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when the doctor asks , sophie reluctantly hands him their baby girl .
“ please . . she is crying a lot more than usual , and she is burning up . . ”
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“he has to be ..”
benedict kept pounding on the door until an older gentleman opened the door, immediately helping sophie to get out of the carriage and into the house.
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sophie is desperately trying to soothe their daughter , gently rubbing her back as she rocks her .
“ what if he is not here ? what do we do , ben ? ”
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as they got to the town, benedict stopped in front of their physician his clinic. he knew that the physician would still be there.
as he hopped off, benedict pounded on the door,
“come on …”
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baby violet is crying so hard at this point that she even momentarily stops breathing at times , each moment terrifying sophie until she breathes again .
“ violet— breathe , my love , please , ” she whispers , in tears herself , as violet cries again .
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as she sits in the carriage , she holds their baby girl close , trying to soothe her .
“ it will be all right , my darling . . mama and daddy will make it all right . . ”
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as a carriage was ready, benedict was already soaked because of the rain. he didn’t even care at this point.
“be careful ..”
he spoke before helping sophie and baby violet into the carriage. he had chosen one where sophie would not get soaked by the rain.
as soon as he heard those words, his eyes widened. he knew that something was seriously wrong.
“dress her comfortably, i will meet you downstairs”
benedict practically ran out of the room, rushing to make sure that a carriage was ready to go.
“i .. no, i cannot leave you with her on your own”
benedict grabbed a long coat as he put it around sophie. if they had to go to a physician, he would gladly do so.
“i will make sure that a carriage is ready to go”
as benedict immediately rushed to put on some clothes, he knew that he had to act quickly. it was starting to rain outside as he was getting dressed.
“i will get a maid to keep you company, alright? i will be back soon”
as the crying got louder and louder, benedict got quite concerned. he had never heard their baby girl cry this loud before.
“i should find a physician .. surely, something has to be wrong”
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sophie’s heart starts aching the moment their baby girl starts crying , as it always does —— she begins rocking her slowly , one hand caressing her hair .
“ oh , my darling . . shh , shh . . ”
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gently fixing the little girl her clothes, benedict wrapped his arm around sophie, making sure that she knew that he was there.
“if i cannot get her to stop crying, i will wake you up, my dear”
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she stays in benedict’s arms for a moment before turning around to gently take little violet into her arms , holding their baby girl close .
“ what if she cries because she needs me . . ? ”
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gently caressing her back, benedict closed his eyes a little. it was obvious that sophie needed rest.
“she is right here, my dear . . she is not going anywhere, alright?” he said. “look at her, she is perfectly fine”
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she cries softly in her husband’s arms , not able to stop now that she has started .
“ i love her more than anything . . sometimes it feels as though i cannot breathe if i am not near her . ”
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as benedict made sure that violet was safe on the bed, he stood up, immediately pulling her into his arms.
“violet needs her mama to be well rested .. she loves you very much, alright?”
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her eyes fill with tears —— the exhaustion not helping the matter .
“ but i do not want her to feel as though her mama is abandoning her when she needs her . ”
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she thinks for a moment before taking benedict’s hand in hers .
“ perhaps we could take turns if she does have a difficult night tonight ? ”
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tilting his head a little, benedict sighed. he knew that in order for the both of them to be able to take care of violet, they would both need to rest.
“i will be alright, sophie .. i promise”
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she hesitates —— not because she does not trust her husband , never that , but because she does not want him to sacrifice his sleep either .
“ you need to sleep , too , ben . . ”
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looking up, benedict frowned. he hated seeing sophie like this and was well aware of her struggles.
“how about, i look after her while you get some rest?”
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“ i am entirely too worried about her to care about getting more than a few hours of sleep . ”
she has been more tired , lately , but her baby came first , always .
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eventually waking up and seeing her sister-in-law asleep —— a small chuckle leaving her lips . this happens more often than they would admit .
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he couldn’t help but chuckle. he adored sophie more than anything.
“my love, i am more than okay with that ..” he said, gently kissing her cheek. “have you been getting some sleep?”
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she looks up at her husband , then .
“ i was going to ask you if you would not mind , ” she says , lips curving into a small smile , “ it might be better . for all of us , not only for her . ”
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letting out a worried sigh, it was quite obvious that they had to try and get the little girl to sleep .. they just had to figure it all out.
“perhaps we should move her into our room?”
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shaking her head , reaching out to gently stroke their baby girl’s hair .
“ she has not . it is starting to worry me . she is exhausted , but she will not sleep until she physically cannot stay awake anymore . ”
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as he reached for the little girl, benedict gently took her, making sure to support the little girl as much as possible.
“she has not been sleeping much, has she?”