Life in the Palace (Prince Harry #5)

Chapter Ten

The next morning, Meredith had nothing else to do so she went to the basement and started looking through the stuff down there. Her bedroom had been cleared out long ago of what she wanted. Most of it was back in London.

The basement looked to have never been cleared out since it was just a way to store things.  Also, it was only ever used when there was a tornado warning. She imagined that her father had already come through here, taking what he wanted. Her father had gone on to mention that anything she didn't take was going to charity. There were old books, school projects, toys and clothes of hers. Besides hers, they had enough furniture stashed in the basement to fill a regular sized house.

For the things in the basement that she wanted to take back to London, there was no way to get them there. These things had the ability to be purchased in London. She had fond memories of them, but there was always another dollhouse. The one Harry was able to get was going to be grander than this old thing anyway.

This didn't stop her from remembering. Meredith sat opposite of the old dollhouse, which was built for her mother. There were no dolls that went with it, but it never mattered to Meredith. She used her Barbie dolls, Bratz dolls, Polly Pockets, MyScene and every other doll she acquired in the dollhouse. Because it built a while ago, it really did look like a Midwest 1940s house. Her father was able to sell it off, and some kid was probably going to be happy. Still, he chose to give it all to charity. Meredith knew that her father didn't want "Meredith Rogue-- Duchess of Windsor" attached to it. Meredith was thankful; there were enough things that had her name on it.

Besides the dollhouse was some of her old dogs, co-mingling in a big tub of clothes add-ons. She picked a Barbie from the bunch. The bleach blonde hair was wild, and the clothes were half falling off. The style was so out-of-date that it was actually coming back in. Meredith tried to tame the hair and find something a little more appealing for clothes in the tub, but unfortunately, there wasn't a lot to be found. She placed the Barbie in the house, and the tall and unachievable body type banged her head on the ceiling. Meredith took out another doll, and it was like "Alice in Wonderland." The doll was too small. Still, like a child liked to do, she moved them from the living room up the stairs to the bedrooms. The Polly Pocket went to the attic.

Dusk covered every wooden floor, coating every little object, and Meredith sneezed loudly. Her whole body rumbled.

"Having fun?"

Meredith jumped. "Don't do that." She got up and brushed her pants off.

"So," Harry said, looking over, "a Barbie girl?"

"If you mean the song, then yes," Meredith replied, starting to go through other things.

"Have you found anything you want to take back to London?"

"Still looking." Meredith moved away. There was a lot in here, so it was going to take the whole day to pick through the things. When she had gone to London before, she only needed to think about what she wanted. Now, she had to remember a child was coming soon, so if there was anything special she wanted the child to have, then she was going to have to take it now.

"Can I help?" Harry asked.

She motioned for him to go ahead.

Harry went to an old dresser of hers, which was white with pink and blue painted flowers on it. The drawers were hard to get open, jam packed with things from the past. While Meredith was going through some other stuff, Harry maneuvered the top drawer open, and there were loads of books inside. Harry liked to read, so he thought this was a good one for her to go through. Some of the books looked interesting enough, but Meredith knew which ones were the best.

Harry went to the second drawer, and there was only one thing lying inside. The white cloth dress with intricate stitching laid out carefully. To keep any dusk off of it, it was placed in a clear plastic bag. Carefully, Harry lifted the small white dress, bringing it up so he was able to properly see it. "Mere, is this your Christening dress?"

She glanced over. "Baptism, yep." Meredith had grown up Catholic but left that Church to move to the Church of England. She didn't see much of a difference in the two faiths, but then again, she hadn't paid that much attention in mass.

"It's nice."

Meredith rolled her eyes.

"No, it really is." Harry held it up for her to see. "Our child could wear it for their Christening."

Meredith gave him a look. "Isn't that golden one that everyone uses? That you used?"

"I didn't exactly have a choice," Harry said, "and it's not like we're going to be in the main family forever. People like us, but as the kids get older, we get pushed out." Harry didn't sound unhappy about that at all-- in fact, he sounded excited. He strived for that normal life, so when the next generation grew up, he was happy to step aside. Meredith, on the other hand, didn't think that was going to happen because of people's obsession with Princess Diana. "Plus," Harry went on, "we could try something new-- go against tradition."

Since joining the monarchy, Meredith had very much tried to go with the tradition. People already saw her as an outsider. When she went against tradition, she had either messed up or thought the tradition was messed up. Yes, sometimes she had her own spin on things, but Meredith didn't like stepping out of line. Her last name was Rogue, but she didn't actually like going rogue. Harry was far more of the rebel.

Meredith went back to looking through other things, picking up nothing to bring to London, but Harry placed that in that cardboard box he brought down. Granny wasn't going to be happy, but he was going to make his own way.

They continued their search through the basement. Meredith didn't place a single thing in the box, but Harry did. When he saw her looking at something especially long, he slipped it in the box behind her. There were things that they weren't able to take-- because the dollhouse was pretty damn cool-- and Harry remembered how much she had given up to come to London. If she was living in Minnesota, then she was able to pick up the dollhouse and take it home. That wasn't possible here.

"What about the books?" Harry asked after they had gone through the basement. Meredith had trusted Harry to look at his half of the basement. When he saw something interesting, he had called her over, and most times, Meredith wasn't interested. "What books are you going to choose to read to our child?" Harry heard her sometimes, reading aloud, like the baby was going to hear her now.

Meredith pursed her lips but was at least drawn in. She went to the top drawer of the dresser and looked at the books. Her mother had kept them all. There were books with Junie B. Jones, a rabbit named Meredith, a naked child in the bath-- the list went on. Meredith picked through the books, setting them to the side but not in the box. Meredith lifted another book, and her eyes rested on the book underneath. Setting the other book aside, Meredith lifted a children's book that had lots of colors on the front. Harry noticed a smile form on her lips and knew this book was coming no matter what.

"Was this your favorite book as a child?"

"Yes."

Harry glanced at it over her shoulder. "I didn't know you liked lima beans."

"I don't, but it's a good book nonetheless." Meredith set it aside with the rest of the books. The rest of the drawer was quick, and it was apparent that Meredith was done. "I'm hungry." She went back upstairs.

Harry watched her go, making sure that she was gone before he slipped her favorite childhood book and placed it in the box. He did it. Grabbing a hold the cardboard box, he took it upstairs and eventually back to London.