Page 110 of The English Queen

“Oh, come on. You won. I’m yours and now I’m really stuck with you. Trust me, I never saw myself being a mum. I don’t think Martin ever imagined it would happen. You have done the impossible.”

“It’s not the impossible!”

“No, true. A pregnancy is the result of unprotected sex. I don’t think people expected you would convince me to do this… and to be happy about it? When I told Veronique, she nearly died. She was like, ‘How is this possible?’ I didn’t know what to say.”

“It’s funny because it is true. I never pictured it but now you’re adorable. It seems exactly as it should.”

“I know, right? It just is. And I don’t buy I don’t look pregnant anymore. I will have to wear something to actually accentuate it on Saturday. I don’t have to hide it anymore!”

“No, you don’t,” Louis gave her a quick kiss. “I think if Martin is the person you assume he is, he will be very happy for you. That said, the idea of taking you to see a blind item of a testimony of his love for you is a bit odd. Of course, I can understand wanting to write you a symphony. But it’s odd to share space… and now you’re pregnant.”

“You write me beautiful letters. You won. Now, you look even more like The Man showing up with the woman you got to run off with to the performance—welcoming the artist as the patron and King. That’s the stuff of patriarchal legend, is it not?”

“You hate that shit.”

“Yeah, I do. Well, sometimes, I lean into it because I like to feel like you are in charge.”

“You like to feel like I am in charge?” Louis was concerned.

“It’s always nice to let a man feel in charge. And it can take the pressure off. God, I want a fag so badly. What is this?”

“I think whenever you think of Martin you want to smoke,” Louis said. “Something about that association.”

“Well, I will fight it, obviously. I would never put the darling baby at risk. Also, The Queen doesn’t have a drag, you know? It’s funny even ages and ages can pass and just thinking about composing something with him will trigger that.”

Louis wondered after a moment. “Do you ever miss him?”

He wasn’t sure he wanted the answer.

“I miss talking to him sometimes. But… no. I don’t miss him. I loved him. He played an important part in my history but… Louis, there isn’t anyone else but you. It’s you and will always be you.”

Louis believed her. He didn’t see it as “winning” much as testimony to how freely Beth fell for him. Beth had a good life before Louis. He worried he disturbed her vibrant, fulfilled existence. When Louis considered it, this made him love her even more. He admired how big her love for him was. Louis had been head-over-heels with Beth since the very beginning. His only fear was running her off. Beth found a way to love him and remain true to herself.

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For Immediate Release-

Her Majesty Queen Bethany is expecting a child in January. She and The King are happy to soon welcome their first child. The Queen’s pregnancy has been healthy. While she struggled with her epilepsy in early pregnancy, her condition remains stable with continued supervision. She will continue to work as her health permits, but she expected to take leave around the beginning of December at the latest.

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From the Desk of the King-

It is with great excitement that The Queen and I congratulate my sister, Queen Bethany of the Belgians on her first pregnancy with her husband King Louis. This will be the first child for them both. The child is due in the new year. It will be my fifth niece or nephew and the ninth grandchild for my parents. The Queen and I could not be happier for them. Our children are also very excited to meet their new baby cousin.

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Beth and Louis planned to arrive at the Centre for the Performing Arts together. Tabloids wagged their tongues about whether Beth would attend. One story was Louis wouldn’t allow his wife to attend. The oft-debated impetus for La Colibri was almost confirmed by its creator. In You Oughta Know fashion, Martin wouldn’t name the artist it was about. His response had been tongue-in-cheek.

“She’s married now,” he explained to a Paris paper. “She is famous, I will say. Perhaps not for her artistic abilities, but they are numerous. I was very in love with her and probably always will be. She is a beautiful person through-and-through. I wrote the symphony over the course of our relationship. When I finished it, finally, she had pulled away. She had found another man to love. I wished her well. The sheet music was the last thing I left her with. She approved. In fact, her husband knows about it. He has heard it, too. It is all fine. And she knows who she is.”

Beth had two options. She could shy away from the subject and fake sick. She could stay home and use her pregnancy for cover. Saturday morning, feeling hungover from normal pregnancy malaise, she sat the fence. Louis put it to her in the simplest terms. Was she ashamed to be the subject of such a beautiful piece of music? Did she have regrets about this chapter of her life? Alas, Beth was not ashamed. She had no regret. The work captured the essence of her blossoming into full womanhood. It covered a brave, wild period of her life which made her who she was. Few people could attest to such a thing. Beth wouldn’t confirm she was La Colibri, but she wouldn’t be too coy.

Beth put on a marvellous dress. It was the one she wore to the opera the night she met Louis in Paris. It still fit—just differently. Her tiny baby bump protruded ever-so-slightly. Beth loved it. It was now and then. She knew he had been taken with her hair and the hummingbird brooch she wore. He’d spotted her from behind that night. She never would have believed it had he not written it in a letter. Beth had her stylist replicate the hairstyle.

“Ta-dah,” she announced, finding Louis as he was fastening his tie for the evening.

Louis looked over at her, “You look… is that…” He was grasping for words.

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