"Talking"
"Thinking"

Chapter 2: Martha

The next morning Elise woke up in her bed. She smiled at the sun beams falling through her window, feeling refreshed as always as the morning sun warmed her skin and aided in her waking. She sat up and stretched, the sleeves of her night gown falling to her elbows. She covered her mouth in mid stretch and yawned.

She sat in bed with her back leaning on the headboard, allowing the sun's rays to continue warming up her skin. She closed her eyes and sighed.

A knock broke through Elise's thoughts, bringing her attention to the door. "Who is it?" Grant called from the other side of the door, "Grant." Elise smiled at the sound of her fiance's voice. "Come in." He walked in and smiled. "Still in bed?" Elise covered her mouth and giggles. She then hugged her still-covered legs and looked at him innocently. "I just woke up, so yeah I'm still in bed." Grant laughed and sat beside her. "What do you have planned for today?" Elise thought as she glanced away from him. She then looked at her prince. "Nothing really. I don't have any more paintings to do and my last delivery was yesterday." Grant smiled and took her hands in his. "Then how about we spend the day together. Just you and me." Elise smiled and blushed. "I'd love that." Grant smiled and softly kissed her lips, causing her smile to widen and her face to glow brighter.

Later that day, Adam sat on his throne as he read a book him and Grant had found the previous day, as they were looking through the Library. So far, reading it had calmed him down a little. But he still had a lot of unanswered questions.

His thoughts were interrupted by Lumiere. "Master." Adam looks the man who was once a Candelabra. "Yes Lumiere? What is it?" Lumiere looks at Adam. "I'd hate to disturb you while you're busy, but there's a visitor just outside the castle." Adam thinks as he close his book. "A visitor? We weren't expecting anyone." He gets up, puts the book on the throne and heads outside.

A woman was being helped out of a carriage by the coachmen. She had blond, curly hair that was pulled back in a pony tail. Her eyes were an icy blue color that could send shivers down any spine. She was very pale and her cheeks were colored in pink freckles. She wore a pink dress and a hat that matched. The sleeves of the dress ended at her elbows and had white ruffles, while her hat was decorated with light pink flowers and a light blue bow. She was thin and had a height of 5' 8".

Adam walks out to see her, his eyes widen as she approaches. "Well, this isn't good." he mutters under his breath. "Martha! It's..uh... a pleasant surprise to see you." Martha smiles and walks up to Adam. "It's good to see you too, Adam. You sure have changed since we last met. Usually, you don't greet anyone with such great respect." Adam nods. "Yeah. I have changed a lot. So what brings you to my Kingdom?" Martha smiles. "I heard you're soon to be a father. So I've come to see if it was true. If it is true then I'm going to stay for while." Adam stiffens. "Stay? I don't think-" "I'm not taking "no" for an answer." Adam tries to get a few words in. "Well-" Martha looks around. "So, where's Grant?"

Out in the garden, Elise and Grant sat under a tree near the pond. The prince had his back leaning on the tree while he held the sitting Elise his lap. They were both laughing hard at a story she was telling Grant, one which her father used to tell her and her siblings when they were kids. It was about when her father, Leon, and mother, Fae, started their own cafe. She caught her breath after what seemed like an eternity of laughing, then looked at Grant. "Then Papa said Mama stood next to him with her arms folded and her foot tapping on the floor, expecting an apology, but all Papa said was 'okay, so being stubborn isn't always a bad thing'." They both laugh, Grant managing to hold back off-and-on to speak. "It sounds like your father got into so much trouble with your mother." Elise giggled. "He did."

After a few moments, Grant caught his breath and sighed. He closed his eyes and thought. Elise cuddled up closely to him. He looked down to her. "Hey, Elise?" She looked up to him. "Yes?" Grant thought a bit longer. "If your parents were still alive, what would they think of me?" Elise smiled. "They would have loved you. They really weren't hard to please. I know for a fact you and Papa would have gotten along really well. They both would have been happy to welcome you into the family." Grant smiled. "I would have been honored to be a part of the family." Elise smiled and cuddled back up to him. Grant stroked her hair and closed his eyes, starting to feel relaxed.

"Graaaannnnttt!" Grant opened his eyes when he heard his name being called by someone other then Elise. Both him and Elise looked to where the voice came from, and Grant met with Martha's smile. Grant's eyes widened. "Martha?" Elise got off of Grant so he could get up. He stood up and brushed himself off. "Martha, what are you doing here?" Elise watched them, confused. Martha smiled. "I come to help the queen have her baby. And to see you." Grant folds his arms. "I think Belle has all the help she needs." Martha shrugs. "You can never have too much of it."

Elise stood up, and Martha's glance shifted to her. "Who is this?" Grant looked at Elise and takes her hand. "Martha, This is Elise. Elise this is Princess Martha." Elise gives a bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you, princess Martha." Martha nods. "Charmed I'm sure. It's nice to meet another princess." Grant looks to Elise then back to Martha. "Elise isn't a princess." Martha's eyes wide the she glares to Elise. "Then what am I doing talking to a commoner! You're probably just a castle servant!" Elise blinks. "Well, she changed her tone real quick." Grant glares at Martha. "Martha, could you kindly talk to my fiancee with respect?" Martha's eyes wide again. "YOUR FIANCEE! YOU'RE MARRYING A COMMONER!" Elise slowly hid behind Grant, who pushed her further behind him. "She's not just a commoner to me, Martha. She means the world to me."

Martha rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever." She smiles and wrap her arms around him. "Why don't you and I go inside for a cup of tea and catch up?" Grant gently pried her hands off of him. "Actually, Elise and I are spending the day together, so not right now." Grant took Elise's hand and started to lead her away from Martha. The jealous princess glared at the back of Elise's , she smirked. "Okay, fine. Maybe later you can help me unpack." Grant stops "Unpack?" The prince glances back to Martha. "Unpack? What do you mean 'Unpack'?" Martha smiles. "I'm staying until sometime after the baby is born." Elise blinks. "She's staying?"

Grant turned to the door again and walked away, bringing Elise with him. "She's doing this just to try to spite Elise."He glanced to his fiancee and saw a worried expression on her face. "Elise?" She looked at him. "Hm?" He held her hand more firmly. "Are you alright?" Elise nodded. "Yes. But that was really awkward and very unpleasant." Grant sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I know. I'm sorry for her rudeness, Elise." Elise looked to the ground. "She went beyond rude, Grant. She was trying to flirt with you right in front of me." Grant wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Don't pay any attention to her. She's just trying to get to me. Be strong and don't let her bring you don't so easily." Elise nodded then laid her head on his shoulder.

Grant sighed. "She's always tried to get to me. I never gave any attention to her trying to flirt with me. She just wasn't the right girl for me. She was always rude, selfish, unkind, and vain." Elise looked at him. "Sounds like a female version of Gaston." Grant nodded in agreement. "She even came to the castle right after we had been put under the enchantment. I was the one to approach her." Elise tried to imagine the look on Martha's face when she saw Grant as a 7 foot fox. "What did she do?" Grant remembered the horror on the princess's face at the first glance of him. "She screamed and ran off. I hadn't heard from her since. Until now, of course." Elise tried to figure Martha out until she heard Grant chuckle. She smirked and looked at him. "What's so funny?" Grant looked at her. "You neither screamed nor ran away when you first saw me." Elise smiled as she remembered how they first met.

Turning a corner, they saw young chip hiding in a bush. They glanced to each other before approaching the boy. Grant towered over him. "Chip." Chip looked up to the prince. "Shhhhh I'm hiding." Grant folded his arms. "We see that." Elise looked down to the child. "Who are you hiding from?" Chip smiled. "Sultan. I'm getting him to use his sense of smell to find me." As if on cue, Sultan walked up to them and sniffed the bush. Sultan barked happily when he smelled Chip. Elise laughed and Grant smiled. The prince looked to the boy. "Looks like he found you." Chip looked disappointed. "Only because you two found me first." Elise smiled. "Come up with any excuse you want, Chip." She knelt down to the dog and pet him. "Sultan will be able to sniff out anything." Sultan barked happily and licked Elise's cheek, making her laugh. Grant and Chip laughed with Elise as Sultan panted and looked at the humans around him.

Around the corner, Martha watched the happy couple with the child and dog. She glared at the commoner and folded her arms lividly. "She thinks she's so beautiful, so perfect. Not one flaw on her. How could Grant choose her?" She quietly growled at the thought and stomped away.

That night, Elise was sleeping soundly in her room. She did have a hard time getting to sleep, struggling to stop thinking of the glares Martha kept giving her at dinner. She had a bad feeling about Martha, but she promised Grant she wouldn't let Martha depress her.

It couldn't have been long after she finally fell asleep, that Elise was woken up by Mrs. Potts. The older woman was gently shaking Elise's shoulder. "Elise. Wake up, dear." The young woman opened her eyes and looked at the window. She then looked up Mrs. Potts sleepily. "Mrs. Potts? It's still night out. What's wrong?" Elise sat up and looked at Mrs. Potts, noticing that she looked a bit worried and she stuttered with her words. "Elise, dear. It...It's time." Elise rubbed her eyes as her brain tried to process what was happening. "It's time?" Mrs. Potts nodded. "Yes." Elise stared at Mrs. Potts for a couple of seconds until something in her brain clicked and her eyes widened. "Belle's baby!" "OOHHH! IT'S TIME!"

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