It was as if that day was playing over and over again. Harry's blood on my hands, his screaming into the white cloth....and Trish's loud sobs as she collapsed to the ground in front of her blood covered boy. Perrie's screams when it clicked that the love of her life was gone from this earth. The breath of life gone from his body.
"No," Perrie whispered, her pale blue eyes going wide when she saw Trish laying on top of Zayn sobbing. "No!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face.
"My baby," Trish sobbed, her gentle hand pressing against the softness of his cheek. "Oh my baby."
I felt the tears welling in my own eyes as I took the sight in before me. The family that I considered myself a part of torn apart by the death of a son. I knew how much Trish adored her only son, and this (like any other child), will undoubtedly tear her apart. Her heart is probably shattered to pieces.
"Your Majesty," Waters said, coming up behind me. "We must return to the palace. Lucas brought Harry to the emergency room."
"Isn't there something we can do?" I whispered, glancing over at the family. "They—"
"I'm afraid not, Queen Emerald," he said softly. "The artisan is gone, I'm afraid. I will call for a team of maids and a new assistant when we get to the castle for you. For now, leave them to grieve."
"But—"
"It's not your family," he reminded me. "We must go. The counsel will want to know what happened with the King."
"How are you feeling?" Harry asked, bringing me out of my thoughts. He was still in the hospital from the gun wound. He had to get some blood and he was unconscious for most of yesterday. He reached over to me with his good arm, his hand stretching over to the swell of my belly.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you?" I asked, teasing.
"I'm fine," he answered. "How are you feeling?" he repeated, his hand gently rubbing up and down my stomach.
"I'm just worried about Trish and her family," I sighed, leaning back into the chair, his hand falling to the side of the bed. "I've never seen so many heartbroken faces in my life."
"It's sad," Harry said, nodding mindlessly.
"His wife's pregnant," I said. "He was going to be a father."
Harry's face fell, and his eyes dropped to his lap and he rubbed his hands together. His eyes looked down at my stomach briefly before looking back up into my blue eyes.
"I didn't know that," Harry said softly. "Did you?"
"Not until that day," I said quietly. "I can't imagine what she's going through."
"I don't want you to, Em," he said, reaching over to me with his good arm. "It was a close call, and it could have been you as well. So don't think about it."
"I can't help it," I said quietly. "I don't know how she is feeling and her screams...they were soul piercing."
He nodded, seeming to understand my thoughts on the subject. A heavy sigh escaped Harry's lips upon the silence that seemed to settle between us. I looked down at my rounding stomach, my hands resting below the curve. Harry's eyes looked over me, as if he were unsure of what to say.
"It's hard to believe Christmas is coming up," Harry noted randomly, changing the subject. "The last Christmas of just the two of us."
"Yeah," I nodded. "It means it's all that much closer. Our lives are changing and it's hard to even begin to think what it's going to be like."
"I know," he said. He waved his hand toward him gesturing me to pull my chair closer. I did so, but he shook his head. "Come sit with me."
"I don't think the doctor or the nurses will like that," I noted to him, a light laugh escaping my mouth.
"I'm their king, I don't care. Besides, I got shot in the arm, I don't see the big deal," he said as he moved over to one side of the bed. I sighed, defeated, and crawling up on the bed beside him. He held my hand as I pushed myself up on the bed and lay beside him, sharing the already small surface.
"To think I won't be able to do this in another month or two," I laughed as Harry's hand returned to my abdomen. He let out a laugh as he looked at his hand that was placed on me.
"I think it's going to be a girl," he said softly.
"How come?" I asked, turning to look at him.
"It would be ironic, actually," he laughed. "Our fathers both thought women had little to no power, and I've now changed the law. Boy or girl, this baby is our heir."
"Yeah," I nodded, settling back against the pillows.
"Imagine if my father were still alive," he laughed. "He'd be screaming at us for changing the law saying a woman has no right to hold power in the monarchy."
"My Dad would be ashamed that I didn't bear a son to stay honorable to my kingdom," I rolled my eyes. "But we wouldn't even be married if your father were alive. We'd be living, but not breathing. Our minds constantly in waves of thoughts of what the other is doing."
"I think about that a lot," he said. "What would have happened if he survived the attack. Would he be forgiving? Or would he have banished you to some other kingdom? I'd like to think he would be a forgiving man and see we really do love each other."
I smiled to him. His eyes were no longer on his hand, but on me. His face neared mine slowly before his warm lips covered mine in a gentle and sweet kiss. I rested my hand on his jaw, the stubble pricking my fingertips as we kissed.
"I'd like to think that, too," I admitted gently. "But we will never have to know."
"Thank God for that," he smiled to me. "I would have liked to have had him meet our baby though. He did love Gemma and me, I know he did. Family was always important to him when we were younger, but the power began to be too much for him. I would have liked to see him take on the role of grandfather." Harry chuckled. "It's weird thinking my Dad's not coming back."
"I know," I breathed. "I keep thinking I'll wake up to my parents whispering in their bedroom or arguing in the kitchen about their problems. My mum is happier though. For that I'm happy," I said, looking over to him. He smiled at me knowing he was a reason for her happiness.
"We're family now, of course I want to make everyone happy."
"We weren't even together then were we?"
"We hadn't slept together yet, but we did do other things," he pointed out. "So I think we were," he laughed.
"We were?"
"The most we'd done by then was look at each other nude and kiss each other," he mentioned. "I remember the way your skin felt that first time I touched your bare skin. Your body was covered in goosebumps. I remember when I cupped your breast, taking your nipple between my fingers and the soft gasp you made at the contact."
I rested my head against his shoulder, watching his hands wave around as he spoke slowly.
"Your breasts are larger now, did you know?" he asked.I let out a soft laugh at his random fact. "And your nipples are darker."
"I did know that," I answered, sitting up. "Comes with growing a child."
"I suppose," he laughed. "It is amazing to see all the changes though. Everything about you is changing, but you're still the same girl I fall more in love with each and every day."
"You love seeing my body become wider?" I teased.
"I love seeing you with our child in your womb," he said, leaning over to kiss my nose gently. "You look happy, and for that, I'm forever and eternally grateful."
"I admit, seeing the roundness of my belly, it makes me anxious for him or her to be here," I laughed. "I want to meet the little person inside of me and see what they look like, which one of us they favor in looks."
"I can't wait to see their personality grow," he said. "I want nothing more than to get to know the person we created and show her what it is liked to grow up with so much love and not have to worry about us forcing her to do something she's not comfortable with."
"So it's officially a girl then?" I teased.
"Shut up," he laughed. "But you get what I'm saying, right?"
"I do,"I nodded. "I can't wait for that either.I just can't wait to see how we change as well."
"We're only going to get stronger," he promised me. "And we're going to fix this damn problem of ours in the next few months. The matter of your not ex-fiance, ex-fiance."
"Complicated is our middle name."
"Yeah," he laughed. "No kidding."