More Titles ~ 16

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Chapter Sixteen

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The next day Anna Margaret had nothing to do except to catch up with all the news from the day before.

Frederick had won his semifinal – she knew that. He had said something about sponsors and she had said something about sponsors – she knew that too.

Florian, Murielle and Julian had been to the National House again – she knew that, but nothing worth mentioning had happened there.

People had contacted her spokesman about several things – she had put off answering him until today.

Sponsors and the national Olympic committee had reacted to the sponsorship issue – predictably.

Spectators had seen them at the stadium – obviously.

RTA had broadcast the race, but many people had still been watching German TV – Alex was now a hero.

Someone had seen Isabelle at the supermarket – so much for their tricks.

Someone had seen Frederick kiss her goodbye at the stadium – no photos, just applause.

In between reading sessions, she took care of the laundry. It was quiet in the house because at nine, a group of youngsters had assembled at the end of the street to meet the younger residents for a day at Disneyland Paris.

Isabelle had no idea who they all were, but she had let it go. The last thing she wanted was to have to go to a theme park herself to supervise them. She and Philip had taken a taxi in the other direction with her mother to meet more acquaintances, because despite the long trip, it was easier to do that now that to fly over another time. Max was left at home with his aunt.

Anna Margaret had no acquaintances she wanted to meet. Or rather, she had no energy to think of acquaintances who might be in the greater Paris area. Undoubtedly there were some.

She checked Rick’s vlogs, because she had forgotten to do so earlier. The cyclists had not been open to the idea of tattoos. She could not help but think the cyclists had thought themselves more serious athletes than these exotic athletic species. They were friendly, but they clearly could not quite place this unserious vlogging business.

Alex was occasionally bothered by his first tooth and she rubbed the stuff Isabelle had bought on his gums. They had taken a long nap. She had him on the bed with her – safely – and Max in the cot and afterwards she felt refreshed enough to continue working on the laundry pile. In the background the TV showed the Olympics with the sound off.

The towels were easy. They were all the same colour and it would not matter where they ended up, as long as all bathrooms were stocked. She could also recognise her own clothes and some of what the others had been wearing, but what remained was an enormous pile of underclothes again.

She was just studying it when she received a text message saying that the adults would be home in a minute. She appreciated the warning. Being alone in a strange house had been restful, but also a little scary. Someone could easily have climbed over the low fence. And what with them having to walk to and from the stadium every time, anyone who wanted to know where they were staying could have followed them.

Isabelle disappeared into her bedroom with Max almost immediately.

“They asked where you were,” said Philip about their acquaintances. “I didn’t say we don’t generally bring the housekeeper on visits.”

Anna Margaret threw a pair of socks – the only pair that she had been able to match – at his head. “Actually, I read and napped most of the time.”

“Good, good. You shouldn’t be doing too much.”

“My work is done. These are all everybody else’s things.” She gestured at the underclothes.

Philip began to lay out all the men’s underwear on the coffee table, drawing horrified looks from his mother-in-law.

“It looks all the same to me,” said Anna Margaret, seeing him make piles at a surprising speed anyway.

“Because someone has been buying in bulk.” He carried three piles away.

“When did the boys last drink?” asked Isabelle, appearing in the doorway with her shirt unbuttoned. She looked a little desperate.

“I’m sorry. Max had some an hour ago. Alex didn’t want much.” She had not even needed to use some pumped milk for Max.

“I’m bursting! And he doesn’t want any.”

“Take Alex?” Anna Margaret offered.

Isabelle wasted no time picking Alex up from his activity mat. “Please, please, Alex.”

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“Well, your absence was noted,” said Philip when he had mopped the kitchen floor. The TV was on Eurosport, but he had also been reading news on his laptop.

Anna Margaret was wondering why he was doing three things at once. No, four – he was also making tea. “My absence where?”

“Your absence from our meeting in Paris. People really make too much of these things. They don’t even know if you knew these people, but it was noted that you were not with us.”

“But what did you tell your friends?”

“Isabelle told them you were staying with us, but that you wanted to have the house to yourself and that Alex was a little unwell. Exactly what it was.”

“Not anymore.” Isabelle came in and rested her hands on the table with a relieved sigh. “I feel as if I’ve gone down two bra sizes in the last ten minutes.”

“Did Alex do that?” Anna Margaret was surprised. He had not seemed very hungry earlier.

“I fed them at the same time. I ordered them to drink, so they did. But I was dying in the taxi – I almost asked Philip to help me.”

“Du bist wirklich eine Drama-Queen,” said her mother, just coming in.

“But now my arms and shoulders hurt from holding them in odd positions at the same time and I might have overreached when I tried to lift the second one, so I need a massage.” She looked at her husband.

“Do that in the middle of the night, thank you,” said Queen Anna.

“If you hear anything, it’s a massage,” said Isabelle, who had finally pried Philip away from his tea with her eyes.

“Where did you leave the babies?” asked her mother.

“In Anna Margaret’s room. I can’t carry two down the stairs at the same time.”

“See?” Queen Anna shot Anna Margaret a knowing look. “Massage! Let’s turn the TV sound up.”

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The family they had met with had posted photos on their own Instagram account. Royalty fans had noted that none of the children had been with them, not even Maximilian. The idea that the Prime Minister had been babysitting seven children had begun to circulate not long after.

Evidently Florian had not liked the idea that half the internet believed that he still needed a babysitter, because the family’s Instagram account quickly mentioned that the five older children had been to Disneyland Paris today with other young Olympics fans. It had been posted after they had left there, naturally, so they could not be seen.

The account also added that Maximilian and Alexander had stayed home with their aunt, because Alex was teething. Some people pitied her, some praised her. Anna Margaret was not personally active on social media, so there were no photos of her day that people knew of. If she had taken any pictures, people would have to wait for other people to post them. Given how easily she had shut down RTA the day before with a baby in her arms made people wonder what she did all day – she just had to have been multitasking. Maybe she was on the phone all day, explaining things to people. Maybe she lay by the pool all day. People had no idea.

It was not long until the official account posted a photo of socks with a caption that said that after a long day at Disney their aunt made them pair socks together. If they were seen without socks tomorrow, that means they had been too tired to obey this order.
The account gave an update on Alex’ wellbeing later, showing him sitting on the couch with Max, smiling and both supported by pillows so they would not fall over. They had Disney teething rings in their little hands.

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The day of the final came. Anna Margaret was nervous, despite telling herself that any outcome was good. They followed the same routine as two days ago, except that the children were quicker to get ready.

The number of countrymen seemed to be greater today. There were many of them in the queues. Her father, too, had let her know yesterday that they would be driving over to a hotel halfway, to finish the rest of the journey this morning. She had not spotted her parents yet.

The little Frenchman had provided Isabelle with more day passes, now knowing they would not take up space for hours, but that they would be gone almost immediately after their final. Anna Margaret appreciated his flexible solution. They should send the man something, regardless of the outcome of today’s race. “Don’t you do pretty shiny plaques that the little Frenchman can hang up in his hallway or something?” she whispered to Isabelle.

“I’m on it.”

Anna Margaret saw her type things on her phone and then, when they were seated, have a discreet word with their hostess, who was probably happy she could bring them something other than water.

Anna Margaret could not even swallow her water. Alex tried to take her glass and do that for her – a first. He suddenly appeared to know what to do with a glass. Expertly he grabbed it with two hands while she was still holding it and guided it to his mouth. There it did not go entirely as planned, but perhaps he had not really planned it out. Some water was spilled over his blue national team uniform and he giggled. Then he clenched the rim of the glass between his jaws and looked pleased. Anna Margaret lifted it up a bit so he could feel the water in his mouth and something clearly clicked in his brain: so that is what you do with a glass. He drank.

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The final began. Anna Margaret had stepped out into the stands, her eyes glued to the big screen on the other side of the course. It was a tight race in the beginning, but one by one rowers started to fall behind. Not too much yet, they could still come back. Frederick was going steady in second place. Her heart was in her throat. Could he hold on to that? What could he see? What could his opponent see?

Was it not too soon to go at 1200m? Philip said it was 1200m, anyway. She could not tell. He was level with the other rower now, but the latter might accelerate any time now. Frederick was seen to be slightly ahead; he had almost unnoticeably crept past. But he had already sped up, it seemed, and the other had not.

“Now,” said Philip. “Watch.”

The creeping past was more noticeable now, to the point that it was no longer creeping. With every stroke he was distancing himself from the others, although there were two who were beginning to advance on the athlete currently in second place.

“But…” said Anna Margaret. Was he going to do it? Should a wife have been certain of this? She glanced around briefly in confusion. His mother was even already crying. This was surreal. She looked back at the screen and then at the course, where the field was rapidly approaching. He was still ahead. Please don’t let him be overtaken!

One came really close in the end, but the outcome was very clear. Anna Margaret felt stupid to be so stunned.