𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐄

-𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦

By the time Alice awoke again, it was because the court physician was knocking. Groaning, she rolled over in bed and covered her face with the pillow.

"Make him go away," she grumbled to Marcus, who chuckled and shook his head.

"No, Princess. We need to see what's wrong with you."

"I'm sure it's nothing," she waved him off as he got up to answer the door.

"Hello, Princess," he bowed to her with a small smile.

"Hello, doctor," Alice did her best to sit up, but felt another wave of nausea. Marcus quickly rushed to her side and slowly laid her back down.

"I'm here, baby," he cooed. The court physician gave the couple an odd look, as they weren't married and he was seeing her in such a state. But, he also knew better than to say anything.

Feeling her forehead, he didn't take any note of a fever.

"When did the nausea and dizziness begin?"  He asked, making her shrug in response.

"About a week ago," she responded, looking over at Marcus, who nodded in confirmation.

"If you don't mind, I'm just going to take a look over," he announced, waiting for a nod from Alice before pulling back the blanket.
Almost instantly, he had a feeling he knew what was going on.

"Sir Marcus, would you mind giving us some privacy please?"

Marcus looked over at Alice, who nodded in approval. With a small kiss on her forehead, he exited the room, but waited outside the door anyways.

"Do you mind?" The doctor asked, looking down at her stomach. With a pale face, she nodded, allowing him to press down slightly.

"When is the last time you had a flow, Princess?"

After some thinking, she shrugged and paled even more.

"I think I missed it this month," she mumbled. With a small smile, he put the covers back over her.

"I'll check back in with you in a few weeks to confirm. For now, we'll keep this between us, okay?"

"Not even-"

"No one needs to know," he confirmed, knowing she meant Henry. "We'll say it's a bug, for now."

"Thank you," she gave him a grateful smile as he walked towards the door. Not to any of their surprise, Marcus was standing right outside of it.

"Good day," the doctor bowed his head to both of them before walking off. Marcus hardly acknowledged him, immediately rushing back inside of the room.

"What did he say?"

Alice looked down at her hands, unsure of how to answer. She knew she needed to tell him, but she was also scared of how he would react. They weren't courted yet, and they had just gotten Henry's approval. This would mean they would need to rush into everything, and lie about the timeline.

"Well, as you know, we have been doing- a lot of things recently," she trailed off, unsure of how to word what she wanted to say. He just raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Things like?"

"He asked me when my last flow was," Alice looked up at Marcus with teary eyes, so wet in fact it blurred her vision. She was fully expecting him to just walk away, but instead he cupped her face and wiped the tears that spilled over onto her cheeks.

"I'm here, Princess," he told her softly. "I love you, no matter what. I'm not going anywhere."

"He's going to check again next month, but Marcus, I can't-"

"We can do this. We have your brother's blessing, I can court you now and no one would bat an eye. No one would dare say anything either."

"You can't marry me just because I might be with child," she sighed. When he chuckled in response, she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Alice, I'm not marrying you just because you might be with child. I'm marrying you because I love you."

Looking down at her attire, then back up at him, she let out a laugh.

"I hope this isn't your real proposal," she joked, making him laugh as well.

"I promise, the real one will be much better," he told her between fits of laughter and placed a kiss on her stomach. "Is it bad that I hope you are with child?"

Alice shook her head and pulled him up to her, placing a kiss on his lips.

"I love you, Marcus," she told him with a smile. "I'd be honored to be your wife and the mother of your children."

"I love you more than anything to ever exsist, Alice. I promise that I will not be an absent husband or father."

"No nannies, I want to do everything ourselves. Like how Henry practically raised me. I want our children to know what it's like to be loved and to play like children should."

"No nannies, understood," he agreed. "Just us and our affection."

"And I want a simple wedding," she immediately chuckled after saying that. "However, I am a princess. I guess nothing is simple."

"We can be simple," he mumbled. "If you want a simple wedding, then that's what we will have. Who's going to tell you, of all people, no?"

"Valid point," she muttered in response as she played with his fingers before intertwining them. "We won't have much time to plan anything extravagant anyways if we plan on wedding before I show."

"We'll worry about that when we get to that point, okay? For now, rest. You're growing another human."

"I might be growing another human."

"I hope you are," he chuckled and laid her head into his chest. "Take a nap. You don't need to make an appearance in court today. Henry-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Alice was already asleep, confirming Marcus' suspicions that she is indeed with child, as she usually wasn't this sleepy. However, he knew that they would work everything out, as they always do.

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I'm so sorry, guys. The concussion is so painful, and it hurt to even write this much. I promise these last few chapters will be MUCH better. Please bear with me. I love you all and thank you so much ❤️