Royal Mess

Chapter Twenty-Three

May 2221 

Before I could truly acknowledge it, I had reached the end of my second trimester, which meant that the baby would be with me imminently. 

Alright, not imminently, but it was all becoming a little more real, honestly. 

I had added my own toys and furnishings to the nursery at my own house, and at the palace, too. 

My child was probably going to live a slightly confused life, moving between my home and palace often, but I was trying to not worry all too much about it. 

As Maid Lacey had told me frequently enough, stress was not good for the baby. 

She wasn't the only one worrying, of course. 

"How are you doing, Trixie?" my mother asked, then, "Do you need a massage? A mani-pedi?" she asked. 

I chuckled. 

"Like I've said before, mum, I am just fine," I assured her. 

She took a breath. 

"If you say so, darling," she replied, gently closing her eyes as she received her own massage. 

It was a little amusing to think about, but I was fairly sure that this pregnancy was affecting my own mother more, at times, than it was affecting me. 

Me? I surprisingly felt great! 

Touch wood this pleasant phase of pregnancy continued. 

There was soon a knock upon our front door, and I went to answer it to find Nathan standing there with a bouquet of lilies. 

"Nate...you really didn't have to get these for me," I told him. 

"Oh, they're not for you, they're for me," he stated. 

I just raised an eyebrow at him, and he passed them to me. 

"Thank you," I smirked, as I smelt them. 

Divine. 

"I hope you like them," he said with a boyish grin. 

"They're lovely. Thank you, Nathan," I replied, "Come on in," I told him, and he headed into the house after me. 

The two of us just stood in the entry way for a moment, lost for what to say. I just placed my flowers in the nearby vase. 

"How are you feeling?" he eventually asked. 

Before I could reply, my father headed down the hall. 

He ran a hand through his graying hair, and the corner of his mouth moved up a little, in a small smile. 

"Hello, your highness," Pierre said. 

So, it was safe to say that dad hadn't become too comfortable with addressing the prince informally just yet, despite the fact that I was literally having the prince's child, but hey, I was willing to let it take a while for him to feel comfortable with all of this. 

"Would you like to stay for lunch?" Pierre offered. 

"I would love that. Thank you, Pierre," Nathan said, his eyes brightening a little as I gave him a gentle shove in the direction of the kitchen, after my father had wandered back towards it. 

He soon pulled a pizza out of the oven. 

My mother would make paella; my dad would make pizza, and my sister would order takeout. 

I was off cooking duty for the time being, as my pregnancy made me pretty exhausted in the evenings, and aside from that, I got frustrated when I kept getting pasta sauces on the t-shirt, caused by my protruding bump.