Jackelle 2.0

Brielle had been getting nauseous regularly for the past week and a half, but she hadn’t said a word to anyone about it. She’d realized that coffee and eggs were the most likely things to send her stomach into fits; the smell made her instantly queasy. She’d always liked eggs for breakfast, so it was odd to be so repulsed by them now. Maybe she was developing an allergy. The regular nausea was also making her prone to feeling cranky; she’d snapped at poor Marnie the day before and promptly apologized quite profusely when the girl’s eyes had gone wide as saucers.

But their next stop was the town of Highgate, and Byron and Nadine had moved there just after having their baby. Brielle was eager to visit her brother and her little baby niece, Rosie. She had made sure to coordinate their travel schedule in a way that allowed some time to see her family and she felt immensely relieved to be on her way to Byron’s cozy manor instead of another political event. As much as she admired Jack’s work and loved working with him, it could get exhausting and she knew it was for him too. This little break would do them good.

Brielle was climbing out of the carriage before it had even come to a complete stop and Jack chuckled behind her as she bounded toward the front door. Byron met her on the porch, catching her as she leaped at him with a squeak of excitement. He spun her in a circle, laughing.

“I missed you and Nadine so much,” Brielle gushed.

“We missed you too.” Byron kissed her head and then he and Jack shook hands as he joined them.

“Senator Jaxie,” he said, grinning. Jack rolled his eyes but he was smiling.

“It’s good to see you, Byron.”

Nadine appeared on the porch, baby Rosie in her arms and a huge smile on her face. She handed Rosie to Byron and pulled Brielle and Jack into hugs, kissing their cheeks.

“Oh, I’m so happy you two could stop by! Come in, I have tea and cake.”

“Everyone always has cake when I visit,” Brielle laughed.

“We all know it’s your weakness,” Byron replied, flicking her nose. They all sat in the parlor and chatted for a while; Brielle was relieved that Nadine had set out chamomile tea instead of coffee. But as the afternoon wore on, Brielle felt herself getting a little faint again. She sipped delicately at some more tea, willing the pangs in her stomach to go away. Instead they got worse and she excused herself quite abruptly to hurry to the bathroom. She sat on the floor for a moment after she’d once again retched violently, then jumped as someone knocked.

“Bree?” Nadine’s voice called. “Are you alright in there?”

“Oh, yes, I’m fine,” Brielle lied. “Just freshening up.”

Nadine opened the door, which Brielle had forgotten to lock in her haste.

“Gracious,” Nadine gasped, quickly closing the door and kneeling next to Brielle. “Bree, you’re quite pale. Are you sick? Should I fetch Jack?”

“No,” Brielle snapped. “Don’t breathe a word to Jack.”

Nadine’s eyebrows shot up and Brielle felt guilty for being so short with her.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I shouldn’t yell at you. I’m just not feeling very well.”

“Has this been going on for a while?”

“About a week,” Brielle admitted reluctantly.

“And you haven’t said anything to Jack?” Nadine frowned.

“It’s nothing. It’s probably just from all the traveling. This tour of the kingdom is important for Jack and I don’t want to ruin it by acting prissy.”

“Telling him you’re sick is not being prissy.”

“I’m not sick. I just get an upset stomach sometimes. Mostly it’s when I smell eggs. Or coffee. But it’s really not-“

“Eggs? But you love eggs.” Nadine arched an eyebrow again. “Bree…I think you might be pregnant.”

Brielle startled so suddenly she almost banged her head on the tub behind her.

“What? I get a little nauseous and you think I’m pregnant?” She frowned. “I can’t possibly be pregnant.”

Nadine snorted, giving Brielle a look. “Bree, we’ve all seen the way you and Jack look at each other and the way you hide away in shadowy corners whispering sweetly at each other. Forgive me for being crass but it’s definitely possible that you’re pregnant.“

Brielle felt her face turn red and Nadine smiled, patting her hand.

“I couldn’t touch meat for most of my pregnancy with Rosie,” Nadine said. “And I generally love meat. When you’re pregnant, your body does strange things. Maybe you just have some kind of stomach flu, but you should probably see a doctor. And you should really tell Jack.”

Brielle shook her head. “I’ll see a doctor, but I’m not telling Jack anything right now. He has so much on his mind already. The campaign was so stressful for him and now he has all these appearances to make. I don’t want to stress him out even more.”

Nadine sighed. “Suit yourself. I won’t say a word, but I think this is a bad idea.”

Nadine helped her get cleaned up and then they returned to the parlor as if nothing was amiss. It took some careful finagling but she managed to secure an appointment with a local doctor the next day. She ducked out under the guise of needing to run some errands. Her heart was pounding as she sat in the office and waited for Dr. Rogers to come and talk to her. He was a tall man with salt and pepper hair and a kind smile.

“You don’t need to look so frightened, I won’t bite,” he said. Brielle hadn’t realized she’d had a terrified look on her face and she cleared her throat, trying to calm down.

“I’m just a bit nervous,” she said. “I’ve been throwing up a lot lately and getting a bit moody…my sister in law suggested that I might be, um, pregnant.” She practically whispered the word. Dr. Rogers adjusted his glasses.

“I see. Well, it does sound like you might be having mood swings and morning sickness. How long has it been since your last cycle?”

Brielle paused, trying to think. She went a bit pale. “It’s been about two months I suppose. I didn’t realize…my husband and I have been very busy lately.”

“Is that why you’re here alone?”

“No. I haven’t told my husband about the nausea. The morning sickness, I guess.” She felt lightheaded. Dr. Rogers talked to her for a while longer and she tried to focus on everything he was saying. But panic was setting in, making her brain feel muddled.
Brielle finally thanked Dr. Rogers for his time and left in a daze. She couldn’t possibly tell Jack about this right now. They still had most of the tour ahead of them. If Brielle told him she was pregnant, he’d just be worrying about her. And she wasn’t sure how he’d take the news in general; it wasn’t something they had really discussed before. Their lives had been so busy since they got married that children hadn’t crossed Brielle’s mind much and they probably hadn’t crossed Jack’s either. She knew she couldn’t hide it forever, but she could try to keep it hidden until the tour was mostly over.

She stood outside the hotel for a little while, getting herself under control and carefully schooling the dazed terror out of her expression before she went inside. She was relieved when Jack and Marnie both looked up and greeted her, not seeming to realize anything was wrong. She leaned down to kiss Jack’s cheek before going up to their room to “freshen up.” Once there she sank onto the bed with a deep sigh.

“Okay, I can do this,” she said, placing her hands on her abdomen. “I’m pregnant and just need to hide it from my husband for a while. It’s fine. Not even a big deal, really.”

She took several deep breaths before panic set in again. Once she’d gotten her happy duchess face on again, she squared her shoulders and went back downstairs.