“This house has survived countless children. I’m sure it can handle Marty.” Max chuckled, but his face took on a serious cast. “You look worried.”
“Did you hear my child stampeding through your house? You should be worried.” I tried to shrug it off. Hopefully Marty hadn’t done much damage. I had enough to worry about.
“I told you not to worry about tomorrow.” He rested his hand on top of mine.
“I’m trying.” I smiled at him, a little relieved that he assumed it was about the will.
He kept his hand on mine, even as everyone filled into the room talking animatedly. No one blinked an eye at us, not even Marty. He was too busy describing the birds he had seen.
“It was huge. Like half the size of me!” He held his hand up from the floor to demonstrate.
“They let you hold a bird that big?” I looked over his head at Alex.
“She’s a sweetheart,” Alex assured me. “Wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“And I fed her a whole rat!” Marty tugged on my arm.
I leveled my gaze on the heir to the throne. “Not a fly, huh?”
“Rats are different.” He cringed.
“He was actually really great with the birds.” Sam reached out and touched my arm. “Very calm and patient.”
“Thank you for letting him go with you.”
“He livens the place up. You should bring him around more often.” Sam threw me a sly smile. “We’d always be happy to babysit.”
“Um, I’m not a baby.” Marty pursed his lips.
“Excuse me, kid sit.” Sam ruffled his hair.
“Actually, are you busy tomorrow?” Max asked as he pulled a seat out for me.
“I’ve got to go to Rousseau tomorrow. Did you need me to watch Marty?” She smiled at my son.
“I can call our nanny. Don’t worry about it.” I shook my head. “We’ve disrupted your schedules enough already.”
“I wouldn’t mind. He can keep me company while I take care of a few things.” Sam smiled at me. “Really. It would be no trouble.”
“Please, Mom?” Marty grabbed my arm.
Sending my rambunctious six-year-old with a busy, pregnant princess didn’t seem like the best idea. I looked at Max and then back at Marty.
“She’ll have Chadwick with her. It’s not like she would be chasing him around.” Max shrugged.
“We’ll be fine. It’ll be a good practice run for Chadwick.” Sam laughed.
“Marty can be a handful.” I frowned.
“I’m just going to sign some papers and then we can go fishing.” Sam smirked. “Unlike some people, I actually know how to fish.”
“Hey. I know how to fish.” Max lifted his fork and pointed at her. “It’s just been a while since I did it.”
“Right.” Sam shook her head. “The point is, you’re busy tomorrow and I’m not.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah! I miss being outside. I haven’t been out for anything fun in a while.” She dug into her food. “I’m getting antsy.”
“That’s true. She gets crabby when she’s been stuck doing desk work for too long,” Cathy added.
“If you’re sure.”
“Absolutely.” She nodded her head. “Please let me take him with me? It’ll be nice to have the company. Chadwick refuses to fish.”
Cathy snorted. “He loves to fish. Just not with you.”
“What?” Sam looked startled.
“He fishes when he goes on vacation. I’ve seen the pictures of him and Daniel.” Cathy took a sip from her water glass. “Deep-sea fishing.”
“You’re kidding.” Sam’s eyebrows were creeping up toward her hairline. “He refuses to fish with me.”
“That’s because you are competitive.” Alex walked into the room and kissed his wife on top of the head.
“So?” She scrunched up her nose.
“It’s not relaxing to go fishing with you. It’s a competition.” Alex sat down in an empty chair.
“That’ll be good for Marty.” I bumped him with my elbow. “He’s all about winning at things.”
“It’s on!” Sam winked at my son and he blushed.
If I’d been forced to guess what a dinner with the royal family would be like, I would have thought it would be formal, punctuated with talk about politics and serious issues. I would have been very wrong. It was as if there was an unspoken rule to leave work at the door. The only time they talked about serious issues was if it involved something they were passionate about.
I didn’t do a lot of talking. Partly because I was exhausted, but also because I was enthralled watching how this family worked. If I didn’t know better, I would think they were a normal family getting together for a weekly dinner. Cathy asked about Max’s art show in London, Max teased Alex about carrying a diaper bag, and Sam asked my opinion about the nursery.