The royal baby

Meeting Grant

*Allison's P.O.V*
I follow Annabelle curiously, holding her hand tightly in fear of getting lost in this giant maze of a garden. I mean who needed a garden this big? Apparently royalty did for some reason.

I bump into Annabelle when she stops walking. "Sorry," I say as I let go of her hand.

"Don't apologize, you did nothing wrong," Annabelle says as she lifts me up, resting me on her hip. "Look over there darling," she says, pointing over a fence. The fence was wooden and encircles a barn looking structure

"Are those horses?" I ask as my eyes widened and I clutched onto Annabelle's dress tightly.

"Close but no. Those are ponies, they're much smaller than horses," Annabelle chuckles as she looks at the tiny horses, I mean ponies. Same thing if you ask me.

"Doesn't matter, they're tiny horses," I say as I squirm. "If one comes near this fence I'm leaving," I mutter.

"Allison stop squirming, I am going to end up dropping you," Annabelle scolds as she tightens her hold on me.

"I don't care," I say as I kick my legs slightly. "They're scary," I whine as I press my face into the crook of her neck.

"They won't hurt you, look there are two fences separating us," Annabelle says as she continues to gently rub my back. "Look," she said, stepping back while holding me. "We're farther away, little one, is that better?" She asks as I lift my head up to make sure she is telling the truth.

"A little," I say as I bite my bottom lip nervously.

"It's okay, the ponies won't hurt you," she coos while bouncing me. "Don't bite your lip," she says, pulling my lip out from between my teeth with her thumb.

"But it's how I think," I murmur while pushing her hand away with a pout.

"Well try this," Annabelle says as she reaches into a pocket, one that is very well hidden, on her dress and pulls out a pacifier.

"Have you been carrying this all morning?" I ask as I take it from her hands to inspect it. I turn it around, inspecting it all over before looking her in the eyes.

"Yes," Annabelle says rather sheepishly as she nods her head. "I figured you would need it eventually besides you won't be hurting your lip anymore," she points out.

"I suppose you're right," I agree reluctantly.

"Look," Annabelle said as she points to a little pony making me cling to her even more, dropping the pacifier out of my hand. She catches it with one hand before she puts the pacifier back into the pocket of her dress. "Hey, it's just a foal, a little baby," she whispers reassuringly as she hugs me close.

"Why is it so small?" I asked quietly while not daring to look at the tiny horse that is surely evil!

"Because it was only born a couple days ago. He's really friendly, he's a little bottle baby," Annabelle says as sways slightly, clearly trying to soothe me in some evil plot to make me and the pony get along.

"Bottle baby?" I ask as I tilt my head curiously.

"His mama died when he was born so he has to be fed from a bottle," Annabelle explains. "You want to see him get fed?" She asks.

"Yeah," I nod. "As long as the other ponies stay away and I don't have to touch the tiny one," I state sternly.

"That's fine, I'll have them feed him over here," Annabelle says before calling someone over. Apparently she has people at her beck and call of the time! The person she calls over simply nods and leaves, coming back after a little bit with a big bottle with a nipple on the end. The pony immediately starts to follow the person, pawing at the ground excitedly as it gets fed. I smile softly as I watch the pony, leaning forward in Annabelle's arms to move closer.

"Can I try?" I ask Annabelle hesitantly as I glance at her. She smiles back at me and nods, having the man hand over the bottle as we go through a nearby gate.

"Let me help you, baby ponies can be pretty vicious when they're trying to nurse," Annabelle says as she puts my hands on the bottle and puts her hands over mine. She lowers the bottle down to the pony and it immediately latches on.

"It's so pretty," I say with a small grin as the pony drinks quickly. "He's not mean at all," I whisper, more to myself than Annabelle.

"No he's not," Annabelle chuckles as she kisses the back of my head.

"I kind of wish I had one," I murmur.

"You can have him if you want to," Annabelle says as she rests her chin on top of my head.

"Really? Can you do that?" I ask while setting the bottle to the side once the pony is finished and I lean down to pet him.

"Yes. You do realize these animals are owned by the royal family right?" Annabelle asks as she sets me down so that I can pet the pony better.

"Yeah, but I didn't know if anyone had already claimed him," I state. The pony snorts as it uses my hand as a backscratch.

"Well no one has, so that means he's yours...if you still want him," Annabelle offers.

"Are you kidding? Of course I do," I say as I straighten up and turn around to hug her. "Thank you," I murmur.

Annabelle freezes for a second before hugging me back. "You're welcome," she says as she rests her hand on my back.

I smile as I break the hug and turn my attention back to the pony. "You're so cute," I say as I start to think of names for the pony. I whine when I feel Annabelle tug my bottom lip out between teeth. I hadn't even known that I was doing it again.

"Paci little one," Annabelle says as she takes the pacifier out of her hidden pocket and pushes the nipple of it against my lips gently. I open my mouth reluctantly and accept it. "Good girl," she coos, praising me quietly. I blush as I turn my head away.

"Mmm"' I whine softly as I go back to petting the pony, keeping my back to Annabelle.

"Aww someone's a little embarrassed," she teases as she rests her hand on my back, gently scratching it.

"Am not," I deny as I step away from her. She spins me back around and scoops me up.

"My poor baby girl, I'm just so mean aren't I?" She asks as she kisses my forehead.

"Yes," I say, biting down on the pacifier slightly to keep it from falling out of my mouth.

"I gave you a pony and I'm mean?" Annabelle asks teasingly. "Speaking of which, what are you going to name him?" She questions as she rests me on her hip.

"'m gonna call him...Grant," I say as I rest my head on her shoulder, looking down at Grant with a small grin on my lips.