I walked through the well-adorned hallways allowing my finger to slide against the impeccably painted walls of the palace and watched as the newly hired staff went about their duties. Though they were busy or needlessly making themselves look busy they all took out a sliver of time to look at me and give me a warm smile or some other greeting gesture. I had banned bowing in the palace unless we were hosting a formal event only because I really hated seeing people do it more than they probably loathed doing it.
"What are you doing out of bed you should be resting," Bernardo said coming from behind me. I was slightly startled but not enough to make a spectacle. It was always a strange experience when the mammoth of a man was able to walk up on my quietly. I had forgone sensing everyone around me as the baby was receiving all of that extra energy I would have had to focus on to identify who was in the vicinity and the general amount of unneeded stress it would put my body under.
"I am fine Bernardo I am just on my way to the kitchen to make myself a snack until your sister makes it here and we can eat lunch," I explained as I swatted away his hand that came to pull me back.
"I can get you some more to eat you really should be resting," he replied to what I had just said.
"I'm sure you would love to have me growing even fatter than I already am," I accused. Ever since I had begun to gain weight he had been more and more voracious than he had ever been.
"What are you accusing me of doing," he said feigning both ignorance and shock. I ignored him and continued to walk with him close behind as if I was going to fall over during the trip to the kitchen. It was both foolish and possible at the same time. I wasn't clumsy but my equilibrium was also thrown off by the growing hump inside of me. I placed my hand over my white cotton covered abdomen and finished the journey to the kitchen. There worked three dedicated chefs who had pots filled with scalding hot water prepped for whatever concoction was to be cooked inside. Steam wafted through the kitchen and the sounds of the knives hitting the cutting boards and wooden spoons against the ceramic mixing bowls spread throughout the area like music.
"Hello everyone please don't let me disturb you I know you are all working hard for Princess Rosa's arrival which I am thankful for," I announced as I entered the room. They smiled and spoke kind words while I walked to the refrigerator and prepared some a quick cucumber sandwich. Bernardo grabbed the rubbish and tossed it out while I immediately ate the healthy snack. He looked down at me and smiled with so much adoration held towards me and the life we had created by both of us.
"Stop looking at me," I said feeling embarassed by the attention that he was giving me.
"No I think I will continue," he said and watched as I gave him a once over noticing how nice the simple pidgeon blue shirt and lightly washed jeans against his skin tone.
"We should get you out of those pajamas before my sister gets her baby boy," Bernardo told me which I nodded too. He led me up the stairs and we made it to the bedroom where a set of an eggshell white linen shirt and loose pants were laid out on the bed having been freshly pressed. Ignoring the clothing momentarily I walked to the bathroom and quickly cleaned my skin with products that left me both moisturized and smelling like a sweet rose.
"Are you just going to stand there," I asked as Bernardo had watched my every move.
"No I am just staring at perfection," he replied to me. I rolled my eyes at the comment and went to clothe myself. Once completely clothed sans shoes I walked out of the room and went downstairs all the way to the front door where Mileta was posted.
"How can I help you, sir," she asked.
"Just want to wait for our guest outside; get some fresh air and have some tea," I told her kindly.
"I'll have someone bring out a set for you," she said. I reached the door a lot quicker than she was able to and let myself out. I could hear Bernardo speaking to her as I went past the door to the outside where the sitting area was. Looking up I waved my hand using magic to turn the fan on.
"Here you go," Bernardo said placing his hand on my shoulder from behind. Immediately I felt a rush of energy as he enhanced my state of being.
"She should be coming pretty soon," he said as we sat down next to each other just looking out at the trees as they swayed with the wind currents. Time past as we silently sipped on our mint tea watching as the caravan of white armored vehicles rolled up to our driveway and stopped in a way that the center vehicle was lined up perfectly with the walkway. Not more than five seconds later guards were hopping out of the cars and converged on the back door of the center truck and opened the door. Out stepped Rosa, who looked like the feminine version of her brother. They had the same features with hers being deep brown hair resting on her bosom. She was around my height and her face was done in a way to appear natural. Unlike the previous times, we had met she was wearing casual wear, or what she would consider casual. Her tweed white and navy dress and matching shoes. We both stood as she got out of the car ready to greet our guest.
"Hi," she chirped as she laid eyes on us and began running over to us and felt her mental presence wash over me.
"Wow they are already mentally active," She said while pushong past her brother and hugged me.
"Hope the trip was fine," I said with a smile as she placed her hand on my stomach.
"It was delightful," she replied.
That's great, that is really good," Bernardo replied.
"She recognizes your voice," Rosa said with a wide smile but I was caught on what she had said.
"She," I said aloud at the same time Bernardo made the exact same statement in the exact same tone.
"Oh have you guys not found out yet," she said with an apologetic expression.
"Well we were going to wait until she was born to find out but your obsession with reading minds has altered that," Bernardo said in an accusatory tone.
"Oh well I could erase those memories," she looked at him with a challenging expression. She was proficient in mental magic which was something I personally felt was weird. If she wasn't as peaceful as I was she could be a very formidible opponenet for anyone who would dare to oppose her. Illusions like her mothers were something that was dangerous but it required her to trap someone for them to work. Rosa could just get close enough or have someone who could extend her reach and she had you in a vice.
"You don't know how to do that and even if you did I will ruin you," Bernardo argued with his sister and I laughed as he flashed with immaturity.
"Let's go inside, the maids have prepared your dwellings and the cooks have been working hard on a meal for us all," I told them as I walked back into the home. I could hear the guards that had brought her here leave as we had enough on staff to protect us all. Rosa would be staying for the next two months and would be shouldering a lot of my duties and responsibilities. She offered a week ago and I was happy to take her up on that offer. I was honestly exhausted there was a reason that this spell was only used by those of us who had larger internal storage of mana. Every second of every day my energy was being siphoned off into another being. The more I made the more she took from me. I was happy to give but I also wanted the process to be over sooner rather than later.
Leading the two bickering siblings to the dining area I marveled at the sight and smell of the food sitting on the table waiting for us to devour. Our head chef was standing to the side with a smile on her face youthful ebony face.
"Good afternoon, I am happy to present to you a few dishes from my homeland," she said in an accent that could only belong to someone who grew up in a region of the Asian empire.
"We have bacon dusted butterflied prawns, oyster soup, stewed mushrooms with shredded scallops, stir-fried water chestnuts with oriental bacon and snow peas, an entire steamed salmon coated in a lemon reduction that is both sweet, sour, and spicy, pork knuckles in a spicy ginger sauce. As well as a banana mango sorbet pudding with lemon grass foam," she spoke as she pointed out each dish. I could see the pride in her work, I loved seeing people be good at a job that they loved doing.
"This is amazing, thank you for your hard work please tell the cooks that we appreciate their work and you all are released for the day. Also, relay that message to the cleaning crew, I am fearful that if we don't let them go for the day they will start testing the strength of all of the cleaning products out of sheer boredom, "Bernardo spoke. The Chef whose name I didn't gather walked away with a bow and we each took a seat at the large table and began making plates. Everything we tasted was orgasmic, not a single flavor or texture was off.
"So what is on the agenda for me tomorrow," Rosa asked after swallowing a forkful fo the steamed tuna.
"I need you to visit all of the schools in the favelas to make sure that we have a presence in those communities and so we can tell if the construction has been making sufficient progress. The chief officer of community planning will be there with you to tell what is and isn't being done efficiently and effectively. Then there is the issue of the," I had to pause because I lost my train of thought. I had been a bit scattered brained since the baby and I couldn't wait to have my focus back on my own personal function.
"He has to get a few infrastructure plans and needs you to be out there and see the most feasible option," Bernardo finished for me.
"Thank you, I think I am going to go for a rest," I said standing up. Bernardo went to get up himself but I motioned for him to stay and spend time with his little sister. When he resettled I walked away from the dining room a hand on my stomach.
"Alright baby girl I am going to need for you to take it easy on me," I said speaking to the life growing inside of me. I was happy to have a little girl in the house, I would have loved a boy just as much. I really just wanted to do parenting the right way, unlike our parents who had many flaws. I knew that it was not rational to think I could raise a child perfectly because it was just not humanly possible but I was for damn sure going to try harder than my parents had. I couldn't have a child being raised feeling constant insecurity in themselves like I had grown up with. I was going to make sure that she was just as happy as I wished I had been and that started with me resting so she could be as physically developed as possible before she entered the world.