Panic

When you get home with two girls in tow, Linne greets you at the door, sees them and just about has an episode on the spot. It actually looks like two of her legs want to rush forward and greet everyone and the other two want to bolt into the kitchen. Her lips and tongue are about as coordinated. You and Doe move inside and lay hands on her, rubbing her back and calming her down enough that she can deal with the situation.

At last she says, "Sarannis, Vellemia! Oh, wow, I don't know if I made enough for dinner." Sarannis tries to look at her feet and wince at the same time. She's so shy that she can't handle being a burden.

But both you and Doe start laughing. "You didn't make enough dinner? You? Linne, when have we ever had less than half a pot of leftover stew?"

"I guess maybe there's enough."

Deciding to fluster her some more you rub the bulge in her flank, still far less apparent than the bump a human woman would be sporting this late in her pregnancy. "There's far more than enough. And now you're going to have some help serving it up too. In fact, maybe Sarannis and Vellemia can take care of that."

"But they're guests."

"No," Doe tells her, giving Linne a big grin, "Sarannis and Vellemia are our new maids. Or maybe maid and little helper."

From the kitchen you hear, "I'm old enough to be a maid!" from Vellemia, along with shushing from Sarannis.

"Aw but..." Linne starts, but then she withers a little. After all, there's every reason to hire some maids. You tried early on and Linne scared them off, but a maid fresh from the orphanage, a girl she knows and who knows her, one who really wants the job - Sarannis will fight tooth and nail in her way to keep this position. And she'll probably be really good at it too.

"Come on, Linne," you say, sneaking a kiss from her surprised lips while the new girls can't see you. "This will be great. With a real staff at the tower there's no limit to what we can do."

"Huh? What?"

Doe bumps against Linne's other side and says, "The night after tomorrow there's a big party at duke Kaldrass' place. I bet he's finally ready to admit what he's been up to with Ariane."

"Oh, good for her," Linne says, her tail slapping back and forth in happiness. She and Ariane, not surprisingly, have talked a lot and become great friends. But you think Linne has missed the point of Doe's thrust.

"So that means," you say, "that we only have tomorrow to get your best dress prepared. Sashes are in right now for women, so what color would go best with your outfit?"

"Oh... but I can't..." Linne connects the dots and whispers, "No, you two should go together."

Doe grabs Linne's hands in hers and says, "If you want to stay home then I guess I'll have to skip the party too. Too bad, since I bet Ariane would want to see all of us."

"Yes, without the right person a party like that just isn't worth attending," you tell her.

"But, but... aw, you two," Linne finally says as she starts to blubber. "You're so good together. An Imb nuthing speshal!"

"You're so special," you tell her, at this point cradling her in your arms to hold her up. "You're our wife, you're the mother of our child, you're the one who made our marriage possible."

Out of the corner of your eye you catch sight of Sarannis and Vellemia looking around the corner. Sarannis has tears running down her eyes and she's got a hand over her mouth, probably to keep herself from bawling. Vellemia has the biggest smile in the world spread across her face and is bouncing up and down in place like she's trying to take off.

"I'm not a noble, I don't know how to do anything," Linne finally manages.

"Who cares?" asks Doe. "We're in a marriage almost everyone looks down on, I went from a war captive to a lady only because of our marriage, our husband is a mage and you know how sketchy they can be. If you use the wrong fork it won't ruin our house."

"And you can learn," you tell her. "Never forget you can learn, unlike so many nobles who are set in their ways. You've got a bright mind, Linne."

"You're so nice," she says, sniffling. "But I'm also really bloated, so maybe..."

"What, because of this lovely baby you're carrying for us?" You rub her side and dig your fingers through her soft fur. "You can't be talking about that. You're barely even showing and besides, no one sane will say anything mean about you."

"Yeah," Doe says, sounding as menacing as when she caught some centaurs goofing off on exercise.

"You're not playing fair," she whispers into your shoulder.

"No, but that's because you're not being fair to yourself. I married two beautiful girls who I wanted to show off, take to parties, take out on the town. I still want that, don't you?"

Linne hugs you tight and says, "If you're both okay with it..." Maybe she meant to say more, but she gets crushed by a hug from Doe before she can say anything more.