Inconceivable! (38 page)

John stood beside me as I reclined on the exam table. The cold instrument filled me when it reached its destination between my legs. Dr. Dreesen smiled and after a moment, removed it.

“That’s it. You did a beautiful job.”

If by ‘beautiful job’ you mean spreading my legs, then yes, it was gorgeous.

“Now we wait?”

“Yes. And you can sit up. We’ll see you back in two weeks for a blood test to see if the IUI worked.”

She left, and John kissed my lips. “Let’s go celebrate our first and only in utero insemination with popcorn and a movie.”

“Sure. You pick the movie. I don’t want anything mushy or sappy. Okay?”

“Agreed. No sap. No mush. Inglorious Basterds it is.”

Smudged cheeks surrounded me and tiny fingers tugged at my dress. We were eight days post-IUI, visiting a preschool to make a push for early childhood education funding increases. The assembly was debating federal appropriations, so we needed media coverage of our position. After John made prepared remarks to the three reporters we allowed inside the childcare center, it was play time.

“What’s your name?” A little boy with spiky blond hair put his hand on my arm.

“Hatty. What’s yours?”

“Hat-EE! Do you like hats?”

“Yes! Do you have one I can wear?”

He turned and walked away. I looked over at John. The teacher had lined up all the little girls who wanted to see him. One of them had a tiara perched askew atop a mop of stringy brown hair. She held a baseball bat over her shoulder.
She doesn’t trust this prince guy.

“Here, Hat-EE!”

The blond boy held a triangular pirate’s hat, which had an eye patch attached to it. I put it on, and slid the patch into place. “Arr, mateys!”

The group of kids around me laughed, and some replied with their own “Arr!”

“Hat-EE! Where are your kids?”

“What’s your name?”

“Adrian Raske.”

“Well, Adrian Raske, I’m not a mom yet. But when I have kiddos, I hope they’re half as cute as you!”

I placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. Adrian smiled as a chorus of delighted squeals erupted from the other children. The one photographer we allowed inside the center clicked his camera repeatedly.

This was our first post-bomb public appearance, and we wanted to keep the focus on the preschool funding issue. The three reporters followed the rules we set out and didn’t ask us any questions.

As we left through a side door, we encountered a line of angry-looking reporters. They shouted questions at us because there were no rules out here.

“Duchess, will you release your investigative work on the environmental impact of the smelter?”

“Your Highness, will you take seriously the allegations of environmental harm in Kortrijk caused by the smelter?”

We had extra guards with us, and we made it through the gauntlet to the safety of the waiting car with only their words accosting us.

Prince John and Duchess Hatty Refuse to Answer Questions about the Bomb… AND, Is the Royal Couple Trying for a Baby?

By Xpress staff

March 9, 2015

At an appearance this morning at Regent’s Primary School in the capital city, the first public sighting of the pair since the explosion at the
Kortrijk
smelter, the Prince and Duchess took no questions from reporters about the incident. They also refused to comment on the investigation the Duchess was doing on the environmental impact of the smelter prior to her marriage to the prince.

But the Duchess did chat up the children inside. She reportedly told a child “I’m not a mom yet.” Her comment feeds speculation we may soon hear the sound of little feet running through the halls of Langbroek Palace.

“By saying, ‘I’m not a mom yet,’ she’s making it clear she and Prince John have started trying to get pregnant,” said Anna Fetke, a historian whose work chronicles the last five decades of Toulene’s royal family. “It’s no surprise they’d want to have a baby now. They’ve been married for more than a year!”

Meanwhile, baby watch is heating up for Prince Henri and Duchess Adela as they prepare to welcome their first child this month. The duchess was spotted shopping for baby clothes in the upscale Vrel neighborhood. Speculation over the baby’s gender continues as the due date approaches!

ohn tapped on the door and we heard Adela’s sweet Spanish accent: “Si! Come in!”

She lay in bed looking completely worn out but lovely as she cradled the new little life in her arms. Henri stood and hugged John. Their embrace lasted longer than I expected, and when they pulled apart, Henri was wiping away tears. We stood beside the bed and Adela pulled back the blankets exposing the scrunched up face of our nephew.

“Oh, Adela. He’s perfect.” I swallowed hard to keep back my own tears.

A flash of jealousy and longing ripped through my body. Henri and Adela didn’t know our first in utero insemination had failed. They didn’t even know we’d had an IUI. Raw grief lay in wait, poised to creep around the corner and hijack any thought it wanted to overtake.

“Mum would be so ecstatic,” John said, almost in a whisper. I squeezed his hand.

“Does he have a name?” I consciously steadied my voice.

Henri looked at his brother and said, “Juan. Named for the man I admire most.”

John’s face took on a new light. “I don’t know what to say… This is an unexpected honor.”

Adela shifted toward me and extended the baby in her arms. “Hatty, would you like to hold him?”

I nodded as I sat on the bed and let her place the infant in my arms. For the first time since we arrived, he opened his eyes. I pulled him close to my face and smelled the clean newness of this tiny being. Closing my eyes, I imagined I was holding
my
baby. The minute the thought entered my head, I pushed it away. If I let my mind wander in that direction, John would have to carry me home in a weeping heap.

“You’re a natural, Hatty! I can’t wait for Juan to have some cousins,” Henri said, oblivious to all we were doing to make that happen. I looked up at him and smiled, intense heat radiating through my body. The hot flashes were an annoying side effect of the ovulation stimulation medication.

We stayed only a few minutes more, excusing ourselves so Adela and the baby could rest.

“What do you say we go to De Haan after the IUI next week?” John asked, taking my hand in his as we descended the stairs.

“Sure. I’ll never turn down a trip to the beach.”

“I just think it might be good for you to be in a more peaceful setting, away from the madness that’s going to envelop Belvoir now that the baby is here.”

As we made our way to the car, I felt relief at the thought of escaping the media frenzy surrounding the new prince. Outside Belvoir’s fence, men and women with still and video cameras were lined up, waiting for something to happen. When they saw the gates open and our car emerge, they flipped into overdrive, clicking their cameras and yelling. I blocked it out by imagining our little cottage in De Haan holding us within its cozy walls, our own protective womb.

When our car cleared the reporters, I released a gush of air and twin tears ran down my face. John put his arm around me and pulled me close, kissing my forehead.

y cell phone buzzed while John and I ate breakfast. It was Cilla. She asked me to put her on speaker phone after I confirmed we were alone.