A Royal Accident (A British Royal Family Fanfiction)

Aftermath

Kate

William's father arrived at the hospital a couple of hours later. We had been moved up to the maternity ward from the emergency department and had been put into a private room. William had come up separately to avoid anyone seeing us together. The last thing we needed was the press getting wind of something before we had even had the chance to tell our families. In the room was a small cot, for the baby, but I just wanted to hold her, make sure she was safe, just so I knew she was alright. She lay on my chest, tucked close to me, under my top and a blanket until one of the midwives came in to check her over.

"I understand that neither of you knew you were having the baby, but have you had time to think about whether you'd like to try breastfeeding or not?" she asked as she placed the baby back in my arms after checking her over. 

"I had never really thought about it." I said as I tucked her back onto my bare chest and placed the blanket over us.

"Well, that's something we can support you with." She said, interrupted by knocking on the door. 

"Come in." William said from beside me. The door opened and in walked William's father and his private secretary, Michael. He was carrying two bags, one of my things and the other was from an Australian department store. 

"I'll leave you to it." The midwife said, before slipping out the door and closing it behind her.

"Hello Catherine, how are you feeling?" Charles said, walking over to the bed. He kissed each of my cheeks and I wondered whether I needed to curtsy or bow. But he didn't seem to mind when I didn't do either.

"Shocked, but I feel much better than I did a couple of hours ago." I told him. 

"Where is she?" he asked.

"She's here, tucked down here." I said, lifting her off my chest, careful not to let too much of myself out in front of William's father and his private secretary. 

"You weren't wrong William, she is tiny." Charles said.

"6 pounds exactly." I told him. "Would you like to hold her?" He nodded eagerly, removing his jacket.

"It's been a long time since I held a baby this small." he said, taking her from me. "You are very beautiful though, aren't you?" he stroked the baby's face. "You go back to your Mummy." he said a few moments later, handing her back to me. "We've brought some clothes, Wills said she was tiny so Michael's found the smallest size, but now we've seen her even the smallest size might be a little big." he said. 

"It's been a while since I bought anything that small. Mine are all teenagers now." Michael said as he handed the bag to William who took out some clothes and found what looked smallest. 

"This alright?" William asked, holding up a pink and white striped sleep suit. I nodded and lay the baby down on the bed in front of me and got her dressed.

"I've managed to speak to your Grandmother." Charles said, looking at William, who nodded at him. "She was obviously shocked, but does send her congratulations. She's going to speak to her private secretaries, see if there's a way to get the three of you back to the UK without having to wait for a passport for the baby. You'll be moving from one Commonwealth country to another so we're hopeful it shouldn't be too complex. Even with a layover, we could stop in India and we'd still be alright. She's hoping to have an answer by the end of the day." 

"That would be great. I know Catherine would like to get home, see her family and what with Christmas coming up." William said, placing his hand on my shoulder as I finished dressing the baby.