The Fifth Wife

18. A typical day

Katherine Howard POV

The next day I wake up to a knock on our bedroom door. I turn around and hear Anne say,

"Come in..." The door opens and I see Catherine standing there.

"Jane had to leave early, so it's my job to wake everyone up. We're having breakfast in ten minutes," she says. I nod and step out of my bed as Catherine leaves to wake up the others. Anne gets up as well and we make our way downstairs. As I sit down I hear footsteps behind me,

"Morning," Anna says as I nod and stifle a yawn. "You look tired..." Anna continues as she sits down next to me. I shrug and say,

"A bit... not really awake yet." She nods with understanding. I eat quietly and then look around. Where is Anne? Didn't she follow me downstairs? Anna interrupts my thoughts by asking,

"What are your plans for today?"

"I don't know... probably organizing stuff for school," I say

"Ah, cool," Anna replies. I nod and stand up to put my dishes away. I walk back up to my room and start organizing all my school supplies. After a couple of hours, I hear a knock on the door.

"Do you want to take a break? I was thinking we could go for a walk," Anna says after she's come in.

"Sure!" I say smiling. We walk outside together for a while talking about different things. Eventually, the subject of the past comes up.

"Do you remember that ball where we danced together?" Anna asks smiling. I nod but stay quiet. That was a week before-no. Don't think about that. Focus on the good memories. Before I can respond we reach the house and Anne comes running outside.

"There you are! I thought you were gone," Anne says with a smile

"I mean... we were," Anna says. Anne laughs and shakes her head, then runs back inside. I follow her and smile when I see Jane sitting on the couch. I don't say anything but go over to her and give her a hug. I feel her arms wrap around me and sigh contently. Jane pulls me onto her lap and I lean into her.

"Why were you gone this morning?" I ask after a while

"I had an interview for a job," Jane explains

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah!" Jane says smiling, "I'll be working at a daycare, but mostly doing paperwork and such."

"That sounds boring," I say looking at her. She laughs and nods.

"Yeah, a bit... but I do get to see a bunch of kids a lot. Which'll be fun," she says. I nod but frown a little. I guess that means we won't have as much time together... "Kitty?"

"Yeah?"

"You okay? You went kind of silent..." I look at her and nod. I can't be selfish, that'll just drive her away.

"I'm just a bit tired..." I lie

"Okay," Jane says. It grows quiet for a bit before she starts talking again. "I was thinking... would you want to go on a tour of the school tomorrow? It might be nice to see where everything is and how everything works."

"Yeah, that would actually be really great..."

"Okay, I'll set that up for us," Jane says smiling. I nod and lean back into her arms.

"Thanks, mum,"

"No problem, love," Jane says, I smile and then stand up to grab some water. I walk into the kitchen and see Catherine and Parr sitting at the table.

"So you're really okay with it?" I hear Parr ask quietly

"Mhm, like I told you, I love you for you. Everything about you! And honey... it might be the same for me..." Catherine replies

"Really?" Parr says looking up, and Catherine nods. I shouldn't interrupt... I start turning back towards the living room but Anne ruins the moment by running downstairs and straight into the kitchen. Catherine whips around and stares at her.

"Oh... I'm sorry," Anne apologizes as she sees Catherine and Parr sitting together. She's apologizing to Catherine? "Parr... I'm sorry, Parr." Anne quickly adds staring at Catherine. Of course, she isn't... I shake my head and walk out of the room as I hear Catherine say,

"You're not going to apologize to me?"

"Why would I?" Anne replies

I see Parr walk out of the room as Anne and Catherine start yelling. I silently make my way upstairs and go into my room. Pulling out my phone I scroll through Instagram until Jane comes to say it's time for dinner. I follow her and am not surprised when I see Anne and Catherine still glaring at each other. At least they're not yelling anymore... It's quiet throughout dinner, and afterwards, everyone goes to their rooms. Anne and I sit on our beds without talking, just showing each other fun stuff on our phones before falling asleep.