Hayley of Wales

XIX

"Darling, how are you feeling this morning?" I ask Hayley as she stirred next to me.

I only had a groan in response. It's been like this for a few days and I have contacted her parents, who should be arriving soon.

They said Apollo has had the same thing but it seems Hayley's is less severe. Although she's complaining a lot about back pain.

"Well, you parents should be here any minute now. Shall we get you dressed?"

"No." she whined. It was a pained whine. She's suffering still.

"Okay, what would you like me to do? Anything to make you feel comfortable."

"Cuddles." I see a small smile play at her lips as she said this.

"We can do that." I nod.

I move closer to my wife's tired body and take her into my arms. I feel her fever is still there but she seems to be more at ease than she was just a few seconds ago.

"I love you." she mumbled.

"I love you, too." I kiss her forehead and squeeze her in my arms.

The bedroom doors opened and a servant enters, "Your Majesties," he bows, "Dames ChristinaJo and Kathryn Rogerstone-Montgumery have arrived. Shall I send them to your quarters?"

I didn't know they were Dames.

"Yes, please. Thank you." I nod, still holding my wife in my safe arms.

Minutes later, the two women appear and I get up to greet them. The kiss my cheek and curtsy before beginning the fuss over Hayley. While this happens, I get dressed and check on the children.

"Mummy!" Lila shouts as she sprints to me, tackling me in a loving cuddle.

"Good morning, little Lila. How did you sleep, my darling cherub?" I greet.

"Good. Is Mama feeling better?"

"Not quite. Nanny and Nana are here to look after her. In the meantime, shall we take a walk? Perhaps through the gardens?"

"Yes, Mummy!" Lila chirps.

"Okay, precious. Go and get your sisters and I'll fetch Georgia."

Georgia has been feeling much better and we find she doesn't cry as often anymore.

I tiptoe into the baby's nursery, the same nursery we had used for Violet, Lila and Lydia.

"Hello, darling. We're going to take a wander, let's get you ready." I tell the infant. Her eyes peer into mine as I whisper compliments to her. I get her fed, cleaned up and dressed.

I kiss her head. I cannot express my love for my children. Especially when they're in that time of their lives where all they want is their parents. A time in their live where they can be dependent on me and love me and never stop bothering me to cuddle them.

I set Georgia down in her pram and roll her towards the lift, where my three other children wait patiently by.

"Lila, be a darl and press the lift button please?" I ask my daughter.

"Okay, Mummy!"

I watch as she reaches up on her tiptoes to press the button and the ring around it glows blue, signalling that the lift is on its way. The doors open with a ping and my little family and I pile inside. I allow Violet to press the ground floor button and the lift descends.

We walk out of the Palace and begin the wander along the Palace gardens.

"Mummy! Watch this!" Lila shouts.

"I'm watching." I smile at the girl.

She does a cartwheel along the path and lands perfectly. She impresses me even further when she does a few flips.

"Where did you learn that?" I chuckle as she continues to flip and twist.

"Mama showed me!" she exclaims, rounding through another cartwheel.

"Darling, be careful. We don't want you getting too dizzy, now!" I muse as the girl spins some more.

"Okay, Mummy." she says as she stops her twirls.

"They were some very good flips though. I applaud you." I tell the girl, lightly clapping my hands.

"Thank you, Mummy." the girl bows.

"Mummy." Lydia mumbles. She outstretched her arms towards me and I pick her up.

"Hi, darling. What's the matter?" I coo to the baby.

"Tired." she yawned.

"Do you want to go in the pram with Georgia?"

"No, cuddles." she says, hiding her face in the hair that rests on my neck.

"We can cuddle. How about I ask Peggy to bring us a picnic out?" I ask all of my children.

"Yes!" the twins exclaim in unison. I text the servant and she replied that she'll have it out to us very soon.

"Let's pick a spot then!" I instruct to my children.

They ran ahead and chose a spot beneath a great big tree.

"Right here, Mummy!"

"Why here?" I question, admiring the tree's size.

"Mama takes us here and tells us stories about America." Violet replies.

"I see."

"Mummy? Can you tell us how you and Mama met?"

"I can, yes. Let's have a seat."

We find spots on the grass and I set Lydia down and take Georgia out of the pram. I let her cuddle into me and Lydia lays on my legs.

"I first saw your Mama when I was thirteen. She was with her parents at a big social event that was all over the telly. I thought she was very handsome. I found her on social media and developed a strong liking for her over the years."

"Did Mama like you too?"

"Yes. She said she liked me since she was nine."

"That's a very young age." Lila points out.

"Yes, it is. When I was eighteen, I went to America to find her. I decided that I wanted to marry her so I went to go find her."

"Did you marry Mama?" Violet quizzes excitedly.

"What do you think these rings mean, darling?"

"That you're married to Mama." Violet answered. She hadn't realised what she said. I shrug and chuckle to myself.

"Once I had found your Mama, we decided that we would go out the next day. She took me shopping and then to a lovely picnic at the park."

"Like what we're doing now!" Lila smiles.

"Yes, darling. We shared our first kiss at that park. I did need to come back home the following week. So we called each other everyday. Until you Mama graduated from high school. She moved to England and then we got married."

"So you did marry Mama!" Violet cheers.

"Yes, Violet. I married Mama."

"Yay! How were Lila and I made?"

"That's a story for another day." I say as I do the unqueenly thing and snort while I laughed at my daughter.