Friday
It was Friday which meant that their week had come to an end and their weekends were free. Evelyn was in a meeting right now with her private secretary, Lara Clarke, as they went over her weekly schedule. She had her planner in front of her along with a customised pen with her name on it that she held in her right hand.
"On Monday you are meeting with Ivy at nine in the morning to go over the fashion show she is having this weekend for victims of the worst wildfires California has seen yet. You will also be meeting with Petra at RSPCA Monday at two-thirty in the afternoon on Tuesday. You also have the event with Heads Together on Tuesday and Harry's fiance, Meghan, will be joining you all as well," she paused as she looked at her boss who had an unreadable expression on her face. "Is everything all right Your Royal Highness? Evelyn?" She said again as all she got was silence.
William and Evelyn always had their weekly meetings together in Lara's office which was downstairs in Kensington Palace.
"Yes," Evelyn cleared her throat as she was snapped out of her thought. "Everything's fine."
"You sure?" Lara asked in concern and William looked at his wife in concern.
"Yes, please continue."
It wasn't really fine though. This would be the first time the Cambridge's would be seeing Meghan since the disaster at the Bridal shop. Evelyn had called Clare and set it up for Victoria to come in Wednesday that week for her fitting. Alex was in primary school and William and Evelyn had dropped him off this morning. He was going to the best private school near them that were very happy to have him. He loved school and loved his friends as well. Evelyn knew at some point they were going to have to tell him about his future but she tried putting it off for as long as possible. She wanted him to stay innocent for as long as possible.
"Right then," Lara continued as William ran his thumb back and forth on Evelyn's hand to help calm her down as he knew she was anxious about seeing Meghan again. Here she preached about how important mental health was and yet she rarely had enough time to practice it due to her busy schedule. She needed to make an appointment with her therapist on how to better handle the situation with Meghan.
*
Since they had come home from their weekend trip, they hadn't really had a chance to chat about what happened with Harry and Meghan. Whilst the kids were still with nanny Sophia, Evelyn turned the pot on and made them some tea and sat down on their sofa to chat about what happened.
"I think it's time we chat about what to do about Meghan," William told his wife.
"Unfortunately, I don't think there is much we can do, Wills. It's not like we can take the kids out of the wedding."
"Why not?" He gave her a funny look. "Alexander doesn't like her and she was absolutely horrid to Victoria."
"I know," she ran her hand up and down his arm. "But you more than anyone know what a scene that will cause. How that will not only make us look bad but the children as well."
"You're right, I know," he let out a deep sigh. "I had a meeting with grannie about it all and she said she would call Meghan in for a meeting to chat about what happened and said she wants us there."
"Really?" Evelyn's eyes grew wide. "Has grannie said what she will chat about?"
"No, only that she thanked us for bringing it to her attention and she will deal with it accordingly," he said as he held her hand.
"I think the best thing to do is have the kids stay in the wedding," Evelyn said carefully as she ran her hand up and down her husband's forearm to keep him calm. "We just have to go with it now. Besides, it's too late in the wedding planning, Wills. We're less than a month away. I know though that after the wedding I want to limit how much time I spend with her unless I have to. Is that all right?" She asked anxiously.
"Of course, love," he told her as he then moved her gently to sit on his lap and she straddled him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "No one can fault you for that, not even grannie. She won't blame you or make you do anything that you don't want to do. Except for when we have to be with Meghan which is for all the major events. I love you and our kids so much that I will do anything to protect our family."
"I love you too, William," she leaned forward to place her lips on his. "You know we still have an hour before the kids come home from school," Evelyn said as she played with the buttons of his shirt and undid them.
"Yeah?" He smiled at his wife as he tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear.
"Still okay with one more?" She asked her husband who instead of talking, he leaned forward and entered
"Fuck me, William," she groaned.
"With pleasure," he smirked and picked his wife up to carry her to their bedroom.
*
After they had sex, they were still cuddling in their bed as she peppered kisses along his collarbone and along his shoulder as he soothingly ran his hand up and down her arm.
Her mobile was blowing up and she groaned as she constantly heard it ring.
"Make it stop," he groaned as he continued to place kisses all over her neck as she let out of a sigh of content.
"William," she shrieked as he took her nipple in his mouth and swirled his tongue around it. "I have to get up to get my mobile."
"Fine," he grumbled and detached her nipple from his mouth which made her laugh slightly.
Her mobile was blowing up and she wondered who was texting her now. Her eyes widened as she saw forty unread messages from Ivy, Caroline Fleming, Shannon, Kate, Pippa, Ellie, Vivienne, and Mia. A few years ago she met Caroline and instantly loved her. She loved her quirkiness and her donkey-like laugh. Even though she was born into an aristocratic family but she never let that stop her from being her. She surrounded herself with close friends she knew she could trust. They even made friends with some American's a few years back - Nicole and Jesse. They were famous on YouTube for their Vlogs but never exploited nor used the friendship they had with the Royal couple. Every year they always had a Friendsgiving for Thanksgiving to make them feel more at home being in London. Of course, they were still friends with Elisabeth and Sebastian, Thomas and Michael as well as the friends they made living in Wales.
Caroline: I think we need a girls night out.
Ivy: God, yes. When?
Vivienne: If its this weekend I can!
Caroline: Same! D'you think Evelyn can?
The messages went on from there. Before she wrote them back though she wanted to chat with William and make sure it was okay. He's watched the kids before alone but she wanted to make sure he wasn't doing anything himself.
"William?"
"Yeah, Eve?" He answered her.
"The girls were wanting to get together tomorrow night at seven. Is that okay?" She asked.
"Yeah, I don't have anything going on tomorrow. Where're you going?"
"The Croc Bowling Alley in Chelsea," she tells him.
"Isn't that the one inside Firmdale Hotel?" He questioned.
Typically, they weren't able to make plans with their friends the same weekend something was going on, but this was the first time in a long time they were able to.
"The same one."
"That's fine with me. I can watch the kids for the night."
"You are a brave man and I love you for it," she told him as he laughed at her comment.
"I love you too," he told her honestly as he leaned forward and kissed her and entered her once more before the kids got home.
*
"I'm here, bitches," Ivy announced herself in as she made it through the doors of the bowling alley.
Evelyn was wearing jeans, a navy blue blouse and ankle booties. She was also wearing a black long-sleeved cardigan since it felt cosy to her. Her blonde hair was down straight in a blowout and a sweet red glass of wine is in her hand as she was chatting with Nicole. They would have invited Eugenie but unfortunately they weren't as close as they used to be. Apparently she had made a comment to Ivy one night whilst she was drunk about Evelyn and Ivy being the best friend wanted to protect Eve so she never told her what was said about her. From then on, Eugenie started to distance herself more and more from the group.
Thankfully, Beatrice still was apart of the group and there were no hard feelings.
Evelyn let out a shriek of excitement as she excused herself from Nicole and ran to Ivy to give her a big hug.
"I'e missed you," Evelyn told her best friend after they hugged.
"I've missed you too," Ivy said with her thick Scottish accent.
"I promise not to talk about any work after this but I'm meeting with you on Monday at nine in the morning."
"I know! Lara had called me a few weeks ago, love. Quite excited about that," she hugged her best friend again. "I need some wine."
Yes, Ivy and Jake were still together. She was actually currently engaged which was quite funny to their inner circle as they had told everyone that marriage wasn't for them. Everyone was super happy for them though that after years of dating they decided to get married. They were having their wedding in Scotland for July 17th and the Cambridge's had already reserved that date for them. At this point they were just as married as the Cambridge's and Eric and Kate. William and Evelyn usually go to go Scotland around that time anyway so it wasn't putting them out of their schedule.
"I need to get drunk tonight," Evelyn told her group of friends to which they cheered.
"You and me both," Nicole said in agreement.
Whenever she was with Evelyn, she never had her camera out to vlog for her YouTube channel with her husband Jesse. That wasn't what their friendship was and she never wanted Evelyn or William to think that.
"Okay, let's get everyone's name in and then we can start," Caroline said as Evelyn sat on her lap.
They put in everyone's name and the game began as the group was then brought over pizza.
"I haven't seen her this care free in a whilst," Kate told Beatrice.
"I know. I feel bad for her. How d'you think it's going with her and Meghan, really? Because whenever I see them I can see the fakeness from Meghan a mile away..." she trailed off.
"Not good," Kate murmured to her. "I know she tries to put on a front that everything's okay because you know we're supposed to have that stiff upper lip but she needs to feel like she has a safe space with all of us to talk about what's been going on without feeling judged."
"I agree. Maybe I'll set up a reservation time when I know Evelyn is free for afternoon tea at The Berkeley? That way we can let her know we're here for her and she can come to us about anything. I just won't invite my sister," Beatrice said.
Beatrice hated the divide between Eugenie and Evelyn especially since they used to be so close. Unfortunately, Eugenie was letting Meghan come in between her friendship with Evelyn, which really saddened Beatrice, Kate and Ivy.
"I think Eve would love it. But we can't make it seem like we're setting her up. It needs to come from a place of love."
"I agree completely," Beatrice nodded her head as she sipped her alcoholic beverage. Kate was the only one not drinking tonight since she was pregnant.
Beatrice knew better than anyone first hand how to act as a Royal. Especially The Queen's rule of never complain, never explain. Whilst she loved her grannie, she didn't agree with everything she expected of the family. She felt that something her grannie failed to do was to bring the family into the twenty-first century with being able to relate to the public and that meant dealing with mental health and any other problems that should come about. That's what she loved about Evelyn and what made her so relatable to the public was that she was able to do that and that she hoped Meghan could do. But like Evelyn (without knowing it), they shared the same doubts about Meghan. Was she really wanting to marry Harry because she loved him and wanted to help the Royal family? Or was she in it for all the wrong things? She had heard rumours and none that were so good about Meghan. People talked in London since it was small.
"Let's join the rest of the group, shall we?" Kate asked Bea who nodded her head in agreement that they were on the same page and the conversation would take place another time.
The women always had a blast with each other as Evelyn and Caroline started to dance when she got a strike.
"Ladies, may I present to you, the Duchess of Cambridge," Ivy slurred her words and fell off the chairs, laughing. They weren't sure who was more drunk at this point - Evelyn or Ivy? Either way it made the group laugh.
"Thank you, thank you," she did a wave and then went into a fit of giggles.
It was now Caroline's turn and though she didn't get a strike she did manage to knock down half the pins.
"Woo," Evelyn cheered.
Kate didn't get any as she went and the ball went into the gutter.
"Aww boo," Evelyn pouted. "Wah wah wahhh."
Caroline nudged her shoulder at how funny Evelyn was being tonight whilst Kate just shook her head.
"Way to be a supportive sister, Eve," she called to her.
"She's supportive to me," Vivienne jokingly said and Evelyn kissed her cheek and hugged her.
"I love you," Evelyn told her sister.
"I love you too," Vivienne told her.
"Ha ha," Kate laughed as the ball came out of the shoot and she went again this time and she knocked down quite a few pins this time which the girls cheered at.
Evelyn was eating her pizza and wings whilst they were all chatting.
"We're having bag pipes at the wedding," Ivy was telling Mia as she discussed her wedding with Evelyn's sister-in-law. "We're so excited."
"There's going to be bag pipes?" Evelyn exclaimed drunk to which she and Caroline did a little dance. "I luv that," she slurred slightly.
Nicole laughed at their gesture but it was more of a mixture between a snort and a laugh.
"She just snorted!" Evelyn yelled and kissed Nicole on the cheek.
She loved her group and all their quirks between Nicole snorting when she laughs and Caroline's donkey laugh or Evelyn's lame dancing skills, everyone had something that wasn't perfect and that was what Evelyn loved. In a world with the Royal family where perfection was almost expected and if you did something that wasn't following the rules, you would get blasted by the tabloids for doing so.
She supposed that's why she was so shocked that Meghan was wanting to not have the bridesmaids wear hosiery because she knew how much hate Meghan was getting being an American and an actress nonetheless. She was doing it to help Meghan out and she thought that Meghan would have understood that but apparently she didn't. Instead she decided to be rude to her daughter and she wasn't okay with that.
"I think William is going to hate us tomorrow morning and tonight," Beatrice commented to Ivy as she thought about her cousin.
"Gotta love that man. He's a true prince and not just because of his title," Ivy told her and Beatrice agreed. "Always helps her out. She did good in having him as a partner."
It was now the end of the night after hours of partying and having fun at the bowling alley. They made a stop at Vivienne's apartment and Evelyn kissed her sister's cheek as she went up to the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Paul. He was also a doctor specializing in cardiology where they worked at St. Thomas' Hospital. They had only been dating for three months and so far Evelyn was the only one to meet him but all of that was changing tomorrow night for Sunday family dinner night.
She liked Paul for her sister and after she had been through a lot of heartbreak she deserved the kind of love that Evelyn had with William.
"Love you, see you tomorrow!" Vivienne told her sister, Kate and Mia.
"Love you, see you tomorrow!" They yelled.
Then they pull up to the familiar gates of Buckingham Palace and the guard stopped the limo as the driver told the guards that Evelyn was in the limo and he opened the gates, already previously knowing her whereabouts. Beatrice was with her as Evelyn could barely walk straight.
The butler was at the door and bowed to both even if she was drunk and wouldn't remember it tomorrow.
"Hello, kind sir," Evelyn slurred her words and began to laugh. "Love you, Henry."
Henry just ignored it, knowing she was drunk and walked away.
"Let's go," Beatrice told her cousin by marriage.
"This is my home," Evelyn shouted as she ran through the corridors but then tripped. "Ow. That really fucking hurt."
"You all right?" Beatrice ran over to her best friend and helped her up.
"I'm okay," she groaned. "Beatrice?"
"Yeah?" She asked.
"D'you want to build a snowman?" She started singing with slurred words and loudly.
"Oh God," Beatrice groaned. It seemed as though this happened after Evelyn had kids she would always sing Disney songs when she would get really drunk. "Let's get you to your home."
Beatrice knocked on William and Evelyn's door and heard William's voice. It was midnight now and she was sure her cousin was tired but she always thought it was sweet that both him or Evelyn stayed up if either was out with friends dinking. They were relationship goals to Beatrice.
"Love you, Bea," Eve slurred and kissed her cheek.
"Love you too," Bea kissed her cheek. Bea was probably the least drunk out of everyone as she hadn't wanted to get drunk.
"I've got her," William told his cousin and thanked her. "D'you want to spend the night? It's pretty late..."
"Oh no," Beatrice waved a hand. "I should get going. Edoardo is home so I'm spending time with him tomorrow."
"Right, have a safe drive home. Love you," William told her and she left.
"Shh, the kids are sleeping," William told her and she closed her mouth and put a hand over her mouth but she was laughing through her hand and William started to as well. He could smell the alcohol on her breath.
He could only imagine how he was drunk. He had heard stories from his wife and his friends but never really remembered. He helped undress her and she started getting handsy and tried taking off his trunks.
"Not tonight, love," William told his wife as she was wanting to have sex with him and she pouted. "How about tomorrow when you're sober?"
Instead of speaking, she nodded her head and got in the covers of the bed as he kissed her goodnight.
*
The next morning she woke up was a bitch. Why did she drink so much when she was meeting with The Queen today? She shot out from the covers of their bed and ran to the loo as she threw up in the sink since it was the closest thing to her.
William woke up as he rubbed his eyes and met his wife in the loo and held her hair as he soothingly ran a hand up and down her back as she threw up.
"God why did I do that?" She asked as she had a pounding headache.
"I'll be right back," he told his wife after she was done and she brushed her teeth to get the icky taste out.
He came back with a bottle of coconut water and Tylenol for her and she drank it as fast as she could because she didn't want to have a bad attitude in front of the kids for talking loudly in the morning. She then took the pill and tipped her head back as she swallowed it and drank her water.
William decided to make breakfast this morning and he made both him and Evelyn egg omelette's and the kids were given a yogurt parfait. He cut up the fruit and granola for the kids since he didn't want them to get stuck in their throats.
"Thank you, sweetheart," Evelyn kissed her husband and gave him a few pecs.
"Ew," Spencer scrunched up his nose.
"What?" Evelyn pulled away from her husband and made her way to her son. "D'you want kisses?"
"No," he giggled and Evelyn loved that sound as she placed a bunch of kisses to his cheek as he shrieked and then she did the same to all of her kids.
"I have some presents I wanted to give you three," Evelyn tells them and they get excited as their mum goes to the study real quick to get the Harry Potter gifts and comes back with the parcels.
They help Spencer and Victoria open theirs as Alexander is able to get his out of the parcel.
"I love it," Victoria smiles and hugs her Hedwig.
"Cool," Alexander comments at his Niffler and Spencer with his Buckbeak plush. "Thanks mum!"
"Your welcome, darlings," she kissed them again. "Nanny Louise is coming over soon to spend time with you three whilst your dad and I have a meeting with grannie."
"Grannie," Victoria squeals.
Victoria loved her great grandma and had a special relationship with her than any of the other great grandchildren.
"That's right, sweetheart," William said as he ran his fingers down his daughters brunette hair and her blue eyes sparkled.
If you were to ask Evelyn who her children looked like she would say Alexander was an exact replica of William whereas Spencer looked a bit more like both William and Evelyn. He had Evelyn's natural blonde hair whereas Victoria had brunette hair and Evelyn's eyes that were that cerulean blue colour with a bit of green to them.
They heard a knock on the door and they knew it was Nanny Louise. She was feeling better and thank God for that since Sophia was out of town with her boyfriend this weekend.
"Thanks for coming over, we appreciate it so much," William told her as he let her in.
"No problem," she smiled at him and the kids rushed over to greet Nanny Lou which was their nickname for her.
"You ready to go, Stormy?" William asked his wife after his wife changed.
"Yeah," she nodded her head and they gave hugs and kisses to their kids before leaving.
Evelyn and William walked together along the corridors as her heart pounded against her chest. There were two ways this meeting could go. The first is that if Meghan were humble and knew what she did was wrong. Secondly, because this was a meeting with The Queen there was a chance she could become defensive and act as if Evelyn were lying.
"Be strong," William murmured to his wife quietly before they reached The Queen's office and they noticed Meghan sitting in the chair that was outside.
The Queen's private secretary came out to let them know that they could come in.
Very little had changed in The Queen's office. The only thing that had changed was that there were new pictures of William and Evelyn together and then ones with their kids and the newest of Meghan and Harry's engagement pictures. William bowed his head whilst Evelyn and Meghan curtsied. She still wasn't used to having to curtsy to The Queen in private as she always thought it was in public to fit the role. The Queen did not look happy as she had an unreadable look on her face but Meghan knew it wasn't good and she swallowed thickly. Harry wasn't able to be here today as he was at an engagement so she was on her own and no Harry to help her out of getting in trouble.
"I brought you all in because in all the years that I've known Evelyn there has never been this kind of drama before within the family. It has been brought to my attention that there was an incident at Givenchy for the wedding. Is that correct?"
Meghan nodded her head, almost enthusiastically. Thank God someone understood her and knew that she didn't do anything wrong. Besides, The Queen loved her, despite how she acted about not getting her way with that beautiful emerald tiara.
"Before I tell you three what will happen, do you have anything you wish to add, Meghan?" The Queen asked as her feet dangled from the chair.
"I didn't do anything wrong," Meghan said with shock. "If anything it was Evelyn. She was the one who made me cry."
"I figured this would happen. It's a shame, really, that you can bully a two year-old who is fourth in line to the throne, yet when you get caught, you can't own up to what you did. Now, I did place a call through to Givenchy and spoke with Clare Keller," she spoke quietly but with great strength.
"But they signed an NDA," Meghan exclaimed as she interrupted The Queen.
"The NDA is so that they will not leak information to the public such as the tabloids. The NDA is not for keeping information from me," she stated firmly and Meghan kept quiet. "I can handle you getting upset about not getting the tiara you wanted, but I am not okay with you asking a mother if her two-year-old can go on a diet. I don't know how they do it in the States but I am sure they do not ask young children to go on diets. I will not allow that kind of behaviour to go on here and you need to know your place, Meghan. Now, I like you, but I did not appreciate hearing this. There will be no punishment but I expect you learn from this and if you are to marry in this family, you are to know we are a close-knit family. I know that you are not used to that but you ought to get comfortable with the idea. I do expect an apology to Evelyn and I will be closely watching you to make sure this doesn't happen again," she told Meghan who nodded her head.
"Sorry," she muttered to her soon to be sister-in-law but Evelyn knew she was only sorry that The Queen found out about it. She wasn't really sorry for what she said. If she were she would have looked her in the eyes and spoken clearly but The Queen was pleased with it and so Evelyn had to be as well.
"Thank you," Evelyn said, but not convinced her apology was real.
*
Sunday nights were reserved for dinner for her family and William's and her private secretary knew that. They never had something scheduled then unless it were important.
"I want to show you two something," Peter told Evelyn and Kate as they held Caroline and Victoria.
"What is it, dad?" She asked confused.
He led them to their second car parking garage that he had turned into his wood-making shed. In the spare time he had, he loved making things.
On the table were small trinkets and Evelyn could swear she felt her heart melting into a puddle of goo. Her dad was one of the best and she never took it for granted as she knew not everyone had good parents.
"What do you say to your papa?" Evelyn and Kate said to their daughters.
"Tank you," Victoria hugged her grandpa's legs and he picked them both up and hugged them.
It really was amazing what Evelyn's dad could make out of wood. Everyone said he should start selling them but he didn't want to. This was something he did for fun and he loved it.
--
Happy Thanksgiving to those whose celebrate! Did anyone watch the parade? If so, what was your favorite balloon/float? I really loved the Chocolate Factory float.
What was your favorite part of the chapter?