Red, White, & Royal Pain

4.3

Henry likes to consider himself a composed person who can take shit from others considerably well. It's a skill he's had perfected since he was a boy himself. It came from dealing with constantly getting reprimanded—and closeted— by Gran who was now deceased. Snarks and taunts from Phillip his entire life, though he never said a word influenced it as well. So he keeps his composure and let's it roll off his back, at least in the company of others. But the moment Phillip directed his negativity towards his daughter, his baby, all hell broke loose and he doesn't give two shits about composure.

And moments later, Henry and Phillip take to the ground in a giant tangle of fists and limbs.

Alex and some security guards pull the raging brothers apart, the sobs and screams of Ella and Arthur sounding further and further away. Bea had briskly escorted her niece and nephew out of sight the moment the verbal taunts had turned into punches.

"Stop it!" Alex yelled, pulling Henry off Phillip. Phillip, not very happy with this arrangement, lunges at Henry again and has to be pulled back yet once more by some annoyed looking guards. And to top it off, the moment Phillip is pulled away for the second time, a beep and a flash indicate that a camera recording had just caught all the action.

Philip gets escorted out of the room and Alex grips Henry's shoulders, hard.

"Hen, first are you okay?" Henry nods, still a bit shaken up, but nods.

"Well then," Alex begins. "I'm proud as hell." Henry doesn't recall hitting his head when he got tackled to the ground, but he realizes he must have because Alex was proud? Proud that he just royally punched his royal brother at this royal palace with royal people all around and a bloody royal camera caught it all?

"You're proud?"

"You defended our daughter, Hen. You didn't take Phillip's shit, so yes, I am proud as hell." Henry chuckled at this and embraced his husband before breathing, "what do we do now?"

"Well, there's now a lot of shit to take care of but first and foremost, we need to find the kids." Henry nodded and pulled out his phone to text Bea.

H-Where are you?

B-My room, they're very shaken up, Henry. But

they've been asking for you two.

H- I'm on my way.

After showing the message to Alex and sharing a sigh, the two made it up to Bea's rooms as quickly as they could without running into photographers or anybody of the sort. The moment they knocked on the door Bea answered with a frown. Upon walking in, both Alex and Henry could swear their hearts broke at the sight in front of them; Arthur and Ella were cuddled on the coach, holding onto one another for dear life as if they'd slip away if they didn't.

"Loves," Henry broke, striding towards his kids, Alex following right behind. The two of them knelt in front of the kids, each taking one of the kids hands in theirs. Henry shattered a little when he saw Ella flinch away from him and inch towards Alex. Alex noticed, and he felt a piece of him crumble as well as he gave Henry a sad grimace.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked, making eye contact with each of them, before holding his gaze on Ella. Arthur seemed fine which was good, but Ella's eyes might as well be bugging out of her head.

"Da- Daddy hit... Uncle Phil... he- he..." She struggled to get out. She was scared shitless. All Henry could do was watch as his precious young girl tried her hardest to push back her tears and get closer to Bea and Alex.

"Shh shhh it's ok, honey", he tried, reaching out to rest his palm on Ella's tiny hand. Right then and there, she started wailing. And I mean wailing. It was enough to shatter a fine glass as well as the fragile China that Henry had for a heart. He slumped back and helplessly looked to Alex and Bea. He couldn't get through to her right now, so he'd have to leave it to them.

"Ella, darling, please let us talk. You as well Arthur. Please allow us your attention for a few seconds so we can explain", Bea said in her soft and warm voice. Arthur readily nodded, but after a couple long and contemplating moments, Ella did as well.

Bea looked to Alex, who she'd been planning to hand the spotlight off to, but Alex was as compassionate as ever. He slowly shook his head and stared into his husband's eyes when he said, "You're father, is one of the most amazing people that have ever walked this earth. He is sweet, selfless, caring, and occasionally poetic" he said with a wink. "But above all, he is your father, and all he and I will ever do, is protect you two. Today his actions might have been a little reckless, but they sure as hell were not out of pocket. If you'd had to grow up with Philip as brother I'm sure you'd clock him down as well-"

"Hey, hey now," Bea interrupted, "let's not give our naive little minds here the wrong ideas. However true it might be, I don't think it wise to teach them violence-" But now it was Henry's turn to interrupt. "What daddy and Auntie Bea were trying and failing to say," he glanced up from the position his eyes held on the floor and softly chuckled, "is that what I did was irresponsible and I understand that you might be feeling scared right now. But please please know that all I intended was to stick up for you both. I lose my temper sometimes, and it's usually not in front of you guys. I don't wish it to ever happen again, and I'd completely understand if you'd like to take some time and distance away from me to think about what you saw and heard. I wouldn't judge you for it. It would make sense even." He glanced up, searching his children's faces for some sort of response.

"I understand dad, I really do. I saw what happened and I was sort of confused at first, but now I understand. You did it out of love and I don't want you to go away" Arthur stated. A small weight was lifted off of Henry's chest at his son's words. He scooped him up and gave him a hug, smiling. He was a little relieved that one of his children can forgive his untimely actions, but it truly wasn't Arthur that he was worried about. It was his innocent daughter who was staring off at the disinteresting beige wall as if it could tell her the secrets of the universe of which he was concerned. Alex, Bea, Henry, and now Arthur looked expectantly over to Ella, and once again, it was Arthur who spoke.

"Ellie Belly, If you don't know how to feel right now, let me help you. Daddy was protecting you. That's all it really was. Uncle Philip is not a nice man, and I think that he just scared Daddy when he got so close to you. I think that what Daddy did was very brave and that it is worth forgiving. Please forgive him, Ella." And with this, the three adults in the room starred wide-eyed at the brilliant and kind hearted boy in front of them. Bea smiled brightly as tear streaks already started to form down her cheeks while Alex and Henry's cheeks flushed with pride. Realization spread blissfully over Ella's face as she took her brother's every words to heart. Yes, she was going to forgive her impulsive but affectionate father. She nodded slowly as Alex playfully swiped Arthur from Henry's lap, a few watermarks staining his face as well, and Ella climbed onto Henry. Ella giggled her little mouth off as he tickled her, washing away the past echoes of her sobs. They were ok. Although they'd never admit it, in this exact moment, Henry and Alex had never been more in love with their family, each other, and believe it or not, their lives.

Within the hour there were whispers following them around with each stride. Surely this incident would be getting more publicity than the new Queen of Wales. They'd be getting an earful about that later for sure. Things such as "What did Philip say to you, Prince Henry?", "Is it true that Prince Philip doesn't approve of your children, Mr. Claremont-Diaz?", and the ever so classy, "Is it true that Philip eats bull testicles for breakfast every morning? Multiple sources have corroborated this statement!" were thrown at them. Several articles picked up that last one, and they forever had Bea to thank for it. It didn't even matter that hundreds of cameras caught the action and that demeaning headlines would ignite from the galant spark. It didn't matter, because they were all ok.

New story already in the making!