CHAPTER 308: ANDER AND EMMA ARE...

When Rose returned to the house, her father had pulled the bench next to his wife. He didn’t hold her hand; he just sat down, staring at her as she lay on the wooden bed.

Rose walked to him, and he glanced backwards, then gestured for her to come closer. Rose dragged her feet as she walked to her father. She dropped to the bench, dejection clearly written on her face.

Her mother was still sleeping and the older woman looked so peaceful as she slept, her face devoid of worries. Even her wrinkles didn’t hide how peacefully she was sleeping.

"Tired," her father explained. "Yer mot’er is very ’appy to see ye."

Rose nodded and rested her head on her father’s shoulder. "What happened?"

"Ye speak like tha Lords now," her father smiled. "Good."

Rose suddenly felt embarrassed and turned away. "I ’ad to learn," she explained.

"I know, I am glad," he said and shuffled her hair. "Yer mot’er was really sad when ye left. Wouldn’t stop cryin’ and almost stopped eatin’."

Rose felt her heart squeeze. Her mother wouldn’t have gotten this drastically sick if she hadn’t left home. She felt something twist inside her.

"Nay," her father said, shaking his head. "Not yer fault. Ye should ’ave let tis old man die. I ’ave lived long enough. Not become a slave to..." her father’s voice broke.

Rose shook her head and held onto her father’s arm. "No Fat’er. I will never let anything happen to you. I am sorry I left without a word."

Vallyn laughed. "Ye say it like ye ’ad a choice. Wen we got yer letter, I and yer Mot’er was so ’appy. We didn’t know if ye were still alive, no one ’ad ’eard from ye and I couldn’t leave yer mot’er. It sounds like an excuse, don’t it? I oug’t to ’ave gotten on a ’orse and gone after ye."

Rose shook her head. "You did the right thing father. I knew you could take care of Mot’er."

Vallyn shook his head. "I didn’t do a good job. Look at the state yer mot’er’s in." He dug into his eyes with his thumb and index finger.

Her father was huge but right now he was hunched over with a sad tone in his voice. It broke Rose’s heart. Her father didn’t do a bad job. Someone had torn her family apart.

"Mot’er has been sick for a long time. I know you did your best Fat’er. Thank you," Rose whispered and lightly tapped her father’s back.

He pulled his hand from his face and placed it over her shoulder instantly showing the difference in size between them.

Rose settled in the cradle of her father’s arm and once again the thought of Emma and Ander echoed in her head. She lifted her head and looked towards the door.

"I was sure Emma would be here by now." Rose purposely didn’t mention Ander. She didn’t have the heart to do it. She was certain she had nothing to worry about with Emma.

"Do you think she doesn’t know I am here?" Rose asked when her father didn’t say anything.

"Emma knows," he said with a sigh. "I don’t think Emma is coming."

It wasn’t his words that bothered Rose, it was the finality in his tone that did. If he didn’t sound like he did, Rose could have found numerous excuses for why Emma wouldn’t come, and there were a plethora of them with the major one being Emma’s mother.

The older woman was nice but could be a bit standoffish and stern. In the social ladder, Rose’s family was pretty low but Emma’s parents were in a decent position and so was Ander.

If it wasn’t that Rose was stubborn and hard to get rid of, Emma’s mother would have found a way to end the relationship between the two girls but eventually she warmed up a little.

She was still hard on their friendship and Emma wasn’t allowed outside after dark even if she was just hanging out with Rose who lived behind their own house.

So Rose could have found an excuse for her childhood friend but something told her this wasn’t something an excuse could cover.

Rose took a deep breath as the uneasy feeling she had been ignoring enveloped her. "Why?" Rose asked, trying to laugh it off. "Her mother again? I just came back, she wouldn’t keep Emma away."

Vallyn’s hand fell off her shoulder. "Ye just got back ’ome. I didn’t want to give ye a reason to worry but ye are going to ’ear it from someone else if I don’t tell ye."

"Tell me what?" Rose asked, trying to act as normal as possible but the gnawing feeling in her stomach worsened. Even though the fireplace was burning Rose suddenly felt an intense amount of cold.

"Ander—"

"Ander?" Rose asked with a frown. "I asked about Emma."

"Tha is wha I want to tell ye, Rose..."

"What has Ander to do with this?" Rose didn’t like how shaky her voice was but she couldn’t stop it, just as she couldn’t stop her mind from conjuring different thoughts.

"Ander and Emma are married. They married just at tha start of winter."

Rose widened her eyes and erupted into laughter. "You’re joking father," she said and grabbed her stomach. "I was so worried they had gotten into some kind of accident trying to get me back from the crown prince." Rose laughed some more. "Married," she laughed again.

"Rosie," Vallyn called as he watched his daughter laugh hysterically. "I would never joke about tha."

Rose stopped laughing and looked at her father’s face, realizing he had not said he was pulling her leg. His face was serious and there was a hint of pity in his eyes.

She also remembered how her mother blamed herself for not marrying Ander and she had thought it was because if she had been married, the crown prince wouldn’t have been able to take her away. But now that she thought about that, it wouldn’t have mattered to Caius if she was married or not. From the moment she ran into him, she was doomed.

"Ander and Emma are married?" she asked.

"Yes, Emma is pregnant wit ’is child."