A Royal Accident (A British Royal Family Fanfiction)

Incredible

Kate

In the weeks following the announcement of our engagement, the news of Alice's future role and the date of our wedding was also announced. There was much discussion about both, in the public, but more so about Alice, and who she would one day grow up to become. Life in London felt so loud, so as soon as Alice finished school for the Christmas Holidays, we were out of London and straight to my parents house. Sometimes, as an adult, I felt silly, running back to my parents home as if I were a child, but the place brought so much comfort and reassurance for both Alice and I, that I simply couldn't resist. There was also a sense of relief that came with it, in that I didn't need to cook, as I knew that my mother enjoyed it so much, and there wasn't the same need for housework like there was when I was in my own home. It meant I could spend quality time with Alice. It had only dawned on me recently that as Will and I prepared to send her to boarding school, our time together would dramatically reduced and although I knew it was the right decision for her to go, that didn't mean it wouldn't come with it's disadvantages.

"She seems quiet." my father said, once my mother and Alice had left for the shops to get some ingredients to do some baking.

"It's been a busy few weeks. I think she's a combination of exhausted and overwhelmed." I told him as he sat down on the sofa beside me.

"Has she been like this since the announcement?" he asked.

"Not all the time. She was so switched on while she was at school, but I think now she's got the time and space to relax and think about everything, it's all just playing on her mind." I explained.

"Have you spoken to her?" he questioned.

"Yes, she talks to me more than she talks to William, but she's still so reserved. I went in to check on her last night when I was going to bed and she was still awake, just lying in bed thinking. I don't know how else to help her without forcing her to talk to me." I said.

"Your mother and I gave Pippa a diary. You were always so vocal with your feelings, but Pippa wasn't the same, and we gave her a diary, where she could write down how she was feeling and what she was thinking and then she could share it with us. We were always adamant that it wasn't a secret or a private diary, but a place for her to write things so we could talk about them." he explained.

"I think Alice would like that. She loves to write things and draw things, and it would be good too, for when she goes to school, to have a place to write things down if she can't find someone to talk to." I said. "Thank you." 

That afternoon, William and I received the email that Alice had been accepted into Marlston, a prep school down the road from my parents' house, where she would start boarding next September, only nine months away. I called William, while Alice was still out with my mother and told him. He knew, but we both acknowledged that this was the firm step taken in the direction of Alice's future, which scared us both. She still seemed so little. But we knew she couldn't stay at Glendower with the two of us living in Anglesey. It was hard enough William being there already. He asked about Alice, and how she'd been and I told him about the conversation I'd had with my father. He thought it would be a good idea, but our conversation was cut short as he had to get back to work. It wasn't very long after that when my mother and Alice got home and while the two of them baked into the kitchen, I went into town to find a notebook for Alice, just to make her feel a bit special about the whole thing.

That evening, after we'd read some of her book in bed, I lay beside her and handed her the notebook I'd got.