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Sequel: All of Me ›
There Must Be a Way
The Heir
“For fucks sake, Harry!” he bellowed, eyes narrowed in contempt. “How could you be so bloody selfish?”
“Selfish?” he repeated in disbelief. “How the fuck is this me being selfish?”
“How’s it not?” William shot back. “Today was our father’s funeral, and instead of doing your bit and mingling with our guests, you – you took it upon yourself to harass Senator Balcázar.”
“Don’t call her that.”
“That’s what she is!” he cried out in exasperation. “She’s not Paulina anymore! And I can’t bloody understand why you can’t get that through your thick head! She’s not the girl who used to run about England with you. She’s the United States Senator from California and she was here on official business on behalf of her government.”
“Come off it Wills, she –”
“But instead of allowing her to carry out her duties in peace, you took it upon yourself to harass her! You tricked her into going off with Tom so that you could get her alone. How could you be so selfish? Our father is dead and you –”
“I know he’s dead!” snapped Harry.
“Then why don’t you act like it?” William had had enough. He’d humored his brother’s feelings for years, but now that his father was dead, now that he was the Prince of Wales, things had to change. “Today was not the day to be chasing after her. You ought to have been with the family, seeing to our guests and thanking them for having paid their respects. But you were nowhere to be found! You were far too busy chasing after someone who doesn’t love you!”
“Oi!” bellowed Harry. “That’s enough of that.”
Under normal circumstances William would have known better than to press on. He’d have been considerate of his brother’s feelings and apologized to him, but the problem was that William’s entire life had altered drastically in the span of a week. He’d always known that he would one day be Prince of Wales and eventually King, such was his future, but he thought he’d have longer, he thought he’d at the very least have an heir of his own by the time that he became Prince of Wales, but he didn’t.
“You know I’m right.” William lowered his voice, but the intensity of his gaze didn’t lessen. “If she loved you, she wouldn’t be on her way back to America. She’d be here with you. But she’s not here – is she? She’s on her way back to him, back to that Irishman of hers, because he’s the one that she loves. He’s the one that she’s chosen to make a life with and you need to get that through your thick –”
William didn’t get to finish his sentence. Rage filled Harry at his brother’s words and without thinking, he shoved him forcefully and sent him flying against the wall.
“She doesn’t love him.” Harry said through gritted teeth. “It’s me. It’ll always be me.”
“If that were true, she’d be here.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“It bloody is when you love someone.” William straightened himself out. “And you know how she is, we both do. If she wanted to be with you, nothing would be able to stop her. We both know how bloody stubborn she is. When she wants something, she gets it. That’s how she got into Stanford, Oxford, and Harvard. That’s how she became a Senator at such a young age! She wanted it and she bloody well made it happen, so don’t stand there and tell me that she loves you and she wants to be with you, because if any of that were true, she’d have stayed.”
“Wills . . .”
“I’m not trying to hurt you, Harry. Truly, I’m not.” His features softened. “There’s nothing I’d like more than to see her with you again. Honestly, I’d give anything to make that happen, to see you happy again like you used to be, but that’s not likely. More to the point, that’s not going to happen. She’s with . . . she’s with that Kennedy, and as much as I hate to say it, he suits her.”
Harry lifted his fist and he fully intended on delivering a devastating blow to Williams face, but thankfully for the pair of them, William was able to dodge it.
“He does.” William didn’t raise his voice. “They’re suited, Harry. He compliments her. And with him, she doesn’t have to walk away from everything that she’s worked so hard for.”
“Then I’ll leave this!”
“What?”
“You heard me!” And in that moment, Harry was determined to leave. “I’m not meant to be King, William. It’s not my duty. It’s yours. I’m the spare and I won’t bloody be the spare much longer. Now that you’re Prince of Wales, I’m sure you and Kate are going to get on it and produce an heir. So go on, have a little one, because I’m done being your spare. I’m done living in your shadows. I’ll give it a month before I pack up and go, but you damn well better believe that I’m going.”
“Don’t be absurd!” William nearly laughed.
“Go on, laugh if you like. I don’t bloody care, Wills.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“I am though!” Harry took a step back. “And I should’ve done this ages ago. When I went to her flat in Harvard and she told me to stay with her, I ought to have left all this behind, but I didn’t. For fucks sake! I should’ve been happy as soon as she told me about the little one! I ought to have been with her since the first, but I made a mess of it. I’m the reason we are where we are, but that ends now. I’ll go to America. I’ll be her bloody stay at home husband. I’ll raise the little ones and make a home for us, and I won’t bloody care if anyone laughs or runs their mouth, because I’ll have her. I’ll have the family I always wanted.”
“And who’s to say she wants you? She’s happy with Francis!”
“If she were really all that happy, she wouldn’t have kissed me the way she did.”
“But she’s gone back to him!”
“To hell with him!” bellowed Harry. “She’s mine, always been mine, always will be. He was only keeping her company while we were apart, but that’ll change soon enough. She’ll be mine again before the years up, and I don’t care who gets hurt. It’s my turn to be happy. I’ve gone long enough being miserable.”
“Not that easy though, Harry.”
“Says who?”
“Harry . . .”
“I deserve to be happy.”
“Not saying you don’t, it’s only –”
“Wills, you know better than anyone how hard these last years have been.” His voice faltered a bit at the end. “Can’t keep going on the way I have. I need her. I want to have a family with her, make a proper life. And if that means leaving this all behind, then so be it.”
“But you hate politics.”
“I love her though.”
“You’ll resent her.”
“Possibly,” said Harry. “But s’alright, I’ll take the chance.”
“Don’t be daft!”
“Why are you being like this, Wills? Why can’t you bloody well let me be happy? I deserve this! And it’s not like you’ll never see me again. I just won’t be a Prince. And anyway, you have Kate and you’ll have little ones soon enough!”
“I won’t though.”
Harry shot him a look.
“Everyone assumes Kate and I have been waiting to start a family, that we’ve not been trying, but we have – bloody hell, we have. The first year we didn’t try, she was getting used to the way things are so we didn’t think it wise to add a pregnancy, that would’ve been too much on her. But after that first year was up, she got off her birth control and the doctors said it might take a few months or a year, that some woman take a little while before they’re able to conceive and that we shouldn’t worry, but two years went by like that and then Kate went in for exams, and she was fine, perfectly healthy and able to have a child, so . . . so I went in, and I knew . . .” He gritted his teeth. “When the doctor told Kate she was fine, I knew it was on me, but I didn’t . . . didn’t want to believe it. But I went in for the exams, they took a sample and ran their tests, and . . .”
“Wills –“
“There are only two things that I’m meant to do in this world – the first is to ascend the throne, the second to provide an heir. I can do the first, no problem. The second though? Afraid I’m no good there. Sterile, they said.”
“Go to a specialist, I’m sure they –”
“I’ve been to five.” William gritted his teeth. “So you’re not my spare, Harry. You’re my heir.”
“Selfish?” he repeated in disbelief. “How the fuck is this me being selfish?”
“How’s it not?” William shot back. “Today was our father’s funeral, and instead of doing your bit and mingling with our guests, you – you took it upon yourself to harass Senator Balcázar.”
“Don’t call her that.”
“That’s what she is!” he cried out in exasperation. “She’s not Paulina anymore! And I can’t bloody understand why you can’t get that through your thick head! She’s not the girl who used to run about England with you. She’s the United States Senator from California and she was here on official business on behalf of her government.”
“Come off it Wills, she –”
“But instead of allowing her to carry out her duties in peace, you took it upon yourself to harass her! You tricked her into going off with Tom so that you could get her alone. How could you be so selfish? Our father is dead and you –”
“I know he’s dead!” snapped Harry.
“Then why don’t you act like it?” William had had enough. He’d humored his brother’s feelings for years, but now that his father was dead, now that he was the Prince of Wales, things had to change. “Today was not the day to be chasing after her. You ought to have been with the family, seeing to our guests and thanking them for having paid their respects. But you were nowhere to be found! You were far too busy chasing after someone who doesn’t love you!”
“Oi!” bellowed Harry. “That’s enough of that.”
Under normal circumstances William would have known better than to press on. He’d have been considerate of his brother’s feelings and apologized to him, but the problem was that William’s entire life had altered drastically in the span of a week. He’d always known that he would one day be Prince of Wales and eventually King, such was his future, but he thought he’d have longer, he thought he’d at the very least have an heir of his own by the time that he became Prince of Wales, but he didn’t.
“You know I’m right.” William lowered his voice, but the intensity of his gaze didn’t lessen. “If she loved you, she wouldn’t be on her way back to America. She’d be here with you. But she’s not here – is she? She’s on her way back to him, back to that Irishman of hers, because he’s the one that she loves. He’s the one that she’s chosen to make a life with and you need to get that through your thick –”
William didn’t get to finish his sentence. Rage filled Harry at his brother’s words and without thinking, he shoved him forcefully and sent him flying against the wall.
“She doesn’t love him.” Harry said through gritted teeth. “It’s me. It’ll always be me.”
“If that were true, she’d be here.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“It bloody is when you love someone.” William straightened himself out. “And you know how she is, we both do. If she wanted to be with you, nothing would be able to stop her. We both know how bloody stubborn she is. When she wants something, she gets it. That’s how she got into Stanford, Oxford, and Harvard. That’s how she became a Senator at such a young age! She wanted it and she bloody well made it happen, so don’t stand there and tell me that she loves you and she wants to be with you, because if any of that were true, she’d have stayed.”
“Wills . . .”
“I’m not trying to hurt you, Harry. Truly, I’m not.” His features softened. “There’s nothing I’d like more than to see her with you again. Honestly, I’d give anything to make that happen, to see you happy again like you used to be, but that’s not likely. More to the point, that’s not going to happen. She’s with . . . she’s with that Kennedy, and as much as I hate to say it, he suits her.”
Harry lifted his fist and he fully intended on delivering a devastating blow to Williams face, but thankfully for the pair of them, William was able to dodge it.
“He does.” William didn’t raise his voice. “They’re suited, Harry. He compliments her. And with him, she doesn’t have to walk away from everything that she’s worked so hard for.”
“Then I’ll leave this!”
“What?”
“You heard me!” And in that moment, Harry was determined to leave. “I’m not meant to be King, William. It’s not my duty. It’s yours. I’m the spare and I won’t bloody be the spare much longer. Now that you’re Prince of Wales, I’m sure you and Kate are going to get on it and produce an heir. So go on, have a little one, because I’m done being your spare. I’m done living in your shadows. I’ll give it a month before I pack up and go, but you damn well better believe that I’m going.”
“Don’t be absurd!” William nearly laughed.
“Go on, laugh if you like. I don’t bloody care, Wills.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“I am though!” Harry took a step back. “And I should’ve done this ages ago. When I went to her flat in Harvard and she told me to stay with her, I ought to have left all this behind, but I didn’t. For fucks sake! I should’ve been happy as soon as she told me about the little one! I ought to have been with her since the first, but I made a mess of it. I’m the reason we are where we are, but that ends now. I’ll go to America. I’ll be her bloody stay at home husband. I’ll raise the little ones and make a home for us, and I won’t bloody care if anyone laughs or runs their mouth, because I’ll have her. I’ll have the family I always wanted.”
“And who’s to say she wants you? She’s happy with Francis!”
“If she were really all that happy, she wouldn’t have kissed me the way she did.”
“But she’s gone back to him!”
“To hell with him!” bellowed Harry. “She’s mine, always been mine, always will be. He was only keeping her company while we were apart, but that’ll change soon enough. She’ll be mine again before the years up, and I don’t care who gets hurt. It’s my turn to be happy. I’ve gone long enough being miserable.”
“Not that easy though, Harry.”
“Says who?”
“Harry . . .”
“I deserve to be happy.”
“Not saying you don’t, it’s only –”
“Wills, you know better than anyone how hard these last years have been.” His voice faltered a bit at the end. “Can’t keep going on the way I have. I need her. I want to have a family with her, make a proper life. And if that means leaving this all behind, then so be it.”
“But you hate politics.”
“I love her though.”
“You’ll resent her.”
“Possibly,” said Harry. “But s’alright, I’ll take the chance.”
“Don’t be daft!”
“Why are you being like this, Wills? Why can’t you bloody well let me be happy? I deserve this! And it’s not like you’ll never see me again. I just won’t be a Prince. And anyway, you have Kate and you’ll have little ones soon enough!”
“I won’t though.”
Harry shot him a look.
“Everyone assumes Kate and I have been waiting to start a family, that we’ve not been trying, but we have – bloody hell, we have. The first year we didn’t try, she was getting used to the way things are so we didn’t think it wise to add a pregnancy, that would’ve been too much on her. But after that first year was up, she got off her birth control and the doctors said it might take a few months or a year, that some woman take a little while before they’re able to conceive and that we shouldn’t worry, but two years went by like that and then Kate went in for exams, and she was fine, perfectly healthy and able to have a child, so . . . so I went in, and I knew . . .” He gritted his teeth. “When the doctor told Kate she was fine, I knew it was on me, but I didn’t . . . didn’t want to believe it. But I went in for the exams, they took a sample and ran their tests, and . . .”
“Wills –“
“There are only two things that I’m meant to do in this world – the first is to ascend the throne, the second to provide an heir. I can do the first, no problem. The second though? Afraid I’m no good there. Sterile, they said.”
“Go to a specialist, I’m sure they –”
“I’ve been to five.” William gritted his teeth. “So you’re not my spare, Harry. You’re my heir.”
♠ ♠ ♠
And we have FINALLY reached the end of this installment.I don’t know how long the next one is going to be. I’m thinking at least 30 chapters. To those who have stuck by this story, thank you so much. I am beyond fucking stoked for what is to come.