning softly, Cassian broke away.
“I’m starting to think otherwise,” Cassian said. “I might have to find us a hotel for a night while we’re waiting for little Quinn to arrive.”
James laughed warmly. “Whatever you want, Cassian. You know that.”
Ethel and John reached them on the walkway. James and Ethel hugged.
“Have you and John settled on the name Quinn?” he asked.
“John isn’t completely convinced yet, though Cassian keeps insisting that it would be a lovely way to pass on John’s family name, albeit unofficially,” Ethel said. “I have to admit, I love the idea, personally. Quinn is such a sweet name.”
“I think so as well,” James said, looking at John pointedly before pulling him in for a hug, too. “Quinn is a wonderful name.”
“Oh, my,” John laughed. “You, sir, will be spending the next month trying to convince me to name my child Quinn, won’t you?”
“I think we all will,” Maggie chimed in. “Quinn Livingston. It’s perfect.” She pursed her lips for a moment. “Quinn Penn Livingston for a boy?”
Ethel hummed. “Quinn Cassian Livingston, instead, maybe.”
“Yes, I, for one, really like that name,” Cassian said, his smile broadening.
With a roll of his eyes, James said, “Why am I not surprised?” Cassian threw him a mock-threatening look. Immediately, James took Cassian by the lapels and pulled him close. “I’m teasing,” he said before pressing a fast kiss to Cassian’s lips. “I think I like it as well.”
Maggie laughed. “Me too.”
Everyone looked at poor John Quinn expectantly. He held up his hands.
“I’m clearly outnumbered,” he said, laughing.
“I suppose I’ll consider it, then, though I think we’ll need a different middle name if we have a girl.
” Glancing back at the car, he said, “Now that the matter of my child’s future name is practically settled, I believe it’s time for me to attend to my responsibilities.
” He caught James’s eye and thumbed over his shoulder.
“Care to help me bring the bags inside?”
James nodded. “Happy to.”
He kissed Cassian once more and then left to fetch the luggage.
Cassian headed inside the cottage, following Maggie and Ethel.
All three of them walked to the small first floor library, where Maggie had some refreshments waiting for them.
Cassian started over to the sofa but stopped when he spotted a few envelopes on the closest round table.
He plucked the first one off of the pile.
“Ah, yes, that’s all yours, Cassian, except for one,” Maggie said as she poured Ethel a cup of tea. “I believe one of the letters is for Ethel and John instead, thanking them for their contribution to Carpathia’s crew.”
Cassian smiled to himself. John and Ethel had certainly put that five thousand to good use, splitting the bulk of it between the Titanic survivor’s fund and money to show their gratitude to Carpathia’s crew for their rescue efforts.
Maggie continued after a moment.
“James opened that first envelope. It’s a letter from Ingrid. He read it to me, too. She’ll be here for Christmas, with her little one, and she sends her love, as always.”
Cassian hummed and nodded.
“Did she receive my check?” he asked. “And the blanket that Ethel knitted?”
“Yes, she did,” Maggie confirmed. “I think James and I are about finished with our present for her as well. Quilting isn’t as easy as it looks.”
“No, I imagine it’s not,” Cassian said with a warm chuckle.
He loved seeing James and Maggie working together on the big, patchwork blanket, both because the love between the two friends was so palpable whenever they huddled together to do so and because James looked so endlessly endearing whenever he was engaged with something creative.
Cassian’s heart fluttered as an image of James concentrating—his brow furrowed, his tongue poking out from his mouth once in a while—popped into his mind.
He’d have to tell James to make him a blanket as well sometime soon, if only so that he could watch him work on it.