Life As A Royale

25

*Monica*

It was nighttime. Everyone was sleeping except for me. The bed that I am on is big enough to fit around four people.

Zack and Prince were asleep on the bed. Since I could not lay on my back or my stomach, I was laid on my side. Prince was behind me, and Zack was curled up before me. Since he found out that I am back, he has not left my side.

The night passed by, and I did not get any sleep. When I checked the time, it was 6:30 in the morning. It was always around this time that Delvin or the maids come into the room that he had us in.

My eyes were glued to the door as I waited for Delvin to come through. I heard someone take a deep breath and look to see that Crystal was waking up. Soon after, Lora woke up.

The three of us sat up, looking at the door, waiting for someone to come through. Someone always comes through. The door pushed open, and we screamed.

Prince, Ruben, and Shaquille sprinted awake. "What us it?"
"What happened?"
"What?" They asked.

The light turned on, and we looked to see Doctor Raven. "It's just me." She told.

"Oh." I sighed.

"Mommy." Zack called, looking up at me. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, baby. Mommy just got a little scared, that's all." I told him with a small smile.

"I'm right here, Mommy. I'll make sure that no one hurts you again." Zack said.

"Awe, thank you, baby." I said, placing a kiss on his forehead.

"You look like you haven't slept." Prince said to me.

"I tried, but I couldn't bring myself to close my eyes." I told him.

"You can go to sleep, I'll stay awake." He said.

"I'll just come back later." Dr. Raven said and left the room.

I laid my head on Prince's lap and closed my eyes. I felt tiny hands massaging my stomach. "You will be ok, little sister." Zack said. I then felt his tiny hands caressing my face. "I will protect you from bad men, mommy."

I did not open my eyes, but a few tears escaped. I could not sleep. "Papa, did you get the bad man this time?" I heard Zack ask his father.

"I didn’t get him, buddy, but mommy got him." Prince told him.

"Papa, I think we should lock mommy and Princess away. That way, no one can hurt them."

"That sounds like a great idea, bud, but mommy and princess would not be happy if they are away from us."

Seriously. That's the answer that he came up with. How about 'no, son, we can't just lock your mother and sister away.'

"We can stay with them." Zack suggested hopefully.

"I'll think about it, buddy." What?

I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen and hissed. I gripped the sheet tightly between my fingers. "Are you okay, Angel?" Prince asked, tapping my cheek lightly.

I opened my eyes and sat up. "My stomach is still hurting." I told him, leaning against his shoulder.

"I will go and make you some hot chocolate and get you something to eat." Prince told me. "Don't leave the bed while I'm gone, I'll be right back." He Instructed.

"I won't. I'm too tired to move anyway." I said to him. Prince kissed my forehead and left the room.

Zack and I laid on the bed, cuddling together. I ran my hand through his soft hair. I saw his eyes drooped but reopened them. I could tell that he was forcing himself to stay awake. "Baby, you can sleep if you want to." I said to him.

"I need to stay awake so that I can protect you, Mommy." He said, blinking his eyes.

"Baby, you don't need to do that." I told him. "Uncle Ruben and Uncle Shaquille will protect me while you sleep." I assured him.

Zack looked at his uncles, who nodded their heads in confirmation. He then raised his head and looked at me. "I will just sleep for a little bit. okay, Mommy?"

"Okay, baby." I said and kissed his cheek.

About five minutes later, Prince came into the room with a tray in his hands. Two ladies dressed in maid uniforms entered after him, also carrying a tray of food.

This setting gives me bad memories.

Prince walked over to me, and each of the maids went to Crystal and Lora, who were still awake. They placed the tray food down and left the room.

"He's asleep." Prince said, referring to Zack.

"Yes. He was still sleepy, but he did not want to sleep because he wanted to protect me." I told.

"He's such a mommy's boy." Prince said with a smile.

"That he is."

"Come, eat something." Prince said. I tried to move, but Zack tightened his hold on me. Prince saw this, so he carefully placed the tray of food on my lap.

I slowly drank the hot chocolate and ate the food that Prince prepared for me. I saw Lora and Crystal doing the same.

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It was around 9 in the morning when the king and queen came to visit us.

I should probably start saying mom and dad now.

The queen came over to me and kissed me on my forehead. "How are you doing, sweetheart?" She asked me.

"Not good. I'm not as bad as I used to be, though." I told her.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry that you girls had to go through that." She said. "Thank God Delvin finally got what he deserved." She sighed.

We haven't Saud much about what happened. All anyone knows is that Delvin kidnapped us, we killed him, and we escaped. Prince, Shaquille, and Ruben are the only ones who know about the whipping.  None of us wanted to talk about it. Eventually, we will have to, but for now, everyone has to be patient with us.

"I'll be right back." Marianna said. She went over to Crystal, then Lora, and talked to them.

The king and queen spent some time with us, and then they left. We slept through most of the day until Dr. Raven came and checked up on us. She said that we could do to our separate rooms and advised us not to do too much. She said that we should avoid working at all costs.

Prince didn't hesitate to bring me to our room. He helped me take a bath. Soon after, I fell asleep again.

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I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. I took up a glass and poured some ice water into it. I cranked the water and placed the glass on the counter. When I turned around, I saw Delvin standing before me with a knife in his hand.

"Y-you? But you're dead?" I said.

Delvin laughed. A bullet hole appeared in his head, and blood started pouring from it. "You did this to me, and for that, you and your bastard child will die!" He raged.

"No!" I screamed as he plunged the knife into my stomach.
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I jumped from my sleep, and my hands flew to my stomach. I sighed when I realized that it was just a bad dream.

"Mommy, what's wrong?" I jumped a little when I heard Zack ask thar question. I did not realize that he was awake.

"Mommy just had a bad dream, baby." I told him.

"Give me a hug, mommy. You will feel better." He said to me. I hugged him, gently squeezing his little body to mine. We stayed like that for a little while and then pulled away.

"Do you feel better, mommy?" He questioned. 

"I feel much better, baby. Thank you."

A huge smile appeared on his face. "You're welcome, mommy." He spoke. "Come, let's sleep."

We closed our eyes and went to sleep.