-Bad Dream

(Caroline's POV)

We were rushed to the castle. They locked the whole the kingdom down so no one could entire or exit. The press were alerted and the search began. Bomb sniffing dogs were put straight to work. The army were doing searches of every house and person. Everything is a mess. My life is one big mess. And I'm scared.

Stephan, being the person he is, had demanded my whole kingdom go under lockdown as well. Even if we weren't anywhere near it. Neighboring kingdoms were asked to be on high alert and to check every person passing through. They were very kind and agreed to do so.

Meanwhile all of this was happening, I was trying to compose myself. I don't know what to do. What can I do? I feel powerless. I've been in a state of shock to say the least. I haven't cried. I haven't punched anything. I haven't even said a word to anyone. Stephan tried to snap me out of it, but he didn't have much time because he was busy ordering everyone around.

We were currently in the Conference Room surrounded by every single person who holds some sort of power in our kingdoms and beyond. I was trying to process everything while Stephan continued to order people around.

"C, listen to me. We will find our little girl, okay. I promise. I refuse to let these outlaws take her and get away with it. They will be hanging on trees once we find them." Stephan said, pulling me out of my thoughts. Only then did I realize the room was now empty. I just looked at him. "Sweetheart, please talk to me. We're in this together." He begged.

"She's... she's gone." I choked out.

"We will find her." He said gently.

"They too-" I started but then everything went black. All I could hear was muffed screams and then I felt someone pick me up before I completely lost touch with any of my senses.

-----

I jumped up from my sleep screaming and breathing heavily. I immediately started to cry and sob.

"Caroline?" Said a voice next to me. "Caroline what's the matter?!" The voice said and put a hand on my shoulder, but I pushed it off. "Caroline!" The voice yelled and pulled my hands off of my eyes and made me face them.

"They took her!" I sobbed and fell into Stephan's embrace.

"They took who?" He asked confused.

"Lily." I mumbled.

"Lily?" He questioned. "Our Lily?" He asked.

"Yes, why aren't you upset?" I asked, wiping my tears away.

"Caroline, Lily is in her room sleeping right now." He said. "What happened?" He asked.

"I think I had a bad dream." I said unsure.

"What was it about?" He asked.

"Can I go get Lily first? I'm really shaken up. I promise to answer your questions after." I said.

"Ok." He said and I made a mad dash to Lily's room.

I entered her room and there she was. She must've woken up because she was sat in her crib chewing on her tiny fingers. I looked to the window in her room to see it was closed. I went over to Lily and looked down at her.

"Hi my little princess." I said smiling at her. I think she picked up on my mood because she automatically started to giggle and reach for me.

So, I picked her up, held her in my arms, and just smiled at her. I stood there for awhile just looking at her as she fiddled with my hair, my earrings, and my ring. And that's when it hit me. I carefully made my way back to Stephan and I's bedroom only to see he was gone. Not again. So I walked to the kitchen and there he stood at the stove cooking.

"Hey." Is all he said smiling.

"Hi." I said returning the smile.

"How is she?" He asked gesturing toward Lily.

"She's very bubbly. She was awake when I went into her room." I said.

"Oh, she must've heard you scream then. I'm pretty sure anyone within a hundred miles heard it to." He joked.

"I'm sure you would scream to if Lily was taken." I snapped.

"It was just a joke." He said.

"But you have no idea what it was like." I said trying not to scream with Lily in my arms.

"That's why I asked you to explain it to me!" Stephan said raising his voice now and Lily immediately started to cry.

"No, no, no, no. Shhhhh. It's ok, everything's fine." I cooed, trying to calm her down.

"Is everything fine, Caroline?" Stephan questioned.

"Why would you say that?" I asked.

"Because, Lily was just born about two days ago. And by the sounds of it you are completely horrified that something might happen to her. I mean, come on, you woke up screaming because you thought someone took our little girl." He explained. "I don't want you to worry about her. She's in good hands last time I checked. Or do you want to send her to the Royal Caretaker?" He asked.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's just, it's Lily and I don't want anything to hap-" I said.

"Nothing's going to happen. She's in good hands, ok? I just want you to sit down, eat the breakfast I have wonderfully cooked for us, and calm down." He said gently.

"Ok." I agreed, walking over to the dinning room table and to the chair Stephan had pulled out for me.

-----

"So, did you like it?" Stephan asked wiping the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

"Mhm." I hummed as I finished chewing the last of my breakfast. "Very good." I said.

"What about this little one? Did you enjoy your breakfast?" Stephan said smiling at Lily. Lily just giggled and jumped up and down in her seat in response.

"Your going to be a hand full aren't you?" I questioned and she just giggled again. "Anyways, I had a breakthrough." I said looking at Stephan.

"Oh no. Is like the one you had last time when you figured out that the poking you felt in your stomach was actually Lily kicking you?" He asked.

"I swear! She must hate me! It was like an internal battle with her." I said in defense.

"Sure." He said rolling his eyes and chuckling. "Other than the violent unborn daughter crisis, what was your amazing breakthrough this time?" He asked in a bored tone.

"We have yet to get married. Am I the only one who has yet to remember that?" I ask.

"Do you also remember the nine months of laziness, sickness, painfulness, and let's not forget how sleepy you were?" He asked. "You could barely get out of bed let alone plan a wedding." He continued.

"Fair point." I said agreeing. I was kinda lazy... most of the time... always.

"But if you still want to have a proper wedding we can do that now. I'm mean, if Little Miss Lily doesn't steal the attention of everyone there." He said looking at Lily who just giggled again.

"Like I said, she's going to be a handful." I commented.

"Tell me about it."