The Prince's Secret (Prince Harry Fanfic)

Part 43 - Things To Think About

Samantha

True to his word, Harry made dinner that night. It was nothing fancy, but the prince barbecued some excellent steaks and served up baked potatoes and salad and a chocolate cake which he freely admitted had come from the bakery in the village. Other than my dad, I'd never had a man cook for me, so I took advantage of his generosity and let him do all the work.

"You do have some domestic talents," I marveled as we cuddled on the couch in front of the fireplace.

"Shall I show you how well I can do laundry and scrub toilets?" he asked, winding his fingers in my hair.

"Not if it means we have to get up," I said.

Harry was also responsible for brunch on Sunday, because we did not roll out of bed until 10am. By then my aches and pains were really making themselves known, and my nose was black-and-blue. However I still managed to stir up the pancake batter and manned the toaster while Harry scrambled eggs and cooked some extremely artistic pancakes.

"Here you go," he said, sliding a plate in front of me. "I made you special pancakes for your first day-after-the-hunt. A horse head and a dog."

I laughed. "I could tell what they were."

"My mother used to make funny pancakes for Will and me when we were little," Harry said, taking a seat at the breakfast bar next to me.

"What are yours?" I asked, glancing at his plate.

"A dog with a broken leg, an elephant without a trunk, a basketball, and a globe."

"In other words, two regular pancakes and two mistakes."

"I'm sure they will taste just fine. I miss her, you know," he said, his voice growing rough. "Every day. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't see something I wish I could show her. Or I do something that I know would have amused her. Like last night...she would have have thought it was hilarious that I dumped you into the tub with all your clothes on."

For a long moment I didn't know what to say—didn't know if I should encourage him to talk about something that he obviously found painful. I finally said, "I wish I could have met her. She sounds so amazing."

"She was. She really was." He smiled at me. "She would have liked you. She wasn't much for horses, but she had a talent for finding out what someone's passion was and getting them to talk about it. She would have had you talking about your sewing in no time. I learned a lot from her about things like that, how to talk to people, how to put them at ease, without her ever really teaching me. It's just the way she was. She was very earnest, very genuine. You're like her in that way."

"I—I—thank you," I stuttered. "That's a huge compliment. You have that talent too—making people feel at ease. I'm sure she would be very proud of you."

And then, because I couldn't find words to describe how absolutely incredible it was to be compared favorably to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, I kissed Harry, and hoped he would understand.

The kiss lasted for quite a while, so I think he must have gotten the idea. When I returned to my eggs, they were a bit cold, but I ate them anyway.

"I have a bit of bad news," Harry said. "I was hoping to keep you away from the city another night, and spend the afternoon walking around the grounds, but I've been informed that I have to work tomorrow, so we'll have to head out this afternoon. I hope you aren't too disappointed."

I was disappointed, but I knew there wasn't much he could do about it, so I said, "That's fine. I understand. I've had an amazing weekend already." Refilling our coffee cups, I said, "Tell me about your work. Do they keep you quite busy? I mean, I know it isn't all in at 9 and home at 5 on the dot kind of stuff."