The Unexpected Journey Part Two

Chapter 24

"Work with me here," he tossed back, shaking his head as he dropped his pen onto his notebook.

"You asked me what I want. I want Invictus. I want Well Child. I want Remembrance Day and I want the Sentebale Gala. I will back off everything else if I can just...have those."

Isaac sat completely still, completely quiet as he watched the two of them watch each other; each of them reading the mood of the other, the strength of the stance they were taking in this moment. If he had had less self-control, he might have laughed--this wasn't the first time he had watched them square off and he knew it most certainly wouldn't be the last.

Harry was the first to blink, the first to let out the breath he was holding and sit back in his chair, pushing his notebook forward. Maddie, with the smallest of smiles, turned to Isaac then.

"Would you please call and see when I can get on His Majesty's calendar?"

"Ma'am?" Isaac blinked.

"You said that he told you if I wanted to take the piss out of anyone about it, that I could see him," she shrugged her shoulders and folded her hands in her lap. "And I'd like to get on his schedule."

"Yes," Isaac nodded, unable to stop the smirk that formed on his lips. "I'll call over this afternoon and see what's available." Making a note, he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sure he's expecting it."

"I'm sure he is," Harry shook his head, a light chuckle on his lips as he met Isaac's eyes across the table.

"Excuse me?" Maddie, with her mouth open wide and her eyes even wider, looked between the two of them. "What do you mean by that?"

Harry looked to her then, a smug grin in place as he reached to pat her hand. "You know exactly what we mean by that love. Exactly what we mean."

As the three of them gave into the laughter that came with moments such as these, they settled back into their seats and Isaac moved on to the next item on the list.

In the end Maddie sat down with Charles one-on-one to discuss the clearing of her calendar, to go over the items she wanted to add back in. He made it clear that his top priority was her health, her well-being. His top priority was his family. And she made it clear that while that was most certainly hers too--that she wasn't sure it was the best thing for her health or her well-being for her to just sit and do nothing.

So they came to the table and he agreed to her compromise. She could be involved with Invictus and she could attend the Well Child awards. He was on board with Remembrance Day as long as she was still feeling up to it. Though she expected to meet the same resistance around the Sentebale Gala as she had met with his son--she was surprised when she was met with none.

He okayed everything she asked for. And then he reminded her in a way that was both fatherly and regally authoritative, that if she took a turn for the worse, if the upcoming hits knocked her down too much, that he had no problem clearing the slate again. Maddie knew him well enough, knew the Windsor genes well enough, to know that he meant it.

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When Maddie returned for her second round of Chemotherapy, her entourage was a bit smaller. Ella had gone back to Buenos Aires to spend a little time with the family before all of them returned home for Invictus, for the upcoming holidays. So this time it was just her and Harry. Just her and her sweet, slightly nervous husband who--though neck deep in Invictus preparations--wouldn't leave her side.

He sat next to her in his own chair, watching as Nurse Harding flushed fluid, as she set up the first of the three bags of Chemotherapy. "Will she have the same reaction this time as she did last time?"