TPASD 42

Alex's family were loud and jovial; happy, as they were joined by Shaan, Zahra and Catherine for dinner that evening at the Lake House. The only ones not staying at the house were Ellen and Leo who would make the drive back to Austin later that evening.

Alex was worried slightly that Catherine would hate it, but Henry reassured him it was ok. That it was similar to many Fox family dinners when his father was still alive.

Catherine, however, as Henry promised, was having the time of her life. Ellen had barbecued on the grill, Oscar and Alex had cooked up all sorts of delicious Mexican side dishes and treats. And when Alex had been making the sopapillas, Catherine had eagerly asked him to teach her.

With Gabriella in his arms, Henry had looked into the business side of the kitchen. He felt awfully fond and very much in love, as Alex was excitedly teaching Henry's mum, the queen, how to make sopapillas. Henry made note of the look on his mother's face and made a mental reminder to thank Alex for that smile. He had a clear vision of the last time his mum had been that happy in the kitchen and it was a long time before his father had even fallen sick.

Gabriella had been happy to see Catherine, but wary of her. Alex, happily explaining about Gabriella's leap and the trying stage she was at.

Dinner, however, was brought to an abrupt end, when Zahra stood up after dessert and mentioned that she needed to go for a walk, as her contractions were beginning to get stronger and stronger. Chaos had ensued, and Alex of all people had asked her why she hadn't said anything sooner.

He was worried, but not as much as Shaan. Shaan looked terrified, and Catherine had sympathised with the man who had been her husband's dear friend. She had reassured him that everything would be ok.

Oscar and Leo made a run over to the guest cottage, to grab their bags and promised to take them to the hospital when it was time to leave. But it was still very early. Her waters had not even broken yet.

A round of after dinner tea and coffees were being prepared by Henry and Oscar when A litany of profanities left Zahra's mouth from behind them in the kitchen.

"Oh shit." Henry exclaimed, seeing Zahra standing in a small puddle of fluid. Zahra's face was etched with the sight of pain clearly written on it and for the first time in his life, the prince feared for his equerry's life. "It's going to be ok."

What Henry had not expected was Zahra to start crying at Henry's kind words and sobbing out an apology for her hormonal tirades. As the next contraction ripped through her body, Henry grabbed onto her hand, as Shaan and Ellen were rushing over to them. Henry had just wanted to let her know she was not alone. He had not been expecting his hand to feel as if it was broken.

Ellen and Catherine managed to get Zahra into the bathroom and changed into some clean clothes, while Shaan and Oscar cleaned up the floor. Alex had been tending to his boyfriend and what Henry was now fearing was several broken fingers for him. With an ice pack on his fingers, Alex tucked him against his chest, and kissed him sweetly.

"You will be ok too, baby." Alex told him. "Your fingers are fine. Just slightly bruised."

"How do you know?" Henry retorted to Alex, with an exasperated look on his face.

"Because Gabriella's mom broke two of mine." Alex whispered, like it was some huge, big secret.

Henry frowned. He had noticed that lately Alex had been referring to Erica as Gabriella's mom or Gabriella's mother. Like she didn't hold the same importance as Henry in his life. Erica had literally given him a daughter, something Henry couldn't biologically do.

"Why do you do that, Alex?" Henry asked his boyfriend in a low whisper. This was one conversation he wanted to keep between the two of them. Unfortunately, it was not the kind of conversation that Henry wanted to table for later. He knew if he did, he would chicken out from asking Alex about it. "Calling Erica by her name doesn't invalidate what we have between us. I know she hurt you and I know the two of you had issues inside your relationship. But she was someone you loved, and you cared for. She is the woman who made you a father and she was the mother of your daughter. It's okay that you call her by name."

"I know, H. It's just that …" Alex trailed off and found himself balancing his feelings, trying to regulate himself. "Erica and I, to me, we were so much in love; young and foolish. I thought what we had was 'it'. Turned out I was fooling myself. When I look back on my life with her, I feel … Betrayed. Hurt. I have so many wonderful memories of her. Here in Texas. Back in London. I felt like she was my world. I gave her everything and I thought she was giving me everything.

Then she made a fool out of me. She was unfaithful. What was worse was that all of our friends in London knew, and no one told me. I feel like I was the butt of a long-running joke. Hen, I can't help but think; what if that DNA test had told us I wasn't Gabriella's father? What if I never found out about the affair? What if, years later, I found out some other way? I guess I am angry at her and I probably should talk to someone about it. I can't exactly go up to her tombstone and scream at her like a madman."

"Or rather you could, but you'd probably look crazy, and it wouldn't be very productive." Henry offered with a wry chuckle and carefully took Alex into his arms as awkwardly as he could, holding an ice pack to three bruised fingers. "You're going to drive yourself crazy playing the what if game, love."

"Hen?" Alex looked up at him, a smile on his face and soft eyes. "You do know that I am crazily in love with you, right?"

"I know, darling." Henry smirked at him. "Just like I am sure you know that I am in love with you."

"Hmm, I do." Alex returned Henry's smug smirk with one of his own and kissed his lips. "What I feel for you, is nothing compared to what I felt with Er- her."

"Alex-"

"Henry, I am mad at her ok. Let me be mad at her." Alex interrupted what he was sure was going to be yet another lecture about his issues with Erica. "In the future, I want to be able to talk to Gabriella about her without getting angry. So let me be mad now and work through it in a healthy manner. Besides, her death gave me one of the best blessings of my life. It brought you to me."

No words were needed, Henry pulled Alex into his arms and kissed his lips. It was not a soft and sweet kiss. This was full of lips, tongue and teeth. it was passionate and borderline obscene. Definitely not the kind of kiss to be shared in a shared domain of the house.

"Henry George Edward James Fox!" Catherine chastised; her arms crossed.

She had been watching Alex and Henry hold a quiet and intense conversation from the corner of her eye, as she helped Ellen get her friend cleaned up and into fresh clothes. When all of a sudden, her son, her youngest son, all but hauled his boyfriend into a very inappropriate kiss.

When her son pulled back from Alex at her interruption, he looked sheepish and suitably chastised.

"It's all Alex's fault, Mum." Henry said immediately, all to reminiscent of when he was younger, and he would blame Philip or Bea for something he had done.

"That I highly doubt, Henry." She looked between the boys. Alex couldn't quite reach her eyeline, let alone look her in the eye. "Alex sweetheart, can you please help Shaan with the bags?"

He gave Catherine a nod and was out the door. Turning to look at her son once more, she was slowly taken back by how much he had really changed in the last year. Where once she could see herself in his physical appearance, now all she could see was Arthur.

Turning on her heel, she left Henry to focus on Shaan and his needs. "Please telephone us with news, as soon as you can." Catherine told her son's equerry. "Do not hesitate because of the time, I highly doubt Henry and I will get much sleep until we hear news. Deep breaths, Shaan. Everything is going to be ok."

"Thank you, Catherine." Shaan promised he would call, as soon as he could.

"Leo and I will drive you two all the way to the hospital." Ellen promised, as they all made their way outside and Oscar and Shaan were helping Zahra. Leo was behind the wheel of the car and Alex was on the opposite side of the backseat, helping get Zahra comfortable.

"Here, Z.'' Alex handed over a small gift bag to her and Shaan. "This is for you both, from Henry, Gabriella and me."

Inside the gift bag were some protein bars, water, some gentle skin cleansing wipes, sachets of flavoring for water, a crossword book, chewing gum and a black out eye mask.

"Thanks." Zahra hissed at Alex, breathing heavily midway through a contraction.

With that, Leo urged Ellen into the car and the four of them were off.

Turning to face her mischievous son, finally free to deal with him, she was surprised to see that Henry and Alex had slipped out of the room.

"They're little shits, but they're cute little shits." Oscar told her with a warm grin. "Cup of tea, Your Majesty?"

"Catherine, please." She reminded Oscar, Alex's father. "Your Majesty reminds me too much of my mother."


Alex and Henry had made their escape while everyone was distracted with wishing Shaan and Zahra a fond farewell. Henry had been eager to get Alex alone and finally finishing to hash out their discussion. Tonight was the first time that Alex had actually said the words, I love you to him and he had honestly been surprised it happened so soon.

When June and Nora had been in London and staying at the palace, June had confided in Henry that Alex was almost incapable of saying the words. She said she had a theory that it was because he didn't hear the words from their parents very often, if at all. That their parents went through a period where they only cared about themselves. That it had been left to June to raise Alex.

Apparently, his fiancée Erica had struggled with it a lot. Alex not being able to say the words. But it really didn't faze Henry too much. He, like Alex had hadn't said the words very often in his past. To him, there was other ways besides words of affirmation to show the love you can have for a person.

That Alex's love language was touching. Something Henry had already worked out for himself. There was love in every touch from Alex, whether it be a steadying hand on his thigh under the table, or a tangle of fingers. A hand to the waist or a full body hug. Alex had this way of conveying how much he loved people through his touch.

For Henry, that was in the form of quality time. He couldn't get enough of being in Alex's (and Gabriella's) presence. He loved spending time with them, both individually and together as a family.

For both of them though, acts of service was a big component of their love language. A coffee or tea in the morning, For Alex, cooking a meal for Henry and Gabriella. For Henry, helping with chores or Gabriella's basic needs.

It was the little things in life, that makes it worth living and with Alex and Gabriella by his side, there is never a dull moment.

"This is a beautiful room, Henry." Catherine told her son, as he showed her to the guest room on the top floor with almost three hundred and sixty-degree views from the windows.

The windows to the east overlooked the pastures and the green the limestone hills and rocks in the distance. To the north is the state forest and all its natural beauty with the canopied treetops and dense shrubs. Off the beat walking tracks carved through it from daily uses of hikers and locals alike. To the south, there's the view of the barn in the immediate vicinity and more pretty landscapes and in the west, is the lake. Lake Lyndon B Johnston in all its glory. There's a view of the yard, the small pier, the greater dock and the sandbar out yonder, before nothing but miles of deep blue water against the backdrop of a sunny Texan sky.

"Alex says this is the best room in the house." Henry smiled at his mum, hugging her and showing her around the room. Gabriella is on her hip and Henry is holding her bags and dragging her rolling luggage behind him. "This button here will block out every crack of daylight and this remote controls the AC. It can get pretty warm up here, even in winter."

"It's beautiful here, I can see why you and Alex love it here." She smiled, cuddling Gabriella close to her chest. Gabriella's eyes not leaving Henry, still wary of anyone who isn't Alex or Henry.

"We're planning to move to Brooklyn, New York for the next shelter set up." Henry told his mum, as she handed Gabriella to him to begin unpacking. "Alex thinks I have ruled out living here, permanently. Truth is, I just have to look for the perfect house for us."

"So, you're never coming home?" Catherine asked Henry, point blank. There was no point beating around the bush, Henry had asked for his father's ring, and he was making a life for himself in the US, beside Alex.

"Not in the immediate future." Henry winced, afraid of how his mother would take the news. "I plan to abdicate my position in the line of succession, not abdicate from my family, Mum."

"When are you going to do it?" She smiled at him, as she handed over Arthur's ring. She was proud of Henry. he had given the monarchy all he could under her mother's reign, and he was exhausted. He deserved to live a life of peace.

"We have a life in London too, Mum." Henry reminded her. "It's not like we have left without looking back. Alex still owns real estate in London, as do I. I have dad's countryside cottage and we still have Llwynywermod. I'd love to take Alex and Gabriella there."

"Oh, you will love it. Won't you my precious little flower?" Catherine cooed at the baby that was now propped up in the middle of the bed between her and her son. "Hen, darling? You do know by marrying Alex, you're also choosing to take on Gabriella as your own. In a way, you're marrying her too. You're choosing to include her in your life. By loving and accepting Alex, you're making that choice. They're a package deal, love."

"I know, Mum." Henry grinned at her. He knew his mother meant well, but he and Alex'd had this conversation a million times before. Alex had even confided in him that he would have made a move long before he did, if not for fear of Gabriella. "Alex and I have discussed this at length. I am ready for everything that choosing Alex entails. Just as Alex is ready for everything that choosing me comes with. Why do you think we had that injunction taken out against the media to protect her? We're a team and when it comes to her safety, that's our priority."

"I am so proud of you, darling." Catherine smiled at him. "You're going to be a wonderful husband and father."

"Well, I had the best role model in Dad." Henry looked down at Gabriella, who was now giggling under his mother's tickles.

"So, when are you proposing to him? Where? I want all the details."

"I have it all figured out." Henry grinned widely. Looking down at the tot, he asked her. "What do you think Gabriella? Do I have your permission to marry your Papi?"

A squeal of laughter and fit of baby giggles was all the confirmation Henry needed.


Henry held the phone close to his ear; his eyes were watery and soft. Kind of like what they looked like in the early days when he first met Gabriella and Alex. Focused and intense, in a kind of aww trance.

"Well?" Alex asked, as people gathered round from different parts of the Lake House.

Catherine had been enjoying the afternoon sun and a new book. Henry was laying with Alex in the hammock, making plans for the next stage of their lives in New York. Oscar was working from his makeshift office, with Gabriella's monitor.

Leo and Ellen were in the kitchen, with a newly arrived June and Nora. The four of them were at the table discussing the contract of June's book deal. They both saw some red flags in the deal and June had asked Leo to look it over.

When Henry's phone had rang out and it had been Shaan, everyone seemed to gather around them as Henry snatched up his phone.

"Oh, that's great news, Shaan. Congratulations." Henry finally spoke. His voice was soft and low. "How is Zahra and the baby doing?"

Shaan replied to Henry, and he grinned harder.

"Wonderful, Shaan." He murmured. "We will see you tomorrow then. We will collect you all, as planned."

When Henry disconnected the phone, he smiled at everyone who had seemed to appear out of nowhere. "It's a boy." Henry breathed out. "Zahra and the baby are fine. Shaan said it was touch and go for a while. But they're both doing ok now."

Henry let his eyes well up.

"What is it, baby?" Alex asked, full of concern.

"They named him Devlin." He grinned widely despite the tear-filled eyes. "Devlin Henry Arthur Srivastava. Dev for short."

"Oh Hen," Alex cried too. He had Henry in his arms before Catherine could even react.

"Henry, darling." His mother's voice pierced through the chaos and mayhem of excitement. "Your father would be honored."

"I am too." Henry humbled himself. "If not a little unworthy of such an honour."

"Baby, Shaan would not have named him after you, if you did not deserve it." Alex told him, kissing his boyfriend's forehead.

"Alex is right, Mijo." Oscar told Henry, clasping a hand on Henry's back in support.

"Oscar's right, Henry." Leo added, patting the former prince's back too.

Alex released Henry from his grasp and turned him around to let his dad and stepfather shower Henry with their own brand of love and affection.

Catherine's heart thought it might explode at the sight of Henry and Alex's father together. To see her own son, who missed his own father terribly; surrounded and smothered in love from Alex's two fathers. To see him so loved; whole and unconditionally, made her heart happy.

June and Nora spent the night in June's room at the Lake House, while Leo and Oscar made the drive back to the city, late in the afternoon. After a stressful, but fun filled day, Nora made her world-famous call to the pizza shop for a carry out order.

With everyone's preferences in and pizzas ordered, the table was joyful, as June and Oscar shared stories of Alex as a child. Catherine threw in a few of her own about Henry. They both shared coy smiles and smirks, as their interests and hobbies aligned.

Gabriella was sitting in the highchair between Nora and Alex, Henry beside Nora and Catherine beside Henry, with Oscar and June rounding out the table. Along with the adult laughter, was her cute little baby giggles.

"Pa," Alex whined, after a particularly embarrassing story was shared about Alex and a stuffed turkey that June named Cornbread.

"Pap." Gabriella babbled and the whole table fell silent. Alex's eyes were dancing with laughter, his smile so wide the crow's nests at the corner of his eyes were wrinkled. His whole psyche was lit up like a Christmas tree.

Henry was proud of their girl, he thought he would instantly combust.

"That's it, baby girl." Alex cooed at her, not bothering to wipe the proud tears from his eyes. "Say it again. Say Pa-pi."

"Pap, Pap, Pap." She happily babbled, none the wiser.

"You did it, Gab!" Henry exclaimed, kissing Gabriella's head. "She did it, love! She said it!" Henry hauled Alex into him by the lapels of Alex's open Hawaiian shirt and into a bruising kiss. Both men were so happy and smiling widely into the kiss to actually classify it as a kiss. It was more like a press of wide smiles together. "She's bloody brilliant, darling. You've been saying for a while she was close and you were right!"

"God Henry, don't tell Alex he was right." Nora chastised the former prince, chastely. "His ego is big enough already, without anyone feeding it."

"Too late Nor, it's already out there." Alex retorted, kissing Gabriella's head once more as she happily babbled. "You heard Henry, I was right."

"We're never gonna know any peace now." June sighed dramatically. "Thanks Henry."

"Ok, June. I think that's enough with the dramatics." Henry admonished Alex's sister in a serious tone. "Leave Alex be. This is a momentous occasion for all of us. Our Gab used her words and said something. It's her first word."

"Dad is the next word she's gotta learn, babe." Alex beamed at his boyfriend proudly. "We'll start workin' on it tomorrow."

Catherine smiled to herself, and she caught Oscar's smile too. She wondered if Oscar knew about Henry's plans, or if he and Alex had held similar discussions. The look on Henry's face was eerily similar to the look Arthur had when each of their children said their first words'. Henry's excitement at the situation was certainly parallel to what his father's had been too.

Oscar caught Catherine's beaming smile. Looking around the table and seeing the stunned look on June's face at Henry's firm stop to June's sibling teasing was funny. For years, June had been wishing Alex would find someone who would stand up and fight for him and now that Alex had, June was the first one he cut to the quick.

Although, Raf had relayed the entire story of Henry confronting him in the gym, and admittedly, Oscar was not surprised. From the very first moment he met Henry and saw him interact with Alex and Gabriella, Oscar knew he was the one for his firecracker of a son.

While Oscar was on a conference call with Raf, Mike, Ellen and another politician they were on familiar terms with, Alex and Henry left Gabriella in Catherine's care. Even though June and Nora, and Oscar were there, Catherine had been chomping at the bot to babysit and finally Alex had caved and let Henry's mother babysit.

While Henry and Alex drove into the city, with two PPOs in tow, to collect Shaan, Zahra and baby Dev from the hospital. Alex had been as meticulous with the car seat for baby Dev, as what he had been for Gabriella.

When they pulled up to the main entrance, Zahra and Shaan were just exiting through the double glass doors. Alex pulled up and flicked his hazard lights on and exited the car to help with the bags. The first order of call was a hug for each Shaan and Zahra, while Henry watched from the passenger seat.

He had wanted to get out too, but the PPOs had deemed it too risky. There were too many unknown factors, and the security perimeter would be too messy and unable to control on such short notice. So, Henry stayed put, trying not to sulk just a little, as Alex got the first glimpse of his namesake, baby Dev.

As soon as Alex showed Shaan how to make sure the capsule was secure in the car, and everyone climbed in, they made the long journey back to the Lake House.

In the living room at the Lake House, Shaan immediately took their bags back into the guest room that they had been using before they had retreated to the guest cottage. Alex had been right, those two weeks of sleeping without a baby crying had been a huge help to them. But now the baby was here, and that rest was well and truly gone.

Zahra smiled softly around the room, as she took a seat on the sofa. She found she couldn't take her eyes off her newborn son. When she finally got him out of the carrier and held him close to her, she saw Shaan return. She sent him a small nod and he returned it with a smile.

"Your Royal Highness, as the namesake for our son, it is only fair that you get to hold him first." Zahra told Henry, standing and handing the baby over to Henry. Gabriella was perched on Alex's lap, almost asleep beside Henry and the four of them on the love seat, almost looked like a beautiful family.

Only Devlin wasn't theirs. He was Zahra and Shaan's.

Catherine snapped a photo and immediately shared it in the newly created family chat, which included Alex and Henry, Bea, Martha, Philip and herself.

"Dev is such a beautiful name." June gushed, as she whispered to Nora that maybe they should have one. Mostly she wasn't serious, but she loved to see the look of horror on her wife's face.

"It means God or King, in Hindi." Shaan replied, looking at Henry with a soft look. The sight of Henry holding his newborn son, reminded him of a time, not too long ago. Almost a year ago now, when Henry was holding Gabriella for the very first time. He had a similar look on his face to what he did now. "Henry, Zahra and I were thinking. We'd like you to be Dev's godfather. I can't think of a man more suitable for the job."

Henry was flabbergasted in the best way. He was honored, it was one thing for them to use his name for Dev's middle name, but another entirely to ask him to be his godfather. His own brother had two sons and he had not been asked to be the godfather of either one of his nephews. Of course, he suspected that was Mary's influence on Philip.

"I would be honored to." Henry grinned, as he held Dev tighter.


The sounds of Dev's crying reverberated through the bottom floor of the house. Nora and June had retreated to the guest cottage after the first hour of the first stint. Oscar had sought refuge with June and Nora at the beginning of the second stint.

Catherine was on the top floor, in a soundproofed room, she wouldn't be able to hear anything. Henry and Alex were awake and for tonight, Alex was thanking his father for the suggestion of setting Gabriella up to sleep in the doorway of their walk-in robe, in her pack and play. So, she would not be disturbed by the baby settling in.

They were both awake and Henry was lying in bed, while Alex paced the carpet at the foot of their bed and muttered, as he pulled at the curls on top of his head that Henry loved so much.

"Darling, come to bed." Henry told his boyfriend gently. This was not the first time he had said this tonight. It wasn't even the second or third. Alex couldn't help himself. He remembered that first night at home and how he had been stressed and all alone. He felt sorry for them and had been itching to offer some help.

"I should see if they're ok." Alex tried to grin at Henry, but his boyfriend was quicker.

"Alex, they're new parents. You've got to give them a chance to get settled in." Henry softly told Alex. "Don't you remember what it was like?"

"Yeah, I remember." Alex huffed, before turning to face his shirtless boyfriend in bed. "I was alone, and I had no one for help. I couldn't work out why she was crying, and she was mad. I was crying too, and it took longer than I am willing to admit, for me to realise that I was the reason she was mad. She was picking up on my stress. I just don't want them to go through that."

"They will learn it." Henry told him, leaning up and onto his knees to catch Alex's hand and pull him towards the bed. "Come on, love."

Alex gave Henry a weak smile as he joined Henry on the bed. "You're right, babe. He's settling down." Alex grinned as his lips connected with Henry's and he lowered Henry back onto his back on the mattress, settling his body on top of Henry's as they shared some kisses. The kisses were sweet and heady, but not taking them anywhere or leading either of them on.

The sounds of Dev's scream pierced the air, and Alex pulled back, kissing Henry's forehead. "Alex." Henry warned, but it was too late.

"I'm going out there." Alex announced, slipping his tee that he had discarded earlier on over his naked torso and gently padded out into the living room.

Shaan was walking and gently rocking Dev, clearly stressed out. Zahra was on the couch, sobbing into a tissue; both of them utterly exhausted.

"Sorry Alex, did we wake you?" Shaan asked, keeping his voice even as though it wasn't tinged with the stress etched on his face.

"Nah, we were up." Henry replied for Alex, as he held out his hand to take Zahra to the kitchen. "Come on, Zahra. You could do with some herbal tea. Alex and Shaan have it under control."

Alex held out his arms and Shaan reluctantly handed over Dev to him. Dev slowed his steady cries, as Alex sang to him in Spanish and rocked him against his ratty Austin High Lacrosse team sweatshirt.

When Zahra and Henry returned with four cups of tea into the living room, Zahra looked at Alex with awe through a yawn. "How in the hell did you do that?"

"Practice." Alex murmured, not wanting to disturb the baby that was no longer screaming and almost sleepy newborn baby. Alex relayed the story he told Henry about how awful his first night with Gabriella, all alone was. "All I am saying is it takes a village; we're not going to think less of you for reaching out and asking for help."

Alex lowered the sleepy baby into the bassinet gently and showed Shaan how he had done it. "Thank you." Zahra sobbed and threw her arms around Alex.

"We meant what Alex said, don't be afraid to ask us for help." Henry reminded them. "I am in no way an expert, but Alex is much more knowledgeable than me."

"Don't sell yourself short, Henry." Shaan admonished him. "You're a great, er…"

"Father is the word you're looking for." Alex supplied Shaan with a wink to Henry. "Henry is Gabriella's other dad."