Against the Odds

A/N: This is sort of a long one, but...I felt super inspired and motivated and I got wordy, which hasn’t happened to me in a long time. So I really, really hope you enjoy it and please, please let me know what you think!

One little note. I used a little real life inspiration from the media here, but changed a certain reporters name to something fictional. Just in case.

Also. There’s a mature section in here. Marked with an *M* at the beginning and an *EM* at the end.

*************

Harry’s eyes blinked open, startled awake by the woman crawling onto his lap and making herself right at home there.

“Alex...” he murmured, a sleepy smile moving across his stubbled face as he looked up at her. A halo of warm light surrounded her from the early morning sunlight streaming through the curtains behind her, and she wore a knowing smile on her lips. “Is this how we’re doing wake-up calls now? Because I have to say, I’m a fan of…”

“Shhh…”Her fingers moved to his lips, silencing his words. Her mouth curled up into a soft, sweet smile and she shook her head slowly. She pulled her fingers from his lips and reached for his hand. Her smile tipped a bit higher as she slid his hand down and pushed up under her t-shirt before pressing his warm fingers against her belly.

"Oh my…” Harry blinked. Emotion flashed across his face as realization washed over him, as his big, warm hand cupped the small bump under it. “Alex..."

“I would apologize for waking you up for this, but…”

“Don’t you dare apologize,” he shook his head and laughter fell from his lips. “Did you just...find it? Is that the right word?”

She giggled and nodded. “I did. Just now.”

“Wow,” Harry grinned, his eyes crinkling up at the sides in that way she loved. His thumb swiped back and forth softly over her skin, over the small swell that hadn’t been there just the day before. “Can I see please?”

“Of course you can,” Alex said with soft laugh. She lifted up her t-shirt and, surprising Harry even further, she pulled it right over her head. She tossed it to the side and her smile was smug as she looked down on him.

“Damn Alex...” He groaned as his gaze traveled down over her slowly before landing on her stomach. And sure enough, it was there. His eyes fell over the outward curve of her stomach and he felt an unexpected lump rise in his throat. “It actually is just a little bump.”

“What did you think it was going to be?” She giggled, sighing as he reached out and smoothed his hands over it.

“I don’t know…” He laughed and shook his head. “I can’t believe there’s a bump already. It’s soon, right?”

“Well, generally women who’ve had a child or children already show more quickly than women who haven’t. And since it’s twins, they take up more space so…”

“Earlier bump,” Harry finished for her. He sat up slightly, tilting her back so that he could lean down and kiss the swell of her stomach. “Hi there babies. I'm your Daddy. I hope you're warm and snuggled up together in there.” His smiled turned softer and he kissed her stomach again. “Oh Alex…” His voice cracked and he looked up at her with wet, wide eyes

“Hey,” her brows drew together and her hands moved to his face, cupping his scruffy cheeks with soft fingers. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” He shook his head and chuckled. “Absolutely nothing is wrong. It’s just...ha. I’m such a sap.”

“Well, that’s true.” She smiled down at him her fingers slid up into his mess of red hair. “Tell me…”

“I told you a long time ago that I wanted to make your belly swell with my babies…”

“Ahhh…and now that you’re seeing my belly actually swell…”

“I get all choked up. See. A big ‘ol sap.”

“Come here, you giant sap,” she laughed, tugging on his hair to pull him. He went easily, sitting up, wrapping his arms around her, and finding her still smiling lips with his.

*M*

Her mouth was hot over his, parting his lips with her tongue and tightening her hands in his hair as she kissed him; hot and wet and deep. And then she let out this sound; this low, needy whimper of a moan as she arched her body into his.

“Alex…” he groaned in response. His hands moved up her sides, his thumbs brushing over the sides of her breasts. “We need to lock the door...”

“I already did,” she smirked, her eyes dancing as she reached for his t-shirt and pulled. His arms moved from around her only to let her pull the shirt over his head. She tossed it aside to join hers on the floor, and then she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her naked chest up against his, and tugged his mouth back to hers.

He groaned into her mouth, desire blasting through his veins as the way she was kissing him, at the way her hips had begun to rock over his. He could feel her desperation for him and god, he felt it for her too. His hands shifted between them, he cupped her breasts in his big, warm palms. His thumbs swiped over her nipples and she jumped slightly in his arms, squealing as he gently worked over the sensitive points.

“Damn it, Harry…” she moaned. Her hands tightened on his shoulders, surprising him as she pushed at him. His back landed on the plush mattress beneath them and she sat tall and proud above him.

“I can’t take it…” she breathed, the words coming out in a rush as her eyes flashed fire down at him. Her fingers moved to the band of his boxers and she yanked hard. He gave a groaning sort of chuckle as his cock sprang free and then he was leaning forward, his fingers moving to push at her panties, wanting them off of her as much as she had wanted his boxers off of him.

“You can’t take it?” he teased, even as his hands moved to her hips and he pulled her back over his lap.

“No...I can’t. You’re just so sexy and…” Her lips curled up into a smile as she looked down over him; those broad shoulders, the wide chest with the smattering of ginger hair that crossed it. His flat, toned stomach that was clenched in preparation for what was about to happen between them. The soft hair that started under his belly button and trailed that incredibly sexy line down to his cock; currently incredibly hard and standing at attention for her. She let out breathy moan and she reached for him, wrapping her hot little hand around him. He grunted and then groaned as she ran a firm stroke up his length. “I can’t take it Harry, I need you right now…” She moved over him, positioning him at her entrance. “I need you inside of me and...ohhhh…” She sank down at the same time as he thrust his hips up, unable to resist the call of her hot, wet, flesh over his.

He gritted his teeth as she took him all the way in and immediately began to move, wasting no time in chasing exactly what it was that she wanted from him. He groaned as he watched her move, his eyes traveling over her body. He loved to watch her like this; on top of him and taking her pleasure of his body. He loved to see the way her body reacted as they worked each other into a frenzy; the flush that spread over her chest, the tightening of her nipples as she got closer and closer, the way her skin began to glisten and become slick with perspiration.

“Christ...you’re so beautiful, Alexandra...” His hands slid over her, hot and urgent. Palming her breasts and pinching her nipples before sliding down over her stomach. His fingers curved gently on the small swell of her belly, savoring the feel of having that little bit more of her to touch and discover.

“Ohhhh...Harry…” she moaned out into the room. Her hands fell to his chest, her fingers clenching as she rode him harder, faster.

“God, it’s true…” Harry groaned, his hands moving to grip at his wife’s hips, his fingers make red marks in her fair, slick skin. Her eyes were heavy and dark, her cheeks were flushed bright pink, her hair was a wild mess around her shoulders, and suddenly he was so close to bursting under her that he could barely stand it.

“What’s...true?” she gasped.

“Pregnant woman...and sex...and…” He grunted as she changed tactics and began to rock back and forth, her hips nearly a blur as they moved over his. “Jesus Christ, Alex!”

“Ohhhh fuck…” she moaned. Her fingernails dug into his chest and she tossed her head back. “I’m...gonna...come…”

“Yes!” Harry encouraged, completely enthralled as he watched her chase her orgasm. “God, you feel so fucking good. Come on…”

She let out a low, growl of a moan at the same time that he felt the heavy pulses of her release begin, squeezing him tightly over and over again. Her eyes clenched shut and her legs shook with the intensity of it and it was so fucking sexy that Harry was lost. He groaned low in his throat, gripped her hips as his own arched up, and exploded inside of her.

“Fuck...fuck…” he shuddered his end, let out a harsh breath, and then his heavy eyes lifted to meet hers. “Jesus Alex…”

Her lips curved up into a smug smile and she took deep breath as she sat up straight on him. “Enjoyed that, did you?”

“Like you didn’t?”

“Ha!” Her laughter filled the air around them. “You know that I did, Harry.”

He laughed along with her as she lifted herself from him and then collapsed on the bed next to him. “I could tell. Also, not a bad way to start the day.”

*EM*

“Mhmm…” she smiled and turned her head to look at him. “Not at all. Though...we do have to get up. Emma will be up soon and we have things to do before we head over to Matt and Charlotte’s this afternoon.”

“We do have things to do...like Emma’s science project,” Harry said, turning humor filled eyes to his wife.

Alex laughed and rolled her eyes. “I forgot about that! I am so bad at science projects.”

“Even Fourth Year science projects?” Harry chuckled.

“Yes, even Fourth Year science projects,” she groaned and shook her head. “I used to con Matt into used doing all of mine for me.”

“Ha!” Harry’s shout of laughter filled the room. He leaned over and kissed her soundly on the lips. “I love you, you little con artist.”

She giggled and patted his stubbly cheek. “I love you too, Sussex. Very, very much.”

***********

“Boot! What are you doing?!”

Alex spun at the sound of her brother’s voice, but didn’t even bother looking guilty as he strode over to her, his eyes scanning frantically over his record collection on the shelves in front of her.

“Matt,” she drawled, as if she were addressing a small child. “This makes absolutely no sense.”

“Yes, it does,” he groaned, as he began pulling out records and putting back in the spots he’d had them, spots that Alex had apparently moved them from. “It makes sense to me.”

“It's not alphabetical. It's not by year. It's not by genre,” she waved an irritated hand at the shelves before her. “I can't stand it.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “You don't have to stand it. These are my records and I like it the way it is.”

“What if Charlotte wants to listen to something? She'd never find it the way you have it.”

“Charlotte hates my music so it doesn't matter...what is with you?!” He swatted at her hands, but he couldn’t help but chuckle as she giggled and tried to get around him. “Quit messing with my shit!”

“What in the world is going on in here?”

The Emerson siblings both spun around, nearly identical indignant looks flashing across their faces.

“Alex is being ridiculous,” Matt was the first to speak.

“No, you’re being ridiculous,” she countered, resisting the urge to turn and stick her tongue out at him.

Mike chuckled as he looked back and forth between the two of them. “Am I going to have to put someone in timeout?”

“She’s trying to be sneaky and rearrange all of my records,” Matt explained.

“Ahhh,” Mike nodded, his lips curling up into a knowing smile. “I’d say that you’d better get used to that, at least for the next seven months or so.”

“Ohhhh that’s right!” Matt groaned and shook his head. “I forgot about that.”

“Forgot about what?” Alex prodded, her nose scrunching up as she looked back and forth between her father and her brother.

“You got all obsessively hyper-organized when you were pregnant with Emma,” Matt laughed, watching as realization dawned on his sister. “I didn’t see it as much as Mom and Dad because there were here with you more than I was then, but I do remember that whenever they’d fly back from London, their suitcases would be meticulously packed. They would not only be organized by type of clothing, but by color as well.”

Alex pressed her fingers to her lips as she tried not to giggle at the description; however true that it may be. “There is nothing wrong with being organized.”

“I am organized!” Matt protested, turning to point at his shelves of records. “Before you came in here and mucked it all up, I knew where every single records was on that shelf.”

“If no one else can figure out your system, then it’s not organized,” Alex argued.

“Okay, okay,” Mike laughed as he stepped in, holding up his hands as he halted the revival of the argument his grown children were having. “As amusing as it is to watch the two of regress back to your high school years, I’m going to put an end to this. Alex, leave your brother’s records alone.”

“Fine,” Alex grumbled. She tossed a longing look at the shelf and then turned around with a huff. “I’m going to go find my husband then. He wouldn’t argue with me about how to arrange a bunch of silly records.”

“They’re not silly!” Matt’s outraged exclamation was met with a giggle from Alex as she strode from the room, confident she’d bested him with her last words.

The smirk was still on her face as she rounded the corner, peeking into Matt and Charlotte’s kitchen and looking for Harry. Her mother and Emma were seated at the kitchen table, playing an intense game of Go Fish and she stopped for a moment, smiling at the sight as she watched them. And then, intent on finding her husband, she turned quietly from the kitchen doorway. She continued down the hall and then halted, her ears perking up as she heard voices coming from Charlotte’s study at the end of the hall.

“You have to tell her.”

“Come on, Charlotte,” Alex heard Harry reply with a frustrated groan. “This is so stupid. It doesn’t even matter.”

“It will to her,” Charlotte pressed, a certain amount of sadness in her tone that sent a shiver of worry through Alex. “You don’t want her to hear this from an assistant or one of the PR staff or even worse, see it on the news. You need to be the one who shows this to her.”

“Show what to me?” Both Harry and Charlotte jumped in surprise at Alex’s words and both of their faces looked anxious as they turned to where she stood in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyebrows lifted as she waited for an answer. “Well?”

“Fine,” Harry sighed. He strode over to Charlotte’s desk and punched a button on the keyboard of Charlotte’s laptop.

“Jesus, don’t break it, Wales,” Charlotte said, earning a slight glare from Harry.

“Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” Alex asked, exasperation and a little bit of worry clearly evident in her tone of voice.

“Come over here,” Harry answered, nodding his head for her to join him. “I’ll show you.”

Alex took a deep breath and joined him, feeling the teeniest bit reassured when he smiled gently at her as she moved in next to him. She turned and looked at the screen, blinking a few times as she realized what she was looking at.

“Twitter? Charlotte are you on Twitter?”

“Of course I watch social media,” Charlotte rolled her eyes.

“You’re on maternity leave,” Alex argued back.

“Okay. Let’s stay on track,” Charlotte said pointedly, though her amusement at Alex’s train of thought was evident on her face. “That’s Robert Porter’s Twitter. The Royal Correspondent for The Daily Express.”

Alex leaned in closer and squinted at the screen. The fleeting thought that she really needed to get some reading glasses crossed her mind as she focused on the words and then began to read.

“‘The Duchess of Sussex seems to be cashing in on her ‘traumatic experience’ from last summer to promote her own charity. Meanwhile her other ‘patronages’ seem unsupported by her…’”Alex stopped and straightened up, feeling the heat of embarrassment and anger rise in her cheeks. “What the fuck?!”

“Alex,” Charlotte stepped forward, sympathy showing in every corner of her face as she looked at her friend. “You know that this is bullshit, right?”

“Of course it’s bullshit! I’ve been working my ass off since January!” Alex exploded. “I’ve been puking my guts up every morning and still, I pull my shit together and go to work. And he’s a Royal Correspondent! He should know how charity visits work. I can’t just call and say I want to come visit and...”

“Love,” Harry interrupted in a low voice, laying a soothing hand on his wife’s back as he turned to look at her. “Please don’t take this personally.”

She turned her eyes to the screen again and shook her head, fighting the emotions that were rising fast to the surface. “How could I not? I mean, why would he come after me like this?”

“For a million reasons,” Charlotte said. “None of which have to do with you as a person and none of which are even remotely justified. He’s a reporter. He’s trying to drum up a story; trying get a rise out of people to sell papers and draw in readers. And he has a history of these negative comments…”

“But this is worse than just a negative comment,” Alex interrupted, her eyes dark as she turned her gaze to Charlotte. “And you know that. Or you wouldn’t have been insisting that Harry tell me right away.”

“Alex, listen…” Harry began.

“No, she’s right,” Charlotte interrupted with a quick nod at Alex. “You’re absolutely right. It’s not a scandal or a crisis and honestly, it’s a story that will probably fade in less than a week. But…”

“He’s crossed a line,” Alex finished, her eyes glancing down at the screen again before flickering over to her husband. “Didn’t he?”

“Yes,” Harry answered honestly. “He did.”

“But we can’t engage him or respond directly, can we?” Alex asked, looking back and forth between Harry and Charlotte. “It would open the door and set a precedent for other reporters to expect the palace to respond to stuff like this.”

“Exactly,” Harry said, sighing as rubbed at the back of his neck. He hated that he had to say that, that he was in a position where he was unable to step up in defense of his wife when there was absolutely nothing else he wanted to do more in that moment.

Alex’s lips tightened and her gaze held Harry’s for a long moment. Finally she let out a sigh, ran her hands through her hair, and then straightened her shoulders. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Harry’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “That’s it? Okay?”

“What do you want me to say, Harry?” Alex lifted her hands in the air and shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, I’m glad you told me because Charlotte was right, I wouldn’t have liked to hear it from anyone else. But obviously there’s nothing we can do about it right now, if ever, so I really don’t have anything else to say about it at the moment.”

“We will figure out something to do,” Charlotte spoke up, her voice firm and confident.

“Sure,” Alex smiled and nodded, though her voice didn’t contain quite the conviction that Charlotte’s did. “But for now, for tonight at least, let’s drop it. Okay?”

Harry smiled down at his wife and moved his hand to her shoulder, squeezing gently and with reassurance. “Of course. Whatever you want, love.”

And Alex tried to drop it. She really did. Through that night spent having dinner at Matt and Charlotte’s with her parents, through the time she spent playing with her adorable little nephew before they had to go home, and all the way through the ride home and the routine of putting Emma to bed, she tried to push it from her mind. But as hard as she tried, the words from the reporter’s tweet kept creeping back in and playing through her mind.

And the more she thought about it, the more what Robert Porter had said infuriated her. Sure, the press had come after her before. When she and Harry were dating, they’d always had plenty to say about her. They’d made jabs at her clothing choices, printed unflattering pictures, and made snide remarks about her being a single mother. But for the most part, she’d been able to handle those things with relatively little personal worry or angst over it. But the way Robert Palmer had trashed the good she was trying to do, the way he trivialized her personal experience at the same time, it was incredibly demeaning - to her and to anyone else who had experienced trauma and then faced recovery.

She knew she could have talked to Harry about her increasing anger over it. He would understand; he was used to his charity work being sidelined for more salacious tabloid fare. But after a nearly sleepless night, she found herself seeking the confidence of another royal - one that hadn’t been born into this. One who’d had to learn, just like Alex, how to stop and think and figure out how to address these issue without a direct response.

“Alex!” Kate’s smile was bright as she pulled open the door to her Kensington Palace apartment. She had little Charlotte - now close to two months old - hoisted on her shoulder.

“Good afternoon,” Alex smiled wide in return as she stepped inside the door and let Kate close it behind her. “Thanks for not laughing me off the phone for asking to totally interrupt your day.”

“Please,” Kate laughed and, keeping Charlotte carefully tucked up against her shoulder, leaned in to kiss Alex’s cheeks in greeting. “I love that you called. Stepping out for lunch sounds amazing. I’m going to feed and burp Charlotte and then Maria will put her down for her nap and we can go. Is that okay?”

“That’s perfect,” Alex nodded. “Where’s Henry this morning?”

As if on cue, her adorable two-and-a-half year old nephew came zooming around the corner right then, his sweet little face lighting up when he saw that they had a visitor.

“Aunt Awek!” He dropped his toy truck and ran at full speed to her and she laughed as she caught him and swung him up into her arms.

“Henry!” she leaned in to kiss his chubby cheeks, making him giggle.

“You came to visit me?” He asked, his big brown eyes widening hopefully with his words.

“Yes of course,” Alex answered. “And your Mummy and your sister.”

“You can play trucks and ‘copters with me?” Henry asked, already clapping his hands together in excitement and immediately started squirming to get down, ready to get back to his toys.

“Ask Aunt Alex nicely, Henry,” Kate smiled at her son encouragingly. “Say please.”

“Please?” Henry dutifully stopped and turned back to look at Alex, a smile that already showed beginnings of the Windsor charm on his chubby little face.

“I would love to,” Alex smiled. “Show me the way, Henry.”

***********

“So tell me, Alex,” Kate smiled across the small table at her. “How are you feeling? How are the babies?”

Alex’s glanced around quickly, but the small restaurant in Notting Hill had taken care to seat them at a relatively private table and so far, no other lunch goers had been seated within fifteen feet of them. Assured that they could speak in relative comfort and privacy, she couldn’t help the wide smile that spread across her face. “Well, I’m still pretty nauseous in the mornings, but it’s manageable. But the doctors say that babies are really good so far.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to wait until the first trimester is over to announce?”

“We’re going to try,” Alex shrugged.. “We’re only three weeks out from that, but I’ve officially started to show as of yesterday morning…”

“No way!” Kate’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Well, you hide it well. I didn’t even notice. And nine weeks! That’s early.”

“It is early,but it’s my second pregnancy and it’s twins, so pretty soon it will be impossible to hide it.” She took a sip of her water and then took a deep breath, deciding to get right down to the point; the reason she had asked Kate to come to lunch with her. “Did you see the tweet? From Robert Porter?”

“Ugh. Yes,” Kate grimaced. “Harry called Will last night. Will showed it to me. I’m so sorry, Alex.”

“Yeah,” Alex sighed and sat back into the plush chair. “I have to admit. I’ve let it get to me more than I probably should. And...it’s the reason I wanted to come see you this afternoon.”

“Me?” Kate’s head tipped to the side, her eyes curious.

“Sure,” Alex gave her a small smile. “For the most part, I’ve always been able to shut out what’s written about me in the media. I’ve got better things to worry about usually.” She paused and shared a small laugh with Kate before continuing on. “But this one got to me. And Harry didn’t want to show it to me, which makes me think I’m not totally out of line for being upset. But…I suppose, what I wanted to know was your opinion on exactly what I should do about it.”

Kate looked a bit startled. “Well...I’m assuming that ignoring it isn’t the option we’re going for, here?”

“No,” Alex smiled over her the rim of her glass and then took another sip of water. “Is that what you would do though?”

“Well…it’s always the first reaction,” Kate answered honestly. “That’s what we’re taught, right? Keep Calm and Carry on.”

“Sure,” Alex smirked at the saying.

“But...you're right. His remark was nasty and totally demeaning to your causes,” Kate continued. Her lips pursed as she tossed a thought around for a few moments. “You know what would be really interesting...if we could make them write about our causes instead of ignoring them to create drama for their papers..."

Alex’s eyebrows lifted and she sat up straighter. “Do you have something particular in mind?”

Kate grinned. “You know, I think I just might.”

**********

Alex was grinning from ear to ear when she burst through the front door of their home later that afternoon. Gus was the first to greet her, his tail wagging rapidly back and forth as he butted his head into her leg, nearly panting his excitement to see her.

“Awww hello, Gus Gus,” she snickered, bending down to give his ears a quick scratch and a few pats on the back before standing back up straight. “Where’s your dad, Gus? And Emma?”

“Mummy! Where in here!” Emma’s voice called out from the direction of their living room. With Gus at her heels, Alex moved across the foyer and into the living room. Her smile widened at the sight she found. The coffee table had been pushed to the side, clearing a wide space on the floor where Harry and Emma sat with what seemed like a million art supplies and several poster boards spread out between them.

“What is going on here?” Alex giggled, her hands on her hips as she looked at the two of them.

“We’re doing the presentation for my science project, Mummy,” Emma grinned, waving her hand at the chaos on the floor.

“Yeah, couldn’t you tell, Mummy?” Harry added, winking up at her before his focus moved back to the piece of construction paper that he was running a gluestick over.

“Ahhh,” Alex nodded and stepped further in the room. She stepped around the mess and then sank down on the couch. Gus joined her instantly, flopping down and laying his head right in her lap. “How is it going?”

“Good,” Emma shrugged. “Dad isn’t so good at cutting straight lines, but he’s really good at gluing things.”

“Well sure,” Alex snickered, earning a playful glare from Harry.

“How was lunch with Kate?” Harry asked, setting down his part of the project for a moment and turning his focus to Alex.

“It was…” She smiled wide and then bit her lip. “It was really good, Harry.”

“Yeah?”

“I wanted to talk to her about that stupid tweet,” Alex shrugged, knowing that Harry had probably already figured that out but wanting to tell him anyway. When he nodded she sighed, mindlessly scratching Gus’s ears as she continued. “She gets so much shit…stuff,” she corrected her bad language with an apologetic glance towards Emma. “She gets so much stuff from the media herself when she tries to do good things...you know, they focus on her clothes or superficial things and don’t write about the causes she’s supporting. They do that to all of us but…” Alex smiled and shrugged. “Anyway, you know what I’m saying. She understands what it’s like to be in my shoes better than anyone. And I wanted to see what she thought about doing something other than just ignoring it.”

“Very smart,” Harry nodded encouragingly. “And what did she think of that?”

“We’re going to team up,” Alex said slowly, really hoping that Harry would approve of the plan. “Instead of trying to get the media to pay attention to the causes we’re supporting instead of trying to focus on the silly things are make up stories about us to sell paper, we’re going to...be the media for a day.”

Harry sat forward, his interest piqued. “How so?”

“We called Jason in the communications office and ran it by him and he made a few calls to some of the media outlets that haven’t been so…”

“Full of shit?” Harry said.

“Stuff!,” Emma corrected with a roll of her eyes.

“Sorry Em,” Harry chuckled. “Yes. Full of stuff.”

“Exactly,” Alex laughed. “We were surprised...but you know the Huffington Post?”

“Sure,” Harry nodded.

“They jumped at the chance. Jason got us on the phone with the editors and they want us - me and Kate - to guest edit for Huffington Post UK for a day during Mental Health week.”

“Alex!” Harry grinned, his face lighting up at her announcement. “That’s amazing! What will you be doing? Writing articles or…”

“We don’t have all the details firm yet, but the basic gist of it is that we will probably each write some form of editorial, highlighting the mental health causes we support and why we support them. The rest of the content we choose for the day will be articles from mental health experts, survivors, advocates. That’s the hope anyway.”

“Oh love…” Harry moved from the floor, leaning up to kiss Alex, pride shining from every corner of his face as he did so. “That’s wonderful.”

“Yeah?” Alex grinned back at him. “You approve?”

“Of course I do!” he nodded, kissing her again quickly. “I think you and Kate are going to do something fantastic there.”

“Good,” Alex sighed, relieved to be able to tell him and happy that he was so on board. “Kate is going to run it by Will too, but she thinks he’ll be all for it.”

“He will,” Harry nodded quickly. “He’ll love it.”

“I think so too,” Alex smiled. “Alright, so is there anything I can do to help with what you two have going on…” She trailed off as her phone rang out from her bag, startling a dozing Gus and making them all laugh. “Hold that thought,” she snickered as she pulled the phone from her bag. “It’s the KP office. Probably with questions about the Huffington Post thing.” She pressed the button to answer the call and then pulled the phone to her ear. “This is Alex.”

Her happy grin faded into a somewhat bemused smile as she listened to whomever was on the other line. “Of course,” she sighed shaking her head as her eyes turned up to the ceiling for a moment. “Alright. No...thank you for letting me know. Send them over and we’ll have a look at them and make a decision. Okay. I’ll call you back shortly, Robin.”

“Uh oh,” Harry drawled, watching her with questioning eyes as she hung up the call, but kept her eyes focused on her phone for a moment. “What was that about?”

“Well…” Alex took a deep breath as her phone pinged, whatever Robin had told her he was sending her obviously coming through. Her fingers moved over the screen as she continued on, “There were some photos snapped of Kate and I leaving the restaurant today. Apparently, the wind blew my shirt just the right way and…yep, there it is...” She held up the phone to show Harry what she was talking about. “They’ve got the bump.”

Harry sighed as he looked at the pictures. His face fell a bit and he shook his head as he scrolled through the pap pictures. “And I suppose, the speculation has begun?”

“Robin said the communications team has had at least ten calls from media outlets in the past hour,” Alex replied.

“People are starting to think you’re having babies?” Emma asked, leaning over to try and see what Harry was looking at.

“That’s exactly it,” Alex smiled at her daughter. “And now we have to decide whether to say that we are...or keep it a secret for a bit longer.”

“Ohhhh...” Emma drawled, her eyes wide as she looked up at her mother.

“What do you think we should do?” Alex turned to Harry, her shoulders lifting with the question.

“Ha...I don’t know, Alex,” he laughed and shook his head. “I mean, we could keep silent. It would only be for three more weeks. But every time you would go out in public…”

“The entire focus would be on my stomach,” Alex finished his thought. “And since we would be hiding it...it would look like we’re hiding it...which would only make the speculation more intense.” Alex took a deep breath, rolling her head to the side as she thought about it. “You know what? Let’s just confirm it.”

“Really?” Harry looked somewhat stunned. “You’re ready?”

“Yes,” Alex nodded, her voice firm and sure. “I don’t want to play a cat and mouse game with them about this. Let’s just...do it. We’ll confirm that we’re expecting twins in the fall. Let’s tell Robin to prepare a statement. We can put it out tomorrow.”

“Well, alright then,” Harry couldn’t help the smile that spread wide across his face. “I’m in. What about you, Emma? Are you in?”

“Yes, because this secret is really hard to keep you know,” she sassed, her eyes pointed as she looked to her parents.

“Ha!” Harry laughed and clapped his hands together. “Alright then. We’re all in agreement. Shall I call Robin?”

“Go for it,” Alex giggled. She relaxed back into her chair, a little surprised at how very little nervousness she felt about the big news they were going to drop on the world.

“Robin,” Harry spoke into the phone. “Yes, we’re going to confirm. Can you have the press office prepare a statement and send it over to me, my father, and my grandmother for approval? If they give the go ahead, we’ll announce tomorrow morning.”