Hey guys

I am so so sorry that it took me a month to finish this chapter but I ran into a massive writer´s block.

I do hope you will still read on and review even though I kept you hanging for so long. I hope you´ll forgive me.

This chapter came to life because I needed a little more cheerful Frary moments after 2x04 left me heartbroken. So, I hope you´ll enjoy it.

Chapter Twenty-Five:

For days she kept mostly to herself and felt quite alone even when surrounded by her ladies. Kenna and Greer would eagerly chat about Greer´s fiancé Castleroy and something about a chateau for Kenna and Sebastian. Mary barely listened.

There had been a time when Mary thought she knew what was happening in the lives of her ladies but now she questioned the status of their friendship. She had been so caught up in her own life and her own sorrows and everything life as a royal brought with it, that she missed the events in her friends´ lives. She had not been able to celebrate with Greer when the engagement with Castleroy was arranged or comforted her when Leith cut all ties to her. Kenna might have been her sister-in-law but she could barely keep up with her either.

She missed the simple times of their friendship greatly. Sometimes she wished that she could go back to a time where they would sit on the green grass in the garden by the lake and talk about their first kisses. That seemed so long ago.

...

Kenna and Greer giggled about something when they suddenly stopped. They turned their attention to someone and bowed their heads in respect. Mary looked up to meet the blue eyes that she easily recognized to be her husband´s.

He smiled effortlessly at her friends and asked if they would excuse him for stealing his wife away from them. Mary caught sight of their shared glance and their knowing smiles out of the corner of her eye before she stood.

Reaching his side, Mary was slightly surprised when Francis placed a hand on the small of her back as he led her away from Kenna and Greer. She tried to conceal it but something in Francis´ eyes told her that he had noticed. He made a move to retract his arm but when she gave him a small smile he kept it where it was.

She unaware of how long or how far they walked, she relished in his embrace and the feeling of having him close to her again. She would walk for hours if it meant that they could stay like that.

He finally stopped and turned to her once they reached the south wing of the castle, the part that had been reserved for the two of them since their wedding and had remained uninhabited for many years. Francis´ grandparents had lived in these parts, Mary was told once. Only now that they were finally having a child had they decided to make use of the chambers. There would be enough space for them and a nursery adjacent to their bedrooms.

They stood in their still empty bedroom by the closed door to the balcony. Only a desk with a chair no one had sat in for 12 years and a bed no one had slept in for just as long remained in the room.

Francis had a small smile on lips when he watched his wife take in their surroundings. She had been there once or twice before but it still surprised her how much larger these rooms were than the ones in the other parts of the castle. It was Francis´ grandmother Claude who had chosen the tapestries and ornaments that decorated the chambers.

"They still need to finish the nursery but we can move in here when you want, you know?" he told her.

Startled, Mary turned to face him and blushed slightly when he chuckled at her expense. For just that moment, Mary was able to forget everything that had happened between them. She could pretend that they were fine; that their marriage truly was not as complicated as she feared it to be.

"I know, but I was thinking," she paused and looked a little timid, "that we could wait until our baby comes and make it a new beginning?"

She almost expected him to laugh at how foolish she must have sounded. She sounded more like a girl who dreamed of fairytales than a woman and a queen.

He merely smiled at her and nodded. "We can do anything you want."

His lips caught hers in a quick kiss and he gently stroked her cheek when he pulled back. They stayed there, foreheads pressed together and arms holding onto each other as a means to get even closer to one another than was possible with Mary´s swollen abdomen. Neither said a word for the longest time. The silence was comforting and they could pretend that they never had to let go.

Mary had hardly seen Francis for days. His advisors always demanded his presence now that France´s future was in peril. When she looked closely, she could see the purple lines under his eyes and the tired look in his eyes as they stared into hers.

"We cannot afford to argue and push each other away," Francis spoke, disrupting the stillness around them, "France relies on us as king and queen to help her. The plague is fading, they say, but a famine has taken its place and our money runs low."

Mary opened her mouth to speak but he silenced her quickly.

"We must find a way to get grains and crops to the people and we need the support of the nobles to do so. It is better when we work together."

Mary closed her eyes and a single tear slipped down her cheek. Francis had not forgiven her but he had promised that he would put everything that had happened, everything that she had done, behind him. Perhaps they could move forward now. Perhaps they would be okay.

She felt the baby kick then and could not help the giggle that escaped her. Francis frowned in confusion and pulled back to look at her. Without words, she grabbed his hand and placed it on her abdomen, right where she had felt the child move.

For a moment nothing happened and Francis was about to pull his arm away. She placed her own hand on top of his and met his eyes.

"He kicked," she smiled, "Do you want to feel it?"

Just then the child moved again. The nudge was enough to make Francis recoil and stare at her with wide eyes.

"Was that him?"

Mary nodded and replaced his hand on her stomach. He placed his other hand there as well and went down on his knees. With his face just by her protruding abdomen, Francis grinned up at her when the baby nudged against his hands again.

"Does it hurt?"

She shook her head with a wide smile on her lips and tears streaming down her cheeks in an endless river.

"No, I am fine," she replied and ran her hands through his hair and wondered to herself if her son would have the same soft curls as his father.

She had never seen him this excited and happy and if possible, her love for him grew a little bit more in that moment. He was going to make a wonderful father.