A/N: I do not own Narnia or any of the characters. They belong to C.S. Lewis. I also do not own the song "Lullabye" by Billy Joel
A Day With Princess Maddeline
High King Peter strolled around the halls of Cair Paravel. It was a peaceful morning. The sun was streaming through the stained glass windows, creating dazzling designs and colors on the opposite walls. He could hear the sound of water flowing an exquisite fountain down below in the courtyard. Everything was nice and quiet…but not for long
"UNCLE PETER!!!" an unmistakable voice came from behind him. He turned around and saw his 6-year-old niece Maddeline running towards him.
As soon as she reached him he lifted her up and twirled her around in his arms. "Good morning Uncle Peter!" Maddeline chimed, smiling brightly. "Good morning Maddie," Peter said. Maddeline always loved it when he called her by her nickname he had given her.
"Where's Uncle Ed?" Maddeline asked, her eyes dancing with curiosity. "Probably still asleep, the sleepyhead," Peter answered, knowing that this would make Maddeline laugh. Sure enough, she giggled at his response, and then said, "Let's go wake him up!"
Peter's face broke into a mischievous grin. He put her down and said, "You know what? That sounds like a good idea!" "Let's go!" Maddeline said excitedly and she ran off in the direction of Edmund's room. Peter ran after her, not wanting to miss a single minute of Maddie waking up his younger brother.
He reached Edmund's room just as Maddeline entered in. Peter followed inside. Both of them tiptoed over to where Edmund's bed was. Maddeline got on one side, Peter on the other. Peter counted off on his fingers…1…2…3!!
They both leapt onto the bed, jumping up and down yelling, "Wake up Ed! Wake up!" Edmund awoke almost immediately. "What the heck were you doing?" Edmund asked looking from Peter and Maddeline. "Waking you up silly," Maddeline simply replied. "And why couldn't you have just woken me up the normal way?" he questioned. "Because that is no fun and boring," Peter explained, holding back laughter at his brother's disgruntled appearance, "Plus we wanted to scare the wits out of you."
"You're too kind," Edmund said sarcastically, adding a mock bow. Maddeline giggled some more and then said, "Good morning Uncle Ed." Edmund smiled as he pulled Maddeline up onto the bed with him. "Good morning Maddie," he said, knowing he could never stay mad at her for long.
Then Lucy appeared in the doorway of Edmund's room. "What is going on?" she asked, looking from Peter to Edmund to Maddeline. "These two," Edmund explained, pointing at Peter and Maddeline, "decided it would be funny to wake me up." Lucy, Peter noticed, was trying to refrain from laughing. When she got her laughter under control, she said, "How could you do such a horrible thing?" "It was his idea," Maddleline, directing her finger at Peter, "he made me do it!" With that she ran from the room, silently laughing at the thought of her uncle getting in trouble with her mother.
"Why you—" Peter exclaimed as he dashed after his niece. Lucy turned around to see if he had caught up to her. He did. He caught her and picked her up and made it seem like she was flying. Her arms spread wide, Maddeline was grinning from ear to ear.
As they headed out the courtyard, Edmund got out of bed and stood behind Lucy, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He really does love her, doesn't he?" he asked. "Yeah, he does," she answered turning around to face him, "And so do you."
As much as he tried to hide it, Lucy knew that Edmund loved Maddeline as much as Peter. When he first held her as a baby, he did not think he would like having a baby living in Cair Paravel. But ever since Maddeline could walk and talk, he was always there for her, making sure she didn't get into any trouble. Out of everyone in the castle, him and Peter were the ones that played with her the most.
"Now if you will excuse me…" Edmund's comment broke through her thoughts. He went back into his room, probably to get dressed. Lucy walked to the courtyard and saw Peter and Maddeline lying in the grass staring at the sky.
Peter was lost in thought. He was thinking about how Lawrence had returned a few months after Lucy had given birth to Maddeline. When Lucy came out to greet him, she was carrying her in her arms. The look on Lawrence's face indescribable. It was a look of awe and wonder.
Lawrence spent as much time as he could with his daughter. He also helped Lucy with the responsibilities of having a baby such as late nights with crying, changing diapers, etc. Peter often caught Lucy in a rocking chair, Maddeline in her arms, with Lawrence standing over them. It was enough to make your heart melt.
"Whatcha' thinking about Uncle Peter?" Maddeline asked, breaking the silence. "Stuff," he replied. "What kind of stuff?" Maddeline pressed, craving more information. "Why do you want to know little miss nosy?" Peter retorted, a playful smile on his face. "Hey! I'm not—" but Maddeline's sentence was cut off, due to the fact that Edmund had come up from behind and hoisted her into the air. "Hey! No fair Uncle Ed!" she said, squirming to get free. "That's for waking me up!" Edmund said, placing her back on the ground.
"Sorry Uncle Ed," she said. Edmund kneeled down next to her and said, "It's okay Maddie. I have been woken by Uncle Peter numerous times." He glanced over at Peter, who was propped up on his arms. "It's true," he replied.
"Tell you what Maddie, how about I give you a piggyback ride?" Edmund asked. "Okay!" Maddeline exclaimed, climbing onto his back. As Edmund started off across the courtyard, Peter yelled, "It's my turn to give her one in a little bit!" "Not if you can't catch us!" Edmund called over his shoulder. "We'll see about that!" Peter shouted back.
After lunch Lucy called Peter and Edmund away from the table to talk with her. "Lawrence, Susan, and I were thinking of taking a horse-back ride around the country side," she explained, "and we do not know how long we'll be. Do you think you could watch Maddeline while we are away?"
Both Peter and Edmund looked back at the table to where Maddeline was still eating lunch. "I don't know," Peter said, winking at Edmund, "What do you think Ed?" "Oh, I think we could squeeze in some playtime with our niece, what with our VERY busy schedule," Edmund responded, winking back.
"Oh you two!" Lucy said exasperatedly, smacking each of them on the arm. "How could we say no Lu? She's our niece," Peter said, rubbing where she had hit him. Lucy smiled at her brothers. She hugged them both, saying, "Thanks you guys. You don't know how much she loves playing with the pair of you." She turned around and started to walk away, but then faced them again and added, "I just don't want you guys corrupting her."
"Us?" Edmund asked, pointing at him and Peter in mock disbelief, "We would never do such a thing, would we Peter?" "Never in a million years." Peter replied trying to appear serious, but failing in his attempt. Lucy rolled her eyes, turned on her heel, and continued to her room to get ready, muttering "brothers" under her breath.
Half an hour later, Susan, Lawrence, and Lucy were all on horses, riding off into the distance. From a window, Maddeline was watching them ride off while Peter held her, for she could not see if she was on solid ground.
"So Maddie, what do you want to do?" Edmund asked as Peter put her down. "Hmmm," Maddeline said, her forehead wrinkling while tapping a finger on her lips. The brothers smiled at each other. She was so adorable when she made that face. "I know!" We could play…" she paused, tapped Peter, and said, "Tag! You're it!" She tore down the hall and out of sight. Peter turned around to make a comment to Edmund, but he was running in the opposite direction. Peter blew his golden hair out of his eyes, straightened his crown, and ran after Maddeline, murmuring, "And so it begins."
For most f the afternoon, they continued back and forth until they were tired out. Peter and Edmund out Maddeline down for her nap then headed to their own rooms for some much needed to rest. It felt as though Peter had just drifted off to sleep when he was waken up by the voice of his niece, saying, "Wake up Uncle Peter!" Peter rubbed sleep from his eyes, and realized that Edmund was there as well. "Don't look at me! It was her idea!" Edmund said, throwing back his hands. "Right," Peter said, "What is Maddeline?" Let's play hide-and-seek!"
"Well…" Peter started, not really in the mood to play that. And judging by the look on Edmund's face, he wasn't keen on playing either. But when Peter looked into Maddeline's eyes, he knew he had lost. She had the same brown eyes as Lucy, and it looked like she had also inherited her puppy-dog pout. "And she tells us not to corrupt her," he thought.
"One…two…three…" Peter counted. Maddeline squealed with delight while Edmund threw up his hands, looking up to the heavens. They both left Peter's room to find a hiding place.
Unbeknownst to Peter, when he left his room in search of them, Maddeline was hiding behind one of the doors to his room. As she peeked around the door to see him walk down the hall and out of sight, she quietly slipped back into his room. She decided to hide herself beneath the mountain of pillows on his bed. She giggled, knowing that he would never find her.
It had been almost an hour, and still Maddeline was hiding, waiting patiently for her uncles to return, knowing Peter would have found Edmund by now and was helping him to find her. She heard them enter the room. "See? I told you she wouldn't be here!" she heard Peter's voice say, "We have searched everywhere!" "Just calm down," Edmund's voice reasoned, "she has to be in Cair Paravel somewhere. Otherwise, Lucy will have our heads!"
Maddeline felt the bed sink a little. Between the pillows, she could see that they were both sitting on the bed with their backs towards her, discussing possible hiding places. She decided to let them know where she was.
"SURPRISE!!"
Both Peter and Edmund were so surprised that they fell off the bed. Edmund remained unscathed. Peter on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. He hit his head on his nightstand when falling off the bed. Maddeline's smile faded when she saw Peter massaging his head.
"Uncle Peter, you okay?" she asked as she hopped off the bed and landed by his side. "I just bumped my head when I fell that's all," Pete replied sitting up, a hand holding his head where it collided with his nightstand. "I can make it feel better," Maddeline said softly. She reached up, removed his hand, and kissed his head. Edmund witnessed everything. He thought his heart might burst at the sight of his niece helping Peter, wanting to make the pain go away.
"That worked better than your mommy's cordial," Peter said, grinning, "Thanks Maddie." Maddeline just smiled back. "Sorry I scared you," she said apologetically. "That's all right, but now there is a catch," Edmund stated, reaching out a hand to help Peter up. "What's the catch?" she asked. "You have to let us…tickle you!" he shouted. And with that, she was swept up into his arms, back onto the bed and started tickling her stomach. Peter, who was smiling, joined in the fun.
Soon all of them were laughing; tears flowing freely down their faces. When Maddeline finally caught her breath, she grabbed a pillow and whacked Edmund across the face, who almost fell off the bed again. Peter snickered, which made Edmund hit him over the head with another pillow. Then feathers from the pillows erupted and were sent flying all over the room.
Just then there was a knock at the door. Mr. Tumnus entered and announced, "Dinner is served sires and m'lady." He raised his eyebrows at the sight before him. Both Peter and Edmund blushed slightly embarrassed. They straightened their crowns, wiped off the feathers from their clothes, and nodded in acknowledgement. As Tumnus turned to leave her heard Maddeline say, "You should have seen the look on both of your faces!" He smirked.
Dinner came and went. Afterwards, all three of them sat by the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate. While Edmund and Maddeline were talking about something, Peter was staring into the fire. As the flames danced about, he thought about Maddeline, about how Lucy had brought this wonderful, beautiful girl into this world. He could not begin to describe how it felt to have a niece. It was like having another sister to love and care for. He knew Edmund would say the exact same thing.
Peter checked the clock and it was time to put Maddeline to bed. He carried her to her room with Edmund at his side. They tucked her in, kissed her goodnight. They were about to leave when Maddeline asked, "Uncle Ed, Uncle Peter, do you think you could stay with me? Mommy and daddy usually stay until I fall asleep." "Sure Maddie," Edmund answered. Peter sat on one side of the bed with Edmund on the other. Maddeline snuggled underneath her covers, closing her eyes a little. Peter lay down next to her, brushing some hair from her eyes.
And then he started singing. Edmund recognized the song. It was the one Peter sang to him and Lucy when they could not sleep, so long ago:
Goodnight, my angel
Time to close your eyes
And save these questions for another day
I think I know what you've been asking me
I think you know what I've been trying to say
I promised I would never leave you
And you should always know
Wherever you may go
No matter where you are
I never will be far away
Edmund started to sing the second verse, also laying down next to Maddeline, knowing the song by heart. Peter smiled at him.
Goodnight, my angel
Now it's time to sleep
And still so many things I want to say
Remember all the songs you sang for me
When we went sailing on an emerald bay
And like a boat out on the ocean
I'm rocking you to sleep
The water's dark and deep
Inside this ancient heart
You'll always be a part of me
Then both brothers sang the third verse, their singing starting to have an effect on Maddeline.
Goodnight, my angel
Now it's time to dream
And dream how wonderful your life will be
Someday your child may cry
And if you sing this lullabye
Then in your heart
There will always be a part of me
They began to sing softly, for Maddeline was almost asleep.
Someday we'll all be gone
But lullabyes go on and on...
They never die
That's how you
And I
Will be
They finished the last line before falling asleep themselves. Soon the room was filled with sounds of two kings and a princess, sleeping peacefully.
It was not long after that that Susan, Lawrence, and Lucy returned from their excursion. Susan bid them goodnight, and the couple made their way to Maddeline's room to check on her. When they entered her room, a wonderous met their eyes.
There was Peter and Edmund, sleeping soundly on either side of Maddeline. Lucy's eyes were brimming with tears. Lawrence wrapped his arms around his waist and whispered in her ear, "Should we wake them?" "No," she answered, wiping away her tears, "Let them sleep. She really does have them wrapped around her finger." They smiled at each other and closed the doors, knowing that they will hear the whole story from their daughter the next morning.
THE END
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