Page 28 of The English Queen

“Well, she could have been a dead ringer for you in that photo,” Robbie said as Kiersten looked at him with her big blue eyes.

“They all look like you, Robert, with the exception of Paul.”

“It’s unfair to poor Vanora who went through so much to get them here earthside. I feel terrible.”

“That’s the lot in life for a woman, sadly. We have no control over it. It’s ridiculous.”

Keir returned to Maggie’s hospital room. “Ah, there’s my favourite little lass. She’s still in good spirits. The happiest baby, Magpie, isn’t she?”

“She’s very sweet,” Maggie ruffled the peach fuzz on Kiersten’s head.

“She is happiest when she can be attached to one of us all the bloody time. Or when Georgie will carry her around. That’s her new thing. He can pick her up and cart her. Natalie doesn’t seem all that interested but Georgie will lug her around. She loves it. My heart is full.”

“And think, you used to do the same your sister who will soon be queen.” Maggie sounded wistful. “Oh, how quickly life goes.”

“And yer gonna have a lot more life, hen,” Keir said. “Her scans are ‘impeccable’. That’s what the man said.”

“They were good. They were able to resect more than they thought they could with this new technology. You are stuck with me for so much longer, little Kiersten,” Maggie laughed.

“She’s crushed, obviously,” Keir laughed.

“Granny is going to be home soon and then you can show me how well you will be crawling before any of us know it.”

Maggie was in better spirits than where she had been before surgery. Robbie knew his mother would never admit she was relieved. She was woe to admit she was ever afraid of anything. Now, her prognosis was good. At least, Robbie thought, he would have more time to take photos of the kids with their beloved Granny.

Maggie changed the subject back to shop talk. “You realise you’ve never let Beth represent you at a state occasion, Robbie? This will be a challenge for her.”

“Mother, she was never at my disposal. And if Louis is willing to send her all over God’s green Earth, that is good enough for me. She’s going to be doing Vanna’s job–officially–in a matter of months. She already is. If the Scandinavians aren’t offended by her playing Princess of the United Kingdom and acting as my agent, then I am fine with allowing her to do the job. I’m all out of fucks.”

“Well, it will be fine. Our little Beth will do fine. And Australia will go well, too. It’s gonna be alright, wee man.”

“Dad, I’ll be king, and you’ll still call me that, won’t you?”

Keir laughed. “You’ll always be wee man me, Robbie. Just like this one will always be a baby–to you, to Vanora, and to your older three. You know the feeling.”

“Well, your baby is about to be queen. And Rita is getting married–again–and having a baby. Did you hear the news?”

Maggie looked surprised. “I didn’t, no. How on earth did I miss the baby? The wedding I full well knew about.”

“Because I don’t think Sabine told you about it before you told her you were dealing with this. And it sort of got lost. She and Bruno are having a baby in May.”

“Another baby? Sabine is going to be smug about this,” Maggie sighed.

“It’s not a competition, hen,” Keir laughed.

“No. If it were, we’d win. Beth is going to give me two more grandchildren–we’ll have ten by the end,” Maggie said before falling quiet.

Robbie knew his mother was thinking about the inevitability. She might meet one of those children but not the other. That realisation was painful.

Where There’s a Will…

Beth stayed until her mother came home from hospital. She slept in her childhood bedroom rather than where she’d been assigned–the largest room in the guest wing meant for the most-favoured monarch. It was all wrong. She was restless and wandered to her old room like a ghost. She climbed into her old bed beneath the canopy and curled up. She saw band posters on her wardrobe door. It was like a shrine to childhood her parents couldn’t let go.

It was unbelievable how much life changed. Beth wanted so badly to climb out of this gilded cage-this tower that kept her stuck-and just move along. In the end, Beth had. She felt far from home. She loved Brussels. She loved being with Louis. She enjoyed the life and independence she built for herself. Beth was also riddled with guilt from being so far away for so long. She’d skipped out on state banquets, on Trooping the Colour, on countless state or semi-state occasions. Her first deployments at state occasions would also be her first and last times wearing one of her mother’s tiaras. It was like she’d been on another planet only to return to Earth after limited communication and been told her mother was dying.

Beth fell asleep worried. She wanted to cry, but simply could not. She hated all this. Overnight, the staff worried she’d been spirited away. She was discovered by her panicked father who checked on her in the morning. Beth was sorry for scaring him. Her mother was having her procedure the next morning and here she added to the stress level. Beth explained she wanted to stay there when Louis wasn’t with her.

After that, the days, of course, got better. Her mother survived the procedure and stayed at hospital for five long days before they brought her home. Beth stuck around, helping ease her mother back into life in her quarters at the palace. Rebecca helped as well. Robbie and Vanna dropped by occasionally. Much like Louis, they had bigger fish to fry. At one point, Vanna dropped the baby off and disappeared for a couple of hours, leaving Beth in charge of the infant.

---