Roses I Send to You (Beauty and the Beast)

Amelie the Comforted

That night, I untangled my hair and I basically did everything I could to undo the damage I had caused by not looking after my appearance. In the end, I chose to leave my hair straight down my back and I wore a leaf-green dress. 

I went to sleep early that night because I had nothing better to do than either sleep or think about Chandler. He wasn't just a crush to me anymore. He was becoming more of a close friend than anything else. After all, I couldn't have a direct conversation with Madeleine anymore, but I could have a meaningful exchange with Chandler. 

I woke up at dawn the next morning to a sound that worried me. It sounded like my mother was vomiting. Okay, I thought. She's just sick. She'll vomit for a bit and then it'll stop. 

It didn't stop. Every other minute she was throwing up. After ten minutes or so, I went out to go and check on her. 

I found my mother in her and Father's bedroom. Sure enough, she was vomiting into a bucket. 

"Amelie!" my father exclaimed when he saw me.

"Amelie?" my mother asked when she caught a break from throwing up.

"We need to get her to a doctor. No one can vomit like this and still be alright unless something really unusual is happening," I said before my father grabbed my arm. He sat me down on the bed and my mother, who had finally stopped throwing up, sat next to me.

"Amelie, this doesn't need a doctor. It's perfectly normal for me to be really sick now," she explained calmly.

"Why? What makes this normal?" I asked. She and my father looked at each other before they both looked at me.

"Amelie, I'm pregnant."

I didn't ask any questions; I had heard her clearly. I was just so shocked I didn't know how to react. 

"We were trying to think of names. Could you help us?" my father awkwardly asked as if to break the silence. "We were thinking Marie for a girl and Louis for a boy. Do you have any other ideas?"

I didn't have to think long to find a boy's name. I had always liked the name Marquis, so I told my parents. A female name, on the other hand, was a tougher decision. I had actually considered suggesting the name Madeleine, but that didn't feel right. I thought long and hard, but I eventually settled on a name. 

"Belle," I said to my parents. They had quizzical looks on their faces, as if they didn't like the name. I couldn't understand what wasn't to like. Belle meant beauty, and it's so short and simple yet also very pretty.

"We'll consider it," my mother said. 

"Speaking of thinking about things, can I go and just, you know, grasp all of this? It's a lot to take in," I asked. My parents let me leave to go to the creek, and I was soon met by Chandler.

"You look beautiful!" he exclaimed when he saw me. I was still confused about my romantic feelings for him, so having Chandler compliment me in such a manner didn't help my confusion. Still, I was very happy and comforted in knowing that I would be a big sister.

"Well, let's go," he said as he took my hand and led me away from the creek and onto a different path that went deeper into the woods. 

"Where are we going?" I asked after a few minutes of walking with no end in sight.

"Somewhere beautiful."

I didn't question anything else. After we had walked several miles in the span of at least an hour, Chandler put his hands over my eyes and he started talking again.

"You know of the Royal Family who lives in a castle in these woods. Maybe now you can see the castle up close."

He pulled his hands away and I was met with astonishment. We were hidden cleverly behind a tree, but we still had an incredible view of the castle. On the pearl-colored balcony, a young woman who looked to be in her twenties stood with a boy who was about three. That, of course, was Queen Mother Anne-Marie and her son, Adam. King Henry wasn't visible, so he was most likely either inside the castle or away somewhere.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Chandler asked me. I was still dumbfounded when he asked me, but I forced a nod.

Neither one of us noticed the wolves.