Royal Duchess | BRF Story

New beginnings

"These flowers are beautiful, Bee." 

The bouquet of yellow and white flowers sat beautifully in the Clarences London kitchen, where the Duchess finished a few papers before she was due to head out to pick up her children from school. The bouquet had been made as a special order for the Duke and Duchess, and it was composed of Lilies-of-the-valley, which was the flower for anyone born in the month of May; yellow roses, which meant new beginnings, as well as joy and friendship; White Stargazer Lily which, although could and were used in funerals also meant purity and innocence. And last but not least Lady's Mantle, which Amelia hoped would be understood by the receiver as a way of saying the Duchess of Clarence was there if needed. 

"I am glad you like it, sweetheart. They are going to your brother and sister-in-law at Windsor. I also wrote a card and I hope they like it."

"Bee, I know you want to be a good, well, we are not neighbours anymore are we." The Duke takes a few seconds, rethinking his initial quote and then proceeding, expressing what he felt to his patient wife. "I know you want to be a good sister-in-law even when we barely see each other, but if they..."

The Duchess cuts her husband off with a simple hand gesture, getting up and making her way to her husband, while maintaining her kind smile. 

"I am doing what I would like them to do with me, Georgie. Simple as that. I am treating them as I would like to be treated." 

She rests her hand on her husband's cheek, gazing into her lover's eyes. Her own eyes filled with compassion and kindness, her husband noticed, and at that moment he decided to just keep quiet about it. 

"You have meetings, and I need to talk to Josie before going to collet Vicky, Jamie and May." She kisses him, a quick but filled with love and tender sentiments, type of kiss, and George can't help but smile and they separate. 

The Duchess picks up her things, not forgetting the bouquet, and heads out into the adjacent sitting room, where she left the miscellaneous papers she wouldn't be needing and her iPad. However, before she left she put her head inside the kitchen again, catching her husband lost on his own thoughts. 

"After the children go to bed tonight, we need to talk." He nods and she sends him a kiss. 

It wasn't anything bad, was it? It couldn't be, if it was his wife wouldn't be sending him kisses like she just did. But it didn't matter how hard George tried to think of what his wife wanted to talk, he would have to wait to hear from her later that night. 

- - - 

After helping the children with homework, having their tea in the kitchen and putting them to bed, the Duke and Duchess had said 'goodnight' to their staff and Nanny Harriet, and were now seated in the family room, with toys and drawing scattered about. Both came to the family room with the intention of not waking up their children and arranging the toys so that the room didn't look as messy as it could look if someone came in out of nowhere; however, the two ended up almost laying on the twin cream sofa and love seat, just taking in the moment of silence. 

"Georgie..." 

"Yes?"

"Do you remember, after we married, that you said you wanted ten children?"

The Duke gets up, now sitting and facing his wife who didn't care to move positions, being too tired to care. They were alone, everyone was either asleep or wouldn't interrupting them, so she knew she could relax for a little while. 

"I do. But why are you asking, Bee?"

"I was thinking. May is going to be 2 in a few months, Jamie and Vicky are already in school." The sentence ended there, like the Duke was supposed to know what came next, or that Amelia was reconsidering what she was about to say. Either way after a few seconds she continued. "I think four is a beautiful, rounded, even number, don't you think?"

"Are you... Do we... Are we..." George needed to take a deep breath before he was actually able to put into words what he was feeling. "Are you expecting, Bee?"

"No. I wanted to talk to you before of course, after all this is a decision we both need to make, together." She smiled at him, who took his wife's hand, and at the same time moving from the loveseat to the sofa. "But, I think we need to agree that this baby is going to be our last. I love being pregnant as much as the next person, but I want to have time for all my children."

"I completely understand, Bee. And I am so happy you thought about it. I also think four is a beautiful number." 

"Good." She laughed before kissing her husband's hand and sitting up, pulling her legs to the sofa and looking to her husband once again. "I have an appointment, a check up, with Dr Martin tomorrow. We are doing normal exams and all of that. I am going to ask her if we need to wait a while longer, to make sure everything is healthy and well, before we start." 

"That is what's important, Bee, that you are healthy and happy. Those are two of the most important things to me."