"Are you ready for this?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed as I shook my body. With a plop, and the crinkling sound of the paper underneath me, I laid down and nodded. "Second time isn't as nerve wrecking as the first time."

Joy nodded from the door, giving me a reassuring smile as Dr. Martin prepared herself in front of me.

"Well second time is usually the charm for my patients," she spoke behind her surgical mask. I could feel the immediate effects of the drugs that were running through my system, and I nodded my head drowsily.

"We hope it works this time as well...."

~

"Charlotte....." A slight movement of my body had me groaning. "Charlotte, wake up."

"I don't want to."

A slight chuckle from Joy and another push. "Char get up! You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry." I sighed as I pulled the covers over me. Just like the first time, I was now in my room, sleeping off the effects of the procedure the next day. "You should know now that I'm going to be like this for the rest of the day. Trying to get pregnant when you don't want to get pregnant sucks."

"You've been in bed since yesterday, the day you got injected." My nose scrunched up at those words and I huffed as I yanked the covers off. "Get your ass up and do something."

"I am doing something. I am letting someone possibly borrow my body for nine months so they can come out into the world. Isn't that hard work enough?"

"Well the first time didn't work, so I doubt the second time will. Dr. Martin just said that because she wanted you to get your hopes up for a baby."

"She signed the form again, right?"

"Yes Char. Now eat." She pushed the tray of food in front of me, and walked away without another word. I was into the third bite when a knock echoed, and the door slowly opened.

"Is sleeping beauty up yet?"

"Ha ha ha." I took another bite of my french toast and frowned when he stole the small bowl of fruit from the tray. "Hey! Didn't you eat your breakfast already?"

"Yes. But I'm hungry again."

"Well go get your own damn food instead of stealing mine," I laughed as I tried to get the bowl back. He jumped out of the bed, and taunted me with a grape by throwing it, hitting me in the head. "Och! That wasn't nice!"

"I know it wasn't nice," he laughed as he plucked another grape. " But I also believe that that was the point." He flicked the grape again, and I caught it as it bounced against my chest.

"Well thanks for the food." I plopped the grape into my mouth and grinned. "Now give me the bowl back."

"No. You have to come and get it."

I shook my head waved my hand at him. "Then that means getting off the bed and going after you. Too much work."

He laughed at me, and came to sit down by my feet. "Do you want to do something today?"

I momentarily stopped chewing my toast, and looked at him. I swallowed, and pointed a finger at him as I raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

He rolled his eyes and gently placed the half eaten bowl on the tray. He reached over to my nightstand, and grabbed my cup of juice so he could take a drink. I just glared at him and he gave me a quick wink before he placed it back. "No. But I'm sure you don't want to stay in here again. You haven't left the castle in weeks."

"Well that's because I was hoping and praying that the procedure didn't work. And it didn't, thank goodness."

The tips of his ears went red as he scratched the back of his neck and made a weird noise. "Ah... So how did yesterday go?"

A small grin appeared in my face, and I quickly bit my lip before I answered him. "Good. Good. Dr. Martin thinks this time will be the charm."

His face paled a bit, and for a second there, his pupils seemed to dilate. But he quickly looked away and shook his head. "For our sake, I hope it doesn't work."

"True that. But I'll take you up on your deal. There better be food involved since you took half of mine."

He looked back at me with a grin and held out his hand so I could shake it. "Deal."

Not even an hour later, I found myself in the stables, hopping up on a beautiful, white stallion. Ian was already mounted on his older sibling, a solid black one, and I smiled lazily at him. "Now what?"

"Now we ride." He clicked his tongue twice, and his horse kicked off to a soft throttle. Mine followed immediately, and I laughed once we started to gain speed.

I had completely forgotten what it felt like to ride; the steady, soft bounce, the feeling of the horses' strength underneath you, the feeling of the sharp wind on your face...

Another joyous laugh escaped my lips, and I looked over to my left to see Ian smiling over at me as well. He slowed down a bit, and I gently pulled the reigns back, matching his pace.

"Do you see that pond over there?" He pointed with a free hand, and I followed his finger to see the body of water he was talking about. I nodded once and he smirked. "Race you."

"What does the winner get?"

"Loser has to do whatever the winner says. Only one command."

I thought about it for a few seconds, and then nodded. "Deal. Count of three?"

"Three!" He shouted and bolted off.

"You cheater!" I raced after him, and of course, he ended up winning by a foot. "You cheated! I win by default!"

He dismounted his horse, and walked over to me, his hand extended. "We never agreed on playing fair. Now you owe me."

With a plop, I got down and crossed my arms. "No. I'm taking back my deal."

He was shaking his head as he took stuff out from the side pockets of both horses saddles. "We agreed. A deal is a deal ma'am." He handed me a blanket, two plastic cups, and a brown paper bag as he spoke. He then turned back around, and the scent of food filled my nostrils. "But for now, I have to take part of my deal. I did promise you food."

My eyes were too busy scanning the Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo pasta in the container. Even though I had barely eaten an hour ago, my stomach growled and I blushed as I looked away.

"I thought so. Follow me." We left the horses to free roam, and walked to the north side of the pond. After I extended the blanket, we quickly plopped down and began to divide everything without speaking. I felt our hands touched at one point, but I was too busy looking through the bag for another fork. When I had looked back, his hand was gone and he was unscrewing our drinks.

"Do I have to eat like a princess because of unsuspected paparazzi, or can I enjoy my meal?" I asked him as I picked up my fork.

Half of his face turn into a smile and he shook his head. "No paparazzi here. We are still in private property."

"Thank goodness," I moaned and began to stuff my face. He quickly joined, and soon enough, we were both spread out, watching the clouds float peacefully in the sky, our mess in between us. There was a comfortable silence until he cleared his throat, making me turn my neck to face him.

"Can I ask you a sincere question?"

I pursed my lips and scrunched up my nose. "Sure. I guess."

"Do... do you regret ever doing this?" He asked so softly, it almost got drowned by the neighs of the horses.

He was facing me as well, his head propped up by his arm, so I didn't see any sign that he was joking. I gulped loudly, looked away, but then turned back as I bit my lip.

"You're talking about the marriage?"

He nodded once. "Ever since the marriage, you haven't been yourself. I overheard Arlene and Margaret speaking one night, saying how you don't fool around anymore." He quickly brought his cup to his lips and took a drink before continuing. "That you are more mature now, and don't risk your life like before."

I raised my eyebrows up at him and blinked multiple times. "They thought I wasn't mature before?" I asked, interrupting him.

His shoulders rose slightly as he shrugged. He quickly shifted over to his stomach, and laid his head on his forearms as he stared at me. "I don't know. You have to ask them that." He took a breath through his nose and then continued. "Besides the marriage, they also think that the deals we have with our parents caused you to focus on your duties to the throne, and stop making you do your stunts. So all I'm asking, is do you regret doing it, since you lost or changed part of yourself because of it."

I pursed my lips again, and looked behind his figure to the horses that were munching on the grass. I had never actually thought about everything he had told me, and hadn't actually realized it was true. Ever since I got... married, I hadn't done anything huge. Sure, I had almost killed myself in that snow storm, and then crashed into Ian the day they first told us about their baby deal, but that was it. Those two "stunts," if you called them that, were nothing compared to the numerous I had done before.

I was lacking.

So was it because of the marriage? The deal? The royal deal? The latter was more like it, but now the question he asked: did I regret it? I had dramatically changed because of the deal, so was I hating it?

I knew he was waiting for an answer, so I quickly flicked my eyes back to his face and sighed deeply.

"I... I don't know." His eyes widened a fraction, but he quickly blinked and shrugged again as he sat up.

"It was just a question I was curious about. I'm not going to drag it on." He then grinned evilly and slapped his hands together loudly before he rubbed them. "Now, about our deal."

I groaned and sat up, shaking my head. "No. Remember, it wasn't fair."

"Don't be a party pooper. I swear, it won't be something embarrassing."

I sighed and rubbed my temples as I shook my head. "Fine. Just to get it over with."

It was quiet as he thought about it. I slowly began to clean up our mess, and only looked up when he snapped his fingers.

"I got it." I raised an eyebrow up at him and he gave me a grin. "Take a swim with the fish." He pointed to the small body of water next to us with his thumb as he spoke.

My mouth fell open. "Are you serious? Have you not noticed what I'm wearing?"

His eyes flickered to my clothing, and he raised an eyebrow confused. "What about it?"

"I'm wearing a white shirt you dumbass. It gets see through when it's wet."

He shrugged and lazily laid back on his arms as he extended his legs out in front of him. "That's what you have to do. Or else you'll owe me."

With a huff, I threw him a cold piece of chicken, and then chucked my shoes off. I threw them at him as well, and he just laughed as he tried to dodge them.

"If I get sick, I'm kïlling you."

He just watched with a small grin as I stood up, and took the few steps to the edge of the water. I pulled my hair up into a tight ponytail, turned my head around to the eyes that I could feel staring at me, and glared at him before I stepped inside.

"Ah shït! It's cold!" The water only reached to below my knees, and I frowned. "Can I get out now?"

"Nope. You're not even wet. Sit down and roll over."

"I'm not a dog!" I snapped, but sat down. A small shriek escaped my lips as the water rushed up, soaking my pants and the bottom of my shirt. "There. Now can I get up?"

"I believe your top half is still dry." He mused and I flicked him off, earning me a few chuckles. I splashed some water in his direction, and then completely laid down, closing my eyes as I went under. I stayed under the water for about seven seconds before I snapped back up, and moved the end of my hair off my face. I quickly draped my arms over my chest as I stood up, and walked back to him.

"Here," he murmured and wrapped the blanket we had been sitting on around me. I quickly took the edges and shivered as I danced in my spot.

"Why did I do that? I'm cold now!"

He pulled me into his arms, and began to rub his arms up and down against my back. I began to pull back when I noticed that the water was soaking the blanket, but he just pulled me back. "Body heat is the best way to stay warm, remember?"

"I hate you right now."

"No you don't. You love me."

I rolled my eyes as I continued staring at his chest. "In your dreams."

We stood there for a few more minutes, and then he pulled us apart, landing a quick kiss on my forehead. "Lets go get you changed before you actually get sick." With one more rub to my arm, he began to gather up all the things while I stood there frozen.

Did he even realize what he had just done? His expression didn't even faze, and when he looked up at me with a small smile, he didn't notice my shocked expression.

"You ready?"

I nodded mutely, and he led us back to the horses. My heart rate picked up its beat when he helped me up into his horse instead of mine, and a small blush spread across my skin when I felt him behind me. It felt different riding with someone else, but I was sort of glad he had thought of putting me with him since I couldn't really control the reigns behind the blanket.

Once we were back to the stables, he quickly jumped off and helped me. "Go change. I'll meet you up in a bit."

"O-okay," I stuttered and robotically turned around. Without another word from both of us, I made my way pass the curious gazes of the guards and maids, and rushed into my room.

If I was actually telling the truth, I didn't mind the deal at times like these....

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I apologize for the late update! Buuuuut happy Valentine's Day/ Singles Awareness Day to those who are still in Feb. 14!

Do I smell love in the air? Or is it just the faint scent of the chocolate covered strawberries I stuffed my face with a couple minutes ago? 🤔

Whatever it is, comment what you think is happening between them. Or comment your favorite holiday! Whatever you want!!

Vote, love, share with friends.

Thanks!