I open the cupboard and take out a glass before filling it with water. I take it back to Ella who's in the living room with mom. The moment we reached here, I called mom and told her everything that happened. She immediately came back.
When I walk in they're both sitting on the couch with mom's arm around Ella and she's leaning into her. I hand her the glass of water, saying.
"I'll go check on Rose and Leo."
Mom nods her head as I leave and walk to my room. Rose is on the bed and Leo's leaning over her making funny faces. These are making Rose smile. I sit down next to Leo.
"Is mommy alright?" He asks, turning to face me, his face serious all of a sudden.
I sigh and pull him onto my lap. "She's alright."
"Really?" He asks, playing with his hands.
"Mmhmm." I nod my head. "Are you having fun with Rose?"
He eagerly nods his head. "Yes, but can't she speak?"
I laugh at this. "No, Leo. She's a baby. Babies can't talk."
"Does Rose have a little brother?" He asks, looking at me.
This drains all the happiness from my body, making my smile droop. I close my eyes for a brief second to gather my thoughts and they reply.
"No. Why do you ask?"
"Mommy said I'm going to have a little brother or sister!" He tells me happily, smiling at me.
"What?" I whisper, shocked.
He just looks at me for a moment before scrambling off my lap and to Rose again. Then he resumes his duty of making weird faces and making her smile.
I leave the children and go back to the living room where Ella's now talking to mom.
"Leo just said something." Then I quickly add. "Unintentionally, of course."
"What?" Mom asks on Ella's behalf while she herself looks at me.
"He..." I sigh and then get to the question. "Are you pregnant?"
"What?" Mom asks surprised and then turns to look at Ella.
More tears are streaming down her cheeks again, confirming the fact.
"Oh Ella!" I say, softly before sitting down on her other side and wrapping my arms around her as she sobs into my shoulder.
After a few minutes once she's sobered down and stopped crying, she explains.
"It's the middle of my second month. We both were just so happy about adding another member to our family but...but he...did what he did." She explains, resting her elbows on her knees and covering her face with her hands.
Mom rubs her back for a moment and then says. "I'm going to go get some groceries, okay?"
"Alright. Maybe you should take Leo with you just to get his mind off things." I say.
"Right. Leo!" She calls out, bringing him running to us.
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William
The driver stops the car outside her mother's house and then opens the door for me. I step out and straighten my coat before walking up to the front door and knocking.
A minute passes before Ella opens the door.
"Hi." She mumbles.
"Hey. How are you?" I ask her, following her in after closing the door.
"Fine." She sniffs.
After a moment's pause, I ask. "Where's Cassandra?"
"Feeding Rose." She replies, gesturing towards her bedroom door.
"I'll just wait here then." I tell her.
She walks out leaving me alone. I take a seat on one of the kitchen stools. I place the laptop which I'm carrying and go through the documents which Harrison asked me to before coming here.
After a few minutes I hear Ella say. "I need to talk to you."
I look up from the laptop screen to find her standing in front of me across the counter. "Sure." I say, slightly lowering the screen.
"Just don't hurt her." She says.
"Who?" I ask, confused.
"Cassy, you idiot!" She exclaims.
Wow! Calling me an idiot. She really does have guts. Though, I don't really care since she's family.
"What do you mean?" I ask, still confused.
She sighs and rubs her swollen eyes. "The men in our family have a record of hurting women. Look at what dad did to mom. It destroyed her."
She continues. "And...now, look at me. Look at what... what my husband...has done to me."
She pauses letting me absorb what she just said.
"Look, Cassandra might be twenty-two and a royal mother now but she's still the youngest member of our family. She's my little sister and I might get over this but I won't if she gets hurt."
She looks at me for a moment before averting her eyes.
"Just don't ever give her a reason to hurt."
With this she leaves the room again, but this time leaving me with a thousand thoughts in my head.
Why did she say that? Did I do something? She does have a point. But why?
-----------------------------------
Back to Cassandra.
I finish feeding Rose and pull down my shirt before kissing her cheek and rubbing my nose against hers. I've found out that this makes her smile like crazy.
A knock sounds of the door and I call out. "Come in."
The door opens and William steps in.
"Hey." I greet him.
"Hey." He replies, sitting down next to me on the bed and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "How's your family doing?"
She sighs and shakes her head. "Not good at all. Ella might have gained self-control, but still she's hurting. And as for mom, she's shocked, unhappy...I don't know how to describe it."
He kisses my head and then looks at me. "It's going to be alright."
I smile at him as he kisses my lips. I take out a hand from under Rose and press it to his cheek. Pulling away he presses his lips to my forehead.
"I have to go back to discuss a few points with father before a meeting scheduled for tomorrow." He tells me.
"I'm going back with you." I say.
"Alright but if you want to stay then I raise no objection." He tells me.
I smile at him. "I know but Rose has a routine there now and besides, I think it's best to give Ella some space to adjust to life again."
After five minutes, we say goodbye to Ella and leave the house before getting into the car and heading back to the palace.
The chapter's in dual perspective! From here onwards the rest of the story is going to be from Cassandra's P.O.V again.
Only four more updates to go till the end!
I have some major tests coming up in two weeks. I need to focus on them but I also want to finish the story before they begin. So, I'll be updating every five days again.
There are 13 songs in the playlist right now, any more suggestions before the story ends? Please do let me know and I'll add it to the list!
AND thank you so much for getting the story to no. 6 in ChickLit! Yaay! :')
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