Chapter 18 #2
Elise took a seat on the couch near Frederick.
“I didn’t say anything to your mum on purpose.
She said something about the Monarch’s Suite being familiar.
I guess I made a bit of a face so she pressed.
I told her you’d said a couple of things that made me think you wished you had a choice.
I got the impression all you had to do was say you wanted to live somewhere else, and it would happen. ”
“I was too young to assert any authority like that. It took me a long time before I felt I could give an… I don’t like saying order, but I suppose that’s what it is…
and have it be followed without much question.
” He pulled the blanket up a bit more. “By the time I would have thought to do that, I had lived there for years and it really wasn’t high on my priority list.”
“I hope you’re not mad?” That thought had started to plague her.
“No. I think it will be a good thing.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “What else was she talking about?”
“She asked if there was anything else. I didn’t say anything but she guessed that there probably was something I didn’t feel comfortable telling her.” The breeze coming in through the door gave her a chill so Elise pulled a blanket over her.
Frederick looked puzzled. “What else haven’t I told her?”
Had he really never thought about telling his mum that he missed her hugs? “Just about missing human contact. She’s your mum, not a random staff member or member of the general public.”
His eyes remained closed but a thoughtful look crossed his face. “I never thought to bring I up. It wasn’t really something I thought about in detail until that day on the plane.”
Elise didn’t reply but waited for him to go on.
“She’s had more physical contact with me in the last couple of days than she has since the service for my father. It’s been nice.”
“Maybe it signifies a change? Maybe she’ll keep doing that?” Elise couldn’t imagine not having that contact with her own child, but she was new to the whole royal thing, so there could be some kind of unwritten norms she was still unaware of.
“Perhaps.” He began to relax further. “If not, maybe I’ll talk to her.”
The deep breathing told Elise he wouldn’t have heard her response if she’d given one.
Instead, she went back to the kitchen and made herself a cup of hot tea. Once ready, she took it back out to the living area and made herself comfortable with the tea and a blanket to ward off the chill from the breeze and an ereader to ward off the boredom.
When she finished the first chapter of a new book by Joanna Davidson Politano, Elise realized she wasn’t going to be able to focus. After setting down her cup and ereader, she pulled the blanket up around her shoulders and fell asleep.
After the announcement went out, the outpouring of support from the general public amazed Frederick. Flowers and cards and well-wishes came from all parts of the country. The operators were overwhelmed with phone calls and public email inboxes were filled to overflowing.
“What would you like us to do with all of the flowers, sir?” George asked the question from his spot on the sofa where Elise had fallen asleep earlier.
She couldn’t have slept well the night before, not with how often she checked on him and made certain he wasn’t in any pain and took his medication.
Frederick had thought to let her sleep as long as possible, but George’s arrival put the damper on that.
He didn’t know where she’d gone after letting George inside.
“What do we usually do with them when we have a significant amount sent?” He should know this.
“It depends, but often we’ll send them to hospitals and other places with people who will enjoy them.”
Frederick nodded. “Do that.”
George sent a quick message. “We’ll go through every one of the cards, emails, and other communications. We’ll respond to as many of them as possible with thank you notes.”
“Thank you.” Could that be the last item on the agenda with George? His assistant had promised the meeting would be short.
“That’s all for now.” George stood and closed his tablet. He bowed toward Frederick. “I am staying in the palace for the next few days. I’m here when you need me.”
“Thank you.” Frederick gave a nod of acknowledgment and realized he didn’t know much about George’s personal life. He knew George didn’t live in the palace like many aides did and didn’t wear a wedding band, but not much more than that.
Frederick reached for the blanket he’d tucked to the side of his chair when George arrived. Joggers, a t-shirt, and socks wasn’t his normal apparel for a meeting with his aide, but a blanket seemed to make him seem a little too much like an invalid.
“Did everything go well?” Elise walked back into the lounge, taking the blanket from him and covering him with it herself. She tucked it tightly around his legs but let him decide how far to pull it up.
Then she covered him with the blanket she’d been using earlier and pulled it all the way up to his shoulders.
A good thing since he’d started shivering. “I don’t know why I’m so cold.”
“It’s the anesthesia.” She tucked it around his shoulders. “Having the door open likely doesn’t help either.” One of her brows arched his way as Elise walked to the balcony door and closed it. “I know it’s nice having it open, but not right now.”
Frederick nodded. “Thanks.” He closed his eyes, desperate to stay awake, to have some time with his wife. The warmth of the blankets combined with the sudden lack of breeze coming through the door made it difficult to keep his eyes open.
“Get some rest. That’s really all you should be doing the day after a surgery.” She pulled another blanket out of somewhere and covered her own legs with it as she took her spot on the sofa.
“I’d rather spend some time talking with you.” His eyes refused to open all the way.
He felt her hand on his leg. “We have our whole lives to spend time together. Right now you need to heal.”
It was enough to allow him to drift off. When he awoke, Elise had also fallen asleep again on the sofa. None of the lamps were turned on, so the setting sun left little light permeating the room.
Frederick found his phone and submitted an order for food to be delivered. It had to be a good sign that he was finally hungry.
He was able to get himself out of the recliner more easily than he could earlier in the day. When he returned to the lounge, Elise was sitting up.
“I’m glad you got some rest,” he told her redirecting his steps toward the door when a knock sounded. “I ordered dinner for us.”
Elise joined him in taking the cart to the table.
As they ate, they talked about what they wanted to do with the rest of the time they were supposed to have been on their honeymoon.
“Do we have to stay here?” Elise asked him. “Or could we go somewhere else? The yacht is out until you’re more fully recovered, just in case, but what about the resort where your mum lives? Or does your family have a home outside of the city? Maybe on the shoreline somewhere?”
Frederick turned the idea over in his head. “Let me talk to Cap. I’m certain we can go elsewhere, somewhere we won’t feel the same pressure to work or be busy like we would be here at home.”
He didn’t wait, but sent a message to his head of security. It didn’t take long to get a response. “We can leave as soon as we want - tonight or in the morning.”
After discussing it for a moment, they decided to leave as soon as they could get everything ready. That was how they ended up back on the plane and took the short flight back to the other island.
His doctor was back on the island on holiday and would check on Frederick a couple of times before he returned home.
Even with the ease of traveling by private jet to a semi-private island, by the time they arrived at their home away from home for a couple of weeks, Frederick was worn out.
He waffled over who he wanted to help him, Frederick finally decided to ask Elise if he needed to rather than having his valet stay. Though the outside of their own cottage was well-protected, they would remain alone inside.
In the bathroom, Frederick dropped sock and bent to pick it up but stopped as the twinge in his abdomen became worse than he anticipated.
He left it there rather than try again.
By the time he emerged, Elise had already gone into the other dressing room to change into her pyjamas. Though he was grateful this bed frame was also adjustable, it was far more difficult than he would have liked to get himself situated.
Elise had returned by the time he did. She walked to his side of the bed, helped pull the covers up, then leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead. “Sleep well. Let me know if you need anything.”
To his surprise, she started for the door leading to the lounge. “Where are you going?”
She turned in the doorway. “I don’t want to disturb your sleep. I’ll stay out here.”
Frederick shook his head and held out his hand. “Stay with me?”
When she hesitated, Frederick felt an unfamiliar apprehension flood through him, but it quickly dissipated when she nodded and walked back toward their shared bed.
In that moment, when he saw the smile that lit up her face, Frederick knew he’d found the one his heart loved, and he would never again be the bachelor king.