A father’s Choice part 25

Part 25

Danielle’s face lit up. “This precious little thing is yours? She is absolutely adorable. You should have told me. I would have come home to help you.”

“I could not very well expected you to leave your new life just because I was pregnant. I was able to get along just fine. Charles was always there for me. It actually became to be a bit of a game for me. He felt so bad that I was going through all this discomfort that I was able to get him do almost anything for me. He finally refused me something when I told him that I wanted to have my baby in Japan.”

Danielle let out a slight laugh. “I only hope that one day I will marry a man who will love me as much as Charles loves you.”

“You will find someone. What about the son of the count, I believe that his name is Antoine? Last I remembered you two were progressing nicely.”

“Yes well that was until I realized why I loved him,” Danielle pauses, “I loved him because he was so much like Henry. After that, I knew that I did not truly love him. He just reminded me of someone whom I was comfortable with. Nothing more than that.”

“You said that you thought that you loved Antoine?” Danielle nods, “But then you realized that you only felt this way because he was so much like Henry.”

“Yes. What good does repeating what I have already said do for you?”

“Danielle, did you ever think that you might be in love with Henry? I know that he has been your brother to you for most of you life, but he is not any longer. Be honest with yourself.”

Danielle went off into a little daze. She did not know whether or not she loved Henry in that way. He had always been there for her, but that was most likely only because he was her brother. She did have to admit that it was nice to have him hold her in his strong arms. When he did that, Danielle did get a tingly feeling, but he ruined it a moment later when he was going to kiss her forehead. A man does not kiss the forehead of the woman he loves; he kisses the forehead of his sister.

“I can not say what my feelings are towards him. I have not seen him in nine months. In those nine month, I have become a changed person. I am sure that he has too. Anyway, I am just getting out of relationship I am not ready to engage in a new one.”

“If that is the way you want it Danielle, then it is fine with me, but trust me this is not the last time I shall bring this subject up.”

They were both quiet for a moment. Danielle finally got the conversation going again. “So what did you name this little bundle of joy?”

“We named her Nicole after Auguste first wife. You should have seen how touched he was by this gesture. Whenever he holds her, he is beaming with pride. To tell you the truth, I never understood why he never had children with Nicole.”

“Maybe they tried, but did not have any luck. Or perhaps, she died before they had the chance to have children. By the way, what did she die of?”

“You know I never thought to ask, but does it really matter? Anyway, you should have seen Charles when he first held Nicole. The two of us had talked it over, and he really wanted a boy. I was not sure what his response was going to be when he found out we had a girl. He could not have been more thrilled. He is already planing out her life…’ and so they talked away the afternoon. Mainly dealing with baby concerns.

***************************

With Jacqueline, you of course get Charles. Charles interrupted Henry, who had been working with some of his father’s advisors. Henry quickly dismissed them, and told them that if anything urgent should occur they were to find him before taking any action. He then invited Charles to sit down while Henry studied some maps.

“Jacqueline has brought Nicole to the palace. She wants to show her to Danielle who I hear returned yesterday. You can imagine Jackie’s excitement when she heard. She wanted to come yesterday but was afraid that that would be improper. What I am keen to know is was the excitement felt all around? Did she meet up to all of you expectations?”

“Regrettably, I have not been able to spend a lot of time with her. She has either been with father or sleeping. Although,” a wide grin grew across Henry’s face, “I almost kissed her this morning.”

“What do you mean by almost?”

“I was about to kiss her when a nurse walked it.”

“And Danielle did not put up any fight that does not sound like the Danielle we know and love?”

“I do not believe that she knew that it was coming, but she might have. I hope she did because if so this is a very good sign for me. She has changed Charles. I do not know how to explain it. When you look at her, you can tell that she is different. Perhaps it is that she seems older.”

“Well, I have had enough chat about Danielle,” Charles smiles, “there are more important issues to discuss. How is your father fairing? Have the doctors changed the odds or are you going to be King long before you are ready?”

“He seems to be doing a lot better, but still will probably need to rest for a few more days. This means that I will have to continue on doing everything that he would normally do. I can see why he had a stroke. With all this work I have to do, I fear that I might soon suffer the same fate.”

“Do not let me stop you from doing your duty. I would hate to get yelled at for monopolizing all of the ‘King’s’ time.”

Charles left Henry to his work. He was now very grateful that he was not Henry. He would hate to have the chance of a whole country being placed on his shoulders when he was still in his prime.

Quickly, he pushed Henry’s trouble out of his head. Right now his goal was to find his wife and his precious little daughter. He was always worried about the two of them. He feared that if he were away from them too long they would disappear into thin air. As he walked, he passed the windows that looked out into the courtyard he paused.

Fall had come quickly this year. The leaves on the trees were changing, but the courtyard was still filled with the same people. All of the young girls were still trying to win Henry’s hearts. What was new was that there were more men there. Probably in hope of getting Danielle attention. It did not matter that she was no longer a princess because they all believe that the crown would still support her. Little did they know that she was just stubborn enough not to let them. In the distance, a carriage was slowly making its way to the castle.

Updated: July 12, 2002 — 12:03 pm