Edmund woke from the feeling of fingers drawing circles on the side of his chest. He lifted his head slightly and saw a mop of dark curls in disarray. He chuckled silently at his wife who was lying across him. It was rare that Georgie woke before he did these days; he usually had to be the one to drag her from bed in the mornings and prod her to get dressed and begin their day. The vibrations from his laughter caused Georgie to turn her head towards him, a light smile on her face.
"How long have you been awake?" he asked, running his fingers down her spine. He saw her shrug before she turned her head towards the window, propping it on her hand that had flattened against him.
"The sun's been shining for a while. It was dark when I woke up," she said quietly. A sparkle out of the corner of Edmund's eye caught his attention. It was the ring he had bought for Georgie so many years ago, her engagement ring that had sat on the same finger since the day she opened the box that held it. He reached up and took her hand in his, his eyes remaining on the ring. Georgie looked at him with confusion.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I hate that I never actually got to ask you to marry me. I had it all planned out. It was going to be the best proposal I had ever given," he said softly. Georgie rolled her eyes and asked, "Oh? So you've given more than one proposal?"
"Well, technically I've never given one, much less more than one," he said, smiling at her. "I just wish I could have proposed to you rather than you find your ring the way you did," he said, a touch of sadness in his voice. Georgie glared at him for several moments, slightly irritated he had brought that particular part of the past up.
The day she had found her ring had been one of the most heart-breaking moments of her life, one she constantly pushed to the back of her mind hoping that one day it would disappear. Caspian's words of "There were no survivors" still repeated in her mind on occasion, haunting her worse than any ghost ever could. Edmund and his three siblings had been on a trip to Terebinthia to arrange Lucy's engagement to the island's prince and, on route to Archenland to return Princess Laira to her home at Anvard, a storm had swept the four Pevensies overboard and destroyed the ship. Georgie had only found out later, after she had come to Aslan's Country, they had actually been returned to their home in England.
Sighing, Georgie rolled her eyes and turned over and leaned back. "It's a little late for that, don't you think?" she said lightly as she pointed to the tell-tale bump on her stomach. Edmund chuckled and ran his hand over his wife's pregnant stomach, pushing the thin material of her nightgown with it.
"Is the baby why you woke early? Is it giving you problems again?" he asked, shuddering from his memories of the first month of her pregnancy and how sick she had been. Georgie shook her head and sat up, her eyes smiling.
"No, the baby's fine. I just couldn't sleep any more. Susan comes home today!" she said excitedly. Edmund chuckled again, a mischievous smile tugging on his lips.
"I'm well aware that my sister is coming home today. But she has kept us waiting for quite some time," he said, pulling the string at the neck of Georgie's nightgown. It fluttered open, the shoulder sliding down slightly.
"I'm supposed to go meet her. It's very important that I not be late," Georgie said sternly, swatting Edmund's hand away from her shoulder.
"Sweetheart," he said sternly as he sat up. "I know how excited you are about my sister returning. I imagine I'm even more excited. But she won't be back for who knows how long; we might as well enjoy our time together now." He slowly threaded his fingers through her hair, leaning down to kiss her, knowing that her resolve would soon melt. With a happy sigh, Georgie leaned into him, deepening their kiss. Edmund laughed low against her mouth, leaning back and pulling her with him. He inched her nightgown down her shoulder, kissing the place where it had been before making his way back up to her mouth. A pounding on the door broke the two apart, their heads jerking simultaneously towards the bedroom door.
"Ed! Get up!" a voice yelled from the other side.
"Hang it all, Peter!" Edmund yelled back in frustration. Georgie giggled as she pulled away from him.
"Oh, no you don't, G," Edmund growled, grabbing her back. "I'm not letting any of my siblings get in the way of you today." Georgie shrieked as he gently flipped her on her back, pulling the covers over them both as he kissed her.
Peter pushed open the doors to the Great Hall. His wife was there, instructing a group of workers that were hanging decorations throughout the room. Glancing around the room he cringed. As much as he loved her, his wife had no taste when it came to décor. He often turned to his sister to go behind her, fixing whatever dreadful color combinations she had come up with. While Lucy definitely didn't have Susan's magical touch when it came to things like this, hers was certainly better than Laira's.
"Darling!" she exclaimed when she saw Peter, hurrying over to him. Peter wrapped her in his arms, placing a small kiss on her forehead.
"Busy this morning?" he teased.
"We wanted to start setting up for Susan's return. I hope she likes it!" Laira said wistfully.
"Well, it's certainly… unique," he carefully said of the teal and bright green banners that hung from the walls.
"You'll check with Lucy to see if she wants to add anything? I don't want to take Susan's homecoming from her; I only wanted to get some basic things done. And I know you like Lucy to look over everything to make sure I haven't made too much a mess of things," Laira said nonchalantly.
Peter glanced at her, his eyes wide with worry. Laira grinned at him before pushing away. "You know I'm terrible at these things. I don't know why you keep insisting that I help plan all our events. I, for one, can't wait for Susan to return so she can take over everything and I can stop pretending that I enjoy this," she teased.
"Alright, alright. From now on, one of my sisters will be in charge of these things. That way you can worry about your own agenda, which I hope includes spending more time with me," he said, giving her a wink.
"I'll see if I can work you in," Laira replied, smiling at her husband.
"Thanks," Peter replied sarcastically. "Have you seen Edmund this morning?" he asked, remembering why he had come to the Great Hall. Laira shook her head.
"I don't know if he's even been up yet. I haven't seen him or Georgiana at all this morning. Of course, that's nothing new not seeing her before noon," she said.
Peter sighed in annoyance. He and his brother had planned on waking early to go riding and discuss the additions to Cair Paravel's inhabitants, namely his sister and new brother-in-law. Peter mainly wanted to discuss his feelings about Susan's return; he was worried that she would be unable to forgive him for how they had parted and their heated words they had exchanged in the past. It had been on his mind since it had been told that Susan would soon come to Aslan's Country.
"That brother is beyond aggravating!" he said frustratedly as he turned to leave the Hall.
"Peter!" Laira called, hurrying after him. When she caught up, she linked her arm through his. "Is it really so bad he hasn't gotten up yet? Not everyone wakes at dawn like we do," she said, hoping to console her husband's temper.
"No, it's not bad that he hasn't gotten up. It's bad that he missed a meeting with me that I considered to be important," Peter said sharply. Laira sighed but stayed silent. She knew there was no reasoning with Peter when he was mad at his brother. When they reached Edmund and Georgie's bedchamber, Peter shrugged out of Laira's grasp to knock on the door, pounding his fist against it.
"Ed! Get up!" he yelled.
"Hang it all, Peter!" his brother yelled back. A loud giggle followed.
"They're both up! What are they doing?" Peter complained angrily.
"Oh, as if you don't know," Laira muttered. Peter turned to glare at her, his lips turning into a stern frown. They both turned towards the door as a loud shriek came from behind it, followed by Edmund's deep laugh. Peter looked back at Laira, who shrugged. "They're still newly weds. What can you expect?" she asked, grinning. Peter returned her grin and moved closer to her, drawing her into his arms.
"Well, if they can both still be considered newly weds, I guess that gives us a reason to act like that too," he said slyly. Edmund and Georgie had gotten married before Peter and Laira, a constant joke between the two brothers.
"I suppose if you want to do things like your little brother does…" Laira teased, trailing off when she caught the playful look in Peter's eye.
"Oh, I intend to do things much better than my little brother," he said, his voice lowering. Laira squealed when Peter suddenly picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He chuckled as he began walking quickly to their bedchamber, Laira's mutterings to put her down humoring him. As they walked the hall, they passed Lucy and Jill walking in the opposite direction. Jill smiled widely at Peter, giggling as they passed. Lucy, however, rolled her eyes at them.
"Can't you two behave?" she called after them.
"Sorry Lucy!" Laira called back, giving her sister-in-law a helpless grin.
When Peter reached their bedchamber, he turned the handle and kicked the door open. Walking to their bed, he gently dumped his wife on it before returning to the door to lock it. Turning back to the bed, he smirked at his wife. Always the proper princess, he thought, silently laughing at the way she had primly sat on the bed. Just as it had when they had first gotten to know each other in Tashbaan, her primness was oddly seductive to him. He saw behind her façade she had built, finding her to be warm and inviting, especially in moments like these.
"So you were going to show me how you were better than your brother?" she asked lightly, inspecting one of her nails. Peter chuckled as he slowly walked to his wife. He took her face in his hands gently, moving slowly towards her before whispering, "Oh, I'm going to show you how I am much better than my brother."
Lucy put the finishing touches on her hair, turning her head at different angles in front of the mirror to make sure it looked perfect.
"For someone who never puts her hair up, I say you did a wonderful job," she told her reflection. She stood to inspect the rest of herself.
The gown she had picked, after going through her entire wardrobe twice, was perfect. It was, in fact, one of Susan's favorites that she had designed just for Lucy during one of their times in Narnia. She still found it strange, in a wonderful sort of way, that all her clothing and belongings that she had loved dearly in Narnia were now here, as if they had waited for her all this time. A knock on the door brought her out of her musings. Lucy walked to the door, opening it to see Jill standing there.
"Jill! What are you doing here this morning?" Lucy asked.
"I thought maybe we could go for a walk," Jill said.
"Sure, that would be nice," Lucy agreed. She stepped out of her room and shut the door behind her. Jill took her arm, linking theirs together, as they walked down the hall. "How do things look in the Great Hall?" Lucy asked hesitantly. Jill groaned.
"Oh, Lucy, you're going to need to go in there before Susan comes home. I love Laira, but Aslan help her, the woman has no idea how to match colors," she said. Lucy laughed brightly. She knew that she shouldn't allow Laira to plan for their parties and balls and dinners, but she couldn't bring herself to tell her sister-in-law to stop. Laira always seemed to try so hard to please everyone that Lucy was scared it would hurt her feelings.
"I'll take a look and see what I can do," Lucy promised. The two turned the corner and saw Peter walking towards them, a flurry of skirts hanging over his shoulder. "What are they doing?" Lucy muttered.
The two women heard Laira's protests and giggles; Jill smiled at the couple, knowing how much she liked their happy relationship. As the couple passed them, Jill smiled wider and giggled seeing Peter's determined look and Laira's smiling face. Lucy rolled her eyes at her brother, irritated that everyone surrounding her was acting foolishly. Edmund and Georgie were constantly sneaking off or stealing kisses when they thought no one was looking. Peter and Laira rarely showed much affection in public, but when they did, it was always a big show, such as the one Lucy currently was viewing.
"Can't you two behave?" she called after her brother and his wife. Laira looked up and gave Lucy a helpless grin.
"Sorry Lucy!" she called back.
"Oh, Lucy, don't be such a stick in the mud. I think it's nice that they're so in love. I wish I could be," Jill said cheerfully. "Eustace has acted like he likes me, but I still can't decide. At the ball the other night, he kissed me in the garden…" Jill trailed off when she caught Lucy's narrowed eyes and frown.
"Please, don't continue with that. I don't' want to hear about my cousin and you kissing," she said.
"I think you're just in need of a little companionship. What about Tirian? He's been very taken by you since you two met," Jill suggested. Lucy thought briefly of the handsome young king they had met when they had first entered into Aslan's Country. She had thought him very kind and wonderful. He had taken to her instantly, hanging on her every word whenever she spoke. He was older than her, older than Peter at the time, so she forced herself to push any thoughts of him out of her head. Her brothers would never allow that relationship, despite them being in a place more magical than they had ever been before.
"I don't think that's it, Jill," Lucy said quietly. Jill stopped, staring at Lucy puzzled.
"Lucy, you're not still upset about your fiancé from before marrying someone else, are you?" she asked. Lucy shook her head.
"It hurt, yes; to know that he'd found another woman that he could love was more painful than I had originally thought. But I could have hardly expected him to not find someone new after we left Narnia. We were supposed to be dead after all. I just get lonely sometimes. Edmund has Georgiana, Peter has Laira… I just want someone to have," Lucy admitted. Jill smiled and said, "Well, there's always Tirian!"
Lucy rolled her eyes and started walking again, leaving Jill behind. Once she had hurried and caught up to Lucy, Jill said, "Sorry, sorry. I won't speak of him again unless you want to. Let's talk instead about your sister coming home!" Lucy smiled widely.
"That's something that I'm excited about! I can hardly wait until Susan gets here. It's going to be so wonderful to have my older sister again!" she exclaimed excitedly.
"Yes, it will be nice. Maybe Susan will even help you with your little Tirian problem," Jill said slyly. Lucy cried out in frustration.
"Jill! No more about Tirian!" she yelled, storming off as her cheeks began blushing.
Turning the corner she ran into a solid wall, soft and hard at the same time, the force of it knocking her askew.
"Your Majesty!" a deep voice said. Arms clamped on her shoulders, helping her right herself. Lucy glanced up, pushing her now crooked crown back on her head as she saw Tirian staring down at her.
"I apologize for not watching where I was going. Are you alright?" he asked kindly.
"I, uh, yes, fine," Lucy stammered, moving out of his grasp. Tirian smiled warmly at her and said, "I'm glad to hear so. From now on, I'll be sure to watch where I'm going so I don't cause you any more distress." He walked away, giving her a small wave as he turned back to look at her. Lucy's heart fluttered from seeing his dazzling smile, scowling to herself as he disappeared down the hall and thinking, Lucy, you're ridiculous.