"He truly is." Sonia agreed.
Although Toby could not stand her complimenting another man, Tim was an exception. There was nothing worth arguing over that.
After that, Rose asked a few more questions to ensure that the pregnancy would not harm Sonia's health. It was not until then did her heart sink from her throat.
Following that, Sonia finally had a taste of a queen's life.
Rose and Mary treated her like a glass doll, tending to her meticulously, in a worry that she might suffer from cold or hunger or whatnot. She found the situation hilarious. She was indeed pregnant, but she was not that fragile.
Yet, they gave her a watertight minister similar to that catered for a delicate doll. She was humored and touched at the same time.
It was time to have a reunion dinner when the night dawned, and Rose took the chance to announce Sonia's pregnancy to the family. It received huge reactions from Jean and Tyler.
What the heck? She's pregnant? No wonder they remarried. Jean pouted after the wave of surprise subsided in her.
Nevertheless, she was not evil to the bone. Despite her disapproval of Sonia and the news, she did not plan on laying a finger on her. She was aware that nothing could get in the way of that couple, so their matters did not bother her one bit. At most, she would only grumble about it instead of scheming something.
On the other hand, Tyler was over the moon as he kept prattling on about the fact that he was becoming an uncle. He even claimed he would be his niece or nephew's basketball coach.
In short, everyone celebrated the great news, bar one—Jean. Sonia observed her reaction, but she shrugged it off by making a mental note that she would not let Jean off the hook if she set her up.
After dinner, the family gathered at the main hall for the new year's countdown. Tyler, the perky young man, barely stayed for five minutes before heading outside to play crackers.
The old manor was situated on the outskirts without any buildings around it, so it was fine to play the crackers there.
Again, Tyler pulled Tom along with him. Tom, who initially decided to stay out of it, began to enjoy himself as time passed. The men had a blast, albeit with the age gap.
Knowing that no one favored her presence, Jean made an excuse to return to her room soon.
Toby could not stay up for a long time, hence the frequent rest needed to recover from the surgery. Therefore, Sonia pushed him into the room not long after Jean had left.
Rose concurred with it not only because of Toby but also Sonia's health. Sonia needed to spend more time in bed for adequate rest, so there was no need to take the countdown too seriously.
Given Rose's age and health, drowsiness crept over her after staying in the hall for a while. After the couple entered their room, she figured it would be best for her to rest than to force herself to stay awake for the two young men.
With that, the family returned to their rooms when Tyler and Tom had the time of their life outside.
Sonia pushed Toby into their room, which belonged to only him a few days ago. Now that they had remarried, it was considered their bedroom.
She hung his coat, and he sat by the bed with the gift in hand. The excited man removed the packaging. He had been looking forward to opening it, but he reined back his urge to do so during the day. Since the couple was the only one in the room, he could finally open it to look at the content.
Meanwhile, Sonia simply smiled and headed for the bathroom to shower.
At long last, Toby undid the package, which revealed no expensive gifts but a stack of yellowed letters. He knew that he wrote them at first glance; they were replies to Sonia when they were pen pals.
He placed the box on his lap, taking out all the letters. The stack was so thick that he almost dropped them.
Sonia had arranged them according to the dates beforehand. The first one was the very first letter he wrote to her. Precious memories evoked a smile on his lips, and his finger brushed on the paper.
They became acquaintances via a website called 'Message in a Bottle'. He came across her message, which carried her deep feelings.
He pitied her upon reading the content, hence the decision to comfort her with a reply. After that, they exchanged contact and address. That was how their journey as pen pals commenced.
Even today, Toby still remembered what he wrote her for the first time. He opened the first letter, and that naive and immature writing made him burst into laughter.
Slowly, he opened and read them one by one. He had forgotten some of the messages, but some remained etched in his head.
Regardless, it felt different rereading them. It was as if he was reminiscing how the sprouted love for Sonia began; it was not half bad.
"It seems like you like my gift." Sonia, who finished bathing, hugged him from the back.
Toby kept the letters in the box gingerly. In a gruff voice, he said, "Of course. It's the best gift I've ever received. I didn't expect it."
She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I struggled, thinking of what to give you at first. In the end, they came to my mind, so I decided to give them to you. You wrote them to me, so it's like I'm returning them to the owner. So, how does it feel to read the letters you wrote so many years ago? Do they hit differently?"
"Yup." He nodded before looking at her guiltily. "I'm sorry for not keeping your letters well. Otherwise, Tina couldn't have burned them."
He was under hypnosis at that time, thinking that Tina was Maple. He consented to her request to burn the letters because she assured him that she was already by his side. According to her, it was pointless to keep them. As such, none of Sonia's letters remained to record their history.
"It's alright." She shook her head, knowing he was not the one to blame. "At least I still have your letters. These are enough to prove our past."
"I'll keep them safe. I won't let anyone ruin them." He hugged the box with determined eyes, and she hummed in response.
Then, he fished out a delicate box from his pocket, putting her in a trance. "What's this?"
"Your new year's gift." He smiled at her. "How can I not prepare a gift for my wife?"
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Same story i read about Jarred and Amber Reed...