The Crown Prince's Love

Chapter 2.4

I followed her highness inside her chamber and was amazed at how spacious the entire room was. The bed was in the middle of the room with partitions on the side, enormous wall paintings littered the walls and some spaces were empty where photo frames were clearly hung before. The room was adorned with freshly cut flowers and it made my nose tickle as I held on to my sneeze making sure I didn’t disturb the baby.

“Just before you judge, the photo frames thing, I had them removed a few days ago since it is said they aren’t good for my health. Some taboo thing, it is. Maybe it’s the clean-up, I had it done, I don’t know.” Anna said as she was greeted by her maid who rushed in with a bucket of water and a piece of cloth to wash her down, “Thanks lily, but I’ll be taking an hour long bath, please prepare the herbal bath for me.” She said and the maid hurriedly excused herself rushing inside the separate gigantic bathroom.

To my ultimate surprise, she bent down and picked another baby from the baby crib wrapped in a pink fluffy blanket and smiled looking at me. I felt my jaw had dropped on the floor. I stuttered, looking from baby to baby, “I- Y-you- Babies? Twin babies!?” I blurted cheerfully, clearly I was too shocked and excited. I had only dreamt of having twin kids and here I was dealing with them out of nowhere. I guess you could say my new job was heavenly for me. She placed the baby girl on the bed and asked for the baby boy. I placed the snuggly baby beside the baby girl and stepped back marveling at the beauty in front of me. I could swear I was ugly crying and heard Anna laughing at me. She laughed like a rich bird, hauk-hauk-hauk, it was weirdly appealing to my ears and I looked embarrassed as I hid my eyes full of dramatic emotions. No honestly, the laugh was f*****g weird and funny, I held back my emotions with great difficulty, “They’re just so beautiful and small and delicate and they smell funny of a lot of things all at once. I love them so much!” I said and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. She threw her head back with laughter, “Hahaha, I’ve never been so amazed at anyone seeing my kids like that before. You’re definitely something! I’ll have loads of fun teaching you stuff and I hope you don’t regret the time you spend with us. It’ll be a time spent well.” She smiled at me gleefully, “You’ll teach me?” I asked and she nodded sitting beside her babies like a mama bear. I sat opposite to her as my hands roamed over the babies bodies respectfully.

“I’ll teach you things like how to change their diaper, that’s the most important one. And how to make their formula milk and how to put them to sleep and pass their time playfully. I am recovering from all that birth sickness and stitches and the high society is demanding me back in the society. I got s**t to run, campaigns are waiting for me, and even I’m waiting for myself. My husband will be back from the trade and I want to take hour long baths!” She said and I smiled at her words. She really had a lot of things to do. She seemed busier than I appeared to be with my life.

“And I can’t keep a single maid around who I can trust, they all know one way or another to deal with the kids half-heartedly. With you, I’ll rest assure of any worries. You’ll do whatever I teach you and that’s comforting enough since you don’t have any background lessons, it’s not a bad thing, just a clean slate to start from.” She placed her hand over my hand, “To be honest, I’ve never had a boy butler before and it excites me seeing young and handsome faces in this boring castle. You’ll fit right in. If you have any problems, just come to me and I’ll kick them away. Okay?”

I nodded at her with a thumping heart, “Okay, Princess Anna.”

“Just Anna is enough. I feel very young if you call me that way.” She winked at me and I smiled awkwardly. Of course women had their perks, who was I to judge anyone on what they preferred?

There we were, playing with the babies as they coo-ed and opened their big eyes and stared at us with them, wiggling and waving their hands. I learned the baby names, for the baby boy it was Hansel and for the baby girl it was Gretel, very suitable name I tell you. Apparently, the mother was obsessed with the lore and the fantasy world and their twin names. It was like a dream come true for her. She wanted her babies to be brave like the characters of the story so they could face life challenges head-on.

I learned to change the diapers, as she changed Gretel's and I changed Hansel's. Then I was off to fix some milk for them with her highness while lily the maid looked after the babies in their room. The babies were allotted their own room, I was freaking out over that. I mean, it was pretty and concerning at the same time. Pretty concerning! What if there was no one to look after them or what if someone forgot to look after them? Or what if the babies needed their mother? All the random thoughts danced in my head as I fixed the milk and fed them accompanied by their mother. After feeding them, we burped the babies and changed their clothes. Hansel was provided with Spiderman onesie and for Gretel it was cupcakes and rainbow one.

The room was filled with plushies of all sorts and necessary baby clothes and wipes and all the material needed to take care of them. Her highness sang a lullaby to put them to sleep and I felt like she was putting me to sleep instead. I felt so drowsy that she laughed at me. It was a fun sight, seeing her laugh and the fact that I made her laugh a lot made me proud.

Today I was allowed to go home but her highness told me that I was being provided with the whole setup for staying at the palace because of the nature of my job. I was to be the babies’ nanny. I was assigned the room next to the babies and I was only allowed to sleep there. No funny business or wasting my time around, that I had decided on my own as I was offered to roam around and explore the palace while the babies slept peacefully. I was actually glad over it. I was so happy to leave my house and move in that instance that it was evident from my face and her highness laughed at that too. She found me adorable like I found her babies adorable. We complimented each other throughout the day and night finally dawned. It was finally time to say goodbye. I sighed heavily and her highness smiled at me.

"Today is just the beginning, you have your whole life ahead of you dear." She said and I felt my heart skip a beat.

My whole life? Will I get to live in the palace my whole life? Is this where my life changes for the better? Is this how my fate is going to play me out? Am I blessed with all the fortune that was made for me but never got to me before? Are all my prayers being answered with this opportunity? Am I thinking ahead of myself?

I was happy and sad at the same time.

"I look forward to it, your highness." I said and she raised an eyebrow at me, "I mean, Anna." I smiled at her and she smiled back. Today I smiled beyond my capacity and my cheeks were kind of stretched. I genuinely enjoyed the day.

"Wave your uncle bye-bye, honey bunches!" She blew me a kiss and it was time to part with the babies. I felt it impossible but thinking it was just a night I had to spend away from them, it was somehow bearable. That night I returned to my bed with a satisfied smile on my lips even though Grandma had cursed and taunted me all the way home. Even though Martha had fought with Grandma over the issue of me staying at the palace and what was about it that was hurting her pride, I couldn't tell. Either way, I was found for what I did best, looking after my loved ones and I couldn't have been happier.

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