Perhaps Will was right about him being an insomniac, after all, he went to bed late, had trouble falling and staying asleep, and wakes up before the sun peeks over the horizon. Then again, it had never hurt him in the past, and now that he knew they were going to be parents, he might not seek out a cure for it. He enjoyed the moments at night when he was awake and could watch his wife sleeping peacefully; all he had to do was stay still and she wouldn't notice. He knew her nightly habits of tossing and turning, covering herself up and uncovering herself, stretching and curling into a tight ball against him; it all fit her and she fit to him. Today, was another one of those early mornings, the sun barely peeking over the horizon and the sky had just turned a deep shade of purple when he woke up and looked over at his sleeping, pregnant, wife. Laying next to her, with her red hair a tasseled mess and the top knot of her nightgown undone as to reveal a bit of her back and the curve of her shoulder, he couldn't help but smile at her. He could still hardly believe everything that had happened in his life that led to this and he still wasn't sure if this wasn't all just a dream; however, if it was he never wanted to wake up. Sure, he could have lived his life without her, if it hadn't been for the poison, but he didn't like the idea of a life without her. She managed to make him laugh, feel warm, and made his life interesting; a life without her simply seemed boring in comparison.

Even though he didn't want this peaceful moment to end, he knew he would have to wake her soon. She had school and he had work; furthermore, with her condition, he wanted her to endure as little stress as possible. Considering her habit of sleeping in, she usually had to rush in order to make it on time. With a sigh, he leaned over and gently kissed her forehead. "It is time to wake up."

In response, Will scrunched up her nose and curled into a tight ball. He chuckled and ran his fingers along her shoulder, which prompted Will to cover herself with the blankets. She knew she had to get to school, but she didn't want to get out of the warm bed. Gently, so not to hurt her or cause her any unnecessary stress, he pulled the blanket from his wife and smiled down at her. "It is time for you to get up."

"It is too early." Groaned Will and turned around so her back faced her husband.

"It is 5:30 am and you take an ice age to wake up. I want to make sure you'll get to school on time."

"I don't want to go to school. We just came back from the cabin; we deserve a day to ourselves." She replied and covered her head with a pillow. "Besides, I am too pregnant to go to school."

"Is that so?" he asked and raised an eyebrow at her. "Well then, I'll ask the physician to proscribe permanent bedrest for you until you deliver. I am just not sure how we will explain your absence to your mother." At this, Will groaned and sat up in bed; she had promised her mother that nothing would happen between her and Phobos until she was older, so coming clean to her mother right now was out of the question.

"Can't I say I have a cold from the trip? I really don't want to get up." She asked as she wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and leaned against her husband. "Besides, it is cold, and the bed is cozy. I want you to hold me for a while."

Just like on Earth, it was Winter in Meridian and snow covered the land in a soft, thin blanket. There had been a fire burning in the bedroom's fireplace to warm the room up, but it had extinguished at some point during the night; leaving only some residual warmth and the smell of burning cider-wood. Will had a point, the room was considerably cooler than the bed, but the daily grind wasn't going to wait for them, so with a sigh, he gently nudged her. "Sorry, but I am meeting with the Duchess of Ero and Lord Ruslan of Morovia to finalize the peace treaties between the two kingdoms. If you so desire it, you can call in sick and stay in bed; however, I have to get to the daily grind."

"No," Will complained and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "The bed will get cold without you. You can't do this to your pregnant wife."

"Wilhelmina, I am giving you an ultimatum. Either you are staying in bed on your own or you are going to school and we will see each other this evening when you come back. I cannot skip out on this important meeting; there is a chance the turmoil between the two kingdoms can be extinguished in just a few hours. This would mean that our child wouldn't have to worry about it." He replied, gave her a gentle hug, and slipping out from between the sheets. Will groaned in protest and grabbed hold of his sleeve before he could get his bearings, pulling him back onto the bed and pulling him on top of her. With surprise at the edge of his voice, he asked. "What are you doing?"

"Please let us spend one more minute together." Mumbled Will as she pressed her face against his chest. Her legs and back still hurt from the long drive and she didn't want to get up. She enjoyed the way the warm blanket felt and the comforting weight of her husband against her. For a minute, Phobos gave into his wife's demands and wrapped his arms around her. He too didn't want to get up; if he could, he would have canceled the meeting and spent the day holding Will and discussing their future together with the child on the way. However, the drone of the large, dark wood grandfather clock in their bedroom reminded him of the day at hand and he, begrudgingly, pulled himself from her arms.

"Wilhelmina, it is 6:00 in the morning. I have to go; I'll see you this evening." He then kissed her forehead and left before she could grab him again. Will only frowned and tightened her hold on the blank, contemplating if she should stay in bed or go to school. Knowing her husband, he would stay true to his word on having the physician prescribe bedrest; furthermore, she knew skipping school would attract her mother's attention. With one final groan of protest, Will forced herself out of the warm and comfortable bed.

In the bathroom, she went through the normal morning process of washing her face, brushing her teeth, combing her hair in a vain attempt to control her uncontrollable cowlicks, and looking herself over in the mirror. As she looked at herself, she lifted the front of her sweater out a little and imagined a bump. How long would it take for her to start showing and she wondered how she would break the news. Knowing her friends and family, Irma would be ecstatic and so would Hay-Lyn. Taranee would be excited as well but would try to keep herself reserved. However, her mother would have a cow the moment Will came out to her. Susan had already insinuated that Phobos was abusing Will and that bothered the young queen; sure, they hadn't planned on having a child this early in their marriage, but they were married. At first, they had tried to keep their hands off each other, well at least he tried to keep his hands off her; however, Will simply couldn't help herself. She was a teenager with raging hormones and a handsome man at her beck and call. However, explain this to Susan would be like explaining a modern telephone to a Mesopotamian priest, Susan would never believe Will's word that she had instigated their deeper relationship. However, Will knew her mother only meant well and, if she were in Susan's shoes, she would act the same.

Snapping back to reality, Will finished her morning routine and stepped through the portal that leads to Cedric's antique bookstore. By now, she knew the layout of the place and that she had to move the shelf back in place to hide the portal; she even had her own key to the store so she could open and close the door. For all Heatherfield knew, she had a part-time job at Yee Ol' Books. When she stepped out of the store and into the nearly dead streets of Heatherfield, Will regretted not staying in bed that day. The cold from the day of their trip, which was a dry and bone-chilling cold, was replaced with a wet kind that clung to every fiber of her being and made her feel miserable

To add to the cold inconvenience, Will stepped into a puddle and the water soaked through the stitching of her shoe soles. She wanted to head right back to Meridian and curl up under the blankets with her husband; however, her husband wouldn't be there when she got back. He would be in another place of the castle and she would have to explain her absence; it was better to simply head to class and endure the cold. Still, she felt like getting some form of retribution from him when she returned in the evening.

When she reached the gates of the Sheffield Institute, the first thing she saw was her three friends waiting for her at the foot of the steps and Matt at the top leaning against the doors. Will inwardly groaned at this; since she married Phobos, Matt had been leering at her. Sure, he had kept his distance from her, as she had made that clear last time they spoke, but he still stared at her whenever they were in the same room. He never spoke to other girls, unless they were partners in a school assignment and, from what she heard in the hallway rumors, he hadn't found anyone new. Part of her had hoped they could have remained friends after the break-up, but she couldn't get the image of him stabbing her husband out of her head. She still had nightmares about that day from time to time and probably would for the rest of her life. It was that imagery that prevented her from ever talking to him again; if she could, she would have changed schools, but that was out of the question, so the best she could do was ignore him.

"Hey girls, have any of you recovered from the drive?" Will asked with a tired smile when she finally reached her friends. They all looked as tired as Will felt; though, whether that was jetlag or trauma from discovering the existence of skin-crawlers Will couldn't tell.

"More or less," replied Taranee while stretching her back like a cat, "I couldn't sleep without imagining Janet standing over my bed."

"Same here." Replied Hay-Lyn while rubbing her eyes. She had told her grandmother everything in the hopes that Yan-Lyn would have an answer as to the origins of skin-crawlers. To her surprise, the old woman had never heard of such a creature.

"My butt is still vibrating; makes me wish there was a dancing contest so I can shake it off." Complained Irma before shooting Will a friendly smile. "And how are you? Is your ankle recovering alright?"

"My ankle is fine, but my husband is an ass." Replied Will while returning the smile.

"What did he do now?" Asked Hay-Lyn knowing this was going to be good.

"He made me get out of bed."

"Hit him with a cast-iron skillet." Responded Irma, which made the entire group burst out laughing. After catching her breath and wiping a stray tear from her eye, she continued. "If you want, Danny can help you. She is coming to Heatherfield earlier than expected. Her sister Ella has gotten a job and a house here; according to the phone call from Sheela this morning, Danny will be here next week."

"That is great!" cheered Hay-Lyn, jumping in place like an excited child. Despite the events they had encountered at the cabin, Hay-Lyn enjoyed Danny's hilarious stories and wanted to hear more.

"I agree with Hay-Lyn." Added Taranee, but her smile quickly turned to an expression of concern. "But, I thought Sheela wanted to train Danny in the family practice. Did she change her mind?"

"I ain't got the foggiest of a clue. I didn't get a chance to ask her since it was my mom who picked up the call and told me. But, I am sure we can ask Danny when she gets here." Replied Irma and, before Will had the chance to ask something, the bell rang the girls had to head in before they were late for class. As the group wandered through the busy school halls, they came across the doors that lead to the school's swimming pool; Will was grateful that it was both Winter and that the pool's heating system had broken down. This effectively halted the swimming team until summer and Will was sure that she would have delivered the baby by then. She knew she could hide the bump under sweaters and hoodies for the longest, but there was no way that should do the same in a skin-tight swimsuit.

As the day continued, Will's mind kept wandering back the little life growing inside her and what it would be like. She had been around babies in the past and they never liked her. She liked holding babies and playing with them, but babies only ever stared at her or cried if they were handed to her; she hoped her own child would like her. Furthermore, she wondered how the pregnancy would go; she had only known for three days and still couldn't comprehend the fact that she was going to become a mother in less than a year. She was happy and excited, but also scared and worried. Furthermore, she was worried about the delivery; sure, it was months away, but she cringed at the thought of being in pain for hours. As she daydreamed throughout class, she wondered where she would have it. Should she have it in Meridian or Earth; Meridian would be its' rightful home, but Earth had a more advanced medical system, from what she had gathered in the months she had lived here. She wondered if it would be a girl or a boy; she had told her husband that she didn't care and she still didn't but knew Meridian customs demanded a princess. Should she have a boy, would the people accept him?

Her daydreaming was cut short in History class when Dean called on her to answer a question. He had noticed Will's mind wondering and felt it proper to call her back to reality. Sure, Will was a queen and he let her get away with a lot outside of school hours, but History class was his domain and all, even queens from other worlds, would pay their respect.

"Miss Vandom, could you please answer the question as to who the Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut was married to?" Dean asked with a humorous wiggle of his mustache.

For Will, a brief moment of embarrassment was had.

XXXXX

Author's Note:

Yes, I am posting the first chapter now. I can't promise a weeky upload like I did with The Inbetween and Cries from the Woods, but I can promise a monthly upload until I get my life sorted out. I had this chapter mostly done after I finished Cries from the Woods. I have a few questions.

Do you prefer Will acting more adult or more childish?

Do you want long chapters (2,500-3,000 words) or long chapters (3,500 + words)

I will try to post both The Prince's Frozen Heart and The Bloody Throne at the same time for you folks, but I am only 1 person. Thank you guys so much for your continuous support.