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“This is going to end up with one of us getting injured, just like ice skating,” Henry grumbles, dragging the sled behind him as he follows Alex up the hill. “It’s also freezing.”
“Well, yeah, it kind of has to be,” Alex chuckles. “Now shush. We’re going to have fun with this. The others are meeting us at the top, and there’s a surprise for you.”
“The surprise better be hot chocolate and a warm blanket, or I don’t want anything to do with it,” Henry mutters.
“Well, damn, Henry. I guess I’ll just fly home then.”
Henry looks up quickly, gasping when he sees Bea standing at the top of the hill next to June. “Bea!” he shouts, running up to hug her. “When did you get here? How long are you staying?”
“I arrived this morning, and I’ll be here for a few days,” she smiles softly. “I have to be back before Christmas Eve. My flight is the evening of the 20th.”
“It’s so good to see you.” Henry keeps his arms around Bea as he fights back tears. “I’ve missed you so much, Bea.”
“I’ve missed you, too, Hen,” Bea whispers. “It’s so different without you at Kensington. I have nobody to gossip with anymore!”
Henry laughs softly. “You know that you’re welcome to call me, or come visit, whenever you want. I’m always here for you.”
“I know, love. Now, Alex says he has some fun plans for today. We’re starting with sledding, hmm? I don’t know about you, but I’ve missed sledding.”
“I’ve missed it, too,” Henry murmurs, subtly wiping under his eyes. He turns around to face Alex, hugging him close. “Thank you for bringing her here, Alex. You have no idea what this means to me.”
“I knew you were sad about not getting to spend Christmas with her this year, so I made sure she could come see us for a few days,” Alex smiles softly. “She’s going to be included in a few activities, so you can have those memories with her, too.”
“I love you so fucking much it’s unreal,” Henry whispers. “I can’t believe how perfect this holiday season has been so far.”
“If you two are done eye-fucking each other, we’d like to sled,” Nora calls out. “I wanna race Alex!”
“Oh, you’re on,” Alex grins, grabbing his sled. “You know I’m gonna win.”
“In your dreams, Alexander.”
Alex immediately gets settled into the sled. Nora sets up a few feet away. Percy counts them down. Henry gives Alex a quick shove, giggling as Nora curses him for giving Alex a boost.
“So, you seem like you’re really settling in here,” Bea smiles softly, nudging Henry’s shoulder. “You seem much happier.”
“I am,” Henry says honestly. “Obviously, I miss you so much, Bea, it’s just… there’s no pressure here,” he whispers. “Pip still calls, tells me to behave myself, but I don’t have anybody breathing down my neck. I can have fun, be silly. Alex created this whole list of things for us to do because he wanted our first Christmas together here to be perfect. This is the life I was meant to have.”
“Have you thought more about abdication?” Bea asks quietly.
Henry shrugs a little. “Yes,” he admits. “Pip keeps trying to talk me out of it. Gran has sent emails detailing my obligation to serve my country, mum… hasn’t said much about it. This is who I’m meant to be, where I’m meant to spend my time. I’m not fit to be a Prince- I never have been.”
“I’m not exactly fit to be a Princess either,” she snorts. “Although, when I brought up abdicating not long after I got home from rehab, Gran didn’t seem to have an issue with it. Seems she’d rather keep you around than me.”
“She doesn’t deserve either of us. Imagine Pip’s reaction if we both abdicated.”
Bea grins. “He’d have a coronary. Someone has to stick around to keep him human.”
“I won’t even consider abdicating if you’re not okay with it,” Henry says quietly. “If you’d rather be the one to abdicate, I’d be okay with that. You deserve to get out of the public eye if you want.”
“Hen, listen.” She turns to him, grabbing his hands. “As much as I hate the Royal life, I love you more. Seeing you spend this time with Alex, here in New York- it brings me so much joy. I absolutely adore seeing how happy you are in this new life. I will stand by your side no matter what decision you make.”
“Thank you, Bea.”
“Of course. Now,” she laughs, taking the sled from Nora once they’ve climbed back up the hill, “let’s sled!
“Did you win, my love?” Henry smiles softly, brushing some snow off Alex’s shoulder.
“He made it to the end and crashed out,” Nora laughs. “You should’ve seen it.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, darling, I was talking with Bea,” Henry murmurs. “Would you like to slide down together?”
“Only if you sit behind me and hold my waist,” Alex pouts. “I landed in a snowbank, Henry. I need kisses.”
Henry giggles quietly. “My poor baby,” he whispers, leaning down to trail kisses across Alex’s cheeks. “Is that better?”
“A little,” Alex nods. “We need to sled together now.”
They all pile on the sleds together, Alex with Henry, June with Pez, and Bea with Nora. Henry’s laughter is loud and bright in Alex’s ear, but he can’t bring himself to care. They get to the bottom first, shortly followed by June and Pez, with Nora and Bea coming in last. Nora complains the whole climb back to the top. They all take turns racing each other. Alex makes sure to take plenty of pictures of Henry and Bea spending time together. It wasn’t easy getting Bea here this close to Christmas, but it was worth it to see how happy the siblings are.
Alex is pulled out of his thoughts by a snowball hitting him in the back of the head. He turns around to see Bea with an innocent smile. “Oh, it’s so on!” he laughs.
The sleds are quickly abandoned in favor of a snowball fight. By the time they finally call it quits, everybody is shivering. Bea’s hair is a wavy mess from the snow, and June has resorted to putting hers in a bun. They all make their way back to the brownstone to change and get warm.
“Thanks for doing all of this, Alex,” Bea murmurs, watching Pez and Henry argue over what movie to watch. “I haven’t seen him this happy and relaxed since dad died.”
“I love him,” Alex says simply. “I’d do anything for him, Bea. I’m just glad you were able to join us for a couple days. He’s going to have so much fun with you here.”
“Gran would never admit it, but she made it very clear he was not welcomed to the Royal Christmas events,” Bea says quietly. “It’s going to look bad to the public, a Prince in line to the throne not following tradition. Don’t let him believe what idiots say about him online. People are going to think he chose not to be here, and Gran will let them believe that.”
“I’ll take care of him, Bea, don’t worry. He’s safe here.”
“I know he is.” Bea goes to join Henry then, squeezing in between him and Pez on the couch.
Alex brings the popcorn. It’s a bit of a tight squeeze with all six of them trying to get comfortable on the couch and chair, but they make it work. They always do.