Kensington Palace wasn't usually so well decorated over the festive season and definitely had never before hosted a Christmas party. In fact, no one usually stayed there usually over the holidays. But now it was the official residence of one Princess Eleanor and her husband, Jasper, Duke of Devonshire- and their three children-, so of course Eleanor had insisted on throwing a Christmas party.
It was just after six-thirty when the Frost household woke up on Christmas morning- or, were woken up. Annie came bursting into her parents' room, flinging their ornate ivory door open and jumping up onto the large King Size bed before jumping up and down repeatedly at the end of it, clutching a knitted rabbit in her hand.
Eleanor rolled over groggily, regarding her two-and-a-half year old daughter with a tired but loving smile. She couldn't tell if Annie- Anna-Marie- was more like her or Jasper. The young toddler hair had Eleanor's wavy hair, but it was ash blonde like her father's, her eyes were wide and a light green with long lashes. Right then, Annie stopped jumping and regarded her mother with a smile that reminded Len far too much of Jasper.
Jasper pretended to be asleep for as long as possible but a thump on the arm from his wife told him that he wasn't getting away with it. He opened his eyes to see his youngest daughter jumping up and down on the end of the bed, excitedly, and his four year old son- Henry- struggling with a stocking that may have contained far too many presents.
Jasper gave his son a loving smile as Henry finally made it to doorway, only moments later to be followed by an irritated looking Isabelle, who as the eldest by five minutes, was naturally the boss of the house.
"Mummy and Daddy said we weren't to get up until seven!" Izzy yelled at her younger siblings, earning an eye-roll from Henry and a melodramatic sigh from Annie.
"It's ok, Izzy," Eleanor told her daughter, before gesturing for her children to join her and Jasper on the bed.
"Merry Christmas!" Annie yelled.
"Yes, Merry Christmas to you too," Jasper said ruffling her hair playfully and earning a chorus of giggles from the young girl.
Izzy sat demurely on the end of the bed and Eleanor wondered how Izzy had ended up with a personality so like her Uncle Robert that it was startling. Certainly Leni must have inherited the 'Robert genes' too, but something must forgotten to activate them in her.
"Iz, it's Christmas," Henry said, "Lighten up a bit."
"Can Daddy make us bacon and eggs and soldiers?" Annie requested, "Can he? Can he? Can he?"
Eleanor laughed, "Yes, of course Daddy will."
Jasper raised his eyebrows at his wife, "Yes, but only after we've opened the presents in the stockings. And don't think I haven't noticed that chocolate all over your face, Henry."
Henry blushed, "But Daddy, it was too heavy for me to carry with the chocolate in it. I had to come up with some solution!"
Jasper rolled his eyes, "Ok. Ok. It is Christmas. Now go on! Let's see what Santa's brought you!"
Eleanor and Jasper watched as their kids raced out of the door.
"And when will I be finding out what's Santa's brought me?" Eleanor said with a cheeky smile.
Jasper leaned over until he was only inches away from her face, "Oh, I promise you won't have to wait very long, Princess."
Eleanor pulled him in, kissing his exuberantly, until she heard the sound of a bang coming from the hallway. Jasper and Eleanor raced out of their room immediately, stricken with worry.
"It's ok!" Annie yelled, stuck under a stocking with presents tumbling out it, "I'm ok!"
Eleanor gave Jasper a pissed off look, before whispering, "How much did you put in them, for God sake?"
Jasper shrugged, "Call it practice for later life."
Eleanor rolled her eyes, shaking her head. It had been a long time since anyone had mentioned a thing about Jasper's shady past, except for the odd joke here or there. After all, the idea of a Las Vegas thief winding up with the Princess was a ridiculous idea on paper. In reality, it was perfect.
"Come on then," Jasper said, picking up Annie's stocking and resting it on his shoulder, as if it was a swag bag.
Eleanor made to help Izzy with her stocking but a stern look from Jasper made her hesitate. If Jasper had his way he'd have her in bed resting, and the last time she had actually needed bed rest for the last two months, but she was only three months along and there was no way she was being coddled just yet. Even if deep down she did adore being taken care of by Jasper.
Jasper returned moments later to collect the other stocking, "You should know better, Len."
"I know, I…" Eleanor replied, before stopping as Jasper looked up at her with a cheeky grin, "What's going on?"
"Wait right here," Jasper said, before grabbing the other stocking and closing the bedroom door behind him.
Eleanor waited impatiently in the hall, shifting from side to side as the seconds dragged on. Len placed a hand on her stomach, which was just beginning to bulge a little, and showed just slighting through her silk pyjama top.
"Morning, Lissy," Eleanor said to bump, "Today we're going to surprise Daddy, if he stops being an as-. Oh, hey Jasper!"
Jasper gave his wife a confused look, "Come on, we're ready."
Jasper took Eleanor's hand, leading her back into their bedroom. The kids all sat on the bed, excited grins on their faces, as the held on to presents wrapped in copies of the D-throned newspaper. Eleanor grinned, before giving Jasper a smirk.
"Merry Christmas, Mummy!" Izzy said as she passed her present to her mother.
Eleanor ripped open the paper (she could tell Jasper had wrapped them, they were covered in far too much Cellotape) to reveal a large bar of Toblerone.
"Aw, that you Izzy," Eleanor said, hugging her daughter, "It's my favourite!"
"I know, Daddy told me," Isabelle admitted.
"Open mine, open mine, open mine!" Annie yelled, bouncing up and down.
"Ok," Eleanor said with a smile, unwrapping the paper to reveal two of her favourite liquid eye-liners.
"I know, they're really weird crayons," Annie said, her face screwed up adorably in confusion, "But Daddy said you'd like them."
Eleanor smiled, hugging Annie to her side, whilst Jasper gave his children a look of betrayal but they just shrugged.
"Here you go, Mummy," Henry said, passing his present to Eleanor, "I hope you like it."
Eleanor unwrapped the present to reveal a soft ivory coloured woollen jumper with ice blue snowflakes and sparkly silver sequins with silver glitter.
"Thank you!" Eleanor told her children, hugging them tightly, "Thank you, so so much."
"Can we open the stocking now?" Annie asked, fidgeting impatiently.
"Just one more present," Jasper said before passing his own present to Eleanor.
This one was wrapped in a sparkly red paper with glittery shimmering silver stars running across it and a large silver bow, edged with silver glitter. Eleanor removed the bow, sticking the head of her bed, like she used to when she was a kid, and unwrapping the present. Inside was a small black box and an envelope.
Eleanor opened the black box to reveal a silver pendant necklace with a flower locket on the end of it, inside was a copy of the Christmas portrait that she, Jasper and their children had posed for earlier that week for the Guardian.
"It beautiful," Eleanor said, eyes full of happy tears as Jasper helped her put on the necklace, "Look, it's all of us."
Eleanor held out the locket for her children to see the photo, each of them excitedly spotting themselves.
"Go on, open the other one," Jasper said, and Eleanor could tell that he was barely containing his excitement.
Eleanor opened the envelope slowly, knowing it would wind up Jasper even more. Inside was a letter, and Eleanor unfolded it carefully before begging to read:
"Dear HRH Princess Eleanor Frost, Duchess of Devonshire,
We at Airbus Industrie would like to welcome you on a special exclusive no expense spared tour of our A390 model as it makes it's first flight from London to Vienna.
Jasper, what did you do?"
Jasper smiled, "I might have arranged us a little holiday."
"On an exclusive brand new jumbo jet!" Eleanor exclaimed, "And to Vienna! This is amazing!"
"Well you've told me tons of times how much you wanted to visit Vienna again," Jasper said with a grin, before Eleanor kissed him.
"Thank you," Eleanor said.
"Will this be a Mummy and Daddy only holiday?" Henry asked, looking upset.
Eleanor hugged him, "Yes, but we have our holiday at Disneyland coming up again soon, don't we?"
Henry smiled and Izzy grinned exuberantly.
"Will Daddy let Goofy steal Annie's breakfast again?" Izzy asked with a wide smile.
Annie looked terrified, "I don't like Goofy, he's scary."
Jasper smiled, remembering the morning they'd decided to go down to the restaurant for the breakfast show instead of just ordering room service. Of course the Disneyland staff were more than happy to put on a show for the young Prince and Princesses but poor Annie had spent most of it hiding under the table after Goofy had snuck up on her and tried to steal her bacon.
"I promise I'll tell him no this time," Jasper said.
"Pinky-swear?" Annie asked with startling seriousness.
"Pinky-swear," Jasper promised, before hugging his daughter, "Come on, let's get these stockings opened."
The kids all jumped up, grabbing their stockings and ripping open the wrapping paper to reveal bars of chocolate, calenders with cars and cats and horses on them, woollen hats and scarves, colouring books and packets of sharpies, story books, puzzles and a soft toy teddy bear or two.
"Thank you, Mummy and Daddy!" Izzy said after finishing unwrapping her presents.
"Yeah, thanks," Henry said with a grin, before opening up a box which contained a fifty piece puzzle and already trying to figure it out.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Annie yelled, jumping up and down clutching 'Mr Wabbity', her new teddy bear and a soft toy tiger to her chest.
"Come on let's get some breakfast before Uncle Liam and Auntie Willow arrive," Jasper said.
"And Uncle Robert and Nan," Eleanor added, "They cut their tour short, remember, Daddy?"
Jasper nodded, "Sorry, Mummy."
The kids all shared excited looks.
"What about Great Uncle James and Sara Alice?" Izzy asked.
"Of course they're coming too!" Eleanor said.
The Great Uncle James joke had gone too far and in the four years since the twins' arrival it had stuck and try as hard as they could Izzy, Henry and Annie refused to refer to James as anything except their Great Uncle, no matter how much the head of security hated it.
"Now come on, Daddy's right," Eleanor said, standing up to signify that she was being serious, "Daddy and I have a lot of work to do before they all arrive. We've still got to cook Christmas dinner- make the pigs in blankets and the sausage rolls, make roasted parsnips and potatoes, and stuffing. Then we've got to stuff the turkey-."
Jasper tried his hardest to suppress a laugh as Eleanor glanced over at him with a wry smile.
"Well we better get breakfast," Izzy said, before racing her siblings towards the top of the stairs, waiting for their parents to open the stair gate.
BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK
Breakfast in the Frost household was orchestrated somewhat like preparing for an epic battle. In fact, Eleanor and Jasper had been met with a constant battle from the twin for the first two years until they realised that correctly coordinated cups, bowls, cutlery and place mats did actually matter and then there was an order of succession when it came to who was served first (Izzy, then Annie, then Henry).
If not a meltdown would ensue. And not just an average toddler meltdown, these were the children of Eleanor and Jasper after all.
Annie nibbled greedily at her toast which was drenched in egg yolk, whilst Izzy delicately ate her nutella and strawberry pancakes and Jasper debated with Henry as to whether adding chocolate milk to chocolate wheaties was too much sugar- especially considering he'd already eaten a chocolate snowman for starters.
Henry eventually gave in, with the promise of a slightly bigger portion of Christmas pud and clotted cream after dinner.
Eleanor arrived some time after the rabble, trying to hide her pale face from Jasper who she knew would only worry. She still wasn't quite past the morning sickness phase, and Jasper still panicked and fussed, no matter how many times she told him it was normal.
Jasper placed a black and white polka dot dressing gown delicately on her shoulders before wrapping an arm around her waist and walking with her to her place at the head of the table. In front of her sat a bacon and feta omelette and a small nutella and strawberry pancake and Eleanor's stomach growled ravenously. There was also a large bottle of Evian and a mug of Earl Grey Tea.
"Thank you, Jasper," Eleanor said, before taking a bite of the omelette, which tasted delicious as usual.
Jasper was a brilliant cook, and the kitchen was completely his domain. The Frost's preferred to keep things simple, with minimal staff and only the necessary security personnel. They wanted their kids to have a normal life. They had a cook and cleaner that helped out of the weekdays, but at weekend and on holidays they were pretty much alone.
"Are you ok, Mummy?" Henry asked, his blue eyes filled with concern.
Eleanor nodded reassuringly, trying to smooth out his messy black hair, which usually stuck up in every imaginable direction no matter how meticulously she styled it.
"Can we pull the crackers now?" Annie asked.
"We'll pull the crackers after you've finished your breakfast," Jasper said.
"But I'm not hungry," Annie said, staring at the last two soldiers on her plate.
"Well then there'll be no crackers," Eleanor said, trying to be as stern as possible, although it was difficult given how much Annie resembled Jasper.
Annie sighed, "Oh, ok then!"
Eleanor and Jasper smiled and shared a secret 'hi-five' under the table as they managed successfully to prevent a total melt-down.
Eleanor had just finished her omelette and was moving on to the pancake when the doorbell rang.
"That's got to be James and Sara Alice," Eleanor said, "They said they would arrive early to help us out. I know, I know, Jasper, but James insisted."
Jasper sighed before getting up to answer the door, moments later Sara Alice and James walked into the kitchen.
"Merry Christmas!" Sara Alice yelled as she placed a bag filled with presents on the kitchen counter, before hugging and kissing Jasper and Eleanor and their children, "Did you all get lots of presents from Santa?"
The kids nodded exuberantly as Annie jumped up to show Sara Alice her new teddy and tiger toys.
"I like what you've done," James said, looking around at the kitchen, "It's beautiful."
Eleanor smiled, she was the one who had designed the layout of the kitchen. There were counters surrounding three of the walls, with a large range cooker, two microwaves, toasters and kettles. The kids artwork and projects from nursery were stuck all over the fridge freezer combo. The largest granite table stretched from the breakfast counter towards the large windows which showed the veranda/ patio and gardens beyond.
"Thanks, James," Eleanor said, "I'm just glad we've finally finished the renovations."
"Yeah, only took you six years," Sara Alice teased.
Eleanor grinned, shaking her head. Sara Alice had lost none of her audacity. At thirteen the young girl had just entered the teenage phase, and it appeared that she might have learnt a little too much for Eleanor. Sara Alice admired Eleanor's fashion sense, which irritated James a lot- given that a lot of it was a little too 'grown-up' for a thirteen year old. Sara Alice had also inherited a good number of Eleanor's CDs over the years. Sara Alice also babysat for them every now and then, and went on trips to the hairdressers and nail salons with Eleanor and her daughters.
"You just wait until you have kids," Eleanor replied.
"But please do wait," James said, with a sigh.
Sara Alice looked at the floor, toying with her I phone.
"Dear God, please tell me you don't have a boyfriend?" Jasper asked.
Sara gave him an offended look, "No, actually I don't. And heteronormativity is so last century."
Eleanor's eyes were wide with shock, "So when will we be meeting this girlfriend of yours?"
"Yes, and when will I be meeting this girlfriend of yours?" James asked.
Sara Alice sighed, "I've invited her to the new year's party."
"Fair enough," James answered, "But the rules still apply."
"Yes," Sara Alice replied with an eye roll, "I've already told Marly that my Dad and Jasper have diplomatic immunity."
"Good," James answered, "And remember no emojis."
Sara Alice smiled, somewhere in her earliest memories she remembered an argument that had occured because of someone's emoji texts, she was glad she didn't know all the details- the memory of the phone saying eggplant, water bottle told her enough.
"So what do you need my help with?" James asked.
Jasper sighed, "We haven't even started yet. Thank you so much, you didn't need to do this."
James glanced down at a post-it note, "I beg to differ. Considering the hashed up calculations here I'm guessing that if I left the turkey up to you two it'd still be frozen by mid-afternoon, with a side serving of salmonella."
Eleanor looked chargrinned, "Well it's not my fault. It was Jasper's job to calculate how long the turkey needed to go in the oven for, and he hasn't gotten around to stuffing the turkey yet either-."
James gave Eleanor a nervous look.
"Erm, excuse me!" Jasper began, argumentatively, "What exactly have you been doing to help out?"
"Don't you dare!" Eleanor replied, "I drizzled the carrots in honey last night before putting them in oven. And-."
Sara Alice struggled to contain a smile, "Why don't I take the kids to the games room?"
Eleanor smiled gratefully, suddenly realising what she had really been saying to Jasper.
James sighed, "Please promise me we won't have any more of that kind of arguing today."
"Sorry, Foxy," Eleanor apologised.
"Sorry," Jasper added.
"Let's get started then," James said, "Hopefully, this time you remembered the cranberry sauce. The fake cranberry sauce didn't fool anyone at Thanksgiving, your highness."
Eleanor smiled remembering how she'd forgotten to add the cranberry sauce to the Ocado order and had made the fake version from strawberry jam and glacé cherries.
"I did this time," Eleanor answered proudly.
"And hopefully this time we won't be drowning the turkey in white wine like we did last Christmas," James added quietly.
"Absolutely not," Eleanor replied sincerely.
James rolled his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief, "Not again."
Eleanor gave him an offended look.
She placed a hand over her stomach, "Don't listen to him,L-. Oh shit!"
Jasper looked at her curiously, "What were you about to say then, Len?"
"Nothing," Eleanor said, "Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. I should go see what the kids are up to? Back in a moment."
Jasper shook his head, watching as Eleanor darted out of the kitchen.
"She's up to something," Jasper said, "She's definitely up to something."