Six One Shots [REQUESTS OPEN]

V- My Mary

Parrmour angst cuz I love them but I suck at fluff ideas.

CW: Mentions of illness, death

Jane counted heads best she could. Being the second shortest in the group, it was a bit hard. So she resorted to standing on a chair, muttering under her breath.
"Aragon, Boleyn, Cleves, Howard..." she frowned. "Where's Cathy?"
"Probably outside the door." Anne laughed. It was true, the final queen was always the first out despite being the most attached to her room. Jane frowned and ran up the stairs to Cathy's bedroom.

"Darling?" She asked, knocking on the door. "Are you in there? We need to go."
"Can I just stay back for today?" Came the response. "I don't feel too well, I just need a nap or something."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Alright. Take care of yourself."
"I'll be fine Jane."
Jane sighed at the reply, giving up and going downstairs. She'd rather stay with her girlfriend, but she knew the others would end up in prison or something if she left someone else in charge.

Except, that was, unless she put Catalina in charge. It was a risk, but the older queen was more than capable.
"Lina?" Jane pulled her aside. "Cathy's not well, can you take charge so I can look after her?"
"Are you sure?" Catalina frowned. "Last time I checked you hated dealing with sickness. Do you want me to stay back instead?"
"No I'm alright thanks." Jane rubbed Catalina's arm and smiled a bit. "Have fun at the zoo."
The blonde sent the older woman a small smile and ran upstairs back to Cathy's room.

When she arrived, she did not expect to see the usually stoic-at-most Catherine Parr curled up on her bed, body wracking with sobs.
"Oh Cathy.." Jane breathed out and sat on the edge of the younger woman's bed, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Cathy flinched.
"It's just me." The blonde rubbed her arm gently. "What's upset you this much sweetheart? Well, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but I'm here."

"How do you do it?" Cathy mumbled between sobs. Her body had stopped shaking but tears still flowed incessantly down her face.
"Do what, Cathy?" Jane asked.
"Do you never think of him?" the dark haired woman continued. "Is that how you manage to keep living? To forget?"
"Him?" Jane frowned, 'him' could mean many people: one of her brothers, Henry, or possibly her little Edward. "Who do you mean?"
"Your son." Cathy sniffed and finally looked up at the older woman. "How do you live not knowing how he grew? Not knowing what he was like?"

"I am constantly thinking about him." Jane whispered. "I'd never want to forget him- those 12 days were precious even if I didn't get to see him much then. If it upsets me, a book or article on him suffices for the moment."
Cathy seemed to tense, looking back at the wall and choking back another sob.
"Why do you ask?" Jane moved her hand from Cathy's shoulder to mess with her curls. "I've never heard you mention having a child."

Cathy sniffed again, turning her body to face Jane and burying herself into her offered embrace. The silence made Jane question whether or not she had or hadn't heard Cathy mention having a son or daughter of her own. She had heard stories of her Latimer stepchildren, and of course her Tudor stepchildren- one of them being her own son- but never one of her own flesh and blood.
Jane just took the silence to mean it was a touchy subject for the younger woman and didn't press further. However, it seemed Cathy had other plans.

"I had a daughter." Cathy mumbled after a few minutes of dead air, chewing on her lip. "We called her Mary- after Lina's."
"Oh." was all Jane could get out. The blonde had known the younger queen had married her brother, Thomas, after Henry VIII died, but that was about all that Cathy would say about it.
"Thomas was so sure she'd be a boy." Cathy let out a dry chuckle. "Then again, so is every man when their wife is pregnant."
"That's true." Jane laughed a bit with her.

"I died six days after she was born." Cathy continued, mumbling most of her words. "After they realised I was sick I wasn't allowed to see her."
Jane clenched her jaw and nodded. She knew the feeling; when her fever had began to show after the fourth day, Edward was quickly swept far from her to keep him safe from malady. It was a cruel thing to do, but a necessary one.
"I only got around a day with her." Cathy was beginning to get worked up again, hiccuping with sobs as she spoke.

"Shall we see what we can find on her online?" Jane suggested, looking to Cathy's laptop on her desk. "Maybe that'll help bring closure."
"I've tried!" The dark haired woman cried. "There's nothing on her except her birthdate and her being the reason I died. There's no records of her past her second birthday!"
Jane felt her heart drop to her stomach. She could not imagine how that would feel like, and silently she thanked God for letting her be so lucky in having all the resources in the world around her son. But Cathy, she had nothing.
Of all the resources Jane had used to help keep herself content and calm with life's cruel fate- Cathy had none. She did not have the leisure of hundreds of books and thousands of websites. She did not have various portraits that could easily be found on the internet.

"I'm so sorry Cathy." Jane held her girlfriend close, placing sporadic kisses on the top of her head. "I can't imagine what that would be like. Why have you not said anything before?"
"You all had more important problems." Cathy mumbled, shrugging slightly and wiping her eyes.
"Nothing is more important to me than making sure you are happy." Jane lifted the younger woman's chin so their eyes met. "When is her birthdate?"

"30th August 1548." Cathy spoke almost robotically, her voice hoarse with crying.
"How about we do a little something for her birthday every year?" Jane stroked her hair, placing little kisses on her forehead. "Would you like that?"
Cathy's only response was a nod, before going back to nestle further into the blonde's arms.

"Alright. We'll do that." Jane whispered. "But for now, I believe Netflix and a pizza delivery is in order."
Cathy let herself smile a bit as she sat up to grab her laptop and set it over their laps as Jane ordered pizza on her phone.

"What did I do to deserve such an angel like you?" Cathy murmured, getting comfortable in her girlfriend's arms and scrolling through Netflix's almost endless supply of movies and TV shows.
"Many things that I would have never dared try." Jane laughed a bit, putting her phone down on the bedside table.
"I love you."
"I love you too Cathy."