Chapter 219: Pre-Pregnancy Preparations
Vivian Lowell fell asleep.
Right up until her consciousness completely sank away, she hadn’t clearly heard what kind of story Julian Faulkner had been telling her.
But that wasn’t important anymore. She figured that the story Julian told her must have been a gentle one, where the prince and princess undoubtedly went through countless hardships before finally ending up together.
Vivian slept well.
It was a dreamless night. When she woke up early the next morning, Vivian sleepily opened her eyes. The first things she saw were the faint morning sun outside the window and Julian sitting not far from the bed, working on his laptop.
"Huh?" she thought.
Having just woken up, her mind was still a bit foggy. She glanced at the sunlight streaming in and, realizing how intense it was, concluded it must be quite late.
She let out a yawn, sat up straight, and picked up her phone to check the time. She realized it was already ten o’clock.
"It’s so late!" she thought in shock.
Vivian shot up in bed and looked at Julian. "Why didn’t you wake me up? It’s already ten! Have you eaten breakfast yet?
"Grandma doesn’t know about my fever, right?"
After asking, she looked a bit nervous, like a student who had made a mistake and was afraid of being caught by the teacher, stealing cautious glances at Julian.
Seeing that Vivian was awake and bombarding him with questions, the corners of Julian’s lips instantly curled up. He observed her with a smiling gaze, deliberately withholding an answer.
When he didn’t respond, Vivian grew anxious. She glared at him and pressed, "Does Grandma know or not?"
Vivian wasn’t afraid of much these days. If it were just Julian, she naturally had plenty of ways to handle him—like acting spoiled or playing dumb. She knew full well that Julian was utterly helpless against her!
But Grandma Faulkner was different. The older woman treated her so well that Vivian could never bring herself to lie to her. Plus, she was terrified of making Grandma worry!
Julian chuckled again. Only when Vivian was genuinely getting frantic did he say, "Grandma doesn’t know. It’s just... even though she doesn’t know you were sick, she does think..."
Seeing that he was still keeping her in suspense, Vivian demanded, "Think what? Julian, hurry up and tell me! Your hemming and hawing is killing me!"
Julian nodded and said seriously, "I told Grandma that you were exhausted last night, so you wanted to rest a little longer this morning.
"I asked Ms. Shaw to keep your breakfast warm in the kitchen and bring it up to you later. However... Grandma seems to have misunderstood. She thought that last night... we..."
A trace of awkwardness flashed across Julian’s face before he continued, "She said she’s going out personally this afternoon to buy some special ingredients for Ms. Shaw to cook for you.
"She claimed that... before having a child, a woman should build up her strength with nourishing foods. That way, the baby will be healthier."
Having a child. Building up her strength. A baby.
Vivian nearly choked when she heard Julian’s words. Just because Julian said she was exhausted last night, Grandma’s imagination had immediately run wild!
Feeling a wave of speechlessness, Vivian shot him a resentful look and muttered, "This is all your fault! You could have used any excuse, but you just had to say that!
"Now look what you’ve done. You’ve made Grandma misunderstand, and I..."
Her cheeks flushed red, but she quickly sighed, overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness. What could she do? It was Grandma Faulkner, after all. She could only let the older woman fuss over her however she pleased.
As for Julian, aside from that brief moment of initial embarrassment, he had now calmed down. Looking at Vivian, he said earnestly, "Actually, I don’t think Grandma is wrong.
"It’s... good for us to prepare early, isn’t it? If we have a baby, I’d want them to be as healthy as possible too."
Flustered by his teasing, Vivian didn’t know what to say.
But on second thought, none of this was exactly wrong. It was just that she had never seriously thought about what married life would look like. To suddenly fast-forward to the "having a baby" stage was a little hard for her to accept so soon.
Truth be told, in her own heart, she still felt like a baby herself!
Lunch and dinner that day were incredibly lavish. Faced with Grandma Faulkner’s eager gaze, Vivian had no choice but to silently gulp down the nourishing tonics Ms. Shaw had meticulously prepared.
According to Ms. Shaw, the soups were meant to strengthen the body anyway. Since Vivian was just recovering from an illness, drinking them would only do her good.
Vivian naturally obliged.
Only after finishing all the mandatory food and drink did she finally head out for a walk with Julian.
Aethelburg had cooled down considerably after the rain, and the streets were still a bit damp. As the two strolled along the walkway, listening to the DRIP DROP of residual rainwater falling from the trees, a profound sense of tranquility washed over them.
"I need to head back to the pet hospital first thing tomorrow morning to help Eleanor sort some things out. I’ll drive myself there, and you can head to the office on your own. Is that okay?" Vivian asked. Since she had remembered the pet hospital, it was only right to let Julian know her plans.
"Okay." Julian nodded in agreement. Carefully examining Vivian under the faint glow of the streetlamps, he asked, "How is your body feeling? I woke up in the middle of the night and felt your forehead. Your fever had already broken by then.
"Seeing how soundly you were sleeping, I decided not to disturb you."
"Huh? Julian actually checked my forehead last night?" Vivian wondered. She hadn’t felt a thing.
Thinking about it seriously, she couldn’t recall it at all. She just rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and said, "I had no idea.
"I guess I slept pretty deeply because I was sick! Normally, my internal clock wakes me up in the morning, but I didn’t feel a thing today.
"It might also be that the medicine Ms. Shaw gave me last night was just really effective! After sleeping in and getting some extra rest this morning, I feel much better. I don’t seem to have any other symptoms, either."
To prove her point, Vivian sniffled to confirm she genuinely didn’t have a runny nose.
In fact, she actually felt a bit hot.
It was all because when she wanted to go for a walk after dinner, Julian had been overly worried and specifically fetched her a jacket!
It was already May, meaning summer was just around the corner. Even after the rain, the temperature was still around twenty degrees Celsius. A thin windbreaker would have been fine, but Julian had brought her... a thick padded coat!
Vivian had been completely speechless when she saw it.
To make matters worse, Grandma Faulkner and Ms. Shaw had seen the whole exchange but pretended not to. The two older women had simply turned their heads, covering their mouths to muffle their giggles, leaving Vivian utterly exasperated.
She had no choice but to wear the thick coat outside.
As a result, she was practically sweating now!