Life in the Palace (Prince Harry #5)

Chapter Four

When Meredith's father came home for the day, the dogs were happy to see him. It was a mad rush for Meredith to be presentable again because everything that she wanted to get done for the day, like laundry and maybe a walk, had been put on hold.

Harry went down to greet him, and her father smiled at him. The dogs yipped at her father, wanting all of his attention and love. They didn't get much of it today. Her father signed, "What did you two do today?"

A blush spread across his face, but Harry pretended to not be able to understand the American Sign Language. It wasn't truthful, but Harry didn't really want to answer and wasn't sure how to answer it.

Meredith came down a minute later, and her father signed again, "What did you two do today?"

She gave a nervous smile, even though her face was turning as red as a tomato. Meredith came up with a lie as quickly as possible and signed, "We spent time outside." It was obvious that they hadn't done anything inside. "We went for a walk outside, and then we relaxed outside. I like the new pine trees. When did you plant those?" Meredith walked past to point out the trees in the backyard, hoping that her father didn't catch her face.

Her father came up beside her. "Did you take the dogs for a walk?"

She shook her head no. "We'll go tonight to the dog park."

"Do you think that's a good idea? Someone might recognize you."

"You sound like Harry." Meredith glanced back at her husband, who was minding his own business. His face was still pink, and he put his eyes to the ground as if something was incredible interesting. He didn't know their conversation at all, not that they slowed down or showed him. "But I'm not concerned," Meredith signed. "We'll wear hats and sunglasses."

Her father chuckled.

"Also, most people don't think to see royals in Minnesota."

"We had the Swedish royals visit a few years back."

Minnesota had a large Swedish-heritage population. When immigrants were coming over from northern Europe, many northern Europeans settled in the northern half of the U.S. because it reminded them of their home countries. The long winters played a large part in that. Meredith missed the snow. The heat had played a large part in most of the tour.

Her father turned toward her. "Your hair is wet."

She signed, "I took a shower." Meredith's blonde hair dripped. "I'm going to go dry it out... again." She went back upstairs.

Her father turned back to Harry, who stood there awkwardly. Harry didn't see himself as being this awkward, but he also didn't think that her father was going to be home early. Thankfully, Harry managed to dry himself quickly.

Meredith's father slowly walked over to Harry and clapped his son-in-law on his back. His green eyes, which matched his daughter's, shone green and knowing. In his clearest voice possible, he said, "I know how babies are made." He let out a full chuckle and left Harry there, turning pink all over again.

After dinner, Meredith did what she promised she was going to do: take the dogs to the local dog park. Harry tagged along, and his face was still pink after what her father said. Harry had relayed the information to her, and she had laughed, stating her father wasn't dumb and probably knew what was going to happen.

The dog park was nice and large, fenced in with trails for humans to walk and woods for the dogs to gallop through. Meredith unleashed Emmie and Izzie, and the two bounded into the woods. They stuck their noses to the ground and sniffed every little thing. Following along the path, Meredith and Harry walked over the dust and rocks.

"I know you missed being home," Harry said, wearing his Minnesota Twins baseball cap and black sunglasses. He wasn't dressed very princely either, deciding on a pair of khaki shorts and a plain t-shirt. If it was a bit colder, then he probably wanted to wear a flannel; Meredith sometimes made him take it off. It had been a while, though, that she had seen him in flannel because they didn't have the chance to wear what they wanted since it was always work. Meredith wore an outfit similar to his, but hers were shorts and a "Supernatural" t-shirt. She wore dark sunglasses but wasn't concerned with a hat. "So far, is it everything that you missed?"

"It's different now." Meredith had done a lot of changing since leaving home. It was more than getting engaged and moving to London because she had started changing since she went to university. It was hard to explain how someone grew, but the differences were noticeable when coming back. "I think my dad even knows that. It's just different, and we can never go back. I've been gone, and Mom is dead, so he's been...." Well, she didn't know how he had been, but she thought fine. "Everything is different," Meredith continued. "I look at the street and don't know the neighbors. I go by the strip mall and barely remember what stores used to be. I forget half of the so-called American food chains. Ugh, I miss some of those things." The greased-up food crave was probably her pregnancy cravings talking. "I also felt this way when I came home for college the first time and when I came back from Scotland." It felt as if everything had moved on.

"That's my concern with London," Harry admitted. "We've been gone so long. I know the main stays will be there, like my family and our home, but times move so fast. If you're not there to live it, then when you finally arrive, it is such a shock."

Meredith and Harry continued to walk the trail, which looped back toward the highway. The fence turned high so no human or dog escaped. Coming up to another turn, the trail turned into a field, where dogs played and their owners lounged around.

Harry paused. "Do we walk around and keep on?"

The dogs had already decided, though, bounding toward the rest of the dogs to play.

Meredith interlaced her fingers with Harry's and pulled him along. Emmie and Izzie had already made friends, and Meredith and Harry stood amongst the other humans that watched the dogs play. Emmie and Izzie ran up and down the field. They were small dogs and weren't able to keep up with the big dogs, but they were smart and were able to cut the big dogs off.

A woman said, "Your puppies are so cute."

Both Emmie and Izzie were full-grown, but Meredith said "Thanks" anyway.

"What kind of dogs are they?"

"The white one is a Westie, and the black one is Scottie."

A man peeped in, "They're from Scotland." Their breeds were at least. "Have you ever been?"

"Yes," Meredith replied and then glanced at Harry, waiting-- like everyone else was-- for him to answer.

When Harry did answer, he decided not to use his Queen's English accent, but instead-- in one word-- he tried to slip into an American accent. "Yes." In one word, it seemed like he managed to hit every accent, starting in the south and making his way north. Harry, apparently, had a hard time going for a neutral American accent.

Meredith gave him a look, and Harry smiled, thinking he had done a good job. She rolled her eyes. "Come on." She walked forward, pulling Harry along with her; she had no idea how he survived incognito ever. 

"What was that?" Harry asked, back in his English tone.

"Emmie! Izzie! Let's go." The dogs hurried up. Turning to him, Meredith stated, "We need to get you an accent coach because shit-- that was bad."

Harry laughed. "I'll keep that in mind." He looped his arm around her, and they continued on their walk.