Elizabeth raked her fingers through her hair that she desperately tried to put back together. She looked at her siblings. Hannah had taken to spinning in her spot. Henry’s eyes were crossed and focused on his outstretched tongue as he observed its movement. Holden bounced on his toes, his head bobbing to the sides as if the music was playing in his head. Elizabeth let out a breathy laugh, stopping the children in their tracks as if they had just remembered their sister’s existence.
Holden cocked his head, “Izzy?”
Elizabeth froze. Her eyes shot a narrowed glare at her brother who fell back into himself. Nicknames were unheard of in their family. Their names were already perfect. Why would one change perfection?
For the majority of her young life, Elizabeth had been Elizabeth. She had never expected anything more or less. Kaleb had always been Kaleb, and Joshua- Joshua. They were princes and princesses, their names were perfect. If anyone dared to change them, the perfection was seen as being challenged. Nicknames were simply ridiculous. But then the triplets were born, and along with many other disruptions they brought to the perfection, nicknames all of sudden didn’t seem so bad.
Royal parents already tended to be detached from their children’s lives. They only became involved if needed. Other than that it was really up to the servants, the nannies, the teachers, and the children themselves to raise them.
As the first child, Kaleb was doted on by the entire family. Although birth order didn’t necessarily dictate the successor to the throne, tradition saw that the oldest would take the title. So, it was to be expected that everyone would be on top of Kaleb from birth.
As the second child, Elizabeth was the first princess of her parents. She was their baby girl. Their perfect rose. Even still her parents had already become more withdrawn from her upbringing than they had been with her brother.
As the third child, Joshua was just a repeat. Their parents had already had both a prince and princess. They had already experienced the ‘raising’ of them. Although only two years younger than his sister, Joshua was an extra. His lackluster for being a royal was instilled from an early age and only built on as he saw more of his nanny than his mother and father.
As the fourth, fifth, and sixth, all unplanned, children, Henry, Hannah, and Holden were just a disruption. Their parents had already taken the throne at the point of their birth and their workload overtook their parenthood. And so the babies saw more of the walls of their bassinets than their parents.
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