Chapter Text
Summer came before any of them were expecting it.
Edward was three months old now, cooing and swiping away at the colourful toys they held up for him. His blonde hair was even paler due to the sun, even though Jane kept him so covered that it was a wonder he didn’t look like a vampire.
Elizabeth was two years and five sixths, something she had been taught to say by Anna and quickly launched onto. Her hair was growing longer and more red by the day, and her vocabulary was getting bigger and bigger.
Mary had moved on from Anne’s rudimentary piano lessons quickly, and spent her free time in front of the instrument, playing until her fingers got stiff and sore. She wanted to pick up the guitar next, and Anne’s friend Parker from therapy had promised to give Mary some lessons.
The queens were even busier now, with jobs and childcare and running the household. Jane took naps at the same time as Edward most days, and Anne complained of back pain from carrying Elizabeth enough that the rest of them had started to tease her for it. Now that summer had arrived, though, everyone seemed to be reinvigorated, the warm weather adding an extra pep to their step.
Except for the day when the temperature hit 36 degrees and they all just about melted.
Jane woke up to Edward crying in his crib, tugging at his little feet, and a layer of sweat on his red face. This was an unusual occurrence now, he usually woke up pretty peacefully and hadn’t given her much trouble for a few weeks. She took a deep breath to steady herself and immediately noticed the heat of the room. It felt like a warm blanket was unrelentingly wrapping itself around her without her consent, and when she put a bright red hand to her forehead, it was sweaty like Edward’s. Letting out a groan, Jane stumbled out of bed and made her way to her son’s crib, where he tore at his sleeper with angry little fists, his face the colour of a tomato. Lifting him up into her arms, she patted him gently on the back and tried to quiet him with small hushes, but Edward was determined to get out of his hot clothes.
Knowing her son would find a way eventually, Jane brought him over to the changing table, where she carefully stripped him of his sleeper, which was, grossly, damp to the touch, and dressed him in tiny shorts and a tank top. She changed his diaper too, and once he was clean and cooler, she let out a sigh of relief, because his cries had stopped. She always felt so guilty when Edward woke everyone else up, despite their frequent assurances that they all understood that babies cried.
Remarkably, it seemed even Elizabeth hadn’t awoken yet, as once Jane made her way downstairs, the toddler was nowhere to be found. Edward hadn’t gone back to sleep, regrettably, but he was content to watch his mother with big blue eyes. Jane made her way to the fridge immediately, pulling out the water jug and pouring herself a big glass.
“Are you hot, babe?” she murmured to Edward sympathetically, moving beside him and running a hand over his head. He let out a pitiful whimper, and Jane winced.
She hated hearing Edward cry. It brought back painful memories of hearing her baby cry through a haze of pain, but being unable to do anything about it. Luckily, he was a fairly quiet baby, compared to his older sisters, according to their mothers. Both princesses hadn’t cried often, but they had inherited their father’s lungs. Edward tended to be a bit more subdued.
Now he was kicking with his little feet at Jane, his tiny fists scrunching up to match his knitted brow. She didn’t want to hug him, since that would add more heat, so Jane went to the freezer and wrapped one of the ice packs they’d had to buy due to Anne and Elizabeth’s particular talent for injury in a cloth. Testing it against the back of her hand, Jane nodded, satisfied. She dabbed it across Edward’s forehead, beaming when he quieted down, giving her a gummy smile.
They stayed downstairs, just the two of them, for a while. Jane ended up stripping Edward completely down to his diaper as the day warmed up, and she had a cup of ice chips she was sucking on at a frantic pace. But it was peaceful enough, excluding that. The television was playing Little Einsteins, one of Elizabeth’s favourite shows, when the toddler finally joined them.
Her red hair was stuck to the nape of her neck with sweat, and her normally pale face was flushed, but the giant grin on her face at the show was enough to calm Jane’s worries that she’d somehow developed heatstroke. El broke into a quick run, dashing over to the couch and launching herself next to Jane.
“Good morning Aunt Jane!” she cried, excited. “Mama is sleeping.”
“Is she?” Jane asked, barely paying attention. She hadn’t slept very well for a few nights, since Edward had developed a lovely habit of crying at two a.m. every night and not falling back to bed until around three.
“Yes!” Elizabeth groaned. “I tried to wake her up ‘cause I was soooo hot, but she was asleep. Even when I jumped on the beanbag like I’m not supposed to.”
“That’s nice.” Jane replied, her eyes fighting to stay open. On the screen, music started playing that she vaguely recognized as the theme song.
“Edward, where’s your clothes?” Elizabeth asked her little brother, giggling at the baby as he gurgled back at her.
“Eddie got to take his clothes off because he was hot, El.” Jane told her. Elizabeth tilted her head in thought.
“Well, I’m hot too. Can I take my clothes off, Aunt Jane?”
The fight to try to keep Elizabeth’s clothes on her body was one Jane was too tired to keep up for long, so before the show was over, Elizabeth too was running around in her swimsuit. It was the toddler’s idea to wear her Frozen swimsuit, since “Elsa can make it cold, Aunt Jane”.
The three of them were sitting on the couch, a mini fan in Elizabeth’s hand and a damp cloth in Jane’s which she was dabbing on Edward’s forehead. Frozen was now playing on the television, because Jane could never say no to the toddler. It was a weird combination of leftover guilt she still had and the general cuteness of a toddler who was the best parts of both of her parents, who Jane loved very much in different ways.
She was staring at Elizabeth sadly, thinking about the little girl she had known at nearly the same age who had been neglected by almost everyone around her. Jane knew Cromwell and the other ministers had genuinely forgotten or didn’t know that it was Anne, not Henry, who had provided the toddler with lavish clothes and toys, who had gone to visit whenever she could get away, who had handled the appointments of ladies and nurses and governesses. She herself had pretended to forget, a nagging voice in her head telling her that Henry would remember Anne when he saw Elizabeth again and think Jane was pale in comparison to the vibrant woman whom he had loved and hated with equal passion. Henry had deliberately ignored the issue, she knew. He would barely even make reference to the fact that he had a second daughter, just as she faintly remembered him doing whenever Anne brought up Mary in the ladies’ hearing.
Elizabeth glanced over at her and giggled.
“Aunt Jane, why do you look so solemn?”
Jane nearly choked on the water she was absent-mindedly drinking.
“Where did you learn that word, baby girl?”
“Mama said I look solemn when I think hard.” Elizabeth explained matter-of-factly. “Are you thinking hard? It always hurts my head to think hard.”
“I am, Lizzie.” Jane replied. “My head doesn’t hurt though, my heart is just happy.”
“Oh.” Elizabeth replied, pondering that with a head tilt. “That’s good, right?”
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“Then my heart is happy.”
“I’m very glad.”
Mary was surprisingly the next to join their little group, stumbling downstairs with a hand on her head and her hair plastered to her neck. Her face was flushed red, but it brightened slightly when she saw her siblings and Jane.
“Good morning, lovely.” Jane greeted her. “Would you like some breakfast?”
Mary shook her head, fanning herself with her hand.
“Why is it so hot?” she asked.
“I’m not sure.” Jane replied. “But look at it this way: you don’t have to walk around in sixteen layers of clothing.”
Mary nodded, the corners of her mouth turning up.
“I’m going to grab some water.” she said over her shoulder as she entered the kitchen. “Does anyone want anything?”
Elizabeth shot up from her place on the floor.
“Applesauce!” she cried. “The yummy tube kind!”
“One applesauce coming right up!” Mary said, disappearing into the kitchen.
She returned several minutes later, holding a sippy cup for Elizabeth, a big glass of water, and an applesauce, which was quickly snatched out of her hand by the toddler.
“Frozen again?” she sighed, sitting down next to Jane with a humph. Edward made a small squeal of acknowledgement, and Mary made a face at him, tickling his feet.
“Yes, Mary.” Elizabeth said, an incredulous look on her face. “It’s my favourite movie!”
“But we watch it like five times a week, El.” Mary said, letting out a long-suffering sigh.
“And?” Jane added in, giggling at the look on Mary’s face.
“Stay out of this, Jane.” Mary said, narrowing her eyes as she glared at her sister. “This is between the munchkin and I.”
Elizabeth let out a shriek, scrambling up onto the couch, kneeing Jane in the side in her haste to climb onto Mary’s lap.
“But Mary,” she wheedled, wrapping her arms around Mary’s neck. “I like Frozen because you’re Elsa and I’m Anna! They’re princesses like me!”
“Elsa was a queen like me,” Mary mumbled under her breath. “Fine, Lizzie.” she agreed at a normal volume. “We can watch Frozen. But only this time for this week. Maybe we can branch out on our selection tomorrow.”
Jane smirked, knowing that was not likely to happen. The furthest Elizabeth usually got was Frozen 2, or maybe one of those weird specials like the one where Elsa sneezes snowmen. She’d never understood those.
Soon, Mary was braiding her little sister’s hair up off her head, and Jane watched them with a content smile on her face. Edward was sleeping peacefully, his body finally cooled down, and a tiny fist curled up and resting on Jane’s chest. These were the sort of days Jane loved, times where she could just relax with the children. Even though Elizabeth had often been excluded from her past thoughts about her future family, Mary had always been there, and Jane had wanted one daughter once she’d had the heir and the spare, so the three of them made her very content.
Mary looked over at her aunt and gave a tired smile.
“Should we make some breakfast, sweetheart?” Jane asked, a question which caught Elizabeth’s attention immediately. She stood up and began jumping up and down, causing Edward to giggle. He loved watching his crazy older sister be silly, and occasionally when she was joined by her mother, cousin Kitty, or Aunt Anna, he loved it even more.
“I think breakfast sounds like a good plan, Aunt Jane.” Mary agreed. “Lizzie is ready to eat cucumbers at this point, and she hates them.”
“I do hate them,” Elizabeth agreed, nodding her head with a serious look on her face. “Why do they have seeds? They make my lips hurt.”
“You don’t have to eat any cucumbers at breakfast, El.” Jane assured her. “Should we go make you a smoothie bowl? I think it’s a little hot for pancakes, but you can decorate your smoothie with strawberries and all your favourite fruits and grains.”
“Can it be purple?”
“That could be arranged, yes.” Jane answered, adjusting Edward in her arms and standing up. Elizabeth grabbed Mary’s hand and tugged her sister into the kitchen.
“Your sister is so silly, huh?” Jane said to Edward as she followed the girls, tapping his nose and making him giggle.
The smoothie bowls were a smash hit, especially once Jane showed Elizabeth how to make a face in hers out of fruits. She named it George after her favourite uncle, and when Anne finally stumbled downstairs, rubbing sleep out of her bleary eyes, her daughter dashed over to her with her empty bowl.
“Mama! I ate Uncle George!” Elizabeth said, barely getting the words out through her laughter.
“You ate Uncle George?” Anne asked in a mock stern voice, fighting back the tears that threatened to escape at the mention of her poor brother.
“Mhm!” Elizabeth nodded. “He tasted suuuuuper good.”
“Uncle George would be happy to know that, baby.”
“But I didn’t really eat Uncle George, Mama.” Elizabeth whispered, leaning in close to her mother. “It was just my smoothie bowl that I called after him because I love him.”
“Well, that makes me happy to know you didn’t eat my brother, baby.”
“Your baby brother,” Elizabeth said, nodding. “I would be sad if someone ate Edward.”
“Me too.” Anne agreed, taking her daughter’s hand and walking her back into the kitchen.
“Are you hot too, Mummy?” Elizabeth asked her as they walked in. “Because Aunt Jane showed me the smoothie bowls and they make you chilly like Olaf!”. She did a little shiver and rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “Brr!”
“I am hot, Lizzie!” Anne exclaimed, picking her up and plopping her in her chair. “Shall I have a purple smoothie bowl? With strawberries?”
“Already done.” Jane said, handing Anne her breakfast, complete with spoon and coffee, and pulling out a chair for her.
“This is why I keep you around, Seymour.” Anne said, making a face at Edward as she sat. “Free food, child care, coffee. What more could a girl ask for?”
“You never have to ask.” Jane said, smiling as she sat in between Mary and Edward.
The rest of the family came downstairs slowly throughout the rest of the morning. The day was spent in the kiddie pool they had bought for Elizabeth in the backyard, pulled into the only corner of shade they could find. Mary used her younger sister to guilt trip their mothers and aunts into buying them ice cream, although it’s probably true Anne didn’t need any convincing. After determining the inside was somehow more hot than the outside, they slept out on the back deck under the stars. It was exactly the kind of day they make movies about.