Season 3 Young Royals (Version 1)

53. Lena and Noah

She couldn't help thinking how much Erik would have loved the little boy who was always smiling, except when he was tired and cranky. Then he started to whine a bit but was easy to put to bed too.

She hadn't realized she would have a baby until weeks after the news of Erik's death had been announced.

When she'd seen the news she'd been devastated, didn't know who to turn to, or how to react or behave. She wanted to run to her family and just sob in her mother's arms, but her mother hadn't known him, or even known that her daughter had been with him for over a year.

Then she couldn't reconcile the joy she felt with the devastation of Erik not being there to share it with her. She was sure that he would have accepted Noah and legitimised him somehow, even if they had to marry quickly, regardless of what the Queen and Royal Court said.

As she dressed Noah she thought of how the Queen and Court had treated her once she contacted them about her pregnancy. She was sure to wait until she was six months along. She had signed an insane contract regarding birth control before there was an actual child in question thinking that this would never happen. She'd used birth control but there was a small possibility of failure, and after a year, that percentage had increased and become a reality.

They refused to pay her any attention when she contacted them to let them know she was carrying his child.

They finally did say that since she'd legally agreed to use birth control and had failed to do so appropriately, the child would be her sole concern and responsibility, with no claim to anything belonging to Erik or the Royal Family, including titles or property.

That must have been a lawyer responding she thought. She let them know she didn't want anything because she had her own money and she knew that being part of the family was "fucking shit anyway" (she felt insulted and angry at their heartless response through an attorney, and couldn't hold the rage in anymore at that point). She told them she just wanted to let the Queen and her family know that Erik had a child and they were welcome to meet him because he would at least be their biological family member even if they refused to recognize it.

She finally had to let her family know what was going on as the pregnancy had become obvious just before that contact with the Court. She didn't know who must have gone to the press, but she suspected friends of her extended family that she'd probably never even met. It only took one person confiding in the wrong "friend" or family member, and it was suddenly everywhere. Erik had warned her about that.

The tabloids started to contact her, and although she refused to confirm or deny anything, or even speak to them, they must have found someone who was willing to talk and used all of their "information" to write more insane headlines, piggybacking off of Wilhelm's scandal and hearing against his cousin to sell more copy.

She felt for Wilhelm. Erik had told her all about his brother and how much he loved him. He'd also said how worried he was about him and how he felt the need to always protect him.

Erik had even mentioned just before his accident, that he was so excited that Wilhelm had met someone at school. He'd said he suspected it might be a boy they'd seen singing in the choir the first day he'd accompanied Wilhelm to school. He hadn't said anything then and didn't want to make a big deal of it or embarrass Wilhelm but he felt his demeanor change as soon as the boy sang and could tell Wilhelm was in trouble then. He'd laughed about it with Lena.

They were both happy for him. Lena had thought of him as her own little brother she'd never had and looked forward to meeting him one day if they'd ever let him.

Lena saw what a doting older brother Erik had been and it occurred to her he was more like a father to Wilhelm, and that he would have been a wonderful father to his own children.

She'd been thinking about it when they were together. She'd known she was in love with him for quite a while and those were the things that came to mind each time she saw another example of how kind and caring he was.

The worst part was that Noah would never know him first hand, but she knew she would always tell her son about his father as soon as he could understand.

Since their first response, Lena had decided to let her own attorney communicate with the Royal Court's. The settlement they'd come to didn't really interest her. She knew her son would never belong to their family officially but she thought that Kristina must really be heartless not to be interested in meeting her only grandson, and possibly the only one she would ever have if Wilhelm decided he didn't want any children.

She thought Wilhelm seemed like a stubborn kid and she liked him more for it. Based on what Erik had told her about their childhood, he didn't envy them that life.

She also thought that Kristina would deserve no heir if this was how she treated the family she did have.

It occurred to Lena that she would like to give Wilhelm the choice to meet his nephew if he wanted to. She doubted he'd even been told he had a nephew.

She'd thought to contact him through his social media, but knew that the Court would probably have control over his accounts and it would tip them off immediately, which she obviously preferred to avoid.

So she decided that as unfortunate as it was for him, everyone knew who Wilhelm's s boyfriend was and she found him on instagram and sent him a message.

"Hello, I'm sorry to write you. You don't know me, but I'm a close friend of Erik's. My name is Lena and I would really like to speak to Wilhelm about something concerning his brother. It's very important. Please have him call me at this number ----------. Again, I apologize for contacting you this way but it's better if the royal court doesn't know. Thank you. - Lena"

When Simon saw the message, he immediately had an idea of what it was regarding and couldnt wait to get to school to show it to Wilhelm.

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A/N: including a screenshot of the choir scene because someone pointed out that Simon does notice Wilhelm too. As everyone else is paying attention to the choir director, he's looking toward Wilhelm.