"This dress looks so beautiful on you," Kate spoke, as the pair went through the shop that had closed just for them for a few hours for their own protection. Amelia walked towards her cousin and saw the dress that she was holding, Sarah walked towards them, being an exclusive designer from Alexander McQueen's branch of fashion meant that she always had the best dresses Kate loved to wear, which meant thousands more woman would be fighting to have the dress that very same day.
"You think? Is it too long for a garden party?" Amelia spoke as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, Kate shook her head, Amelia looked at Sarah who smiled
"It's beautiful, Kate's right. It's just perfect for the garden party." She said, Amelia smiled, feeling more comfortable with both woman's confirmation on the dress, she wanted to make a good impression for her first public appearance as Harry's fiancé and not as Kate's maid of honor or cousin.
"Okay, I think I'll get it." She said, Kate and Sarah exchanged a glance, Amelia looked at the pair of them in the mirror, seeing their exchange.
"What is it?" She said,
"Nothing, it's just, a check was sent to me earlier this morning for the exact amount that that dress costs, I think someone already knew beforehand," Sarah said,
"Harry," Amelia spoke, Kate smiled, she loved that Harry had gotten to know his fiancé's clothing choices over the years so much that he knew she was going to chose that dress. Only because she had seen it in the window that night they had gone for their first public dinner as an engaged couple and not as friends. She looked in the mirror, looking at the dress that she had on, it was perfect for a royal event. It had long sleeves, she wasn't showing any cleavage which was against the rules, she knew she would need to wear tights, just because it was a royal protocol if the dress was shorter than ankle-length, she would be able to get away with it if it was at ankle length but since it's not and she wanted to wear it, she would need to wear them.
"Yes we get it, you love the dress, come on. Let's get out of here while we can so we don't get spotted." Kate said she had already found her garden party dress. It was a beautiful floral pink dress, she already had a hat heading to Kensington Palace for the day as well, Amelia had found the perfect one as well.
"Okay, just let me get changed and we'll head out, you hungry?" Amelia asked as she closed the curtain to get changed into the outfit she had worn into Sarah's shop, just some jeans and a top that would hopefully be discreet enough that attention wasn't drawn on her.
"We can just go through McDonald's drive-thru, and get the boys something too, don't want to bring attention to ourselves," Kate answered once Amelia left the changing room and was fixing her hair, Amelia nodded, knowing Kate's reasoning for being discreet about where they wanted to go for lunch.
"Sweet, thanks again Sarah for everything. I'll come by sometime to see if I need anything more." Amelia said the designer nodded. She had no objection to helping out two royals, well one almost royal and the other recently married for a year. But she didn't know when the royal couple was getting married. She also knew the consequences she would face if she released anything against Duchess Kate and Amelia Middleton, the soon to be Duchess.
"Any time, I enjoy your company. This job does get a bit boring sometimes. But I love it." Sarah said, Amelia only smiled, she liked hanging around Sarah's shop whenever they came in here for dresses and other things they needed.
Amelia looked at Kate and the girl seemed to see her glance
"Thanks again Sarah, we should probably get some lunch," Kate said, Sarah nodded and walked the girls towards her back entrance to the shop that was only used by personal and couriers dropping off the fabric and anything she needed.
The two girls left the shop and headed to the car that had been parked out the back of the shop. On the street that leads towards the back entrance. Their driver was standing near the car, keeping an eye out for the ladies as they walked towards it. He nodded at both of them and opened the backdoor for them both. Once they were both in, he closed the door and got in the driver's seat, the Duchess and the Duchess-to-be buckled in their seatbelts as the driver slid down the screen keeping the three of them apart.
"Where am I going to your highnesses?" He asked, Amelia, looked at Kate, she was not used to this treatment just yet and let Kate take the reigns
"Mcdonald's drive-thru, please. You know our orders." Kate said, the driver nodded
"Do you want me to put the screen back up Duchess?" He asked as he started the car and pulled out into the road, interacting as he did so.
"Yes please, thank you, Mr. Castell," Kate said, the driver nodded in the review mirror and slid the screen back up, giving the ladies privacy to talk freely without him hearing their conversation.
"Are you ready?" Kate asked, looking at Amelia as she did so
"Ready for what?" Amelia asked
"Your birthday dummy. Your turning 29." Kate said, Amelia, nodded. Kate was only a year older than her, Amelia's fiancé was two years younger than herself. Making him 27.
"Yes, I am. I get to spend it with the people I love." She said Kate smiled. She knew Amelia missed her parents immensely this time of year, knowing that she can't celebrate it with them hurts her heart. She had visited her parent's graves last year on her birthday where she had been greeted by Meryl Strep who had come to support her, knowing that it would be a hard time to get through Christmas without her parents, she had been doing it for eight years, but the pain in Amelia's heart never left her.
"That's good, I think Harry's going to do something special but I'm not too sure, to be honest," Kate said
"Who knows, with all the press that has been hanging around us lately, we won't have a quiet moment for a few more months I don't think," Amelia said, Kate, nodded as the driver turned left, heading toward's the closest McDonald's near Kensington Palace.
"It does get like that sometimes, but you do know that there are many others here to support you and Harry as you both go down this road. Trust me, Will and I have barely been married a year and we still struggle sometimes to juggle married life and royal duties. But we know that both are just as important as each other. We confined in each other, tell each other our worries, let the other know our secrets. We talk about what happened on that day, during the engagement, how we felt, what we saw our ideas on what to do better next time. All with the Crown in our minds. Keeping them, Keeping Elizabeth in our thoughts." Kate said,
"Yes but, I don't even know the first thing about engagements," Amelia said
"That is why you have Maria, she teaches you what you need to know and do, Elizabeth has been there, she's been doing engagements since before she was crowned Queen. You can always ask her for help if you need it, she won't feel that you are letting her down. Trust me, I've done it a couple of times and she'll prefer you spoke to her about how you were feeling than struggling through it alone. Again, there are many people in the Firm who will be willing to help you out, starting with me and Will." Kate said, smiling at Amelia as she did so, she knew that it was a struggle for Amelia to let go of the life she knew before becoming an official member of the Royal family once her engagement with Prince Harry had been released a couple of months ago.
Their wedding date was getting closer with every month that passed and Amelia realized how fast her life was changing, she didn't even know the first thing about being a royal since both herself and Kate were outsiders before joining the family. But she was grateful for the amount of help that Queen Elizabeth had been giving her with Maria teaching her what she needed to know. Despite the fact that the woman was strict, Amelia knew that she needed those lessons so that she wouldn't be made a laughing stock of the royal family and embarrass the Queen just as she knew that Harry had done many a time in his youth. He had gotten away with it only because he was her grandson, but Amelia wouldn't be able to get away with it that easily. She would have to really work to be recognized as apart of the family and not just Harry's wife, but a caring woman who really did think that the world deserved a second chance after the many mistakes that mankind had made throughout the generations. She wanted to be recognized just as Kate was being recognized as the woman who really was Will's, true love, as she had been since Will had confessed to Amelia the night that he and Kate had first been together.
"I know, I just don't want to mess up, because it'll look bad on me and especially with the Queen," Amelia said as the driver pulled into the Mcdonald's drive-thru to get the woman's meals. Neither woman said anything while he ordered their meals because that would tip the crewmember off that they were in the car. But once they had cleared away from the drive-thru ten minutes later Amelia resumed her conversation with Kate
"That's fair to worry about it, but you can't let that continue to go through your brain, otherwise you are going to second guess everything you do and you're going to make more mistakes if you keep worrying and stressing about something that is just a small thing to overcome. Harry will support you no matter what happens, and Will and I are always here for you too if the worst should happen." Kate said Amelia, smiled, loving the fact that Kate always had a way with words. The driver had given them their food and drinks and she had been slowly eating her fries while he drove, she didn't want to eat her burger in fear of dripping sauce all over her clothes before she even got out of the car.
They had arrived back at Kensington Palace shortly after that small trip through Mcdonald's Drive-thru. The pair of them exited the car just as Maria had taught them in their practice sessions, the driver had taken them through the back entrance so Amelia didn't feel stupid doing it knowing that it was just him and Kate near the car. The pair of them started to walk inside after thanking their driver who only smiled and nodded once in response before getting in again and driving off. They clutched onto their bags of food and their drinks in their hands before walking up the first floor. They decided to head into 1B, the apartment that Amelia shared with Harry since they had made their engagement official, she still kept her old apartment in case she needed a getaway, or in case the pair of them needed it. Salem was sitting on the coffee table, just watching them walking into the apartment.
Kate was the first to collapse onto the couch, with her food in front of her, she had placed her drink on the coffee table as Salem sniffed at the straw inside the cup with curiosity. The brunette chuckled and scratched the cat's ears, he nuzzled his head into her hand before jumping onto the couch just as Amelia sat down. He cuddled into her side as she opened her bag, looking down at him she noticed that he was watching her with eyes, almost as if he was asking for food. But she knew he was just being curious as he always was.
"Where's Harry?" Kate asked
"Oh, out on engagement with Will again, should be back soon they were only going to be out the same time our trip was supposed to take, though I don't doubt they took a detour through the Mcdonald's drive-thru," Amelia said with a laugh. Kate only chuckled, knowing full well that they wouldn't be considering there was food in the palace but Amelia had been quite hungry when they left Sarah's shop and headed back home.
"That's good, okay, I want to have a serious conversation now," Kate said, Amelia, nodded as she finished eating her burger. Taking a sip of her drink, waiting for Kate to start talking.
"Have you and Harry talked about having kids?" Kate asked Amelia didn't know how to respond. They'd talked about it briefly but not in the terms on if she had actually fallen pregnant.
"Kind of," Amelia answered, shrugging her shoulders as she did so. She did want kids, but she wasn't sure she was ready as of yet. Though she could tell that was not the answer her cousin wanted from her. As she sighed, before continuing on.
"I think Will wants kids, we've been having-" Kate trailed off
"Sex?" Amelia answered bluntly, Kate blushed. She still struggled to talk to her about having sex despite the fact that Amelia was family.
"Yes, and I don't know if it's just the timing or if there's something wrong with me," Kate said,
"I don't think there's anything wrong with you, you two have had sex before you got married and nothing came of it. So if you're supposed to get pregnant then it will happen, besides you two are married now so it'll come as a surprise for the rest of the world if it doesn't happen in the next two years." Amelia said causing Kate to laugh
"I just feel that our 'make babies' timeline is coming from the public, it's almost like we don't actually get a say on whether or not we want to have kids you know? Others want it to happen." Kate spoke, Amelia considered her answer before responding
"Again, if you meant to get pregnant it'll happen. Besides, Harry and I will be here if anything happens. And to answer your question, I think Harry wants kids, we just haven't talked about if fully yet or considered a plan if it happened before we got married. Though I think we should talk about it now that we've talked about it." Amelia said, gesturing to herself and Kate, who looked confused before speaking
"Don't have it if you don't want too, don't talk to him only because we've talked about kids. I was just curious on whether or not you and Harry had planned to have kids once you were married. Because I thought it would be cool to be pregnant at the same time if you were, but if not that's okay. I'm sure we will consider our cycles are quiet close in comparison." Kate said, looking at the blonde across from her as she sipped from her cup. Amelia nodded, still unsure on what to do.
"I think Harry and I do need to talk about it though, because if we don't, who knows what might happen and we're not prepared," Amelia said, glancing her brunette cousin who was looking around her apartment collecting her next words carefully.
"I don't think anyone's prepared to become parents, I think it just comes naturally."