The Prince's Secret (Prince Harry Fanfic)

Part 79 - Settling In

Samantha

Our new home was small and definitely not what you would call a grand royal residence. Harry was somewhat apologetic as he showed me around the little red brick house on the grounds of Kensington Palace, just steps away from where Eugenie and Jack lived.

"It's pretty tiny," he said. "Just two bedrooms. But we've got a separate dining room and living room, and the kitchen was redone with all new appliances when Will and Catherine lived here. I've put my own stamp on things," he said, looking around, "but I'm sure you'll want to add your own style as well."

"It's beautiful," I said, realizing that my opinion, as someone who spent years in apartments and condo towers, was probably much different than Harry's, whose family tended to live in actual palaces and manor houses.

The white walls reflected lots of light from the large old windows. A tiny walled garden in the back had a small patio with a table and chairs, perfect for dining outside in the evening. The furniture was done in muted grays, splashed with colorful pillows in ethnic fabrics, and African masks and art decorated the walls. A bouquet of fresh flowers sat on the table.

"You know what this place really needs?" I said thoughtfully, looking at the small fireplace. "One of those hunting prints. You know, horses jumping fences, hounds, guys in red coats."

"You think so?" Harry slid an arm around my waist. "Then we'll get one."

"I'm kidding," I said, pushing him away playfully. "Isn't that what hangs over the fireplace in every manor house? I thought it was required."

"It is pretty much standard decor in a country house," Harry agreed with a grin. Leading me up the narrow stairway he said, "I thought you could use the guest bedroom for your sewing studio, if you want."

"I do have lots of sewing to do," I admitted, peeking into the tiny room with a sloped ceiling, envisioning a couple of worktables and my dress form. "I'm pretty messy when I'm working. It would be amazing to have my own space where I can close the door at night and not look at fabric scraps everywhere. Trust me, it's not something you want to stare at first thing in the morning."

"Once we're married—officially—we can see about moving to a larger space," Harry said. "We can look for a country house...or the Queen might have a house we can use."

"That will take some getting used to," I said. "Just being able to move anywhere we want, without paying rent or getting a mortgage or anything like that."

Harry laughed. "It's not quite that simple but yeah...it's easier than you're used to." He opened the door to the last room and gestured me inside.

The master bedroom was also painted a creamy off-white, with sloping ceilings I knew I was probably going to crack my head on if I wasn't careful. The bed looked like an antique, all dark wood with a red-patterned bedspread, and it took up most of the middle of the room, where the ceiling was tallest.

Harry stood next to the bed, fingering the carved posts. "I'm sorry there's not room for a bigger bed in here, but we just don't have the floor space. I'm still auditioning beds. This one's been here about a week. You'll have to tell me what you think." He glanced around. "I've done a lot of redecorating over the past month. It's starting to feel like home again. Looking forward to what you want to do in here."

I burst out laughing and Harry gave me a puzzled look.

"There's only one thing I want to do in here right now," I said, taking his hand and pulling him to the bed. "We can talk about redecorating later."