(Peter)
"Peter!" I turned to see my sister- the elder of them- running along the corridor to catch up with me. She held her long scarlet skirts in one hand so she could free her lnnfeet. Her dark hair flew out like a river behind her, her crown slipping a little.
" I thought so, I knew it but I wasn't sure and now I am and oh Peter I have to tell someone but I can't tell Caspian and oh, I never expected that-." I held my fingers to my sisters lips. This was the sort of thing that I would have expected from Lucy not Susan, it was rare to see my sister so happy. She was grinning with a smile I hadn't seen since I was a young boy, only twice other than then had I seen her grin like our younger sister- once on the day of our coronation and once on her wedding day.
She'd always been happier here, in Narnia, than she was at home but since she was married she seemed to be the happiest ever. There was no doubt that there was real and true love between my sister and King Caspian and there union had brought so much happiness to Narnia also. The Narnians had became acustom to the story of their young King and Queen, we had even been invited to a play put on by school children which showed the tale of them. It wasn't hard to remember how much I'd disliked Caspian at the beginning and I could still remember the first time I had seen him look at Susan with the predator's eye that I knew well from my time as a school boy. The look in his eye suggested that he wanted to take her and have his way with her. I was protective, more so than I had expected I would be but Susan and I were exactly eleven months apart, she was as close to me as a twin but still distant enough that she was a baby to me.
It was needless to say I'd learned that Caspian's look of longing was more than just for one aspect of love, when I first saw them share a kiss I felt strangely proud- proud of them both- Susan for being able to show the rest of the world what she really thought rather than just her siblings. And I was proud of Caspian as a brother, like I would have been had I watched Edmund treat a girl with such respect.
Now there was something more, a look of love was present in Susan's blue eyes when she stopped in front of me. A look of hope.
"I must tell you quickly but you have to promise not to tell Caspian, if he were to find out now he wouldn't leave with you and there is not a chance that you are going alone into uncharted water. There's going to have to be a change however because it wouldn't be safe for me to go with you, I have spoken to Lucy and her and Edmund- reluctantly I might add- are staying here while you and Caspian go out to discover these islands."
"Susan," I laughed, taking a gentle hold of her shoulders, "you aren't making a lick of sense."
She took a deep breath letting it out with a 'hmm'. Her eyes became focused on the floor and she chewed her lip for a while.
"I don't really know how to say this," she muttered before looking back at me.
"Well I was advised not to go on this trip by the doctor because it could be unsafe in this... State for me to travel so far and for so long and after a while I would just get under your feet and slow you down and I don't think it would help the sailors traditions for a baby to be born during a voyage."
I was stunned, did she mean, was Susan really? She answered my question herself with less smiling eyes, eyes that were more cautious, that were more Susan.
"Peter, your an Uncle." Those words were whispered. She looked a bit nervous because I was so shocked- she probably didn't realise how much it effected me. My baby sister, the one who yelled at me and put me in my place, the one that cried on my shoulder and made me see the other side, the girl I'd walked down the aisle in a long white dress, was going to be a mother. I tried to picture it, Susan with her body swollen with child, Susan carrying a tiny baby with long fingers, Susan holding the hands of a teetering toddler in a long dress. She seemed so young to me, too young to have a baby of her own but she wasn't so young, she had reminded me on so many occasions still I couldn't quite grasp the idea.
"Peter?" She asked again, even quieter than she had been before. I looked down at her worried eyes, too much worry and doubt for the Queen who had became so happy and free.
I didn't say anything, I just wrapped my arms around her in a gentle hug. I didn't know very much at all about babies, other than how they were made, that they cried and that they were very tiny so I was careful of how I handled Susan. I knew Pregnant women were very fragile though how fragile I wasn't entirely sure. Pleasant moment aside- I was glad I could hide behind the business to mask the shock I felt- I began to ask the more important questions.
"What do I tell Caspian, about why you aren't coming with us?"
"Tell him that we might be needed here, say that I'm ill if you must- it wouldn't really be a lie I don't exactly feel fantastic." I nodded and carried on,
"And won't it be a bit of a shock when we return for you to hand Caspian a baby?"
She laughed and shook her head,
"No, the baby shouldn't be here by then. If you are on schedule there will be plenty of time. You do see why it would be foolish to tell him now, don't you?" This time I nodded.
"The others don't know yet, I told Lucy it was a female thing that she might want to assist in and I don't think Edmund knows anything other than Lucy begged him to stay." Susan spoke as if answering the question I was yet to ask.
"Now you better go and prepare," she said, her regal, authoritative tone appearing from nowhere. . I agreed and began to head of towards my quarters as Susan headed back to hers, dragging the train of her dress in an arch behind her. I took a few steps before being able to say what I needed to.
"Susan?" She twisted her head round to face me,
"Congratulations."

(Susan)
I knew my plan would fall perfectly into place. Peter always meant well but he was awful when it came to the keeping of a secret. I just had to hoped could keep his new found knowledge to himself until they were at least a days journey from home. Our home was yet to be finished, our real home which had been reconstructed in its exact position from the past. Caspian had said he felt he owed it to us. Now our baby would be born where it belonged.
That felt so very strange, Our baby. My baby. I'd known what all the signs and symptoms had meant before it had been confirmed. I then had to give my permission for the staff to be briefed. I had been force out of the period of amazement by the fact that I was now a serious target for assassination. The same healer who had proclaimed that I was in deed expecting had warned me I should have a spy employed and a personal body guard to follow me everywhere I went including within my own chambers. A true harsh reality for me to take on, being Queen was not all it was cracked up to be.
And, because of that what I did on the departure of my elder brother and husband may have seemed a bad idea. I tied my horn to Caspian's belt, a little bit of settlement for my mind, a little bit to ease the doubt. The fear he might not come back.
He had little chance to protest since the the departure on the dawn treader had became much more public than first planned. There were crowds of Narnians and Telmarines alike as we wished two of the three kings a safe journey. Reepicheep stayed around my feet, sword drawn ready. He was taking his job as a temporary body guard very seriously, knowing he was the very best person for the job. He could hide easily amongst my skirts without being noticed and he would stay hidden in an inside pocket on my favourite cloak if he had to be.
Lucy disappeared amongst the crowd, Glenstorm following her to greet our subjects and people alike. Edmund was going over the finer details of the ship with its captain looking over the map the dwarf held up to him. I gave Peter a glance, suggesting he should give me a moment to say goodbye properly, he rolled his eyes and walked off mumbling that he was going to look for Lucy.
Caspian smiled but his eyes were concerned, he looked around himself before stepping up to me laying one hand carefully on my waist. His head bent down considerably so he could lol me in the eye.
"Be safe, my Queen," he whispered, lightly kissing my cheek with his dry lips. I felt my cheeks blush a bright rouge when he touched me. Caspian laughed lightly,
" some things never change,"
"I'll miss you," I whispered back, closing the respectable distance and sliding my hands across his back, holding him tightly to me but without too much pressure that could be considered far too forward for a public situation.
"Come with us then," his tone was hopeful but I had to shake my head.
" I'm needed here and besides if I go then you won't get a fantastic surprise when you return." I got to give the knowing smile this time while my husband frowned.
"Your Majesty, we are ready to set sail." The voice of Drinian came over the crowds of people. Caspian sighed before quickly kissing me, catching me off guard as his lips captured mine. I blushed again as he pulled back. A quick, sealing hug and he was gone, we waved them off along with the crowds while my little mouse friend complained about what he'd witnessed.

(Lucy)
I'd known something was changing. I was able to feel it, sense it somehow, I always had but Susan had been different for a while. She looked different; her cheeks more flushed, her eyes brighter and she was so careful with her movements, like a crystal vase older than our reign was held in her buttered fingers. Her appetite changed too some days she scaresly ate a thing. When Glenstorm came cantering along to my chambers I was sure something was wrong with Susan. My hand itched to go to my belt for cordial, but that was a silly assumption it wasn't likely she was sick and only once had she shot herself while using her bow. The centaur knocked rapidly on the door, bowing when I answered before his broad, strong voice came down to me.
" Your Majesty, I must beg the help of your healing cordial, you sister may be in grave danger." My heart had sank, I hadn't wanted it to be true. I grabbed the bottle from its holder on my belt which hung on the back of a chair before rushing after the centaur to Susan's own chambers at the opposite end of the Telmarine castle. I dashed after the tall man on his four hooves desperately trying to keep up. What could be wrong if he was in such a rush to save her? Susan never got hurt.
Entering her bedroom she was lying flat amongst the sheets but her eyes were open, she was alert and saying she was alright. But then all of us Pevensies were good at that.
I noticed Reepicheep sitting near my sisters head and it dawned on me that I hadn't seen the little mouse in all the time since Peter and Caspian had left for the islands. And the times when I had seen the tiny little knight he was always with Susan. Right now he appeared to be arguing with her, she was shaking her head while he stood paws on hips glaring at her with his tiny eyes.
" Honestly, it's just the normal kind of sickness- our Mum had it terribly bad- I'm fine. There's no need to waste Lucy's cordial on nothing."
" But please you majesty, I am sure the king, in fact I am certain the KINGS would rather we risked wasting a drop than he returned to here of your passing." The little mouse and my sister continued to argue till eventually I stepped forward and opened the bottle, twisting the cork with a pop. Susan sighed rolled her eyes but submitted and let me drop a little fire flower juice onto her tongue.
" See, I am perfectly safe, there was no reason to worry. Now, may I have a moment alone with my sister, I have to explain the situation-"
"Oh but you highness, I was instructed not to allow you out with my own eyes and ears..."
"You will hear everything from just outside the door, please I would appreciate it." He sighed and trudged off, leaping down from the edge of her bed mumbling something about if only she'd been the evil queen instead of the Gentle one. She could, in deed bring almost everyone round to her way of thinking with her soft voice and reassuring tone. Once Reepicheep walked through the door pursuing the healer Susan slide out her bed, dressed in a white silk nightgown and began to pace in the elegant way I wasn't really able to do. I'd tried to be as grown up a Susan but my hips didn't move like hers did, if I tried to make them rock I just looked silly and if I tried to glide my feet got tangled in the hem of my dress and I fell over. I wasn't ladylike enough to keep my calves hidden let alone my ankles but Susan assured me it would all come with age and reminded me that I was really just thirteen years old.
"What happened Susan, why did they call me?" She looked down at her feet then up at the narrow glass window before she spoke, her gaze remaining on the window,
"They thought I might have been poisoned." She sounded so calm, so Queenly but it wasn't a nice thing to hear. My sister had been poisoned- or they thought she had. Why would anyone want I poison my sister, she had always been adored as the high Queen but this, this was assassination.
"But why Susan, what for, why would they want to do that to you?"
She laid her hand against her stomach- something she'd been doing much more often recently- and looked at me, a tiny hint of her favourite knowing smile, the smile that said I didn't quite understand yet.
"Because,Lu, the Telmarines didn't want a Narnian Queen so they really won't want a narnian heir- let along if its a boy."
My head rewind end and played back what was happening. I grinned, grinned beyond what I knew was possible. Susan was, she was going to have a baby, a real baby!
"Oh, oh Susan!" I squealed rushing over to hug my sister she laughed, a light warning to be careful. I'd forgotten that meant she was fragile, it was quite easy for babies to die before they were born. A neighbour of ours back in London lost her baby during an air raid, Mum had to help the tiny dead child into the world while Susan held her hand. Peter, Edmund and I had stayed in our own shelter during the birth while Mum and Susan helped. Susan had looked very ill when I saw her later, Mum had tried to comfort her but it was hard to comfort Susan in any situation she always had to work things out for herself.
"Sorry," I smiled to go with my apology, pulling away from my sister so as not to hurt her baby.
" I can't believe it," I whispered, looking down at Susan's stomach- not a hint of the baby was there yet. She was still as thin as ever.
"No, it's alright, it feels strange doesn't it?"
"That my sister is going to have a baby? I'm going to be an aunt! Of course it's a bit strange. Who else knows about it." Susan shook her head,
"Just Peter." She said quietly.
"So you haven't told Caspian yet?"
"No, that's the reason you're here and Ed. It wouldn't be safe for me to go. I doubt the crew would be happy if I gave birth on the voyage. Peter's awful at keeping secrets and so by the time they return he will know. And Ed was kept back for protection and incase I am unable to keep up with councils and courts and all sorts as the time comes."
Her pale skin was set with a smug smile as she explained her plans to me. Her arms folded across her chest in defiance, a plan that fell through when she winced slightly in pain and let her arms drop again.
"I just hope Peter does tell, otherwise Caspian will get a shock!" I laughed, Susan joining in.
"Yes, I can just picture his face now!"
"When will the baby be born Susan?" I asked, all joking laid aside. She shook her head,
"You know I can't be certain, whatever I say it's only my
rough-"
"Yes I know all that, you forget how old I am!" I groaned, exasperated. She smiled and nodded once, "your right I do forget. Your still just my baby sister- but there's another baby to take your place. He or she will be here in roughly five months time."
My eyes shot straight to her stomach. She couldn't be, there wasn't even a hint, yes her nightgown was loose but her dresses, every gown she owned fitted tight to her body. I'd seen neighbours and relatives and a school matron have babies and, well they all looked a little rounder than before by this time. Susan had nothing.
She seemed to understand what I meant and gently rubbed the skin a little under her belly button.
" I am a little bigger, but not that anyone could notice if they didn't know. One of the healers- I think it was Tibberus- noticed straight away. She says this month and the next and it will be very clear." I laughed again, trying to picture my sister like that. I simply couldn't,
" I just can't see it!" I shrugged explaining my laughter when Susan gave me an odd look.
"Neither can I." Her voice was faint, distant, she sat back down onto her bed with a little difficulty- like she wasn't sure if her stomach was going to cooperate or reincarnate her super once more.
"Are you scared?" I asked softly,
Susan looked at the floor then the window. She was awful at showing her emotions, kept everything hidden, maybe it was the baby blues or something but the tears in her eyes were clear even if she tried not to show it.
Eventually she looked at me, a tiny whimper coming from her as the first tear slid over her red cheeks. She nodded three quick little nods.
"Oh Su," I smiled going to put my arms around her. It was a very rare thing to comfort my older sister but I hoped she always knew I was there got her.

(Susan)
I was scared, I was more than scared. A baby a real live baby was in my body, it was all down to me to look after it. It, I knew the history, I'd done the Tudors at school, yes things were different here but there ha to be pressure I already felt the eagerness for a son. I suspected my husband wouldn't mind too much whether he had a son or daughter but I could feel the want of my people even though they didn't even know. I also felt the pressure from the people that weren't really mine, the telmarines. I had tried with the wedding. We had twenty four children, six boys and six girls from each country but still there were many people who gave me looks of horror and disappointment. Some would hope I could honour the telmar traditions by having a son as my firstborn, they would be horrified if I continued Narnian tradition and let a firstborn daughter be heir to the throne. I didn't know what to want but I knew I wanted my Mum.
I knew it was her job to teach me everything about this experience, her job to laugh and blush when the awful topic of inner body workings came up again. She was the one that would say 'don't scream Susan, put the effort where it needs to be' as I'd hear her say to our neighbour on that awful day when she lost her baby. I needed to have her with my but she wasn't here. I had I be a big girl.

(Edmund)
It was arbout a month after Peter and Caspian had left on their journey when things started to be a little weird.
I hadn't exactly been pleased that I couldn't go with them, it wasn't fair it had already all been planned and we were all going and then SUSAN couldn't go for some reason so I had to stay too. It wasn't fair Peter always had to do all the things he considered dangerous. So he and Caspian were away seeing unseen islands and I was stuck in councils and meetings with my sisters. I didn't even know why we had to stay behind but it was obviously Susan'a fault. That was what I thought at first.
Then, Susan was... different. She looked pale and thin and she wasn't ever hungry, she had dark shadows under her eyes like she was sick. She came down one night to the common room with Lucy and she looked like she'd been crying. I wasn't frustrated any more, I was worried. I asked Lucy if Susan was going to be ok and she'd smiled and rolled her eyes, 'oh Edmund! Of course she's going to be alright.' Her comment confused me but I started to think. It was a while later that I understood why Susan was sick. I'd not seen the lying smile used to hide her tears for a while, I'd not heard of her throwing up either. She had begun to eat more and she seemed more alive though still pale. I presumed she'd recovered and then I noticed something else. Susan was... fatter than she used to be. The belt she always wore sling over her hips and fastened loosely showed it all. Her belly was much rounder and the dress she was wearing a bit tighter.
I knew that she was married to Caspian and obviously I knew that when you were married to someone you loved you... Ugh. You, well you did IT. So, could that mean that Susan was pregnant. I knew I couldn't ever ask her, that would be really bad for me if it turned out that she wasn't. But she did kind of look it, would she know if she was- no she would know because girls (particularly Susan!) get very grumpy around the same time each month and that was- or so mum said- part of how she would know if she was pregnant. To be honest all I got was that mum excused Susan's grumpiness around that time and she got away with murder because it was her 'time of month' Peter and I just got told to leave her be even if she'd annoyed us! But that was besides the point. More on it was that my sister might be about to have a baby.
Now that was weird. My sister, a baby. But I didn't want to think about it too much in case bad pictures of my sister and a man I almost thought of as a brother doing things I did not need to know about!
Another few weeks and I knew I was right. She was my sister and all but I still knew she was beautiful, my sister had the figure of a girl on the cover of one of the magazines I knew Peter had hidden under his bed. Now she had quite a little pot belly on her, she masked it with a new wardrobe, her clothes were made much looser without a waist. To make room as her stomach expanded even more. She'd never perked up after her illness, she never really left it, she was still pail with no appetite.
I'd seen her speaking to a female healer again- a half fawn, half human names Tibberus. Tibberus had been trying to persuade Susan that she must keep trying to eat, her quizzed her on her eating habits, asking about any new favourites.
She'd taken to appearing in the mornings for councils and then after lunchtime she would excuse herself and go to rest in her chambers till at least four in the evening. I was also aware that Lucy knew. She had to because she was always trying to help Susan, always asking if she needed anything and did she feel any better today- it was as if she thought she could will the baby to come sooner if she was nice to its bearer.
Eventually I gave up and decided I'd have to ask Susan, otherwise I might not know until she was screaming and telling me the baby was coming. I decided I could wait till the morning was over and then catch her once she'd gone to rest. It wasn't going to be easy really, I could already feel the slap across my cheek for being cheeky. But my plan fell in line perfectly. Susan disappeared as always just as lunch was being cleared. A satyr, the lead chef who'd been on leave came into the room just before she left. Yohar bowed politely before speaking to Susan quietly, he offered congratulations and then asked her if there were anything he could alter in the menu for her health, any smells that automatically turned her stomach. That delayed Susan leaving for a while ad they nattered about what might help Susan's sickness and what Yohar said had helped his wife's health when she expected their twins. Eventually Susan left and I managed to sneak away a moment or two later, saying I was going to the library- I even walked past it to make my plan even easier to believe. I knocked on her door and heard a very weary invitation in, Susan sounded more exhausted than before, probably because she was out of earshot of the servants.
When I opened the door she was sitting on her bed trying to reach round and undo the ties on the back of her dress. She sighed, finally getting the knot out and pulling at the threads to loosen them. It was as is her spine just collapsed and became soft. She looked at me with glazed eyes.
"Do you mind if I take this off?" She asked, speaking to me for the first time. I shook my head,
"Go ahead." She pulled the bright red dress up over her head and sat in a white underdress instead.
Wow, she was much bigger than she looked. She followed my gaze and smiled at her ballooned stomach. She gave the top plane a little fond pat, her hand settling there as she looked back at me.
"Su," I started, biting the bullet, "you are, ugh, you know...umm,"
"Pregnant?" She laughed.
"Oh Ed, I did try to tell you, of course I did. I never meant for it to get to this!" Her hands illustrated, rubbing right over the whole of her stomach.
"So, Caspian-,"
"I really don't think you want to go down that avenue Edmund."
"Oh Susan! I didn't mean it like that! Ugh! I meant, how did you get him to leave knowing about, ugh, it," I nodded to her stomach. It was kind of hypnotising, something about the perfection in the shape, she had a mathematically accurate sphere growing out of her and it didn't help that she wouldn't stop stroking it, as if she was hypnotised by the touch.
"That's because I didn't- he doesn't know." She said. So not only had she not told me, she hadn't told her own husband- the baby's Dad (well at least I hoped he was!)
"What!" I asked, totally astounded. Susan laughed again,
"He might know by now, i told Peter and we all know what he's like."
I nodded , Peter could never keep a secret, he didn't gossip he just let things slip easily.
"Because your right, Caspian would never have gone had he known."
A small silence fell, I wasn't a very touchy type but I needed to ask- I was worried about her. I sat down beside her, glancing at the stone floor.
"But, you are going to be ok aren't you?" I looked at her again, here eyes were windows straight into her soul. Her eyes were clear only honesty when she agreed, smiling gently.
"I'm fine it's all normal. Mum had it really bad when she had Lucy,"
"Yeah?"
"Mmhmm, she said she knew Lucy was going to be a URL because she was very ill when she had me but not near as much with you it Peter."
"So it's a girl then?"
"So mum would say."
She smiled sadly in the memory of Mum and her sweet temperament, looking down at the top of her little bump as if it reminded her of Mum even more.
"I wish she could be here when the baby comes along,"
I hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder, comforting was her thing, not mine and well I wasn't the easiest thing to know what to do.
She smiled, gratefully at my gesture and slowly wrapped her arms around me, hugging me to her, squeezing me against her belly.
"Ugh, Su, your squishing me,"
He rolled her eyes,
"Oh Edmund, just you wait, this," she paused to pat her stomach once more before she continued,
"Is only the beginning." She laughed but let me go at last.
"You say the beginning as in, when's the end- when'll you... Pop?"
Susan couldn't help herself, she really laughed, her eyes squeezed together, it had been a while since she'd laughed properly.
"Oh Ed, I could just see that!" She giggled,
"I just hope that wasn't literal!"
I could picture it too, Susan like a ballon being blown up until someone too a pin to her and all of a sudden there was a baby.
I laughed too, slightly embarrassed.
"Ed, your cheeks are more red than mine,"
"But really, Susan, when." I masked my embarassment as best I could by covering it with another matter. She nodded, losing her laughter in one nod.
"Well, Tibberus says that the feelings in my stomach I've been getting, say around January."
"What feelings?" I asked, even though I wasn't sure I really wanted to know.
"There had to describe, it's like a tingling but really far in. It's the baby moving around that made it certain,"
"Certain?"
Susan raised an eyebrow, looking straight at me,
"You really want to know?"
"Probably not." She laughed just as there was a knock at the door,
"Enter," Susan called not moving from her bed but I stood up, not wanting to be seen hugging my sister.
Tibberus entered, smiling when she saw Susan sitting on her bed,
"I'm glad to see you majesty resting," Tibberus smiled, dropping a quick curtesy to Susan before turning and doing the same to me.
" yes, I've tried to find some time for myself," my sister replied. Tibberus nodded walking over,
"May I?" She asked standing over Susan, she nodded and sat down beside her. Tibberus ran her hands across Susan's stomach, pressing lightly in places. She removed her hands and nodded- speaking some kind of code language to her, something only girls knew.
I stood feeling a little awkward, not sure if I should watch the healer at work or if this was going to be personal but Tibberus would have said I should go if that was the case. Tibberus glanced at me and said that if there was anything 'From girl-to-girl' to ask than she was just to call.
She then relayed a message, saying that a centaur by the name of Ashgrow wished to speak with her,
"Do you know what for?" I asked. Susan added in before Tibberus could reply,
"Ashgrow has predicted the birth and the gender of the baby."
"Oh."

(Peter)
"Ugh, glad that's over," Caspian sighed, re-sheafing his newly cleaned sword and leaning against the cliff edge, breathing hard.
"Slaves," I laughed shaking my head- my own breathing still of.
"You've never vain across such before?" Drinian, the Treader's captain, queried.
I shook my head, slavery was something I'd never seen before but then the population of the Lone Islands had more than doubled since we came that way in the second year of our reign. All four of us had made the journey and it felt strange without them. I didn't have Edmund's quiet complaint or his cheeky tricks, we didn't have Lucy's sense of adventure and the essence of beauty and wonder she saw in everything. And Susan, well she wasn't walking round telling people to eat with their mouths shut, but she wasn't giving comforting hugs either.
I wondered how she was, she'd became pail and sickly looking just as we left and I hoped she wouldn't have it as bad as our Mum did. I can still remember Susan creeping into my bed early one morning when she was around four, she'd whispered to me that Mummy was sick- she's heard her. And I sighed, being old enough to remember what happened eighteen months before, I had rolled my eyes, hugging my sister and said,
"Maybe because she's going to have Another baby!" I'd complained to my- then blonde- little sister.
"Oh not again, Edmunds bad enough, he always takes my things!" She scowled.
"I'm never ever having a baby Peter!"
I smiled at the memory, how things had changed, and they hadn't taken long either- in both senses, changing her mind and becoming pregnant.
It had been a month since we left, she'd be showing by now. I wondered if they were managing to keep Narnia in check, by the time we returned Ed would be in charge, Susan being too far along to take charge. I hoped everything went well, but Narnia wasn't a hard country to run.
Back on board the ship Caspian was quiet- as strange as it felt I tried to sympathise that he was missing my sister. He was playing with her school tie, wrapping it through his fingers as we sat in the cabin. I had to tell him, he was missing her so much, much more than I was, of course I loved Susan but she could be... Very Susan-esque at times. She was just too much of a parent to be a child.
" I wonder how Susan'a coping," I staged, trying to make my comment sound open and general. Caspian looked up shyly from the strip of material he held in his hands,
"Oh, she'll cope Peter, she may never have run a kingdom before but she is a good learner, and a good teacher," he smiled fondly when he spoke about her- it was a bit sickening for me but if I made Susan happy then I couldn't judge. It wasn't my job to shove her into marrying someone over alliance, I'd already learnt from that mistake. I knew I went too far sometimes, I'd felt the need to look after her since our third year of reign in Narnia. I'd walked into her room without knocking to find it was a bad idea and she'd just cane out of the bath. She'd instantly grabbed a throw blanket to cover herself with one hand and thrown something at me with the other.
That was when I saw Susan was really growing up, she was a woman now. She never really behave like a child after that, being back in England was tough. Then coming back just as hard. Susan had pointed out later how I wasn't as annoyed with Caspian after the castle raid as I showed, I was annoyed with him because I could see what he did to Su. As well as her always taking his side, she smiled and fixed her appearance. I hated it, just couldn't do it. Till I saw them riding back together, I saw the way she sat close, her arms around his waist on Destrier's back. And then the first time I saw them kiss. I had to let Susan leave, I had to let her be the woman she was- even if I still needed her to be the girl.
" oh I don't mean on her abilities to rule, I was thinking more that she was quite delicate when we left her," I saw Caspian's eyes glisten with panic, this was both my expectation and my plan.
"What do you mean delicate! She is sick? Is that why she didn't come with us, is she very ill?" His slightly tanned skin tone suddenly went light, he was panicking a lot more than I'd expected him to.
"Oh Peter, she will be ok? I had thought she seemed different, for- a few months she'd been quiet and oh, I didn't even really notice, oh dear Aslan what if something's very wrong and-"
"Cas-"
"What if she doesn't revovery, she must've been ill for-"
"Caspian!"
"For ages and-"
"Caspian, you're a Father!"
That shut him up. He looked at me and blinked, mouth shut. Eventually he laughed, embarrassed,
"Susan's expecting," I smiled,
"Really?"came Caspian's reply, I rolled my eyes,
"Of course really, I wouldn't have said it otherwise."
He looked down, school tie still wrapped around his wrists.
"Wow," he whispered, "I hadn't thought it would happen so-"
"Quickly,"I interrupted, "yes Caspian, do not want to think about that!"
He looked up, grinning, "I got back at you though, after that your lucky you didn't get details."
"Ok, ok, fair enough, there are some things about my sister's life I don't need to know about." Caspian laughed,
"It is easy to forget you are all related, not that that was one of those times, but you are all so different,"
I shrugged, we probably were, I just never really noticed.
"So, Susan expected me to return and not know, but she'll be...," he mimicked the shape of her stomach with his hands, not able to find the words to express his thoughts.
"Well yes, she said she'd already seen a difference when we left,"
Caspian looked up, concentrating, trying to think whether he'd seen a difference in her.
"I've seen nothing, no changes in her physic just in her behaviour." He commented looking back at me, the he thought again.
" but if, if it was visible when we left, will she even still be with child when we get back?" He was worried now, his head fell into his hands against the table he sat at. A real look of despair covered his face, whatever had came over him, it was bad he was really scared.
After a few moment's of silence Caspian spoke, his voice wore the same tone as his posture.
"My Mother died during my birth. My professor told me later that she had predictions done by a real stargazer. She was told to prepare a wet nurse for me, that a disagreement in her blood would kill her. My Father and I had blood different from my Mother in some way the stargazer could not explain. If the same happens- I'd never expected she would take so quickly, it was what she wanted though, It took years for my aunt, I could never have thought she would take like that- if the same were to happen; Susan would die.

(A/N) well this was a short story, and it got longer and longer so I've had to do more than one chapter. I hope people read it and enjoy it- you know where the comment box is!