A Christmas Wedding 3 Chapter 3

The evening fell. The castle lit up in the light from the decorated trees and garden. In the front yard was a big Christmas tree, also decorated with lights.

Christmas time was the favourite time of the crown princess. She wandered through the castle. After a good nap, she figured she could go wandering around through the castle.
Abigail Knight was happy to be back in the land she was born. Even though she had spent most of her time in London, she was always happy when she was back in Knightendale.

"Abigail, why don't you come inside?"

Abigail looked up. She was standing outside her father's work office. She didn't know how to react, but she decided to go inside. "What is it, Dad?" she whispered. She was afraid that her father was still angry. Or at least upset.

"Abby," said Victor, as he stood up, "there is something I want to say to you."

Abigail stood still while her father approached her. "What do you...?"

"I'm really sorry I reacted the way I did. It's just…" Victor sighed. "I could have never expected that you would be pregnant at such a young age."

Father and daughter looked to each other. Both didn't know what to say. "It's… It's alright, Daddy." said Abigail after a while. "I didn't expect it either, but I can't wait for the baby to be born. And neither can Phillip."

Victor gave her a smile. "Neither can I. But I have to admit that I hope that the baby will be born here."

Abigail nodded. It became a tradition, which was started by her mother. Besides that, she felt comfortable to be in Knightendale and to be her mother and grandmother. "I'd better be going. Grandpa is waiting for me." Abigail said goodbye to her father and she walked out of the room. It took her a few minutes before the news finally sank in.

"Abby, are you alright, dear?"

Abigail felt a hand on her shoulder. "What did you and Granny do with Dad?" Abigail asked as she turned around. She looked into the eyes of her father's mother.

Mildred smiled. "All I can say is that there were dungeons involved." she looked to her granddaughter. "Is there something wrong?"

Abigail shook her head. "Dad said that he can't wait to see his grandchild."

"That's wonderful to hear." Mildred knew that her son needed some time to et used to it. But she didn't know it would take that long.

"We haven't seen each other for four months, so I can understand why he was in such a shock."

"That is true." Mildred sighed. That was the downside of living abroad. Victor and Anita had to rule their kingdom, while Abigail and Veronique studied in the United Kingdom, not far away from Mildred's place.
It meant that Victor and Anita didn't get to see their children as much as they wanted to. Mildred, however, did see her grandchildren a lot. Veronique stayed at Mildred's place during the school periods while Abigail had her own place, together with Phillip.

"I should be going, Gran. Grandpa is waiting for me." Mildred nodded and they said goodbye.

While Abigail walked downstairs, she saw more and more servants being busy with the party for that night. It promised to be one of the biggest parties Knightendale ever had.
But Abigail wasn't going to see how the ballroom looked like; she was going to see how her grandfather was doing.

Since five years, Arthur Knight was known 'Prince of Knightendale'. The old king had been struck by cancer, which meant that Victor and Anita Volt had to come back to Knightendale to take over the throne.
But the old man was cured and now, every afternoon before dinner, Abigail and Arthur would play chess.

"What took you so long, Princess?" sounded when Abigail arrived at her grandfather's study.

Abigail laughed. "Are you still upset with the fact that you had to wait four months to get your revenge?" she said as she walked to Arthur.

Arthur looked to his granddaughter. "Do you know how much it hurts to show the tourists that I had lost the last game?" Abigail and Arthur had made the bet that, when Abigail was at Knightendale, they would play once a day and the tourists would see who had lost the last game.

"Poor Granddaddy." said Abigail and she gave Arthur a hug.

"How are you and the baby, Abby?"

"We are both fine. It shouldn't take long before we will be able to feel the baby moving and kicking." Abigail sat down into her chair. This was one of the many things she missed while she was away.

"Are you going to teach your child to play chess?"

Abigail nodded. "I think this should be a tradition; playing chess with Grandpa. Abigail made the first move. She had been playing chess since she was eight years old. Every time Abigail and her parents were visiting Knightendale, Arthur had taught her how to play chess. And eleven years later, she still played it with her grandfather.

A few moves later, Abigail looked to Arthur. "Grandpa, what did you think when you heard Daddy's first law?"

Since the law states that the kingdom should never be ruled alone, Victor and Anita came back when they heard the terrible news. After they had been crowned King and Queen, Victor had proposed a law already. It states that every King and Queen of Knightendale should have 'Knight' as their surname.

Arthur gave his granddaughter a big smile. "I couldn't love it more." he said. "Besides that, he also managed to modernise the law that states that the new partner of the heir of the throne should be picked at the Ball."

Abigail smiled. Her father figured that since Abigail already had a wonderful boyfriend, it wouldn't be necessary to give Abigail a suitor ball. So now it was that every single Prince and Princess had, at the age of twenty-two, to find a partner at the suitor's ball.

After an hour playing, a knock sounded. Both Arthur and Abigail looked up. "Who dares to disturb our game?" asked Arthur and the door went open.

"Your Queen." said Mary Lynn as she walked into the room.

"What are you doing here, Granny?" asked Abigail as she looked back at the chessboard. "Checkmate, Grandpa."

Arthur looked back at the board. "Are you… Have you been practicing?"

Abigail laughed. "Well, Phillip loves to play some chess too." she stood up and walked to her grandmother.

"Well, there is someone who wants to see you." said Mary Lynn and she stepped aside. A dark haired young man walked into the room.

"Phillip!" said Abigail with a big smile and she gave her husband a hug.

"Hey Abby," said Phillip and he looked at her, "how are you?"

"It's just wonderful to be back." said Abigail as she looked to her grandparents. "I'll see you at dinner." They said goodbye to Mary Lynn and Arthur and walked away. "How was your flight?"

"Faster than I thought it would be." said Phillip with a smile. "I thought I would be here after dinner, but it was beautiful flying weather."

"Hm-hm, I'm glad we're together again." said Abigail.

"What are you thinking about?"

"How we first met." The first year at University, students from interior design and architectural design had to work at a project together. Phillip, who studied architectural, and Abigail, who studied interior, met each other because they became project partners. And it turned out that they fell in love during the project.
There was just one but… Phillip didn't know that Abigail was a Princess. But there was another surprise. "You know, I was pretty surprised when you told me that you were a son of a duke."

Phillip laughed. "Well, it did make some things easier for us." Both Abigail and Phillip kept their background a secret, to make sure that there wouldn't be anyone who would love them for the money. "I can't wait for our little joy to arrive."

Abigail gave her husband a little smile and she looked at him. "I love you, Phillip."

Phillip looked up and looked back to Abigail. When he didn't say anything, Abigail looked up too. She laughed when she saw the mistletoe hanging above their heads. Phillip gave her a long, romantic kiss. "I love you too."