When you tell the world you're mine

Chapter 45, part II: Wisdom

It took Carol a few minutes to close her mouth and come out of her shock. 

She never imagined she'd have to play host to a prince and a princess. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down. They were just people. Like anyone else. She had already met The Queen, for God's sake, although nor her or Harry knew it was going to happen in that day. 

But now... oh, now she knew that they were coming and she was fangirling and fidgety and nervous and all she wanted to do was to grab her bag and run home to hide.

"Carol?" Harry tried and she didn't listen.

She started pacing around in the kitchen, with a knife and bell pepper in hand and it was almost funny.

"Carol?" Harry called her a third time and gave her a gentle shake to see if she'd answer him.

"Yeah?" she said opening her eyes and looking at him.

"Are you ok?" he asked confused.

"I... Kind of. I guess. I don't know." she said and looked at him hoping she'd get the answers she needed in his eyes.

"You're going to like them. They're nice people and friendly and you're going to meet your favourite prince after all. So it must be Friday, right?" he tried to joke.

"OH MY GOD." she screamed and ran out of the kitchen towards his bedroom and he followed her after getting the knife and pepper from the floor where she had dropped them. 

She had opened her side of the chest of drawers he had given her – where she kept more clothing than she'd like to admit – and started throwing it all out to find something to wear. 

"OH MY GOD." she kept saying and Harry decided it was best if he didn't make himself known.

"I've got nothing to wear. I'm going to meet Carl Philip and Sofia and I've got nothing to wear." she searched around in the pile on the floor.

"This is a bloody disaster!" she said. "A freaking nightmare. I have to go out and buy a new outfit. Do I even need a hat?" she was fully out rambling.

Harry watched her freak out for at least five minutes before he stepped up and tried again to calm her down. It took him longer than he expected, a shower together and a quickie in the middle to Carol start to behave like herself again. 

She did have what to wear and she got ready before him. She came back to the kitchen and started again to make dinner, this time wearing an apron above her clothes so she wouldn't get tomato sauce on her white shirt.

She was midway cooking dinner when the doorbell rang and Harry asked her to join him on welcoming their guests. At this point, he was pretty much playing house with her and was going to proudly introduce his girl to a friend. And he saw himself doing this lots and lots of times in the future. Carol took three deep breaths, and a huge sip of wine, and took off her apron to join him.

Harry opened the door and greeted Carl Philip loudly. Sofia was standing behind her husband and shyly was watching them who looked like two teenagers in a party.

"It was about time you came to London, you prick." Harry said while he gave his friend a weird handshake and a hug.

"Someone has to work. Not all of us get it easy like you, Wales." Carl Philip answered in his almost non-noticeable accent.

"As if..." Harry said and looked at Sofia. "Still trying to figure out what you saw in him Sofs."

Carol looked at him surprised to hear the nicknames. He had never told her about it. But to be honest she almost never asked him about Royal things.