One month after the move, the royal and citizen elves agreed they needed to discuss the dynamics of their relationship, and they talked about what it was they both wanted from each other whenever it came to that topic; Nomo had not meant to take her for granted, he’d merely been waiting for his girlfriend to graduate, and for their make–shift family to complete the transition from Afertin to Apoel. He knew that whatever it was that would keep the royal one from feeling neglected, was going to cost him, one way or the other, and he chose to buy her the largest engagement ring he could find. In the years since she’d begun attending courses at the University, Lytyr had acquired a taste for the finer things, and whenever they got into an argument, he’d ask her, “What can I do to fix this, and what’s it going to cost me?” In the beginning, it had only been the purchase of some flowers that would cure what was ailing their relationship, but around her sophomore year, the gifts got larger and more extravagant; yet he knew there was only one elf who’d spoiled Lytyr to luxury; and he only had himself to blame for the “monster” he’d created.This time, price was not an issue, but getting her ring size without raising suspicion, would be quite another all on its own. It was going to take some finagling to obtain the information he needed, but he did not want to recruit Cassandra; though he knew she always meant well, the citizen felt that it would be wrong to ask her best friend to lie to the royal one, and he chose another of their friends to assist him with the task. Mykkal would be the perfect one of their companions to figure out what size ring Lytyr wore, the professor was quieter than a church mouse, and therefore could take a look at the one she wore on a daily basis, except whenever she was washing the dishes. He would make it clear that there was no reason to take the ring, if the royal one ever lost that ring, she’s lose part of the essence that made her the elf she was, and the “Map Creator” did not see a necessity in worrying her in that way; later that evening, Nomo invited the professor outside to join him in a game of horseshoes, this created the best opportunity for the two of them to talk alone, and the citizen could devise a plan to find what he needed to know. First, he had to figure out how to start talking to his only other male roommate about the sensitive matter, and decided the direct approach was best.“Do you think I could ask a favor from you?” Nomo inquired.“I guess that would all depend on what that favor is,” Mykkal replied.First, it’s a time-sensitive matter that requires your direct action, should you agree to it,” the “Map Creator” said.“Do I get the chance to know what your favor is or is this one of those situations where I’m going to be wrangled into, no matter what I say?” The professor asked.“Maybe you will have a different idea about it once I tell you what I’m planning, I want to propose to Lytyr, but I don’t know what size ring she wears. So I thought you might like to help me find out, and keeping in mind that she cannot find out,” the citizen said.“Have you got any clue how I’m supposed to obtain that information without causing suspicion?” Mykkal inquired.“I do have the perfect one, all you have to do is wait until the royal one is washing the dishes, she leaves the ring she always wears on the back of the kitchen sink. Just happen by, and when you do, pick it up and look at the size,” he said.“You make it sound so easy, but I know how females are about their jewelry. It’ll take some work, however, I don’t mind helping in the name of love”, the professor said.“I’d like to have this done within a week, because next Friday is our anniversary,” Nomo said.“You didn’t leave me much time,” the professor said.“I apologize for the short notice,” the Citizen said.“That’s alright, I’m sure I can get it done, but you’ll owe me,” Mykkal said.“Oh? What, may I ask, what could you want from me? I mean, you’re a magix professor, you can think about something and produce it, so what could I possess you’d want?” he asked.“What I want cannot be made by magix.” The professor said,“Okay, now, you’ve got my attention,” the “Map Creator” replied.“The story of how you two came to be,” the elder said.“Oh, that’s all you want for payment? You’ll have to wait until next Friday for that,” Nomo said.“What do you mean by that? You won’t tell me the story for a week?” He inquired.“I’d be glad to share it with you now, but I plan to tell everyone that exact one next week,” the citizen said.***************************************************************************“I cannot believe we’ve been married for five years, today,” Lytyr told her best friend.“I know, I was your maid of honor, remember? So, what are y’all doing to celebrate?” Cassandra inquired.“We’re probably just going to hang out with you guys, at the house, with the little one due to come any day now, I’m not feelin up to doing much more than that,” she replied.“That sounds like a plan,” the female citizen said.“Something else I cannot believe is that we’ve already got one little one, and another that’s coming any day now. It’s kind of hard to believe, still. How are things coming along with your new friend, Edgar?” The royal one inquired.“He’s no longer only my boyfriend, last night, he proposed, and I said yes. Now I get to be the bride and the wife and the mother, I’ve been waiting for the day when I get married for so long,” Cassandra said.“First, congratulations are in order, do you already have a date in mind or no?” The royal one asked.“Next June, I believe, is when we’ll walk down the aisle,” the citizen said.“You’re just glad he finally popped the question, and so am I. He had me worried there for a little while, I kept thinking he was going to run off since it took him four years,” Lytyr said.“You think you’re telling me something? Hell, I’m the one who waited all that time for Edgar to step up and ask me the question. Have you got any idea what that’s like?” She asked.“We have been best friends since before the Academy, I do know how much you started feeling like it was never going to happen, but look at it this way, at least he finally did,” the royal elf said.Sometime around four thirty that next morning, Lytyr walked to the restroom, but crawled back to her bed where Nomo slept. She was in tears, and an awful lot of pain that she did not recall having during labor with their first child. Lillian lay snoring next to her father, and the royal one dreaded waking her husband if it was another false alarm.She knew he wouldn’t be angry if that were the case, they would have to wake someone else up in order to sit with their toddler while they were at the hospital, and she did not want to waste anyone’s time. Each passing second brought more pain than she could comprehend, and began shaking the elf laying peacefully in their bed to let him know what was going on. In her mind, it took an unreasonable amount of time for her husband to awaken, but he was sitting on the side of their bed after the first time she shook his arm.Lytyr went to take a shower in the larger restroom on the other end of the hut, and Nomo had gone to the second floor to Cassandra’s room to ask her if she would keep an eye on the little one while they went to the hospital; she agreed that it was no problem, and Lillian stayed in her parents’ bed. A few minutes later, the royal one realized that the pain in her back was being increased by the water pressure from the shower, and she gave up on trying to bathe. Instead, she put on the dress she wore most over the last thirteen months, and she met her husband by their dragon for the trip.When they made it to the local emergency room, the royal one was placed in a wheelchair, and it was pushed so that she was facing the wall. As irritated as she was to be looking at the wall, she was incapable of telling the head nurse, because every time she tried to speak, no words would come from her mouth; there was a primal and guttural sound coming from her throat, but she had no control over it.Lytyr gave life to a little boy she and Nomo named Randulf Axel Garrick-Duprix. She’d chosen to hyphenate her last name on their wedding day, and so did the “Map Creator”. After mother and baby had been in her room for a while, Cassandra was asked to bring Lillian to the hospital, and let the three-year-old meet her little brother.Two days later, the three elves returned home, and their lives together began. Nomo Did not mind when his wife would shake him awake to take care of the baby, he enjoyed the quality time he got with his son, and the royal one was capable of getting much needed rest. In the early morning hours, as everyone else in the place slept, the royal-citizen would feed and burp and change the infant, all the while making sure they were not loud enough to wake his mother; she’d had a cesarean-section, which meant she could only lift the weight of the baby until she was healed, and her husband’s assistance was appreciated, greatly.The members of the Devereux family had been awaiting the arrival of the newest royal infant, and they were all at the royal one’s hut trying to find out what she needed help with. Kouper heard of the little one, and the king made time to visit his new grandchild that day. Incapable of showing compassion and sharing love, the queen chose not to visit her daughter, and Lytyr refused to travel to Afertin so that her mother could meet the baby. She had a message for her mother and delivered it through her father.“Until you can get off your lazy, royal ass, and come to my place, I shall not oblige you by going to East Zeerk in order for you to have your way. Mother, either make the trip to see me first, or you can hang it up when it comes to getting to know the baby,” the royal one said.“Yet again, another vital relationship between family members, and the queen decides not to visit. I don’t know what to say,” the king said.“Do not attempt to apologize or make excuses for that elf, it’s not your place, dad. You have to stop doing that, it’s not necessary, not to her children. They know how she is, and if anyone is going to apologize, it’s going to be her, not you. Luna has to learn that whenever she messes up, there’s only one who can fix things, and she needs to stop laying these burdens at your feet. And you, you need to cease with that altogether. It’s not your responsibility to fix things she breaks,” the magix instructor said.“I know that Jasmine, but I feel so rotten every time she does stuff like this, that I want to apologize. Not for her, for me, because I’m her husband, and I should be able to talk her into doing whatever is right by our family,” Kouper said.“Even that should not be yours to stress over,” she said.******************************************************************************Inheritance Day:As a young elven child living on the Eastern Magix Plateau, Lytyr was bashful and shy and stand-offish, but having been the mother of three children, the royal one had become outspoken, which meant her nerves were incapable of making the new continental queen uncomfortable as she looked out among the elves in the crowd; she felt pride and dignified and light-hearted, but she did not feel bashful.Since both the planetary queen and king had their own ceremonies to attend, the royal one’s in-laws attended the “Inheritance Day” festivities, and her best friend was offered the second floor of the citadel, which Cassandra accepted. Moving into the castle was a task that even the security guards, Venveres and Vanmaris helped to get their belongings inside.In Lytyr’s opinion, there had not been a day that was any better for her, than the day she last had a little one, but that day was a special one she would hold dear to her heart for some time. Her children enjoyed playing the carnival type games, they spent their tickets, and she would buy them more; allowing their children to be spoiled that afternoon, was a one-time event that Nomo insisted upon. Her in-laws were gracious enough to board and ride the rides that were available.That night, there were no official duties for the new queen to handle, and that allowed Lytyr to assist with the move; having to leave the hut behind broke the royal one’s heart, so Chancellor Peabody McCall turned it into a set of dormitories for “Creation” students. Everything went well for everyone involved, the new queen felt at home on the first floor, and she me3et her head maid, Shenara for the first time. The citizen elf was warm and kind and friendly, but had a way about her that told others, she was not to be messed with; these were all traits that pleased the royal one, and the queen understood why she was the leader of the maids during the reign of Luna’s children (2101A. D.-2351A. D.).Due to the amount of time Lytyr spent with the maid, her best friend began to feel neglected, because the royal one did not visit the second floor, and the citizen’s feelings were hurt so much that she would not go to the first floor to visit her friend. Shenara made a risky move by visiting Cassandra without the queen’s knowledge, the maid felt that the two elves (royal and citizen) should talk, and the maid placed her employment on the line to bring together the new queen and her best friend.When Lytyr caught wind of what the maid was up to, the queen chose not to be angry, and she allowed the scenario to play out. In her mind, the worst thing that could happen would be for Cassandra to refuse to speak with the royal one, and then, she would march up to the second floor, herself, which was the ultimate goal of her maid that no one could ever be truly upset about when looking at the bigger picture. If successful, the citizen would accomplish a task Lytyr had all but given up on, and she wouldn’t punish the maid, not especially when the queen knew that she would do the same thing if the situation ever presented itself. Eventually, there was a telepathic message sent to the royal one from the citizen who lived upstairs, both elves apologized for being stubborn, and Lytyr’s best friend was invited to dinner. Mancuso Devon Duprix-Garrick was the youngest member of the royal family, he was like a nephew to Cassandra, and she vowed not to miss any more of his milestones; “Aunt Sandra” had already missed the little one’s first words and steps, but she would be there for the rest.
“It looks to me like you’ve got some news, I really hope you plan to give me all the details of your pregnancy,” the queen said.
“Yes, of course, absolutely. What all do you want to know?” The citizen inquired.
“To start, how far along are you?” Lytyr asked.
“I’m almost four months,” the citizen said.
“Who is your doctor? I’m sure I can get you in with Doctor Alderman, he’s the royal family practitioner, and he makes housecalls” Her friend said.
“I’m married to your husband’s head butler, as his wife, I’m entitled to certain benefits, and as such, Doctor Alderman is my obstetrician,” Cassandra replied.
“That is excellent news, he’s delivered all of my parents’ grandchildren, so far, and he’s got a wonderful bedside manner,” the queen said.
“Oh, I know all about the best baby’s doctor this side of the universe, and trust me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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The day her best friend went into labor, the queen declared a continental holiday, left her duties up to the king, and she went to the hospital to be there for Cassandra; Nomo knew his wife would have at least the one friendship from childhood, and even he would not stand in their way. Instead, he would call-in an order to the nearest florist, and then another to the local bakery.
When the connection from his butler came in, the king had been expecting to assist with some of the care of the creatures that were living in the kingdom, but gave his staff member the day off since his spouse was the one having the baby; the planetary ruler knew he would have to call upon his second in command butler, the citizen had always been great with the animals, and some would allow Jinks closer to them than their owner.
With a new baby on the way, there would be many endless times when day would run into night and night into day, therefore, Nomo took to finalizing some small tasks which needed attention, and could not be postponed any longer. Cleaning his chambers had become a minial chore, whenever anyone was looking at the bigger picture, and it bored the king to tears; in the short amount of time since "Inheritance Day", Nomo grew accustomed to a daily work-out routine, and tidying up the place was no longer a chore he enjoyed.
© P. L. Watson-Atwell