26. Trials and Tribulations
Today, the Duke and Duchess of Inverness welcomed home their two youngest children—twin Princes Edwin and Oliver. After a lengthy NICU stay, both babies are settled in at home with their parents. The family is excited to finally have them safely where they belong. Older brothers Prince Keir and Prince Nathan are overjoyed to spend time with the new additions. His and Her Majesty were relieved beyond measure. And, given that the King’s health improves, he will meet the babies soon. The rest of the family has been spending time in the NICU getting to know the boys but is relieved they are now resting with their family at Kensington Palace. As stated before, both the Duke and Duchess remain on family leave for the near future to recover and bond with their babies.
Lucy settled on the couch by Winston. Their children were asleep, and she rested assured all was well. Winston looked over at her lovingly, patting his lap. He was telling her to put her feet up. She deserved a good foot rub. Now in the stage of visible pregnancy, Lucy gladly received sympathy rubs. They were working on getting back to normal. And, to his credit, Winston was never as adoring as he was when she was pregnant.
Lucy accepted Winston found her irresistible when she was with child. White it was odd a man would enjoy his wife more when she was bloated and miserable, she”d gotten used to this just being Winston. When the marriage struggled at the beginning of their low period, the pregnancy with Iona buoyed intimacy temporarily.
This time, though, Lucy was hesitant to get too involved in that side of their marital lives. With three young children, it wasn’t as if they had much spare time and Lucy and Winston continued feeling things out. He’d been utterly patient as they worked on their marriage in therapy. Lucy knew if they’d had this after Iona was born, things would have been better but not everything. No amount of good dick could make up for living in a place that made you cry daily.
After many worries and touch-and-go, Lucy felt safe again. Winston would stick around and give it his all. She began to trust it would work out but didn’t yet feel the pregnancy was real. As new life popped up around her left and right, that was a disquieting feeling.
“What’s got you down, my love?” Winston asked.
Lucy sighed and shrugged.
“Lulu, c’mon. You need to tell me.”
“You cannot possibly help me, Tony,” Lucy said. “I don’t want to burden you.”
“You wouldn’t. You never do. What are you upset about? What weighs heavy on the shoulders of the Lady Chamberlain?”
She giggled. “That never gets old for you, does it?”
He was so proud of her. Lucy couldn’t have asked for a better hype machine. Winston’s adoration improved their lives together. The return to London was good for them both. She didn’t feel so selfish.
“Uh, here’s the thing,” Lucy said. “I just… this pregnancy is not feeling the same for me. I know the tests have been good and you are totally in love with this baby, but I am not feeling it. I struggle to connect. I don’t resent her anymore, but I feel out of it.”
Winston furrowed his brow. “So, what? What would help?”
“There is nothing you can do. I’m a bad mother.”
“Luce, there is not a shred of truth to that. You’re an amazing mum. It feels different because life is different. We weren’t ready for another baby. That’s true, but I have never seen you holding a baby for the first time not completely overjoyed. This is no different.”
Lucy nodded. Winston ran his hand over her belly. Inside, the baby fluttered but she remained disconnected.
“You’re beautiful,” Winston said. “And she will be loved—so loved.”
“I am nervous about taking off work.”
“Don’t be.”
“With Natalie out?—”
“Hey, stop that. You’ve been over this dozens of times. You get to take time to have this baby—to bond with her. If Sanne and Paul can take time, so can you. If Natalie has cleared it, you are good.”
“But you know how things can be. Our parents?—”
“Lulu, our parents didn’t do a bang-up job and often made sacrifices thinking they were best for us, but they weren’t. I don’t want to hear about it. What did we learn with this mess?”
“Sometimes what we feel is best is just going through the motions?”
“Yes,” Winston said. “And we’re trying not to do that anymore. Live your life. Say your truth. Don’t hold back—especially with me.”
Lucy smiled. “We made it out. I want it to be normal, but it never feels completely okay. In some ways, it feels better. I don’t know if that makes sense. We spent several years hiding from our fears. I’m relieved they are out in the open.”
Winston smiled. “Stronger. Better. Yes. This is our new normal, Luce. It’s another chapter—one that’s a little less picture-perfect but amazing all the same. God, I love everything about you. Every day you come home to me feels more precious. And this baby… while I know it’s not great timing… it feels sweet. It makes something awful into something good.”
“I suppose that’s true. But aren’t you frustrated?”
“I am so in love with you that I cannot be.”
“Oh, Tony, that’s a relief. Because I feel like… I’m ready to try again… to be… you know… totally at ease. I’m comfortable.”
“Whenever you want. And however you want. I want to try.”
Lucy bit her lip. “Well, maybe we can? I mean, I don’t want to spring this on you if you are tired or whatever.”
“Try me,” Winston said. “I guarantee I won’t regret it.”
Lucy suddenly felt light, like she could. She stood and made her way towards Winston. She straddled him, not wasting time.
“Remember when we first hooked up and just went for it?”
“Like idiots, no condom, no thought about anything?” Winston asked.
She kissed him slowly and then pulled back. “Well, newsflash, you can’t get me pregnant, baby.”
Winston kissed her back slowly. In the process of healing, they’d spent a lot of time making out like teenagers and fooling around. To Lucy’s surprise, it was a nice change. It didn’t feel like the waste of time she’d previously assumed it would be. She ground on him and felt him harden beneath her. There was still trepidation and worry about what might happen. Or, was it something else? Was it excitement?
Winston buried his face in her tits, shrouded under the shell she’d worn with her blazer earlier. Lucy pulled her top off. He probably didn’t mind that by this stage of pregnancy, her breasts spilt out of any normal bra. Winston unhooked and tossed the bra aside. He enveloped one nipple, then the other, in his mouth. She set aside any worries about misfires, leaning into how good it felt. If he dared complain, that was on him. To have him lavish her with such attention was the end goal.
Lucy felt Winston rock-hard under her. She needed to try it.
“Get naked and fuck me properly, Tony.” She stood, tossing her clothes.
Winston followed suit in record time leaving them naked and acting like horny kids trying to get it on while their parents were out. Lucy climbed back astride. Her centre pressed to Winston’s cock. The very feeling made her whimper in the best of ways.
“You want this? I need to know you want this, Luce,” Winston said. “Because I can wait. And we can stop if it doesn’t feel good. For whatever reason.”
Lucy kissed him. “I know. I love you for saying that. But if I cannot have you, I think I might explode.”
Despite worries it might hurt, Lucy slid Winston inside her, gently first. The initial thrust was a little awkward, but after that, it was smooth sailing.
“Is it… okay?”
“It feels great,” she confirmed, continuing to grind on his cock.
It felt new—like they were truly starting over. As he stared at her—captivated by her moans—Lucy felt powerful. She felt more herself than in years. Everything came together. Winston loved her. He worshipped her, wanted her and needed her for this—for things beyond their children. He adored her. She felt everything as she looked into his eyes. There was lust in his movements but nothing but love for her in his gaze. This was the man she’d fallen in love with.
Lucy sped up, her body ready for a triumphant climax.
“Your cock feels so good,” Lucy moaned. “God, I have missed it.”
“Good. It’s been waiting for you. Desperate for you,” Winston said.
She kissed him once more, barely able to contain the moment’s ecstasy. Winston helped her up and down, feeling she was about to cum. Thus, the thrust became more powerful. It put Lucy over the edge.
She pulled away, screaming, “Oh, fuck me, Winston!”
And with that, she lost it. She came and it was like waters cresting. She felt everything. Her entire body felt warm and tingly—everything real and new. She panted and kept going, trying to please him. She wanted them both to end this round happy. She needed him to get the same pleasure he’d given her—the finality that they were back and better than ever.
“Being inside you feels amazing,” Winston gasped. “It is all I have wanted for so long—to have you wrapped around me like this. Damn!”
“Uh-huh,” Lucy said. “You want to cum inside me? Make a big mess?”
“You’re going to get your mess, Lucy, because I’ve been saving this up and fantasising about this for far too long.”
“Cum for me, then,” Lucy said breathlessly. “Give it to me.”
Winston groaned, thrusting inside Lucy hard. As he grabbed her hips to push her down, he bit her earlobe. She felt him pulse inside her for a long time. He remained inside until the end, his breath quick and hot on her neck. It was electric, passionate sex they’d sought for years. It was the release they both deserved.
“That was a top ten sesh,” Lucy rolled to the side.
“Fucking dynamite. Worth the wait,” Winston agreed. “That’s how we should have managed to get pregnant this time.”
“Well, we’ll make up for it,” Lucy said. “We can pretend it was the best of times and no one will know the difference.”
“No. I want to remember how good you felt and how raw it was,” Winston said. “In this moment when we’d laid it all bare, Lucy. When we had copped to everything and said all we needed. I want to remember this about us in twenty years. Just like the day we did this the first time and I couldn’t put into words how I felt… that is what I feel now. Everything. Everything I needed.”
“I will miss being here allthe time,” Natalie sighed. “But it’s the end of an era.”
Ed looked at her standing in their bedroom doorway in their “hideaway” in Wales. When they’d moved here, he’d been the city boy worried he’d be miserable. He agreed to leave under the premise of a fresh start. This was a love nest, a sanctuary, a shelter from the shitshow that was royal public life. The house saved their marriage in a dark time. Leaving it hit him hard—he worried about the next stage. It was time. Natalie was thirty-four weeks pregnant and about to be grounded in London. They needed to nest.
“I love this place,” Ed admitted. “Hate to say it but it breaks my heart to leave.”
“Mine, too,” Natalie admitted.
Ed wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead. “We’ll be back. We’re not leaving for good.”
“Remember when we christened it?” Natalie laughed.
“We tend to do that.”
“And when we leave a place, too,” Natalie said.
“Oh, God, let’s not!”
“I will never forget the look on your Dad’s face when he came in with pastries to find us there shagging against the wall. My only regret is it ended too soon. You never got to cum.”
Ed chuckled. “Fucking awful. I am still mortified.”
“Still mortified despite being a loving, devoted husband and soon father? Nah. It was us expressing our love.”
Ed laughed. “Ah, yes. It wasn’t you being desperate and convincing me to do something I shouldn’t.”
“You were horny, too.”
Ed remembered being very horny, indeed.
“You should fuck me,” Natalie said. “One last time. You know, for old time’s sake.”
“Natalie, we have a car and a plane waiting.”
“You’re not going to last that long thinking about young, lithe me up against that wall in your apartment,” Natalie said. “We can spare time for a quickie, right?”
Ed found himself too tempted to resist. He should have been responsible and said no, but what good did it do? She was right, they could make people wait on them. That was the beauty of being with Natalie. The world revolved around her whims.
Natalie was not the most mobile. They found themselves needing to fuck creatively these days. So, on these occasions, they did so against the bed, Ed only stopping to drop trou and pull Natalie’s knickers to the side.
They went for broke, Natalie grabbed the bedside as he thrust. She held herself up unimaginably well off the bedside, permitting enough space to not damage their child. Ed tried so hard not to think about that.
“Oh God, I needed this,” Natalie growled. “I was mercilessly horny watching you this morning.”
Natalie came to the pool to wade while Ed did laps. It helped her back. She liked to give him shit while he tried to be the serious swimmer. Natalie couldn’t get in or out of the pool on the ladder, so she needed help. It was hard for her to ask, of course.
“Yeah, you liked that?”
“You know I still find you amazingly fit and cannot keep my hands off you.”
“Clearly. You’re very badly behaved, my love.”
He smacked her ass hard. She moaned loudly, unable to work out actual words. Ed picked up the pace. The sounds of their bodies meeting with more and more force filled the room. The entire house heard them, and he didn’t much care.
“Oh… oh… fuck!” Natalie came.
Ed unable to hold out, did, too.
They both crashed on the bed momentarily. Natalie lay over the edge as if she were too exhausted to move. In reality, she could only get into bed with help.
“You look like a wreck. I’ve wrecked you, baby,” Ed laughed.
She smiled at him. “In the best way, yes.”
“Okay, we should go,” Ed said.
They put themselves back together and departed. Mandy, their dedicated housekeeper and surrogate mum checked in. She suspected what they were up to, no doubt, never judging or interrupting. She’d taken such good care of them. Ed and Natalie would miss her.
“We’re desperate to stay, but cannot.” Natalie gave her a hug and a kiss. “We will be back at some point.”
“Maybe bring the baby back here to settle?” Ed floated the idea. “Away from the chaos for a bit?”
“But people will want to see the baby,” Natalie said.
“They will come anyway,” Mandy pointed out. “Oh, Natalie, they will come to see the baby from across the world. Your family is too lovely. And we’ve got space to put them up.”
“It might limit the number at once, which is good,” Natalie admitted.
“If you want to come back, I’m game for a slower pace,” Ed said. “We’ve got time to think about it. But he or she will be the future Prince or Princess of Wales, seems fitting?”
“I would so love to be back here and see the end of summer,” Natalie said. “But there’s Balmoral?—”
“Would you rather be here or at Balmoral?” Ed asked.
“Here,” Natalie said. “In a quiet house, just spending time with the baby.”
“We will make it so. There are years and years to spend there in the summer,” Ed said. “But we won’t get this time back. It will be priceless.”