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Ella didn’t need to open her eyes to know what her room looked like. She could feel the gold warmth of the sun that streamed through the window on her, telling her that the time for her to wake was long gone. It didn’t matter, this was the day after her twentieth anniversary - she had some excuse to remain abed, even if they were due to visit some old haunts and landmarks around the area, starting at noon and it was drawing closer to the hour. She curled a little closer to the warm and familiar body at her side, content to stay like this forever. After perhaps twenty minutes, however, the large thumping noise of feet on the landing breaking her peaceful existence.
“Why do I wake up tired?” Ella groaned, stretching slightly as her eyes flickered open. Kit had been moving around a little, breaking the morning haze of pretending to still be asleep that she found she could indulge in. He matched her groan with a breathy laugh against her collarbone, ceasing his nuzzling as he drew himself up to kiss her good morning. They were both still a little tired from the previous nights celebrations, although the night had not been as festive as it often would have been on their anniversary.
“Do you remember how we used to be able to stay up all night, just talking?” He grinned, cocking his eyebrow, conveying that they had not spent all those nights just talking. Ella curled a little closer into him, a light blush colouring her cheeks at memories long passed.
“Do you remember that night we lay in the garden, looking up at the stars…” She whispered her fingers tracing patterns down his arm and interlocking with his. “And when that gardener nearly-”
“Nearly found us the next morning?” He finished, sharing her secretive chuckle. “We thought we had all the time in the world.” He sounded reminiscent, sighing as his perfect blue eyes engulfed her focus.
“What happened?” She wondered aloud, playfully nudging at his legs, earning a smile.
“I do believe we had Christopher.” Kit responded after a moments pause, brow crinkled in thought. Ella released a discontented moan, suspecting the thumping sounds outside the door could be attributed to the boy. “Yes, we became parents.” He asserted, wrapping his arms a little tighter around her. Neither would change them becoming parents, though, not even for the entire world. They had brought four beautiful creatures into the world, and that was a magnificent feeling, one that had brought them even closer together.
“Twenty years of waking up next to you.” Ella said, shaking her head. “I think I am the luckiest woman to have ever lived, Mister Kit.” He kissed her again, lingering on her lips as his hands coiled in her lose hair. He loved her hair. “Twenty years…”
“Twenty years and I still love you.” He assured her, butting her nose with his own in a curiously sweet fashion. At the silence that followed, however, he looked cautiously to his wife.
“Mmmhh..” Ella paused, deliberating over her answer. “The grey streak make me feel old.” She teased, reaching up to flick the apparently nonexistent hairs into the hair. A wicked grin only came to Kit’s face, which was not the reaction his wife had anticipated.
“Oh really?” He challenged, collecting in his mind her level of sincerity. “Tell me, my queen..” He smirked in a confident manner, hand edging it’s way up his wife’s thigh. “Does this make…” He was positioned on top of her now, carefully trapped between her legs and she was hungrily devouring his lips. “You feel..” While one hand busied itself further down, another rose up to find the swell of her chest. “Old?” Ella emitted a small whimper, before there was an almost predicted crashing sound from outside, causing them both to stop their activities and wince as the falling object proceeded ro hurtle down another flight of steps.
Kit was reaching for his robe by the time Aenor appeared in the doorway - without knocking, which could very well have been punished by seeing something no child should ever have to witness, if her brother had not fallen down the stairs - and informed her parents of her younger siblings unfortunate demise. She proved to be of no further help, however, as she had not taken he initiative (or hand any inclination) to check if the younger prince was fully intact, walking calmly away after conveying her news.
“Critter!” Kit called, sensing (with a sixth sense all parents appear to possess) that there was another specimen of human life in the hall. “Critter, could you please make sure your brothers still alive?!” He would have done it himself, had he not been offered such wondrous company as his life companion and he been a little more concerned of the seriousness of his sons injuries - there was none, to set you at ease, as the king knew already. The boy had entered the unfortunate phase of clumsiness and was very prone to tumbling down staircases, and consequently his father was certain he had built up a sort of resilience to such things as flesh wounds.
“Don’t call me Critter.” The elder prince deadpanned with a moody look through the open archway. Kit raised his eyebrows in half surprise, half question - as if to ask if he was ready to challenge him openly and if so was he aware he would be obliterated? That earned an eye roll.
“Watch it, boy.” Ella warned from her husbands arms, and Critter frowned (possibly out of fear) as he assessed the situation at hand. His mother and father were in bed, holding each other and unwilling to move from their stance. Close contact alone was enough to imply a few things he would care to pretend never happened. But, they were both clothed in their nightclothes, so the Crown Prince shrugged and turned to leave, only to cringe at his mothers addition, before following orders. “And close the door!”
“Now, I do believe I was helping you remember being young?” He suggested as the door closed, and Ella giggled, assisting his hands in recalling what their previous occupations had been - before Lily (ignoring her elder brothers kindly yell of “trust me, Lils, you do not want to go in there!”) charged inside and everything ended in a flurry of sheets.
“Flora said we can’t go exploring until you’re up.” The little princess declared, throwing herself between the two monarchs - oblivious to what had happened previously. Wriggling around a little, intending to make her presence uncomfortable on her parents so she might force them to dress and accompany her on her expeditions, until Marcus and Critter stumbled up the stairs.
“I am uninjured, I thank you both for the concern you showed!” He harrumphed sarcastically, again tossing himself onto the bed, missing his mothers feet by less than half an inch.
“We sent Critter.” Ella offered, shooting a look to her firstborn, daring him to ask her to use his first name.
“I love you too.” The fair haired boy snorted, his elder sister entering the room at the sound of discontent. She only shrugged before joining her siblings and parents on the bed, supposing it to be a family gathering that was usually located elsewhere. The only personage still standing was the Crown Prince, who was casually leaning against the wall with an air of superiority about him, until Ella caught his eyes with a flattering smile, and then a plaintive beg with a nod of her head. It didn’t take long for him to break, squeezing onto the side by his mother as Lily rolled on top of Kit to make room, failing to ask his opinion on her temporary location.
Everything was so perfect, and still. For Ella, there was only her little to large family packed tightly onto the bed, with no room to spare. It seemed right to the break the news right then, even though she had planned on telling Kit in a more private setting.
No doubt he would be joyous - until his worrying laid claim to his persona. They had thought Ella was pregnant a year or two ago, and while it had been a false alarm, it had caused her husband to take into account the possibility of them having another child, and he had actively worked against it - for at least the first week or two after they had the all clear from the physician. It wasn’t as though Kit didn’t love all his children, didn’t cherish and adore every little trait his prized four possessed, but during Lily’s birth there had been some mild difficulties, difficulties and dangers that had been increased by Ella’s age.
She knew she wasn’t young anymore, even if Kt could make her forget the fact for a little while, and that having children was a young persons game. Raising them required energy and charism, however, and she still believed she and her husband had that - just as much as they still had their dreams.
“I’m pregnant.” Ella murmured over her daughters head, and Kits eyes grew even bluer. Lily crinkled up her nose, attempting to process what her mother meant by that, while Marcus choked and Aenor squealed with delight. Critter, however, gave the best reaction, groaning at the realisation of what process his parents would have gone through to have another baby, and making some sort of gagging noise, rolling off of the bed and onto the floor. Catching onto his brothers thoughts, Marcus cried out in disgust.
“Ugh! You guys still do that?!” Aenor laughed, and Lily did too (despite not knowing what was so amusing) and while Kit had some doubts, he kept them to himself at the time, merely reaching over his daughter to kiss his wife - a chorus of ‘ewww’s soundtracked the exchange.