Even though it's still dark in the room, I can tell he's giving me a very bewildered look. "Did you just say you want to finish wrapping presents?"
"Yes. I mean, as far as I can tell, these contractions are still quite far apart, and after the babies are born, we’re really not going to have time to finish this."
"You do realize we have a rather large staff that could manage the gift wrapping on our behalf? Including a royal gift wrapper? She does a lovely job."
"Oh yes, I know she does. But I decided to do it myself. Personal touch, and all that,” I say over my shoulder as I make my way to the bathroom and close the door.
When I’m finished showering, Arthur is dressed and on the phone.
"What do you meanclosed?" Pause. He gives me a reassuring smile and a thumbs up, then turns and walks farther down the hall, presumably so I can't hear his conversation. I follow him and listen (obviously).
"Well, tell them to open the bloody roads because we need to get to Valcourt Memorial immediately." After another long pause, Arthur says, “Yes. That’ll be fine. Thank him for me."
He hangs up the phone and turns to me. "Bit of a snag. The roads are closed, but not to worry. The police will be sending an escort to get us to the hospital. Apparently, they have some Bohemeth SUV that can cut through the snow like a hot knife through ice cream."
"Sounds good,” I say, reaching up to give him a kiss. “We should be able to wrap these presents before they get here then, yes?"
“Okkaaayyy..." he says, giving me the ‘I married a crazy person’ look.
We set to work for a few minutes, and then another contraction hits me. This one is much stronger, and I wince, holding my breath until it passes.
"Jesus. That looked rather painful."
"Yes. Very unpleasant, I must say. If that's what this is going to be like, I'm even more determined than ever to get that whole twilight sleep thing going." I give him a reassuring look, but he doesn't smile back.
Glancing down at the table, I point to the board game he’s wrapping. "That one is for Knox. The gift tags are right over here." I pluck one off the table and pass it to Arthur, then set back to work.
"You're shockingly calm right now."
"Well, I can't guarantee I'll stay this way, of course, but so far I feel just fine. I have a very good feeling about this whole thing."
***
HALF AN HOUR LATER, all the presents are wrapped and we’re waiting in the Grande Hall with Ollie and Xavier. A parade of police vehicles pulls up in front of the palace, red and blue lights circling, but no sirens.
"Oh, bugger." I sigh, shaking my head.
"Another contraction?" Arthur asks, placing his hand on my back to rub it for me.
"No. I just didn't want such a big fuss about this whole thing. I was hoping we could just slip into the hospital unnoticed, but that's going to be virtually impossible with a lineup of police vehicles."
"I can't believe you're worried about that right now."
"What should I be worried about?"
"How about getting to the hospital?"
Shrugging, I say, "Good point."
Turns out, police escorts are kind of fun. Although we have to drive extremely slowly so we don't go off the road, I have to admit there's a bit of excitement to this. I feel like I’m some criminal mastermind being moved to a maximum security prison (where I will break out in under a day and get back to...criminal stuff).
“Oh good, they’re waiting for us,” Arthur says as we pull up in front of the hospital.
Glancing out the window, I see what looks like the entire staff of the maternity ward waiting at the front doors for us. "Oh, see? This is too much of a fuss. This isn't what I wanted."
"Yes, well we'll just have to put up with it."
We’re greeted by Dr. Patell, who looks rather haggard and tired.
