The Crown (Prince Harry fanfic #5)

Chapter Thirteen

"Ow." Lucy latched onto Harry's hand. "Holy shit."

"Luce, what is it?" Harry asked.

Tony, Lucy's bodyguard, and Robert, one of Harry's bodyguards, looked back at the couple.

Harry rubbed Lucy's hand with the back of his thumb. "What is it, Lucy?" he repeated. "Is it baby? Is he kicking?"

"Obviously not," she spat through her clenched teeth. Her finger squeezed his hand tightly. "I think... I think it's a contraction."

"A contraction?" Harry sputtered. "Like labor? Like the baby is coming now?" His eyes bugged out. "It's too soon. You're only eight months. You're supposed to get to nine months. The first baby is supposed to be late. We haven't done anything to the apartment. There are so many things that would fall over and-- and-- and we can't. Not now. We're not ready. This baby isn't ready. No--"

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

He closed his mouth and watched his wife intently. Lucy faced upward now, eyes to the roof of the car. She tightly gripped the side handle of the car. Her teeth clenched shut. Her mouth frowned. She breathed deeply through her nose.

"Robert," Harry demanded, "hospital now."

"Yes, your highness." Robert started up the car and pulled quickly out of the spot. He knew the rules, safety first, and he did. He did everything carefully and he obeyed all traffic signs and signals, all rules to the road.

Tony called ahead to the hospital, where a doctor waited for the couple.

"Harry, calm down." Lucy's fingers curled into the leather of the seat again. She tried to straighten her legs but there was nowhere for them to go.

"Luce," Harry said, "everything is okay. I know it is. Everything is okay. We're all good. You're doing great. Baby will be fine. He'll be healthy, with ten fingers and ten toes. And--"

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut the hell up."

Harry closed his mouth.

Robert turned onto the hospital's road. He glanced back before pulling off. The car sat near an entrance, with glances in all directions to see that they weren't followed. They weren't followed, no paparazzo. It poured outside as Lucy entered hospital and was directed to the left. Immediately Lucy was put into the lift and went up to the maternity ward. The hallways cleared when Lucy was taken into a room.

Lucy managed to stay calm the whole time, but that left Harry to panic on his own. Though she was in pain, she had felt worse. Then there was Harry beside her, who tried to be calm but failed. He tried to calm her but failed.

"It shouldn't be happening this fast, right?" Harry asked the midwife who walked in. "It's supposed to take hours, days even. The pain just started and it hasn't stopped."

The midwife, a firm lady with a frown for a mouth, only glanced at Harry. "Your first?"

"Yes," he breathed.

"I assumed." The midwife immediately started to feel Lucy's stomach. Her hard bone fingers pressed into the bottom of her stomach harshly. Lucy let out a hiss but said nothing. "We're going to run a few tests. We're going to do sonogram. We're going to find out what's going on."

"Is it labor?" Harry asked.

The midwife paused. "Unsure."

"Unsure?"