The New Baby
"Gilthunder?" A young Margret calls down the empty hallway to a figure standing by himself at the other end. Her little index finger wiggling back and forth as she beckons him to greet her and he happily starts to skip his way over.
"What is it Lady Margret?" The boy replies as he approaches the eldest princess with a big smile painted all over his face.
"Come meet the new Princess. I think her name is Elizabeth. Have you gotten to see her yet?" She asks grabbing his hand and leading through the set of double doors that seem to heavy for the tiny foot propping them open. He shakes his head no and tries to pull away, almost afraid that if he looked at the baby she might steal his soul or whatever caused uncomfortable feelings in young children near new borns. She gigles at his silliness and pushes him from behind now, forcing his feet to bump into the heels of the king who turns to meet little Gil and crouch down to his level. He holds Elizabeth out to Gil and he backs away twiddling his thumbs together by his stomach. He senses a set of footsteps behind him now and even though he anticipates their arrival, the booming voice they carry still frightens him and he jumps towards Baltra, forgetting all about how petrified Elizabeth made him.
"Hey there little Gil!" Meliodas grins before patting the boys head. His voice grabs Elizabeth's attention and the baby begins to coo and reach for Meliodas who lovingly holds his arms out for Baltra to hand her to him.
"Do you wanna hold her little Gil?" He grins again as he gently bounces the baby in his arms. Gil violently shakes his head no this time and Meliodas laughs echo in the tall ceilings of the throne chamber. This causes pouty looks to pierce a hole through Mels chest and he clears his throat before giving Eli back to the king. He kneels down now to look Gil in the eyes before cupping a hand around the boys ear and whispering "Ya know if ya wanna impress your girlfriend there you're gunna have to pretend that Eli is the cutest thing you have ever seen. Or you can forget about any K.I.S.S.I.N.G's" Meliodas Grins and Gils face reddens in shock before he slaps Meliodas on the shoulder with a closed fist.
"I don't think about anything like that!" He shouts as the others shush his shrilling. He pouts again and walks over to Baltra. Tugging at the kings cloak, he looks away and whispers quietly "Can I….can I hold her?" Baltras eyes widen with amusement and he nods his head in agreeance. Gilthunder swallows a hard lump first and reaches his arms out shakily. Mel notices the boys anxiety and swallows his own lump, afraid his most precious treasure was about to be put in harms way simply from a little boy wanting to be brave. Humans really were fragile creatures. He breaths hard before steadying the boys arms with his own and helping Gil support her neck. Feeling the knights arms underneath his for support made Gil a little more at ease and they both sighed with relief. Girls all over the room (nurses and chamber maids as well as Margret and the queen) could be heard making sounds of adoration and delight. Their squeals made the boys blush before Elizabeth's coos regained their attention with a set of their own affectionate clamor. This made Gil blush harder and he realized the soft warm body he cradled in his arms was squirming. This really made him uncomfortable now as his eyes started to brim with embarrassed tears which Meliodas recognized right away. Taking Elizabeth from the boys arms and nestling her into one arm, he pets Gil with the other and flashes him a reassuring grin. Gilthunder smiles back, feeling much better now. Meliodas always had a way of making things better for him and he showed his appreciation for the good knight whenever he asked small tasks of him. His most recent task though had been his favorite. To protect the princess Margret and do whatever she wished of him. What a great task it was. Margret was sweet and intelligent, but most of all she had this way of making Gilthunder feel good about himself, if ever he was having trouble at practice her comforting words always gave him the push to keep going and in turn the key to his success in his endeavors. Her soft hand wrapped her finger through his and his attention was pulled back down from Meliodas onto her. Her face smiling sweetly at him in fondness. Her smile forced his and he gripped her hand in his before pulling her away from the crowd, still fawning over the baby back in the kings throne room. They raced down the halls giggling, the sound of their laughter forcing smiles from those who could hear and finally they burst through the garden doors, into the courtyard of dozens of rose bushes. They rushed past the sidewalk separating the garden and a large field and down towards a hill that lead down to one lonely willow tree. Their chortling still trailing behind them as they lay down side by side and roll alongside each other in the grass. Their hands flying all around in the air before landing on the ground and accidentally folding up together. They curl up into themselves, laughing hysterically, but then their eyes finally open to meet one another and the thought of them being alone creeps over them, forcing the children to look away in humility. Gil clears his throat like he has observed the men do when discussing things of great matter. His adult antics cause Margret to chuckle with a hand over her lips and her other hand picks bits of grass from her skirt as she has observed the ladies do when they drank tea from the riverside and the leaves would fall onto their dresses. He peeks over to see her brushing her skirt off, his mind wanders off to her soft hand he was so lucky to hold onto. His thoughts race through his head, but one voice rings out above the others. Meliodas teasing keeps playing over and over within his head and his teeth clench together in frustration.
"Something wrong Sir Gil?" Margret asks, placing a hand onto a shoulder.
"O no, it's nothing, I was just thinking of how cu….cute Elizabeth was." He replies with a fake smile that fools the girl.
"Yea she's very cute! I'm so blessed to have another little sister to share my things with! I'm gunna take real good care of her and she's never gunna wonder what it's like to have a sweet big sister like me. I'll do everything I can to make her happy. She's my new baby sister after all." She smiles before laying down onto the grass with her arms behind her head. Gil lays next to her, yawning and slipping an arm charmingly behind her head. She sighs, showing him his thoughtful gesture hasn't gone ignored and he breaths heavily in response. She scoots closer now and Gils eyes spring open as her feels her face nuzzles itself into his chest. Turning his head, he tries to speak, but the warmth of the princesses skin paralyzes him and speaking now would be useless anyways, seeing as how she was sound asleep at the moment. He chuckles before taking a deep breath and releasing it once again. He looks up to the clouds before his eyes start to droop and shut for themselves. The lay together peacefully for a while, letting the dazzling sun bathe them in comforting warmth and the cool breezes tousling their hair. They lay there together and dream. Gilthunder of Margret and Margret of her new baby sister.