EDIT BY @mesmereyes
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I was sitting with Waliyha as she sorted through Louise's old notes. I had Felix in my lap sleeping. My hand ran over his small backside as he slept. The patio door in the room was open to let the warm breeze in. I was mostly here to keep her company as she learned how to do what Louise should have known how to do.
"I think it's admirable that Harry offered her the job," Trish said as she folded my clothes. "It's a well-paying job for her. I won't have to worry."
"It was my idea, actually," I smiled. "I couldn't think of someone better than Waliyha. You guys are like my family, and I felt bad for her. It was mostly you and Don doing my dresses, she got the small tasks. She's an adult, and should have an adult job."
"In other words, if I want a new job, I'll be getting a killer letter of recommendation," Waliyha grinned.
"I don't think you can top working alongside the Queen," Don laughed. She smoothed out a few of my gowns. "This is the best job you can get in the palace. You're getting more money than us."
"Am I?" Waliyha asked. "How much more?"
"About thirty grand more a year," Harry said walking in the room. "Hi ladies."
"I didn't know that," she whispered she stood up giving Harry and curtsey.
"What are you doing here?" I asked. I grabbed the schedule on Waliyha's folder and looked at it. He wasn't supposed to meet me until lunch. He was supposed to be in his office most of the day.
"Not penciling you in," he smiled.
"I heard you two had a fight the other night," Trish said giving the two of us a look. "Everything alright?"
"Yes," "We're working on it," We replied at the same time. I looked at him with wide eyes. I'm sure you can gather who said what.
"Hmm," she said. "I've also heard it was a serious argument."
"You could say that," I nodded. "Waliyha, Don, could you leave for a few moments? I think your mum wants to talk to us alone."
"Of course, Emerald," Doniya said. She neatly placed my clothes on the foot of our bed and ushered her younger sister out of the room. Trish sat where Waliyha once was sitting and waved to the empty chair.
"Where are your sources?" Harry asked.
"You should know that your own home is the gossip wagon, dear," she said. "You were arguing about children."
"He refuses to talk about it," I said. "That's all."
"I told you this the other night, I don't think now is the time to be having children for us. I'm not prepared for them," he said.
"Really? This is all about you?" I asked. "Because this isn't just you in our marriage. It's both of us, we need to make decisions together. We made a promise to your family, and the council mind you, that since we consummated our marriage prior to us actually getting married we would have a baby or have one on the way come next June."
"We have eleven months!"
"We still need to talk about it!"
"Wow," Trish said, her eyes wide. "The honeymoon phase sure did pass."
Her interruption caused the two of us to be silent. I crossed my arms and slumped in my chair while staring at Trish. She let out a deep breath and looked at the both of us.
"Look," She began. "Marriage is not an easy task, and it's a forever thing. I know you two love each other, but for God's sake, talk it out. You both need to be more understanding of each other's motives and thoughts. Whatever you do from June sixth until the day you die, it impacts each other. It's especially hard on the both of you for two reasons. One, you are both in charge of something more important than a small business. Two, you're young."
"See?" Harry asked gesturing to Trish.
"I'm not saying you're too young, Harry. You're just young. I've seen how a marriage in the palace works. I've been in the palace since Emerald's mother stayed here, and I watched your parents' relationship blossom. I know what can ruin a marriage," she said looking at Harry.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "I'm nothing like him."
"No, you're not," she said. "But you've started out your marriage like your parents. Two week holiday and then you came back and put yourself to work. You didn't ease into it like you should have," she explained.
"How else was I going to run this kingdom?"
"You have the council, Harry," Trish said. "Your father rarely used them. He used them for military only, but they're there to help. Use them to take some time to spend with your wife. Use them to allow you to talk with Emerald about your future. Yes, your future has been decided, but you both still need to talk about it."
"When do you think is a good time for them?" Harry asked.
"Well, my husband and I had Doniya nine months after the honeymoon," she said, a blush crept onto her cheeks. "I think your parents were the same, Harry. Same with you Emerald."
I nodded, looking down at my hands.
"I don't think having kids is a bad thing at a young age," she said. "It's a scary thing, but they bring so much joy to life. My husband and I were together three years when we got married. We didn't plan on having Don right away, but it happened. It gave us the purpose to wake up in the morning and not have sex every waking minute of the day."
"Your point is?" Harry asked.
"My point is," she sighed. "Kids aren't a bad thing. I know Emerald still doesn't know if she can have kids. Harry, you have reservations, I get that. I think you two just need to let this whole argument sit out and then rejoin and talk about the idea. If Emerald is pregnant when the idea is revisited, just remember, it happens for a reason."
Harry stared at the table blankly. I silently thanked Trish who silently got up from the table and resumed doing her chores, finishing putting away the stuff Doniya had left behind. I got up from my own seat and poured myself another cup of tea. I sat back down at the table and stirred my tea as I watched my husband silently.
"You know," he began as soon as Trish stepped out of the room. "You don't have to have other people fight our battles."
"That was not what it was, Harry," I said. "Trish did that all on her own, not me. I didn't even mention it to her."
"Yes you did," Harry said. "Why is this so important to talk about a month after we got married? That's what I don't understand."
"Because," I said. "Because I wanted to start thinking about it. It is important that we do think about it, H."
"We have plenty of time to have kids, Emerald. Why can't we just enjoy our lives together right now? We're still figuring out who we are as a unity, I just don't think adding kids to our already bumpy beginning to marriage."
"It's only bumpy because you won't talk to me about this. You keep yourself shut in your office and ignore the problems between us. That's why it's been the way it is," I explained.
"I'm not ignoring it. I just don't think right now is the time we need to be thinking about it," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"You don't think it's worth thinking about?" I asked.
"No! F.uck," he groaned. "Look, I just think we can wait some time before we revisit like Trish said."
"Fine," I nodded. "But it's something we should talk about."
"I know, Emerald," he said. "But I'm 21, you're 20. I just think we have some extra time before kids come into the picture."
I nodded, standing up and took my cup into the kitchen placing it in the sink. I could feel Harry's eyes on my back, just watching me. I went back into the other room, Harry had the cat in his lap stroking its back gently.
"Em," he said. "You have to know I'm trying. I am, and I plan on trying for the rest of our lives. You're the love of my life, and I never plan on letting you go. We'll get through this little hurdle if you'll let me in."
"I always let you in."
"You've been just as closed off as I've been silent in this whole situation. You bring it up, but you don't explain why it's so important to you that we talk about it. I want to understand you, Emerald," he said pushing the cat off his lap gently. "You're not giving me a whole lot of room to understand."
"I don't know," I shrugged. "I feel like we should have a plan."
"I'm sorry, but there has to be more than that," he said. "I'm serious."
"I feel like having a plan and a timeline of when we do have kids will help us better prepare ourselves. I never meant we had to start trying immediately. Your family would like us to have a baby on the way by June of next year," I explained. "I think we should keep that in mind."
"Okay," he nodded. "I do see your point, but for now, do you think we could enjoy a nice afternoon I had planned?"
"Sure," I nodded. "Sounds good."
"Change into shorts and a t-shirt."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Harry drove down the familiar road to the meadow. The last time I was down here was when we went ice skating and made love in the car. I could tell Harry was excited to be out of the palace because a large, boyish grin was on his face. He parked the car near the line of trees keeping the windows rolled down.
"What's that for?" I asked.
"I picked out some of my favorite songs from some old movies," he said holding his music player up. He plugged it in and clicked the playlist on. "All the songs are the best."
"Sure," I giggled hopping out of the car.
I looked down at my outfit, my hands running over the cheap fabric. I felt more comfortable in this crop top and jean shorts than I did wearing the thick cotton skirts and dresses. The two dollar flip-flops clad to my feet made me feel happy as well. The most expensive thing I wore was the wedding ring that rested on my left hand ring finger.
Harry grabbed a blanket and put it on the grass. He walked to the back of the car and retrieved the picnic basket as well before sitting down on the blanket. He reached to grab my hand and pulled me down beside him. I lay my head down on his lap. He shook as he tapped his foot to the music that was playing.
"What are you doing?" I giggled.
"Am I annoying you?" he asked.
"You're making me regret sitting here."
He sang along with the song doing some sort of dance with his hands. A silly, lopsided grin was on his lips as he sang along. I liked his singing voice, it was low and raspy. The passion in his voice made me stare up at him with wide, and entranced eyes.
"What?" he asked, his hand resting against my cheek gently.
"You have a nice singing voice."
"I have a song I want to dance to with you," he said pulling me up.
He ran over to the truck and changed the song. I watched as he pulled his shirt off. I gave him a bewildered look. He took long strides over to me and pulled me against him. I gasped as his hands ran over my bare stomach. He swayed us side to side. His hand gently pushed my head to the side, and his lips hovered just above my neck.
"What are we doing?"
"Improvising," he whispered as he took hold of both of my hands and raised them above our heads.
One of my hands he draped over his shoulder and the other one was held in his hand. His hips moved against my backside as we danced to the beat of the music. He spun me around to face him. He pulled me close to him, his hand resting against my bare back. He dipped me and swung me as he stayed mostly upright. He pulled me back up to his chest.
"Since when could you dance?"
"Never knew I really could," he laughed. "Thank my favorite films."
"Promise me that no matter what happens, we'll always try to work it out."
"Promise."