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“Why? You love to torture me?”
“No, because it shows how much you do love me. So much.”
“You’re my wife. Of course, I do.”
He kissed me. It made me so happy every time he called me his wife. If one good thing was to come of this, at least he had gotten her to move out. I’d believe it when I saw it, but I crossed my fingers. If she was willing to sign over the regency, she’d be willing to do the same. Overall, Rick had done this for us—mostly me. It was sweet. I didn’t mind him doing this. He knew it traumatised me to get into a screaming match with her. I shut down. With Rick there, I was safer.
“You know I’m going to be okay, right?” I asked.
“Yes. We will get through this, baby.”
I suddenly had an idea.
“I think we can best her, too!”
“How?”
“We should wait until she is settled there and then again use the media to our advantage,” I said.
“Go on.”
“Let’s plant a leak. We will be forced to announce it. We will beat her at her own game. There will be no moving back in.”
“You’re a genius!” Rick said.
“I am using one of the few things at my disposal to fuck her over, darling. That is all.”
“I love it when we scheme to blow shit up.”
“Me, too.”
His glance didn’t leave me. I realised maybe I wasn’t so tired at all. I leaned over and kissed him. A cascading scene of events led to us going at it furiously and loudly. Astrid returned from class about this time, probably hearing it. For once, I didn’t much care. We were a team, and we were about to burn it down together.
Epilogue
Alexandra
The day I held Linnea for the first time was undoubtedly the best day of my young life. I was terrified, stuck with a horrifying labour that lasted nearly two days. I hadn’t eaten and was worn ragged. At one point, I asked Rick to put me out of my misery. He looked frightened then and begged a nurse to do something. She assured him this happened all the time. I loved my husband, but being cool under pressure in times like those was not his strong suit.
Linnea, despite her long progression into this world, came quickly once she finally put her mind to it. I pushed for all of ten minutes. Then, we heard her little screams. I was grateful to have her, but still feared my fate. I tried to preoccupy myself with her perfect face—and Rick’s chin—to boot while trying also not to panic that I was about to die from blood loss.
It wasn’t until they gave us a moment alone as a family that I calmed. Then, I could lie there with her sweet face pressed against my chest. She was the only thing in the world either one of us cared about. Rick was in love. I never saw him stare at anyone or anything with as much adoration as he did our little bundle of joy.
A year before if you told me the scoundrel who wandered into our home out of obligation would sit in a hospital room with me stroking our newborn’s little bald head so sweetly, I would have laughed. We weren’t perfect. Sometimes, he wanted to run for the hills. Sometimes, I wished he would. Mostly, we were happy.
In contrast, Linnea was pure perfection, borne of the strangest love imaginable, and free of any blame. We named her Linnea Karolina after my late mother and my angelic mother-in-law. Settling back home for the first night with her, we relied on the care of our staff. Karolina also pitched in, arriving in the final weeks leading up to the birth to hold my nervous hand.
“I am glad she is a girl.” Rick burped the baby.
“Why is that?” I asked.
“I have become accustomed to being overrun by women and I find it less unnerving and more character-building,” Rick admitted.
The baby let out a loud belch.
“She’s powerful!” Karolina giggled.
“Why is she so gross?” Ingrid grumbled.
