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"Excuse me, is this Lady Clara's tea party?" - Wille asks from the doorframe, reading the invitation their daughter slid through their door yesterday.
"Yes!" - a little head pokes out from the mushroom tent in the corner of the room, she goes up to him with a wide grin.
"Thank you very much for inviting me" - Wilhelm says as his little daughter takes his hand and leads him to the table where the tea party's taking place. There's one teddy bear, a cat and a bunny plushie all in their seats already. She introduces all the guests as princesses and fairies, but Wille is just dad.
"Sit here" - Clara pats the tiny kiddie chair next to her. Wille takes the seat, as he greets all the stuffed animals next to him the way he would greet ambassadors and dignitaries at royal events. He shakes their paws and compliments their bows and little hats.
A knock on the door interrupts Clara's introduction of Mr. Hugs Jr.
"Is there place for another guest?" - Wille smiles as he hears his favorite voice by the doorframe.
Simon wasn't supposed to be home for another two hours, yet he's right here triumphantly standing in his dashing blue suit.
"Daddy!" - The child beams and rushes to Simon, who hugs the girl. Wilhelm looks at them from his place, surrounded by tons of stuffed animals. The man he loves and their daughter are everything that’s right in this fast-paced world. When the three of them are together it's like they're inside a bubble of peaceful happiness, yet lately, he's been thinking of adding another chair to the table of their weekly tea parties. A baby chair at that.
"I hope I'm not too late" - Simon asks playfully and Wilhelm moves a stuffed animal to make space for Simon.
Simon greets him with a quick kiss, he could melt in a puddle but they have a very important tea party program to follow.
"Tea, your grace?" - Wilhelm asks his husband, plastic teapot in hand.
Simon holds his empty teacup up until he realizes there's a liquid inside the teapot and asks in a whisper "Is that juice?"
"With glitter apparently" - Wilhelm shows him his cup of peach juice he moves it around as he would with some fancy wine, and it sparkles.
Simon laughs "No thank you"
He instead reaches to take one of the sandwiches from a pile Clara and Wille set up earlier. It's cheese and ham sandwiches, aka a delicacy in the kingdom inside this room. The star-themed tablecloth is filled with tea cups and little plates of different tea sets. Some parts must have gotten lost, but as an only daughter, she's constantly receiving the same gifts from her aunts and uncles all the time.
Clara gives all her stuffed animals little paper crowns, and bigger ones for her dads.
Wilhelm has felt the weight of an actual gold crown on his head, but even that one pales in comparison to this paper crown with make-believe jewels that says 'dad' across the front with crayon.
Clara puts on her little paper crown too, she hurries to the other side of her room, where her art supplies are stacked up on butterfly shelves and drawings are pasted on the walls. She carries back her wood easel. And once it's settled she shows them the first page of the sketchbook.
It reads 'Why I should have a baby sibling' - surrounded by rainbow stickers and little hearts. Simon realizes that it's written in very familiar handwriting. Wilhelm's handwriting to be more precise.
Simon turns to Wilhelm, who gives him a sheepish smile. His focus goes back to Clara when she starts to speak.
"First: Babies are cute" - and she shows them a new page, with a cutout photo of her as a baby. Simon could swear that picture was framed in the living room, and now it's decorated with glitter and stickers.
But he can't even be mad, that photo is one of his all-time favorites. He has a copy of it framed in his office. It shows a tiny Clara and the two of them, taken just a few minutes after she was first held by Simon, wrapped in what would become her favorite blanket. He remembers thinking she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Wille's also in the photo, the camera didn't catch him crying yet, but as soon as Clara was in his arms he cried the happiest tears that have ever been shed.
"Babies are the cutest, almost as cute as kittens and bunnies. And Uncle Ayub's baby is no longer a baby, so there's no baby to look at"
"A real tragedy in fact"- Wilhelm adds and the little girl nods.
When Ayub became a dad about two years ago and they visited him and his family, Clara was so happy. She kept asking when she would be able to play with her and complimented the baby's blonde hair. She said it looked like stardust.
"Second: we can play together!" - Clara says, passing the page to show a crayon drawing of two stick figures playing with a kite under a rainbow sky in what looks like the back garden.
"If I had a baby brother or sister we could do everything together. Daddy is too big to get in the castle at the playground" - she raises her finger as a matter of factly - "A baby is little" - she puts her both palms side by side as if measuring how small a baby could be.
Simon recalls helping Wille out of a seat on the swings the time he got stuck from sitting there for too long.
Simon chuckles at the memory - "go on"
"You won't even have to buy more toys" - Clara says as she changes the page to another drawing - "All my stuffies are enough and I'm sure the baby will like them. If not then auntie Felice or grandma Kristina can get them some"
Simon winces at the thought of even more Sylvanian dolls on the floor, waiting to be stepped on.
"And five, no four" - she giggles - "Four happy faces are more than three happy faces" - she says as she shows her dads two rows of happy face stickers. One with three and the second one with four.
"And scene" - the little girl bows as if she'd just finished a play. As soon as she's finished she hurries to Wilhelm's arms, who sits her on his lap.
"And, what do you say, babe?" - Wilhelm asks as they both turn to see Simon.
It's been a really long time since they had a baby in this house. And Simon would be lying if he said he doesn't miss it, he smiles at the memories of the three of them from years ago. When it was all made-up lullabies, rocking chairs, and lots of diapers.
He always hears his mom say how a parent's love only ever grows and grows. And he decides he wants to feel it too.
"After this, how could I say no?" - Simon says, to the absolute delight of Clara and Wilhelm who cheer and hug happily.
Wilhelm raises his teacup to make a toast - "To more sleepless nights then"
"To more sleepless nights" - Simon agrees. God, he forgot about that detail.
"Yes" - Clara also raises hers and the three teacups clink
In the joy of it all Simon drank the sparkly peach-flavored juice - "This glitter is edible, right?"
"I hope" - Wilhelm replies having done the same.
*****
Oskar Gabriel Eriksson, Duke of Södermanland was born on the 7th of May 2039 to HRH Princes Simon and Wilhelm.