4 Months Later

Mom's stomach was REALLY big, and she ended up on bed rest a couple days ago when she nearly tripped and fell while walking from the garden. Ironically enough, she was the least worried about the upcoming due date, while dad and I definitely became more tense. In less than a month, I'd become a big brother!

Renee and Travis were supposed to visit the castle today for a "play date". Dad arranged it without me knowing because he felt I needed a break from watching over mom. I knew he was right, but it didn't ease my anxiety whenever I couldn't see mom. I had no idea why, but whenever mom wasn't in my line of sight, some instinct in me would scream at me to go check on her. It was irrational, but I couldn't help it.

"Al, I know you're worried about me, but you should take a break and go have fun." Mom stroked my hair as I laid my head on her belly, listening to the baby inside. "I'm not moving from this bed."

"I know...oh!" I flinched when I felt the baby kick right where my head was. "They're really active in there. Doesn't that hurt, mom?"

"Nope, it just feels a little weird. I don't know how to describe it other than it feels like the baby is kicking." I laughed at her obvious description. "Too obvious?"

"Yeah. I bet they'll be full of energy!" I grinned. "They'll be a handful for you and dad."

"Well, we have you, right?" Mom teased, "aren't you my free nanny?"

"Gah! No!" I laughed along with mom when she pinched my cheek playfully. "I'm their brother! Not their nanny!"

"Prince Alcott, the young lady and young master are here to see you." Rosalind, the maid attending to mom, poked her head in. "I'll keep watch over her Majesty."

"Okay. Bye, mom." I kissed mom on the cheek. "Bye, baby." I kissed mom's baby bump. "I'll be back!"

"Don't be in a rush to come back. And have fun!" Mom called out after me.

"I will!" I closed the door and immediately that feeling of anxiety crept up into my throat. I tried my best to ignore it, but as I approached the garden pavilion, the feeling only grew worse.

"AL!" Travis ran over and glomped me. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too," I grinned dotingly, patting his head. Travis' cheery face eased my anxiety a little. "How are you feeling, Renee? It's been a long time since we last spoke."

"I'm doing much better, Prince Alcott." Renee bowed, "I hope you're doing fine as well?"

"Never better," I grinned. She was still as formal as ever, though that's a great trait to have as nobility "You sure haven't changed. I assume you're ear fungus free this time too?"

"...Please do not tease me, Prince Alcott."

"I won't if you drop the 'Prince' honorific. Honestly, aren't we friends?" I noticed Renee hold back a sigh with amusement.

"As you wish... Alcott."

"See? Much better!" I laughed at Renee's barely concealed grimace. "Oh, come on, don't scrunch up your pretty face! You'll look like an old lady before you turn 20 if you keep doing that."

"I will hit you." I heard dad and Count Burnett cover their laughter with a cough. Renee soon realized what she said and tried to backtrack, "I-"

"As I thought, I like Renee this way!" I smiled and decided to change the topic. "Everything doing well at your place, Travis?"

"Yep! Mom wanted me to tell you she's sorry she wasn't able to come and greet you."

"Ehehe, tell your mom I appreciate the gesture. How about we go sit in the East Garden and talk for a bit?"

"That sounds lovely," Renee nodded. Travis nodded beside her.

"Could you set up an area for us in the East Garden, Cronin?" I looked up at the nearby butler.

"Of course," he hurried off and I guided Renee and Travis through the South Garden and slowly made our way to the East Garden. As expected, there was a table set up with snacks in a nice shady area. We each sat in a chair and chatted amiably.

"You look much healthier than before, Alcott." Renee pointed out. "Have you been doing sword practice?"

"Yep, though it's only been four months. Turns out I'm the type to gain muscle easily."

"Maybe it's because you have body magic?" Travis added.

"Possibly. I haven't practiced much with magic yet. Dad says I should wait a bit longer until my body is in peak condition."

"I heard body magic is hard on your body, considering you're temporarily boosting your body's condition like muscle mass." Renee looked slightly concerned. "And I've heard of incidents where people have used too much at once and became permanently disabled. I hope you'll be careful."

"Of course, I will. I'm not too keen on using it much anyway. I'd rather hone my plant magic, seeing as it falls in line with my hobbies."

"Why don't you want to practice body magic? My dad told me it's very useful-" Renee cut Travis off.

"Travis! Have a bit more tact, will you?!"

"What? I was just asking," Travis pouted.

"Travis," I put my cup down, "I don't want to practice it because my... birth father had the same kind of power."

"...Oh," Travis looked ashamed, "I'm sorry, I forgot about that."

"How on earth do you forget?!" Renee sighed. "Really, Travis. All of us here know you mean well, but you need to learn tact before it ends up being your downfall!"

"It's alright, Renee."

"No, it's not! Do not coddle him, your highness. That's precisely why Travis is still so naive, everyone coddles him, and he ends up offending others. It hasn't become too much of an issue yet, but someday he's going to end up offending the wrong person!"

"..." Travis sulked, "this is why I don't like hanging out with Renee. You always lecture me!"

"Both of you, calm down." I sensed a fight forming. "Renee, I do see where you're coming from. It will become in issue when Travis gets older. However, maybe we should the parenting to his parents. After all, I bet the Countess has started to educate him about these things already, right?"

"...Yes," Travis took a sip of his juice. "Renee says the same things mommy does."

"Because you need to realize that staying as you are isn't going to work out in the world of nobility!"

"Well I don't wanna talk like an old lady like you!"

"It's called being polite!" Sheesh, I kinda forgot these two were still young kids.

"Can't you two stop-"

"I didn't come here to be scolded by you!"

"Why can't you see I only say this because I care about you?!"

"You're just trying to be bossy, just like Daniel said!"

"No, I'm not! And why do you hang around that troublemaker, haven't you heard about what he did to-"

"See?! You think you're superior to everyone else and no one's good enough for you!" Oh dear, this is getting out of hand.

"I do not think that! I just have common sense, unlike you! I know who to avoid in order to retain my family's honor!"

"Please, calm do-" I was left unheard by the two yelling kids- who now stood up and pointing at each other.

"Daniel knows how to be fun! All you know how to do is suck up to the adults and act like you're above the rest of us!"

"At least I'll make my parents proud when I'm older!"

"At least I have friends!"

"STOP IT YOU TWO!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "Why are you two fighting?! You two came here so we could have fun, not so you could bicker about who's greater!"

"But-" I cut Travis off.

"No excuses, Travis! Both of you are in the wrong. Travis, you need to learn some manners and etiquette. Renee, I know you mean well, but sometimes it's better to stay out of it and let Travis' parents deal with his education." I crossed my arms. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," Renee seemed ashamed of herself, "sorry. I didn't mean to be nosy, I'm just worried." Travis grumbled under his breath but made no move to apologize.

"Travis, don't drag this out longer than it needs to be. Renee apologized, so you should too. Then we can leave all this behind us and have fun."

"Why should I?! She's the one ruining the fun!"

"Travis, I won't say it again." Travis clenched the edge of his shirt in his fists.

"I'm not apologizing! She's even made you no fun!" Welp, I did what I could.

"I guess you'll need time to cool down," I gestured at one of the three nearby maids, "could you escort Travis to Count Burnett?" That made Travis' head snap up.

"What? No, I don't wanna leave already!" Tears welled up in his eyes, "okay, I'll apologize! So please don't send me away!"

"..." I steeled my heart and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, Travis. But I think you two need to separate and cool off. Maybe next time we'll be able to hang out longer, okay?"

"B-But why does she get to stay?" Travis started crying, "why am I the one being punished?" Oh my god, this hurts my heart so much! Is this what it feels like for a parent when they have to say no to their kid?

"You're not being punished, Travis. I'll hang out with you some other day." I stepped forward to comfort him with a head pat, but he shied away.

"I don't like Renee or Alcott! Hmph!" With that, he stomped off. Meanwhile, I felt like I got shot in the chest. I definitely made things worse.

"..." Renee looked upset, "I'm sorry, your highness. I shouldn't have come after all."

"Nonsense, let's just hope this becomes a lesson for him to learn from." My heart still hurt from his last words. "It feels quite unpleasant to be disliked by a friend."

"It feels like I just stepped on a puppy's tail." We sat back down at the table.

"Right? I feel like a hypocrite after telling you to not parent him, then acting like a parent myself."

"I bet this is the feeling my mother gets when she tells my little brother he can't have more cookies."

"Right?" Renee and I ended up chatting for a couple hours until her mother came to pick her up. I still felt guilty about what happened earlier and planned to write an apology letter to Travis later. I'd give him a week to cool down. I hope he didn't actually mean what he said earlier about not liking me or Renee. In a way, I needed his healing presence whenever I got stressed out.

Speaking of stress, now that all distractions were gone, the anxiety I had forgotten about before rose up again. Time to check up on mom!

~

"I heard Travis was sent home early, mind telling me what happened?"

"Hello to you too, mom." Mom chuckled and I got comfy next to her, resting my head on her stomach. "Renee and Travis got into a fight earlier."

"What started it?"

"Well, Travis asked me why I didn't want to practice body magic, and Renee got mad at him for being insensitive. Then she told him how he needed to be more tactful because she was worried that someday Travis might offend the wrong person and get hurt. Travis got upset and things got heated. I broke it up and Renee apologized, but Travis refused, so I decided to send him home early so he could cool off."

"You handled the situation very well, Alcott. Just make sure to contact Travis later, alright? I'm sure he's upset as well."

"I will." I felt more movement from mom's stomach. "The baby really likes moving, huh? Did I move a lot too?"

"No, quite the opposite. You never moved in my stomach much. It was quite concerning, really."

"Oh, ok." I kept my ear on her stomach, listening to the rapid heartbeat. "Is the heartbeat supposed to be really fast?"

"Yep, unborn babies usually have a faster heartbeat."

"Why?"

"Well, I don't know. Maye you could ask the doctor sometime."

"Okay." I noticed mom grimace for a split second. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, just a stomachache." However, not long after, I felt her body tense underneath me and mom gasped in pain. My instincts screamed at me to stay and protect mom and get help at the same time.

"Mom!" I shot up and noticed a growing wet spot on the sheets. OH SHIT.

"Alcott, go get your father." Mom panted. Rosalind had already run off to get the midwife and the doctor. "Can you do that for me?"

"Y-Yes!" I jumped down and an as fast as I could to dad's office. The guards guarding the office stopped me.

"You can't go in; the King has a guest."

"Well whoever it is can wait! Let me in!" They didn't let me through, "DADDY!" I screeched at the top of my lungs, making the guards and nearby servants startle and stare at me in bewilderment. Dad opened the doors with a confused expression, but he quickly became concerned when he noticed me crying.

"What is it?! What's wrong?!"

"Mommy. Pain. Need to go now!" Dad knew exactly what was happening and he carried me as he sprinted down the hall.

We weren't allowed to go into the bedroom. Instead, the doctor came out and told us to sit in the room next door.

"Your Majesty, the queen has gone into precipitous labor."