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It started with an ill-advised time playing out in the rain. Neither Hubert or Ferdinand were home at the time - too busy with a meeting with the Emperor and the other Ministers - so it fell upon one of the maids to watch Helene. She had, apparently, snuck out at some point during the thunderstorm to visit the horses and play in the garden. By the time the maid found the young mistress, the girl’s clothes were soaked and her hair an absolute mess. She still maintained a happy grin on her face despite all that, although the maid felt faint when she saw her young charge and thought about how the girl’s fathers would react.
(Ferdinand, apparently, found the incident mildly amusing when Helene tried telling him how her day was. He still chided her, however, for worrying the maid and household staff by running off when she did. Hubert assured the maid that she wasn’t in jeopardy of losing their jobs, but did stress that he hoped this would never happen again, which honestly worried the young woman more.)
Over the next couple of days, the house staff heard the young girl sneeze, sniffle, and cough a couple of times throughout the day. Hubert and Ferdinand didn’t think much of it, believing that the pollen in the air could be causing their daughter to feel a little under the weather. Helene never showed any signs of feeling worse for wear, so it wasn’t anything to worry about, right?
A night of non-stop coughing, a fever so high it reminded them of the Valley of Torment, and pitiful whimpering proved them otherwise.
For all Hubert’s experience taking care of Lady Edelgard when she was younger, Hubert felt very much out of his depth on how to help his poor daughter get over this cold. Looking back, perhaps Helene’s sluggish behavior and quiet sniffles should have been obvious signs of her illness. Despite the fact that she wasn’t related to either Hubert or Ferdinand by blood, contrary to her raven locks and orange-brownish eyes, she still managed to exhibit Ferdinand’s energeticness at all hours of the day. To see her so out of energy and mopy didn’t feel right and now, Hubert supposes, he knows why.
“We received a letter from Edelgard,” Ferdinand said, entering the room with a small envelope in his hands. There was a worried look on his face as he stared at their bedridden daughter. “Apparently, we are not allowed back in the Imperial Palace until Helene is feeling better. A ‘brief opportunity for a break’ as she put it.” He handed the letter over to Hubert and took a seat on the end of Helene’s bed, reaching over to stroke a piece of hair out of Helene’s face.
Hubert looked it over, grimacing at Lady Edelgard’s strongly suggested break to take care of their daughter. A part of him felt worried about how any work would get done if both the Prime Minister and Minister of the Imperial Household were gone, but the relief he felt over Lady Edelgard’s understanding overpowered his worry.
Helene’s tiny coughs brought Hubert’s attention back to her and he smiled a bit at seeing Ferdinand fuss over their daughter. It seems all of Ferdinand’s “mother-henning” back in their Academy days were paying off.
“Perhaps I should prepare some honeyed tea for you, sweetling?” Ferdinand asked, getting out of his seat. Helene nodded, the miserable look on her face lightening up at the prospect of something sweet. Ferdinand smiled at her as he left, but not before shooting Hubert a mildly smug look.
Hubert rolled his eyes. It seemed he and Ferdinand would continue this tea or coffee argument with their daughter caught in the middle. No matter, once Helene was older he could introduce her to the splendor of coffee. The most expensive blend from Dagda would definitely suffice.
“Daddy?” Helene’s scratchy voice called out. Hubert turned his attention to her, letting her know that she had her full attention. “I’m sorry that you’re gonna miss work ‘cause of me…”
“Fret not, sweetling.” Hubert assured her, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead. “Both of us are more than happy to stay by your side and make sure you feel better.” The sweet smile on her face warmed his heart.
Suddenly, the sweet aroma of tea and honey filled the air as Ferdinand walked in with a tray. “Tea, my lady?”
“Thank you, Papa!” came the saccharine reply.
“Of course, sweetling. I even grabbed some strawberries for you, but try not to eat them too fast, okay?”
“Yes, Papa!”
As Helene drank her honeyed tea and nibbled on a strawberry, Ferdinand and Hubert shared a look. Ferdinand smiled at Hubert, fondness apparent in his eyes, and Hubert returned it with his own small smile.
Perhaps they could handle parenting after all…
“Daddy! Papa! You promised not to be all gross and kissy around me!”
As it turned out, taking care of a sick child was harder than expected. Even someone as well-behaved as their daughter could be quite the handful when she wanted to be.
“But Papaaaaaaa!” Helene screeched, causing Ferdinand to wince at the pitch, voice hoarse from all the coughing. “I wanna go riding! Can I go riding?”
“No sweetheart,” Ferdinand answered, tucking the covers up further to cover her body better. “You’re still feeling quite feverish and it is not a good idea to have you out right now.”
“But we always go riding together in the morning…” Helene whined, eyes shining a little.
“I promise I’ll make it up to you when you feel better,” Ferdinand reassured, whipping the corner of her eyes. “In the meantime, Sir Butterscotch will understand why you haven’t seen him the last couple of days. The stable boy has assured me he’s being well-taken care of!”
Helene gave a solemn nod and Ferdinand stifled a laugh at her expression. Such a serious look on her innocent face felt incredibly out of place, but it was also quite adorable as well.
“For now, focus on getting better and then you’ll be reunited with Sir Butterscotch in no time.”
Helene pouted, clearly unhappy with the idea but not willing to argue with Ferdinand any further. “Okay, Papa… I’ll try.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.” Ferdinand placed a kiss on his daughter’s forehead before sitting up from his place on her bed. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to find a certain someone and tell him the paperwork can wait another day.”
(Over the next two days, despite Ferdinand’s reassurance that Helene would get to spend time with Sir Butterscotch soon, the raven-haired girl still tried convincing her fathers to let her join Ferdinand on his morning rides. Ferdinand was almost tempted to let her join, but then Hubert reminded him of how chilly the mornings could be in Enbarr and Ferdinand knew better.
Helene, of course, was quite upset about it but seemed to relent once Ferdinand brought home a small calico kitten, much to Hubert’s annoyance.)
It was a strange feeling not spending an evening in his office catching up on work, but Ferdinand had been quite insistent the last time the copper haired man caught Hubert doing work when they weren’t supposed to.
“Believe me, love, I understand how difficult it is not being directly involved in certain matters, but your aids are competent people!” Ferdinand reasoned as he stood in the doorway, looking quite annoyed. “Besides, if you continue working instead of enjoying our ‘break’ I’m going to tell Edelgard.”
So Hubert set aside his work and locked the door, giving the key to Ferdinand to further show he wasn’t going to try and sneak in at any point. It still didn’t mean that Hubert felt mildly unsettled by the disruption in his daily routine. He was quite used to spending some nights catching up on work, a warm cup of coffee nearby to keep him awake, so needless to say he wasn’t quite sure how to spend his nights now.
Thankfully, Hubert found an interesting book resting in their bookshelf. The book had been a gift from Bernadetta and Hubert was certain she was the author of it given the way she stammered and blushed when handing it to the couple. For the last few nights, Hubert could be found reading the book in bed before putting out any candles and sleeping. The plot was engaging enough that Hubert didn’t feel the need to switch it for another book and Hubert wondered if Bernadetta would ever consider a career as a novel writer in the future.
Hubert was nearly done with the chapter when Ferdinand walked in their bedroom carrying Helene in his arms. The redhead had gone to check on her before retiring for the evening, but it seems she somehow convinced Ferdinand to do something for her again.
(Either Ferdinand was entirely too soft or Helene was picking up on more of Hubert’s traits then either of them realized. No child should be this good at getting her way on a regular basis.)
From his view, he could tell Helene was fending off sleep as she rested her head on Ferdinand’s shoulder. As Ferdinand walked closer to their bed, Hubert raised an eyebrow to inquire about what happened, which earned him an apologetic smile in return. “She wanted to join us tonight and I didn’t have the heart to tell her no.”
Satisfied with the answer, Hubert nodded and grabbed for his bookmark while Ferdinand settled Helene in the center of the bed. Despite Helene’s fever breaking earlier this morning, both of them knew that Helene was still feeling quite weak and ill, occasionally shivering from time-to-time when they visited her room despite the fireplace being lite. Their combined body heat would likely help, Ferdinand’s especially from what Hubert remembered of campaigns in the cold of winter.
After settling her in comfortably, the bed dipped as Ferdinand settled in his side, blowing out the candle on his nightstand. Hubert did the same after placing his book down and checking to make sure Helene’s pillow was properly placed, which earned him an amused huff from Ferdinand’s side of the bed.
Helene must have felt more tired than either of them realized for the little girl’s quiet breathing could be heard in the silence of their room. Sharing one last look with each other, Ferdinand mouthed a ‘goodnight, my love’ to Hubert before closing his eyes. Hubert’s eyes softened at the sight of two of the most important people in his life right in front of him and he reached over to blow the candle out as well.
Before closing his eyes, he heard the sound of quiet padding entering the room as well and the end of the bed dipping as something worked its way up towards the top of the bed. Reaching out, Hubert let out an exasperated sigh as he felt his fingers meet cat fur.
“Just for tonight.” Hubert whispered to the cat, giving her a few pets before closing his eyes as well.
The soft sound of purring mixed with the quiet breathing of both Helene and Ferdinand filled Hubert’s ears as he drifted off to sleep, happy and content with his family together.