Lucky for me, my mother takes it upon herself to answer for me. “Yes, January seventh...That's right, twins!...No, they don't run in the family. She probably dropped two eggs because she's getting older and women tend to do that when they're over thirty....”
Xavier, who’d been waiting in the exterior office, joined us as soon as the scrapbookers entered the room. I shoot him a frantic look, and he manages to squeeze himself in-between the ladies and myself, taking my elbow and shielding me with his other arm as he leads me back behind the safety of my desk.
"The princess should really stay off her feet," he says with a smile that reduces them to a group of middle-aged, giggly teenagers.
They proceed to snap photographs of every bit of my office, including Xavier and me, much to my delight. My mum's cousin Rose is among them, and she greets me coolly, still having not forgiven me for how I treated my mother at my bridal shower over a year and a half ago.
"So, Tessa, will you be having a fancy baby shower, then?"
"No, I don’t...”
“Because if you are, you should probably be clear about the whole game situation ahead of time to avoid any embarrassing mishaps.”
“Sure, yeah. That...makes sense.” Except Iwasclear, and my mother ignored me completely.
My mum floats across the room to the window, calling over her shoulder, "Oh Rose, you know Tessa. She wants nothing to do with a baby shower. She's gone and chosen a charity again in lieu of gifts."
I open my mouth to justify my decision but then realize there's really no point as the amount oftsking sounds in the room will prevent anyone from hearing what I have to say anyhow. The group quickly forgets about my unreasonable stance on showering me with gifts in favour of comparing the view from my office with that of my mum and dad's living room window.
"Oh yes, Evi. You’re right. You can see the Parliament from here."
"This ismuchsmaller than Arthur's office, though, isn't it?"
I gasp. "Mum, you didn't take the group over to Arthur's office, did you?"
"Well, of course I did. I can't have the ladies by without seeing the star of the show, now can I? But don't worry, he wasn't in with the Prime Minister of Ireland or anything like that." She laughs as though I'm positively ridiculous to be worried about such things, even though earlier this morning he was literally in a meeting with the Prime Minister of Ireland.
Vincent stands and manages to take control of the situation without seeming the slightest bit rude, a skill I don't know if you can be taught or must acquire genetically. "Ladies, have you had a chance to look at the throne room? If not, I'll have someone take you down there straightaway. This really is the most spectacular time of day to get photos of it, with the sun shining high above the glass-domed ceiling."
“Can we sit on it?” Rose asks.
“Er, no. I’m afraid not,” Vincent says.
We watch as they quickly file out of the room, wishing me farewell and good luck with the babies. Just before Vincent shuts the door behind them, my mum pokes her head back in the room. “Oh, Tessa, you haven’t seen Mr. Whiskers, have you? He seems to have gotten out, and we can’t find him anywhere.”
“No,” I say, my stomach tightening with dread. “You can’t let him out, Mum. He could cause a lot of damage.”
“Oh, relax, Tess. You’ll get wrinkles. Besides, Mr. Whiskers has really mellowed. He hasn’t ruined so much as a piece of tissue in weeks.”
I give her a pleading look. “Mum, please just keep him in your suite.”
“That’s what I’mtryingto do, but I can’t seem to find him.”
With that, she disappears, leaving me with my shoulders dropped. Vincent closes the door, then gives me a reassuring look. “I’ll put the word out for the entire staff to keep an eye out for him.”
“Thank you. And thanks for...redirecting my mum’s friends.”
“Of course, Your Highness. My pleasure.” Turning to Dylan, Vincent says, “I’m afraid that’s all the time the princess has today. We’ll definitely give your Prezi some consideration and get back to you by the week’s end.”
Dylan opens her mouth to speak, but Vincent cuts her off. “Thank you, Ms. Sinclair. That will be all.”
As soon as she leaves, I say, “You’re like a magician, able to make irritating people disappear.”
“But not without a trace, unfortunately.” Vincent grins a little, then returns to his usual serious self. “No need to give this baby sweepstakes idea another thought. I’ll put a stop to it.”
“Thank you. She’s hard to say no to.”
“That’s because she never stops talking.”
