Never Really Royal (Harry and Meghan Fanfiction)

Flourish

It had been almost a week now since we had got back from spending New Year in Toronto and it had been absolutely mental. Mom and Dad had spent the majority of their time packing up the house, while I had been gradually moving things over to my apartment in the main building of Kensington Palace. On the Wednesday evening, the five of us went for dinner in Covent Garden, to our favourite burger restaurant. After dinner, the five of us walked around and looked in a few shop before going back home to Kensington Palace, more importantly Nottingham Cottage for the final time. Tomorrow was the day that Mom, Dad, Poppy and Holly were moving out of Nottingham Cottage and into Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate. Tonight therefore was our last night at Nottingham Cottage, and sort of, my last night living at home. I was working in London on Friday and so I was spending my first night in my new apartment. It didn't scare me, staying by myself, I did it all the time in Toronto but I wasn't staying by myself, Olive was coming over and staying with me. Since she had told her parents about being pregnant, their relationship had been slightly rocky. But Ollie was sticking by her, which was good. I hadn't seen her since before New Year, because she had been busy, so I told her that I was making her dinner and she was staying over.

When we got home from Covent Garden, we all went upstairs and changed into our pyjamas and then went downstairs where Dad made us all hot chocolate. We sat on the sofas and watched a film together. I lay next to Mom, with Holly on the other side of me. Dad sat next to Mom, with his arms wrapped around her, holding her stomach. Poppy sat on the floor below my legs covered by her favourite blanket. We barely moved for the hour and a half of the film, except when Mom went to the toilet or Poppy wriggled on the floor. At the end of the film, Dad switched the TV off, Poppy turned around to look at us and the five of us all made eye contact in silence.

"I love you guys so much." Mom said. Dad smiled and so did Daisy and Poppy as they looked up at me.

"I love you guys too." Poppy said before giggling to herself. We all smiled before laughing again. We chatted for a bit longer before Mom and Dad went to take the girls to bed. I went to the kitchen and got myself a glass of water before going upstairs. I put down my water and my phone in my room before going into the girls' room as Mom was reading them a story. She sat on Poppy's bed holding the book, while Dad sat on the floor in between their beds, as I went over to sit on the end of Holly's bed. She climbed out from under her duvet and came to lie on me, her head rested on my thighs with one arm wrapped around my leg. I stroked her hair lightly, but in my head I knew that this was going to be hard for them, particularly Holly. When Mom had finished reading to them, I cuddled them both goodnight before the three of us left their room. Mom and Dad went to their room while I went to mine. It was almost empty. The only things left were my mattress on the floor and my suitcase. I sat down on my mattress and opened up my laptop before beginning to write to Dad.

Dear Daddy Cool,

Today marks our final day spent at our first home in England. The place where I hid in the early days of Mom and Dad's relationship. The place that has come to be my home and a place of safety and sanctitude in some of the craziest months of my life so far. The place of so many big life events. It was here where Mom and Dad got engaged, and here that Poppy, Holly and I were told all about it. I was here when I prepared for my first ever royal engagement and the place we came back to just days after Mom and Dad got married. It was in the kitchen where Mom told me that she was pregnant and so you can see by all of these memories, it has been the place of so much happiness and joy over the last two years.

And so while I will look back on my time in Nottingham Cottage to be joyous, I know that as the front door of this house closes, another one will open. Luckily my open door is in the main building, a door to my own apartment, without Mom and Dad and the twins. To so many, this seems like an exciting prospect and it is, because I couldn't be more over the moon that I no longer have to be quiet past eight o'clock and I can have people over when I want and eat what I want for breakfast, within reason. But at the same time, it brings an end to an era, an era of Mom and I living under the same roof. There were times when I didn't, when I stayed or lived with you, or I was at school , but the times when I did live at home with Mom, were some of the best of my life. When I was young and we lived in California, she would wake me up early and we would eat our breakfast at the kitchen table while watching the sun rise, it was only recently that I learnt that she did this because it took me so long to get ready. We stayed there until I was eleven before finally deciding to move to Toronto. Living in Toronto was like a dream. When I was home from school, in the holidays, after work Mom and I would go into the city and eat dinner and shop or go to the cinema. Well we did that, until she became pregnant with the twins and our lives turned into me looking after her while she cried about Trevor. I love Mom, but those times were never easy, it was then that I wished I could have escaped to you. But it was when the twins were born that the house we had in Toronto finally felt like a home. With giggling and crying and laughing and love, there was love everywhere in that house and the love never stopped for as long as we lived there.