Princess Adeline of Wales

Chapter Nine: Happy New Year

"Yes please," Adeline whispered almost surprised that her father wished to read to her, the last time he had tried to spend time with her they had ended up in a green house and she had fallen asleep listening to him talk about his plants. 

Her brothers had teased her endlessly before admitting that even they had found their father's ramblings about his plants rather dull. 

Charles smiled at that and carefully opened the book, he cleared his throat before he started to read; he got comfortable knowing that no one would likely notice that they had not returned to the party. 

***

"There you are, I was wondering where you had disappeared off to brother," Andrew greeted with a smile, he had been surprised that the heir to the throne had managed to slip away without anyone seeming to care. 

His cheeks were red from all the drinking that he had been doing and he had to admit that he had expected that his dear older brother had been making a phone call to his dirty little mistress. 

"How is the mistress? Is she having a good Christmas with her lot?" Andrew slurred staggering slightly, he ignore the look of annoyance on Charles face as he set down the book that he had been reading. 

Adeline peered at her uncle, it was all too clear that he had had fair too much to drink and judging by the way he was walking it was time for him to be off to bed. 

"Adeline... why don't you go and find your brothers, make sure they aren't causing any mischief," Charles instructed calmly, he was not going to deal with Andrew in the presence of his daughter. 

He might have been eager to have Camilla join them for the holidays but this was another reason that he was glad that his mother had not allowed her to come; his brother tended to be a pain in the ass when he had a bit to drink. 

While he was doing his best for his children now, he hated that some people in the family made comments like this; the end of his marriage to Diana had not been pretty but he was not the only party that had been having an affair. 

Adeline nodded her head, she quickly got to her feet and hurried away from the scene; it was rare that her uncle got this drunk but when he did then things tended to get rather nasty. 

"I think it's time that your retired for the night Andrew... you've had far too much to drink it seems," Charles started getting to his feet, he made sure that he marked the page that he had been reading to Adeline before he focused completely on his brother. 

He honestly did not know what it was with Andrew but his brother seemed to have a chip on his shoulder especially since it was no real secret that he was their mother's favourite child. 

Andrew snorted at that and shook his head, he had been rather surprised to find his brother reading to his youngest; he could not remember a time before Diana had died that he paid much attention to her.

If anything, he did not see much of his niece and he was certain that Diana had kept the little girl away from him because she did not like him; she had thought that she was better than a Prince of royal blood. 

"Still not sure she's yours brother... at least down that Lady Di is gone, you can always drop her off at some orphanage," Andrew laughed with a smile, no one would forget the days where Charles had insisted that Adeline was not his child in the time that Diana had been pregnant. 

Hell, the press liked to drag up the stories every now and then more so than there were rumours about Harry's paternity; many thinking that the young prince's red hair was a sign that Charles was not his father. 

At least with Harry, he had been born years before Diana had started her affair with James Hewitt while Adeline had been born during that time; few people whispered about the chance that Adeline was a royal bastard by the late Princess of Wales. 

Charles was not entirely sure what part of what Andrew had said made him snap but the next thing he was truly aware of was his younger brother on the floor clutching his jaw and an odd pain in his right hand. 

Staring down at Andrew, Charles could not believe his brother had sunk so low to say something like that; it was something that he had never thought he would have to deal with from his family. 

Without saying a word, Charles turned away from Andrew and left his brother on the floor; he had nothing to say to him after what he had just said and he was sure that he would have to deal with this again. 

Walking down the hallway towards the party that was still taking place; it was not long until midnight and he could not wait to ring in the New Year with his children. 

There was no way he was sticking around to deal with Andrew while he continued to act like this, Charles had no doubts his mother would hear about this and his brother would likely retaliate at some point. 

Stepping into the party, Charles found his children and gathered them together ignoring the look that Anne offered him. 

He already knew what his New Year resolution was going to be, he wanted to be a better father to all three of them and he was not going to fail them like he had done in the past.