*Eighth book in the Royals Series*
After a year of personal heartbreak, Jackie Baker has thrown herself into her role as the Duchess of Windsor. As a senior member of the British Royal Family, she must learn to balance her family with her royal duti...
"I'm going to put together a breakfast pie for the girls, for tomorrow morning," Jackie decided, brushing out her wet hair in front of her bathroom mirror.
Harry, who was throwing together an overnight bag, nodded. "They'll like that. You have enough time?"
Jackie glanced at her watch. "They're 10 minutes apart now, we've got at least an hour or two."
It was October 25th, two days after Jackie's 33rd birthday. Kensington Palace had marked the occasion by tweeting a portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor -- it appeared to be a formal sitting, Jackie in a dress and Harry in a suit, but just out of frame was the average chaos of their lives. As they hadn't had a proper portrait taken in quite some time, Jackie had called Kate over, who snapped the photo of Jackie in an old gown (which wasn't zipped, as she had been 6 months pregnant at the time) and Harry in a suit jacket and tie, his sweatpants out of frame -- he'd been in a hurry to get to a rugby match in the park with Will. Mary Kate, Caroline, and Cece had been clambering at their feet, begging to go play outside. The end result, all thanks to Kate's portraiture skills and a packet of crisps to distract the children, was a lovely photo of the Windsors, looking so serene despite all the distractions just out of frame.
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A tightening from deep within Jackie's stomach caused her to stop her hairbrush in mid-air. She glanced at her watch. It was 10:30 pm, another contraction had just begun. "9 minutes apart, now."
The due date was in just 2 days, October 27th, but Dr. Brown had been slowly reducing the hormone supplements Jackie had been taking -- necessary to maintain her pregnancy to term without two working ovaries to make the hormones themselves. With the hormone levels dropping, Jackie's body knew it was time to deliver the baby. Her contractions were coming 9 minutes apart, meaning she had a some time before they went to the Lindo Wing, when the contractions came about 5 minutes apart.
"Well, make the pie quickly, then," Harry joked, tossing Jackie's robe into the duffel bag.
Jackie laughed to herself as she descended the steps into the kitchen. Labor the third time around was much different from the first time. Jackie and Harry had made a mad dash to the hospital when Mary Kate was arriving, speeding through the night streets of London. Now, with their fifth child due to arrive within the next 24 hours, Jackie and Harry were hardly in a hurry. They hadn't even packed their bag, something they'd done when Jackie was only six months pregnant with Mary Kate. Harry began assembling the bag when Jackie felt her first contraction about two hours ago. Jackie took a casual shower, taking in every detail of her baby bump -- the way the water ran over her protruding belly button, the way her skin stretched as the baby moved inside -- knowing it was the last one she'd ever have. They hadn't even begun to think of names -- the whole thing had gone so quickly -- Jackie finding out she was pregnant just 5 months before, the traumatic incident with the man in the garden -- there hadn't been any time.
