"No, that's not how you get out the vehicle, you must do it with your knees clasped together and pivot. You don't want to show the press your underwear." Maria spoke, Kate chuckled at Amelia's expression, the Duchess watched her cousin attempt to hop out of the car they were using to help Amelia get the hang of leaving it like a royal. Maria gave an exaggerated sigh and looked at the Duchess beside her.
"Let's see if the Duchess has remembered any of her training. Will you give the girl an example please Kate?" Maria asked, Kate, nodded and laughed as she walked towards her cousin who looked at her angrily, but she was joking. She grabbed her cousins' hands and Kate pulled her up. Amelia stood beside Maria and watched her cousin enter the car in a royal way, making sure her dress didn't come up with the wind and flash the two women her underwear.
"Now, pivot," Maria spoke, Kate clenched her knees together and swung out from the car and allowed her feet to land perfectly on the concrete. She had been sure to avoid the seat in front of her otherwise she'd feel the pain instantly from colliding with it the leather. Maria was beside Kate as soon as her feet were on the ground again and she held out her hand. Kate took it and allowed the older woman to pull her up from the seat and allow her to stand in front of Amelia.
"Show off," Amelia muttered, Kate, unfortunately, had heard her and smiled anyway. Knowing that Amelia was only joking, she knew that her cousin would be able to do it with practice. Maria turned to look at the soon to be the wife of Harry, seeing the blonde's eyes looking at the car seat in front of her.
"It's easy, just like that," Maria said
"Kate had practice though," Amelia said
"And you will get better, but to be able to get better you must practice. Otherwise, this is all for naught." Maria said, she reminded Amelia of Queen Ellena from the Disney movie Brave, just in the way she spoke. Sometimes, when Amelia and Harry were able to spend a night together, they'd sit in the living room with a blanket over them and popcorn in between them and watch their favorite Disney movies, Amelia would always be visited by Salem as he had always liked popcorn since he was a kitten, and Amelia knew he wasn't allowed it but sometimes gave him one piece just to let him leave her happy.
Coming back to reality, Amelia tried a few more times until she had finally got it perfect, it seemed that Maria had been impressed with her attempts because she ended her training day then and there, saying she was pleased with the progress Amelia was making and that they would revisit it the same time next week. Amelia and Kate walked into the palace laughing at the attempts Amelia had made to leave the car perfectly, they joked about the fun times they had in college and how much their lives had changed since the boys walked into their lives and stole their hearts. Not that either girl was complaining. Kate was now married to Will, the boy she had loved on and off for at least ten years before Will finally popped the question, and Amelia with Harry.
"So, what do you want to do later?" Kate asked
"Not too sure to be honest, don't you have some engagements to do?" Amelia asked
"Not until tomorrow. I can spend today with you if you'd like, we haven't spent time together just ourselves since before I got married." Kate answered,
"Your right, I'd like that. What should we do? Harry and Will have an engagement together at a local hospital." Amelia said, Kate, nodded.
"That's good, gives us some time to go shopping," Kate said, Amelia let out a laugh as the two girls entered apartment 1B, Salem opened an eye and looked at the pair entering the apartment, he didn't even budge but that didn't bother Amelia, she still loved him no matter what. He had been with her for years, and she knew that one day she would have to let him go. She just hoped that it didn't have to be soon.
"Do you know when the Queen will release the news of your engagement to Harry?" Kate asked as she made herself comfortable on the couch, opposite Salem who seemed to be claiming the entire thing to himself.
"I haven't gotten an official notification, but I'm assuming it will happen soon, before Christmas for sure," Amelia answered, sitting on the couch next to Salem and letting the cat lick her hand in acknowledgment. Kate smiled, she knew the story behind Salem. The cat had been Amelia's companion ever since her parents had died in that fateful car crash in 2005, despite it being years since that awful day Kate knew her cousin missed her parents dearly, she missed them too since they were her aunt and uncle. She was sad to know that her father wouldn't be walking his only daughter down the aisle to her future husband, but she knew that they would be there in spirit just as Diana had been there for her and Will's wedding a few months ago.
"What are you thinking about?" Amelia asked, looking at her cousin as she sat there watching her with Salem.
"I was thinking, let's skip the shopping and stay in and watch movies and eat popcorn. We never get to do that as often now due to me being married to a Prince and you almost being married to one, we could use a relaxing day and not having to worry about the paparazzi following us everywhere we go." Kate spoke, Amelia nodded, taking her cousin's argument in. She made fair points, everywhere they went they were ambushed by the pap's wanting information on how everything's going, and if the rumors of Amelia dating Harry was true, which made Amelia's tour for Les Mes hard because every third question was about Amelia and Harry being together.
"If that's what you really want to do, besides it would be such a hassle anyway, we can shop another day. Maybe even bring the boys with us make a whole day of it." Amelia answered Kate laughed, imagining her husband and her brother-in-law looking in shops while the girls tried on new clothes like dresses and skirts and tops.
"Yes, okay, what are we watching?" Kate asked as she got up to find the popcorn in her brother-in-law's apartment, knowing full well that the soon to be married couple almost always had a movie night. She opened the cupboard to find not only popcorn but sweets, chuckling to herself she pulled out the popcorn and put it in the microwave as Amelia gave suggestions from the living room.
"Well, we've got a few Disney movies, some other movies, we've got a lot to select from," Amelia spoke as she walked into the kitchen seeing her cousin putting some sweets into bowls, she smiled. The pair hadn't had a day like this in ages, she couldn't remember the last time the pair just hung out without the boys hanging around them. Once everything was ready, with the girls having a bowl of popcorn each and a glass of fizzy drink each they sat on the couch and put on Brave.
They were halfway through their fourth movie when the boys walked into the apartment around 4.30 pm. Both had smiles as they saw their girls watching a movie together. The girls looked up and both smiled as they saw the boys watching them. They moved apart on the couch and allowed the boys to sit beside them, Amelia had a blanket over her legs which was big enough to be shared with Harry, leaving Kate cold but she didn't care because she had her husband beside her.
Amelia hitched a breath when she felt a soft hand gently touch her thigh, but she knew he wouldn't do anything else with his brother and sister-in-law in the room. Well, she hoped at least.
"What are we watching," Will said as he wrapped an arm around Kate, allowing her to cuddle into his body.
"We are watching Toys, clearly." Amelia sarcastically said, Will just laughed. That was why Amelia was his best friend, he could handle her sarcasm and fight back sometimes if he had too, otherwise he learned a long time ago that Amelia was almost always right. Keywords almost always. Harry removed his hand from under the blanket and touched the finger that had the red diamond ring on Amelia's hand. He smiled as he circled it, Amelia's attention moved from the movie to her finance who seemed to be remembering his mother when he looked at the ring, making Amelia smile as she watched him. He never said it, but she knew that he missed her every day. Diana had helped make his world seem normal despite being apart of a royal family, make him seem like a commoner, how Amelia's parents had made him feel all those years ago before their untimely death.
Amelia hadn't noticed that Kate and Will had been glancing at the engaged couple beside them, seeing the silent love the pair had for each other. Since they had gotten engaged they showed their love more freely around the married couple. And they loved seeing the pair so happy with each other, it's all they really wanted for the pair. However, they were worried about how well the couple would take the pressure from the tabloids as soon as their engagement was released personally from the Queen, it had taken a toll on their relationship but they had gotten through it. They knew that the pair would survive it and ask for help if they needed it. Kate just knew that she wanted to be a mother at the same time as Amelia and would be willing to wait until that time, Will knew of her plan and thought that they should get some time together as a married couple before having kids anyway because their lives as apart of the royal family are constantly watched. Will smiled as he watched his best friend looking lovingly at her fiancé, he hadn't seen her so happy in years. She never dated again after Dominic, little did he know of the small thing that had happened between Harry and Amelia 5 years ago, but that didn't matter. Because they were living in the present and not the past.
A gentle knock on the door caused the two couples eyes to slid in the direction of the noise, Harry removed the blanket from him and let Amelia tuck herself into it as he moved towards the door. His hand touched the knob and opened it, pulling it in their direction. Outside stood a messenger, seeing the three royals and Amelia on the couch, looking flustered he handed Harry the note, before bowing to the four of them and walking down the hallway he had originally taken. Harry chuckled, closing the door and opening the note that had been clasped in his grandmother's seal.
"Oh, Granny wants to see us." He spoke as he read it, Amelia looked at Will as he spoke
"All of us?" The question on his mouth made Amelia nod, she wasn't sure who Harry was talking about.
"No, just Lia and me. You two can stay here if you want? We won't be long, we promise." Harry said,
"Aren't you going to Buckingham though?" Will said
"She's here actually, in her old study," Harry responded, as Amelia groaned, throwing the blanket in Kate and Will's direction, Will caught it with his quick reflexes and Kate smirked, grabbing the blanket and covering the couple's legs with it. Amelia slowly got up from the couch and playfully glared at Harry.
"I hate you, you have to make it up to me," Amelia said as she fixed her couch hair before letting Harry take her hand
"He will," Kate said, smiling as she tried to hide her smile. Amelia jokingly poked her tongue out at her cousin before letting her fiancé guide her from the room. They walked down the hallway hand in hand, up a flight of stairs and then further down the corridor. Harry stopped at a room Amelia had never been in, but she assumed that it was where Elizabeth was. He knocked on the door and waited for a response from his grandmother who was inside.
"Come in." A quiet voice spoke, letting Amelia and Harry know that they had permission to enter the room, they exchanged a quick reassuring glance before opening the door and walking in. Elizabeth looked up when she heard their footsteps enter the room and smiled, the blonde and the ginger walked towards the Queen.
"Granny," Harry spoke, kissing his grandmother on the cheek when she got up from her desk, she pulled Amelia into a hug and a kiss. She sat down on the couch in the room and gestured to the opposite couch, Harry leads Amelia towards it, both gently sitting down, Amelia, remembering her training and sitting with her legs tightly pressed together and her ankles crossed. Elizabeth noticed and smiled, knowing that the woman's training was going to pay off in the future.
"Can I ask why you called us here Granny? I would've thought we'd have to come to Buckingham." Harry spoke, Elizabeth just smiled,
"I called you here because I wanted your final permission on this release statement. Due to come out tomorrow morning at 10 am." Elizabeth spoke, getting up from her chair and grabbing a piece of paper from her desk that had piles of paper to be looked at. She sat back down and handed it to Harry, who showed it to Amelia, both of them reading as fast as they could.
Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales
and
Amelia Sophie Middleton,
Engaged: 24/12/11
The royal family is pleased to announce that Miss Middleton will be joining the Royal Family in the year 2013
We are pleased to announce their engagement and wish to announce that a wedding date will be picked out very soon.
Amelia looked at Harry and smiled, their engagement was going to become official in the public eyes as soon as it was released tomorrow. Harry looked up at his Granny and nodded
"It's a perfect Granny." He spoke, causing another smile to go across her lips as she looked at the happy couple in front of her.