Chapter Ten: Delight
"Congratulations, you are with child."
Elizabeth gasped out in excitement, covering her face with her hands; though she could not completely conceal the beaming smile beneath her aging hands. "Dr. Ramhart! This is wonderful! An heir to the throne so soon! I must tell my Lord and Lady immediately." She glanced down to Arthur, "My Queen, isn't this won-". Her outburst was cut short as she noticed the Spadian Queen's face had drained; he was paler than usual.
At first, Elizabeth was afraid the male would be sick again, but then she noticed his pupils had shrunk, and his lips were parted. His breathing was staggered, and his hands trembled.
"T-That can't be right… I-I know it is possible for male Queens to bear children, but… I was told long ago I was infertile." He brought a hand up to his face, resting it over his forehead; his fingers curled, causing his nails to dig into his pale skin. "Mother… had said that to me…" Arthur's emerald eyes welled with tears; his mother lied to him?
The maid placed a comforting hand on the male's shoulder, making Arthur jump. "M-Maybe she didn't want to worry you? She must have known you were the Queen-to-be, and was afraid of you having a child that would soon rule the Kingdom upon your passing. Especially, the biological limitations there are for male Queens to bear."
Arthur simply gazed up at Elizabeth, eyes twinkling, while tears streamed down his face. "She should have told me… I knew I was Queen, because of the birthmark on my hand, but she should have told me about that." He glanced back down to his lap, frowning deeply.
"I'll return in a few weeks, My Queen… unless you need me prior to our next engagement," Dr. Ramhart spoke up, startling Arthur again. "You'd best let the King know, I'm sure he will be delighted."
Elizabeth escorted the Doctor out of the room, looking over her shoulder to see Arthur curl into himself out of nerves and fear for his body. She frowned slightly, before shutting the door quietly behind her.
"It is evident that the Queen is distressed, but I'm sure once he tells the King that they are expecting an Heir, Alfred will be very excited. I just remember when his little brother, Matthew, was born. The light in Alfred's eyes seemed to glow at the prospect of having a sibling." The Doctor spoke aloud, his face solemn with sympathy for Arthur, but a certain look of reminiscence remained on his delicate features. "Even with the young Prince in Diamonds Kingdom at this moment, developing relations with their Monarchy, Alfred deeply misses his brother."
The old maid smiled softly, remembering when Queen Amelia had told Alfred she was pregnant with Matthew. That little boy smiled for hours, and never left his mother's side, even during her labour; despite King George advising Alfred to leave the room. The delivery for Matthew was difficult; that made Alfred worry at the time that his mother was in excruciating pain, even though he was only three at the time.
"The King is a very brave soul, I'm sure that he will assist in Arthur's delivery when the time comes," Elizabeth spoke up, just before the Doctor left the palace. Dr. Ramhart turned to face her, taking her hand.
"Dear Elizabeth, I've known you for as long as I have worked under the Royal Family as their Doctor. I know that you will assist the new King and Queen through this frightening, yet exciting, time," his grey eyes smiled at the woman, his thumb running over her knuckles. "If they need any assistance, don't hesitate to call on me."
Elizabeth smiled gratefully, curtsying to him, "Thank you, Alexander."
With that, he let go and walked down the steps to his carriage. The venerable woman watched the doctor go, before heading back inside to continue her chores; though first, she decided to go and check on the Queen.
Arthur was sat on the indigo ottoman by the window in his bedroom, his legs pulled up to his chest, but a hand rested on his flat stomach. His hands were still shaking, but a slight smile had risen on his face. The colour had returned to his face, and a certain glimmer settled in his eyes. He leant his head back against the wall, gazing out the window to his Kingdom.
"Pardon me, My Queen," Elizabeth spoke, stepping into the room. Arthur turned his head to face her; he seemed a lot better. "I thought you would like to write a letter to Alfred, to let him know of your expected child?"
The blond male set his feet down on the floor, facing the maid completely, "That sounds like the best idea. As frightening as it was, I'm… actually very excited to have this child. It'll be nice to have a family, let alone a new Heir to the throne." He returned his hand to his stomach, his thumb making small circles over the cloth.
Elizabeth walked over, sitting beside Arthur gracefully. "The King will be very happy, as will his parents; I'm sure your mother and family will be excited as well." She set a hand on the male's shoulder, startling him slightly, but he glanced over to her. "I remember the day you two met at the ball. Alfred would not stop rambling about you, your eyes and your smile."
Arthur blushed brightly, chuckling softly. "Who'd have thought that we'd end up here? Married, crowned, and now starting a family?"
"I certainly did." Those words made Arthur blush even more, as he focused his emerald gaze on Elizabeth's bluish-grey. "The way Alfred spoke of you made me believe that there could be a future between you two. I'm just so proud of him, to find the person he loved, despite having no interest to find someone at that time."
Tears began to gather in Elizabeth's eyes; she carefully tapped the tip of her ring finger under her eyes, collecting the few drops that had spilt over. Arthur frowned softly, and squeezed her hand comfortingly.
"Thank you for all your help over these last few months, Elizabeth. You've helped me settle into royal life better than I ever thought I would." The Spadian Queen smiled reassuringly. Elizabeth returned the smile and squeezed the other's hand back.
Later that day, Arthur was pacing up and down his office; Elizabeth was sitting at the desk with a quill in her hand. They were orchestrating a letter to send to Alfred about the news, but Arthur was struggling to figure out how to write it.
"In a way, I don't want to explicitly say that we're expecting, but then I'm afraid he wouldn't understand my 'riddles' as he calls them," Arthur chuckled, turning to Elizabeth. The maid noted some ideas down, offering the paper to her Queen; he read it carefully, and smiled. "Thank you, Elizabeth, that's perfect."
A few days later, there was a meeting in Hearts between Alfred and, King of Hearts, Ludwig Beilschmidt. The latter was a tall, built blond male with sky blue eyes and pale skin. He was dressed in a copper-tone button shirt, with a golden sash, as well as a large red coat on his shoulders with black fur around the collar.
They were sat in the King of Hearts' office, at a desk with numerous files of paperwork sitting on top. The two Monarchs sat on opposite sides of the table, discussing potential trade opportunities between both nations. It was a very civilised conversation; no disagreements that caused a raucous, just simple talk to solve any problems quickly.
Soon, a knock on the door sounded. Ludwig called to the door, saying that they could come in.
In chimed a small male with brown hair and amber irises, he was garbed in red as well, with a red cap on his head, a brown tunic with a crimson bolero on his shoulders. "Pardon me, Your Majesties, but I have something to give to King Alfred." The male spoke with a high-pitched, lilting voice; perhaps Italian?
"It is not a problem, Feliciano. We're almost finished here anyway." The German King spoke up, his piercing blue eyes softening slightly at the presence of his Jack, Feliciano Vargas.
The Italian stepped toward the table, bowing before the two Royals, and offering a letter to the Spadian King who took it with a smile. Feliciano bowed once more, before skipping out of the room again, shutting the door quietly behind him.
"Your Jack truly is a wonderful person, so smiley and happy all the time! If only Wang Yao could be like that," Alfred joked, fiddling with the envelope in an attempt to open it; he recognised Arthur's handwriting on the front, and the Spadian crest in indigo ink on the back.
"Believe me when I say it, I enjoy having Feliciano around, however, he can be quite a handful," Ludwig sighed softly, despite the small smile never leaving his face.
Alfred chuckled softly, "Yeah, I could see why that could get a little hard to handle, sometimes. But, hey it's still a good thing to have someone so – Oh my god!" He pushed up his glasses onto the bridge of his nose, and brought the page close to his face.
The Heart King glanced up out of curiosity. "Alfred, is everything alright? You seem quite startled?"
But, Alfred wasn't listening, he brought the age down from his face, and smiled slightly. "Holy crap… I… I'm gonna' be a dad." He gasped at saying that out loud, before looking up at the other Royal, "I'm gonna be a dad?! What the actual frick?!" He laughed slightly, before getting up, and walking over to the window, looking out over Hearts in the direction of Spades. "I'm gonna' be a dad!"
Ludwig chuckled, "Alfred, come sit. Calm yourself. I'm sure Arthur wouldn't want you running around the streets like a madman." He understood the other's excitement, his Queen, Honda Kiku, was in his second trimester of pregnancy; he remembered finding out the other was pregnant very vividly. It was a very exciting time.
Alfred sheepishly sat down again, blushing softly. "L-Let's get back to work for now. I'll probably go home tonight, if that's okay. I-I mean if we're all done with business of course!"
"I completely understand, Alfred. We should be done within the next few hours maximum," the German spoke, smiling. "Then you can return home."
"Thanks dude, I… I really appreciate it," Alfred grinned greatly, he was now even more excited to go home and see Arthur again; they would have an heir to the throne. They had not been planning on having a baby so soon, but Alfred did not mind. He simply wanted the meeting to end, watching the minutes tick by.
Arthur's morning sickness had gradually begun to get better, he may have felt queasy or unsettled in the morning, but he wasn't vomiting as much as he had been; much to his relief. The colour had began to return to his face, maybe out of happiness that Alfred would be home in a few more days.
Elizabeth had been an angel in assisting Arthur with getting dressed and bathing when in pain due to his pregnancy, it took a greater toll on a male when they were with child; science never really knew why, but it may have been down to physique. A woman's body has ability to give birth a lot easier than that of a man's, due to wider hips; as one theory states.
The blond male was sitting in his office attempting to work for the first time in a few days, when he heard heavy footsteps in the hallway. He glanced up out of curiosity at the approaching sound, before gasping as someone burst through the door; his eyes widened. Was it…?
"Arthur! Holy crap, I'm so glad to see you again! It's been too long!" The over-excited American King grasped onto Arthur excitedly, hugging him tightly and peppering kisses all over the other's cheeks.
"A-Alfred, what are you doing back so soon? Weren't you meant to be in Hearts for another two days at least?!" Arthur cried out, trying to squirm out of the King's hold.
"When I got your letter, I wanted to come back as soon as I could! Luckily, we finished fairly soon after I got your letter! So, I left that night, and now I'm here!" Alfred grinned, his blue eyes bright. He took Arthur's hand and pulled him into a tight embrace. "I missed you so much, Arthur! And now, we're expecting a baby together, it's truly incredible! I'm just so happy to be back alongside you during this really exciting time!"
Arthur blushed softly, but settled into the embrace, curling up against the other. "I… I missed you too, Alfred. I was very nervous at first about having this child, but… everything will be okay!" He smiled subtly, dotting some kisses to the other's cheek.
The two sat together for a little while, curled up until it was close to the end of the day, when Alfred scooped his Queen into his arms and walked back to their bedroom. He set the other down, before pressing a kiss to his flat stomach, and laying beside him. They lay there for a little while, before falling asleep. Much to their delight, they were with child; having an heir who would soon take their throne.
Author's Note: Woohoo, I'm finally back! I managed to write the rest of this chapter today, I know you've been waiting quite a long time for this update! However, I should be back now...hopefully. If not, blame university! Anyways, enjoy this chapter, see you very soon!