The Throne (Prince Harry fanfic #6)

Chapter Seven

In the morning, the children ran around the apartment in a crazy motion. All of them were fully rested and now enjoyed freedom. Nanny was at least back today but wasn't up at full capacity. Breakfast was finished and all the dishes were done by the time it was time to leave for the session. In days like this, Lucy didn't try to hide. She didn't dress up in a nice outfit or do anything special. Harry didn't try much either. There wasn't a point to pretend.

Harry drove with Lucy in the passenger seat. Originally he tried talking to his wife, but her eyes closed slightly. He didn't think she was listening, even when she hummed like she did. Her head laid against the glass of the window. She swallowed, which was the only indication that she was yet awake.

Upon reaching the counselor's office, Harry turned to his wife. "Lucy, we're here," he said quietly.

Blinking, her eyes opened and she got out of the car quickly.

Harry's hands were in his pockets as they walked inside the building. Lucy was a few feet behind him at all times. He tried to hold the door open for her, but she refused. She let him go in first. Harry thought, perhaps, Lucy was going to try to make a run for it. That was always on his mind. He knew, since the beginning of his relationship with her, if you gave her time to think about something, the answer would most likely be no. He kept an eye on her, but she didn't look like she was going to run at any point.

It was only them and the counselor within the whole of the building. This was meant to be private. This was meant to be discreet. If the media got wind of this, all hell would've broken loose.

It was a trade off between Harry and Lucy who talked, in a two hour window. The counselor just wanted to do some ground work for the relationship. She wanted to understand. It was surprising how neither of them actually argued. Voices weren't raised. It wasn't even passive aggressive work between them. They just didn't speak to each other, like they forgot how to speak. Questions ranged from how events and schedules worked, and then they moved onto the kids. At five children, the counselor had a quick understanding how there was lack of time and intimacy between them. There wasn't much help with the children, so it gave them less time as well, with all the children at a young age.

"Has it always been like this?" the counselor asked.

"No," Harry replied automatically. "We used to have more time together, but since the cuts to the monarchy's funds, people have been let go, along with the nannies. We only have one now."

There were a few more sentences exchanged on the matter. The counselor moved onto a new subject, and this subject made Lucy sit a little straighter. Of course both the counselor and Harry noticed immediately.

"Lucy, do you have something to say about this matter?"

Her lips pursed as she glanced down at the ground. "I do." Lucy's eyes came up. "I don't think Harry is being faithful--"

"Lucy--"

"Harry--"

"Sir, let's let Lucy finish."

His eyes swept over to Lucy as he waited. He hadn't seen her this confident in a long time.

"Please correct me if I'm wrong, Harry, because I want to be wrong," she admitted. "I want to be wrong. But I know your schedule and your events. I know when you leave the house and when you come back. I know how long these events should take, and you're always late. I used to wait up for you, in the beginning, when you started to come home late. I would fall asleep. I didn't think anything of it." Her hands were placed gently on her lap. "And then you kept coming home later and later, and I looked into your events. I knew and continue to know when they end and what they are. Yet you're not home at the end. You're off somewhere.

"And I didn't want to think about it, Harry. I didn't want to believe it, but then it popped into my head, when I heard an old girl was back in London, just out of a divorce."

Harry knew who she spoke about.

"And suddenly you came home later again, especially while she was here. And she's stayed, and you've been away."

His mouth hung open. This whole time, he thought Lucy's remarks was just her reading into it too much. He was late, yes, but not because he was seeing this old girl. He wasn't seeing anyone else. "I wasn't-- I'm not-- no. That's not the reason I'm late."

"What is it, Harry? Why aren't you in our bed? Why is it that you leave me alone with the kids?"

"I escape," Harry said. "I... I...."

Lucy shook her head and looked away. She no longer listened.

Swallowing, Harry had to ask, "Have you... been seeing anyone?"

Laughing aloud, Lucy shook her head. "Do you think I have time to fuck someone, Harry? I have five children to take care of because you're gone."

He scoffed. "Would you fuck someone if you could, Lucy, if I was home?"

The counselor put up a hand and the two of them went back to their corners. Silence hung in the room. "My suggestion is to spend more together, which is the real problem here. The children have taken over your lives, which it is to be parent but you aren't doing it as partners. Neither of you can effectively parent without a partner in your corner. You should be an unbreakable wall."

With the recent anger still in the air, it seemed impossible but both of them nodded.

"First suggestion is a holiday with the children along. Is there anywhere you prefer?"

"The Scottish Highlands," Harry answered automatically. "That's Lucy's favorite holiday spot."

"Why?" the counselor asked.

"There's clean and fresh air. The green hills go on for miles and miles, then there's hiking." Harry had the same thought of before: escape. "It's peaceful out there. No one bothers us."

"You should holiday there."

"We can't," Lucy said. "We have events to do, and people will notice if we're not there. We can't leave now."

The counselor paused for a second on Lucy but said nothing else. "The other suggestion is intimacy. To kick start the relationship again, of course. With sex, there is a type of vulnerability and because of this, many couples find it helpful to feel connected to each other more."

"Why?" Lucy asked, not liking the latter.

"In many times, sex made people happy. Your bodies are filled with chemicals to enjoy it. And then many people think about the good times in their lives, their children sometimes. Other times, and more for you, it will be the thought of simpler times, before everything became hectic."

Silence engulfed the room again.

"We'll see what we can do," Harry said awkwardly.