The Crown

Chapter Sixty Eight

TWO YEARS LATER

Beatrice hummed a tune to Kristine as she rocked her. She carefully placed her in the crib for her nap. Nathaniel had already fallen asleep, so Beatrice left the room and closed the door quietly.

She walked downstairs and headed to the kitchen to start lunch. As she started, the doorbell rang, which made her stop working and go to the door.

On the other side was Abby with a huge grin on her face. She grunted slightly - she never really liked Abby all that much. In fact, it seemed to be only Tobias who understood her and who liked talking to her, but Beatrice chose to avoid it as much as possible.

Today, for example, when Tobias was at work and the kids were asleep, Beatrice had no excuse to avoid.

"Hello, Abby. What can I do for you?" She asked.

"I was wondering if you had any extra bottles? Eve just broke hers and Cain took his to school."

Beatrice nodded and opened the door out of politeness before going to the kitchen and taking a bottle from the cupboard. She handed it to Abby and smiled.

"Anything else?"

Abby shook her head, a hint of disappointment in her eyes. "No, no, that's all. Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Abby."

As the door closed, Abby forced the door back open, wanting to continue the very dead conversation they were having. "How are Kristine and Nathaniel? I haven't seen them in a while."

Beatrice scrunched her nose, taking a deep breath to prevent from exploding. "They're fine. They're sleeping now - it's the reason why I can't invite you in at the moment. Nathaniel has become such a light sleeper - you understand, right?"

"No, of course. Cain was the same."

"Goodbye, Abby."

Beatrice closed the door again, sighing in relief against it. She walked back to the kitchen and resumed cutting the vegetables. She carried them in her hands and dropped them in a pot, then beginning to stir them in the boiling water.

This was the routine she adopted for two years since giving birth to the twins.

When she woke up, she got dressed in a simple dress and went down to the kitchen. She cracked an egg and made it onto a plate and set it on the counter. She then took two bottles and went to the couch, where she filled it up with milk and placed them too on the counter.

Then, when Tobias woke up, he went into the children's bedroom. Usually when he woke up, the kids were awake as well. He would take them both into his arms, kiss them, then take them downstairs to greet their mother. He would place them in the high chairs and go to kiss his wife before eating the breakfast she prepared for him.

He still didn't know how to cook.

Beatrice would kiss her children's heads and hand them their milk. Kristine and Nathaniel would drink their milk very fast, then throw a small fit to get out of their high chair. Tobias would have finished his breakfast and walked behind the sink to wash it before taking both children out of their high chairs and placing them on the floor.

Kristine and Nathaniel stood up and wobbled to their play mat in the middle of the living room, collapsing on their butts and beginning to play. Kristine had begun to talk many words, but Nathaniel still had trouble speaking.

After that, Tobias would open the door on time to see Pete standing there. Tobias walked to his wife, kissed her goodbye, kissed his children goodbye, then went to his horse to go to work.