Alice
al-is. Origin:German. Meaning: noble, exalted.
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Alice was the perfect child, the embodiment of a perfect princess; beloved by both her mother and father from the moment they found out she was a girl; the glue that keeps her family togethe...
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She didn't want to name him. That hadn't been her intention. During the pregnancy she hadn't even given the baby a nickname, like most expectant mothers would often do, Alice simply called the baby 'baby', as it should be in her opinion.
But the doctor had come that afternoon and asked for the baby to stay in England a while longer, saying he was worried his lungs were a little weak for the travel. Alice disagreed, the baby seemed to scream more and more every day and every hour, but she wasn't a doctor, she had barely finished the previous semester and only did so because she was a princess, which came with some perks she now came to admit.
So the parents didn't come to meet the baby that evening and so, against her better judgment, Alice went into the baby's room, where Tiggy was picking up a few dirty bottles to take to the kitchen when Alice came in and baby slept soundly in his bassinet. Tiggy closed the door and for the first time since the baby was born Alice was alone with him, all alone and absolutely terrified, she wanted to run out and ask Tiggy to stay while she went to the kitchen, but by now she was far away, half way down probably, so it was just the two of them, mother and son.
Alice sat down on the chair that had been placed beside the bassinet, looking over at her sleeping child, looking at his features and trying to remember exactly how David looked like, so that she could place who had given what to the baby. He clearly had her strawberry hair, bright but still very few on his tiny head, and from what she had seen he had blue eyes, from her side as David had green eyes. His nose was petite, like hers, which made her imagine he would probably have her nose. Something he had from David, however, and Alice found quite lovely even under their circumstances, was David's cleft chin, very small but at the very centre which Alice always adored in David.
It seemed like the baby would be, to Alice's tragedy, a perfect mixture of both his parents, somethings from Alice, somethings from David, however, all things from parents he would never actually get to meet, David probably more than Alice, as he never actually knew she was expecting a baby.
Alice's eyes filled with tears when the baby moved and let out a small yawn. Alice could hear footsteps outside but she didn't care, and carefully took the baby's hand, something she hadn't done since Tiggy arrive shortly after baby was born. It was small but warm, and had the tiniest fingernails Alice had ever seen in her life, and to her surprise a few moments later, still with his eyes closed, the baby closed his small hand around her finger, making her heart ache and a tear roll down her cheek.
She touched his strawberry hair, thinking about how it would look in a few years, if it would become lighter or maybe even more red, something her own hair had done while growing up. She touched his forehead and thought how she wouldn't be the one kissing it goodnight every night and goodbye before he went to school, how she wouldn't be the one to hug him when he had a nightmare or was scared to face his fears. And like he knew, like he felt his mother's sadness, the baby started to cry, slowly and rather quietly at first, but soon Alice was just as overwhelmed as the baby.
She didn't know what was wrong with him, she didn't know what he wanted, or how to make him stop, so she did what came naturally to her, she talked.
"Don't cry, baby. Please.
"Please, stop crying."
She was whispering but her whispers were the loudest beggings anyone around would have heard, and although tears continued to scream down her face she continued to talk and ask her baby not to cry.
"Please, sweet baby, don't cry.
"Please, dear Alfred, there's no need to cry."
Slowly the baby came to a rest and looked at his mother, who was still red to the face from her own crying and her panic from not knowing what to do. But dear Alfred had seemed to have heard his mother's prayers and calmed down and by the time there was a light knock at the door a few minutes later Alfred was closing his eyes once again and drifting off to sleep.
"Someone told me there was crying." Tiggy said, a little tired from the running up the stairs she had just done at her not so young age.
"There was, but it was probably more me than Alfred." Alice said, cleaning away her face from the tears that were still insisting on falling.
"Alfred?"
"The baby."
Alice felt like she had been caught on the act and looked away, trying to find the quickest escape from the room and the gaffe she had just committed. But Tiggy, the nanny that had brought her up and was there during her darkest days, just smiled and hugged her, caressing Alice's hair like she had done so many times while Alice was growing up.
"Alfred its a beautiful name."
The Princess nodded while Tiggy left the room once again, this time to go back to the kitchen and pick the bottles she had left in a rush. Alice, on the other hand, lowered herself near the bassinet, carefully caressing the chubby cheek of her baby.
"Be brave, my dear Alfred. And be wise, this world is too ruthless to those who aren't."
