More Titles ~ 18 (end)

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Chapter Eighteen

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It was dangerous out there, Anna Margaret noticed when she set just one foot outside of the restaurant to see if everything was over and spectators were leaving. RTA jumped on her almost immediately. She had no idea if Frederick was going to come from the same direction, but such media ambushes were probably happening to him elsewhere as well.

"Madam Prime Minister, may we ask you a few questions?” And the reporter proceeded without waiting for her reply. “Congratulations on Prince Frederick’s win. He mentioned at the press conference that he has a rowing course. Who exactly is it for? Foreign rowers?"

Anna Margaret hoped that this meant that the press conference was finished. "It's a rowing course and at present we don't have many domestic rowers, so most rowers using it will be foreign, from surrounding countries. In due time, there will be more domestic rowers, but they would have to take up the sport first."

"Prince Frederick said there is only one boat for people to use. Why is that?"

"They cost more than € 10,000 apiece." She generally remembered things she was told and usually that came in handy.

“Will parents have to invest that sort of sum in their child’s sport?”

“No child is forced to take up rowing, so no parents will be forced to buy an expensive boat. If they are serious, however, this sport does require some financial investments, yes.” She had had no idea it was so expensive either, but that was because she had never thought about it.

“That means a large part of the population will be excluded.”

“A large part of our population is also excluded from travelling to the Alps to go skiing. Once a structure is in place, rowing may in fact become more accessible than skiing, albeit in a borrowed boat. The venue can also be used for other sports, so it’s not as if the entrance fee is € 10,000 just to get in.”

“Which other sports?”

“There is water and a path around the course. You can do more sports there. The more facilities you’ll need, the more you’ll pay.”

"What sort of facilities are we to think of?"

"Changing rooms, showers, the water, borrowing a boat, a rowing lesson, the coffee room..." She had spent 300 euros on having that properly set up, after all.

"But access to a lake should be free."

"Access to a lake should be safe – not to mention that this is a private lake. Monitoring access to the course is for safety and ensures some swimmer will not be killed by a rowing boat – they're rowing backwards, as you saw – because it will be known that said swimmer has actually entered the venue and is aware of the rules."

"And someone who's just coming for a walk will pay as well."

She gave that a shrug. "You want to know who's entered your private venue if you are related to the queen. So the entry fee is also a tiny contribution to the costs of the entry system and the fence. And it’s only accessible to people who have registered.” She was happy she had listened well when this had been explained to her, if only because there were always people who wanted to hold the prime minister accountable for what princes did.

“That’s a huge barrier for some.”

Anna Margaret was unconcerned. “Is it? People doing other activities are not forced to do them exactly there. There are advantages to doing them there and you’ll have to pay for that.”

“But this gold medal is an excellent opportunity to make the sport accessible.”

“Accessible means that most people can afford it, because a sport is either inherently cheap, or heavily subsidised by public funds. Accessible does not mean funded by a private person. A private person is under no obligation to make something accessible to everyone.”

“Can the government force the prince to open the course to everyone?”

“No, the government cannot. And what would that solve, if people have no boats?”

“But for other sports?”

“You were talking about the gold medal as an opportunity, therefore you were talking about rowing. Rowing will not be accessible to everyone whilst there are not enough boats for everyone – and there will never be enough boats for everyone, because they are expensive. In your opinion, who should be buying all these boats?”

“The prince?”

“After he spent close to twenty million on the actual course?” She raised her eyebrows. “Surely that, combined with a gold medal, is enough of a contribution to the promotion of rowing?”

“Thank you for your time.”

---

German reporters found Anna Margaret as well, possibly because she had just been interviewed by a camera crew and she had Alex on her arm. Who else could she be? "Congratulations to you and your son on Frederick’s win."

"Thank you." And Alex was looking at the man as if he understood everything. He held up his teething ring as if it was a medal and then bit it.

"Frederick told ZDF in the mixed zone that contraception is harder than rowing. What is your opinion?"

Contrary to the rest of the family, Anna Margaret was not fluent in German and contrary to the reporter, she had no idea what Frederick had been saying in the mixed zone because she had not been told. "What is harder than rowing? I don’t know that word."

"Contraception. Preventing a pregnancy. It is more difficult than rowing."

"It is. It was." But what on earth had he discussed? This was a really odd jump from accessibility of sports and venues.

"But how?" asked the German.

"Saying rational things after winning gold is also harder than rowing. Same thing." Emotions got in the way. And had the Germans won all other gold medals today or something? They were just as unhinged as a winner might be.

"But you also didn't know how to prevent a surprise baby -- and you're the prime minister."

Were they all-knowing? She gave that notion an apologetic smile. They were not. "I don't know anything outside of my job."

"But we heard you can get into a boat without falling out, so that makes it easier than not getting pregnant.”

“My score would be three out of three times there, I suppose,” Anna Margaret admitted after she decided to simply roll with these strange questions. “But as for not getting pregnant, I got pregnant one time and I did not get pregnant probably four times, so I don’t know what you’d consider better. I might still fall out of that boat the fourth time and then it would be equal. But I see the point. If you absolutely don’t want to get wet, don’t get into a boat. And if you absolutely don't want babies, you shouldn't sleep with each other."

She looked aside and beckoned. "But here's my mother-in-law. She speaks much better German." She pressed Alex into his grandmother’s arms because clearly the Germans were interested in talking about babies and how they came about, so she could make a quick trip to the toilet.

---

“Congratulations, Your Highness. You must be very proud,” the reporter continued to Frederick’s mother, who looked slightly taken aback by both being handed Alex and having a microphone shoved under her nose.

“Thank you. Yes, we are all very proud.”

“Did you watch all the rounds?”

“I came over for the first round and later I came over again. Driving back and forth all the time was a bit tiring.”

“Your son explained how he trains while having a baby. Do you ever need to babysit while he trains?”

“Rarely. The girls -- my daughter and daughter-in-law -- mostly babysit each other's babies if needed, because of the breastfeeding. But they come by and sometimes we swim while Frederick swims.”

“Frederick said that not getting pregnant was more complicated than not falling out of a boat.”

His mother looked bemused, but only for a second. “I can see what he means.”

“Can the rest of the world? I think we would all find stepping into such a narrow boat far more difficult and daunting than using contraception.”

“That depends on what sort of practice you’ve prioritised,” Frederick’s mother said calmly. “But it’s probably the only area that you can be quite bad in and still have a very cute result.” She looked at Alex. “But don't take it so literally. They would otherwise have got pregnant a month later. They were committed and ready."

The German decided not to press further – or perhaps he understood. “What is Frederick going to do in the next few years? Will he prepare for 2028?”

“I doubt it, but you never know. Exercising is incorporated into his life to such an extent that he may just keep it up.”

“Or will he be training the next generation?”

“That is also possible.”

“Another child for the family double sculls in twenty years?”

Queen Anna raised her eyebrows. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“Well, they seem to find it difficult not to get pregnant.”

“Ach, so. But they will not go for a full eight. A four is maximum,” Frederick’s mother predicted.

“Four!”

“And Alex has a cousin, so that helps. But I don’t think they will dictate which sport the children must or must not do.”

“But he makes his wife train and the baby has Strava.”

“What is Strava?” asked Frederick’s mother.

---

When Frederick appeared, he was followed by two men in their national colours Anna Margaret vaguely recognised as being either NOC or higher Olympic team staff. They had not been here before, as far as she knew, and she had no idea what business they could have. It was all irrelevant now anyway, because she stood up and passed Alex to a cousin.

She hugged Frederick and gave him a long kiss that conveyed ‘and now you’re all ours’. She did not care there were other people in the restaurant watching. Frederick took her into a secluded corner where they stored extra baby chairs. There he simply sat down on the floor, hidden behind a divider with plants in it, and she joined him.

She saw he had been holding back until now, so she only sat there while he truly processed what had happened. She did not know how long it took, but that did not matter. This was necessary. He had taken her here, but he did not speak. She simply held him and ignored people who passed a few metres away to go to the toilets.

“Where’s Alex?” he asked eventually, after he had pressed a kiss on her cheek.

“Shall I get him?” If Frederick went to get it, he would never be able to return. People would claim him and not let him go. She was not sure he was ready. “You stay here.”

The family were waiting as if they had all the patience in the world. Alex had been bouncing around like he always did, but it had activated poop mode and he needed to be changed. “I think he smells,” said Murielle.

“Sorry,” Anna Margaret said, grabbing her bag. “I’ll change him.”

Alex had managed to soil all of his clothes, even if it was just a little bit. “No cuddling just yet,” she warned Frederick. “You’d just squeeze the poop out.”

“Well, I...” He laughed. “OK.”

They took him into the toilet nearby that had a changing table and washed him in the sink. Alex thought he was going swimming and was all excitement. He even peed out of the sink, even though there were other people around.

“Alex!” said his mother. “Do you do this in the pool too?” He was wearing swimwear then and they had not noticed if he did.

Frederick wiped the floor with a few paper towels. He then dried Alex on the changing table with more paper towels, while Anna Margaret rinsed his clothes.

“What does he wear now?” Frederick wondered.

“Just his nappy. I didn’t bring anything else. It’s warm enough.” She wrapped the wet clothes in plastic bags and put them into her bag. “Ready to join everyone?”

“I suppose I must. Are you?” he asked.

“Yes,” she smiled. “And there are people there who want to congratulate you.”

“Maybe you can buy something in the merchandise shop that he can wear.” Frederick had now clipped the teething ring to his own clothes with a pacifier clip. He looked at it. “Because...”

“It looks wonderful. Just like a medal. I wonder if people are going to think you got it at the medal ceremony as well. We’ll see if someone wants to go and check out the baby clothes. Or I could do it myself if I can leave you alone.” She agreed that it was best off clipped to something. Alex tended to drop it a lot and then they would have to keep rinsing it.

He gave her a look as they stepped into the corridor. “I appreciate your personal manager type of concern.”

“I’m just going over to the merchandise to see if they have baby clothes,” Anna Margaret announced to the family. She left Frederick with them. Hopefully other people would allow them some time together before they interrupted with congratulations of their own. The two national team officials were sitting somewhere else, but they were still there. She wondered why. “Coming, Alex?” she asked, as if he had any choice.

---

She knew they could not leave yet today. Frederick was due for a celebration at the Village later and tomorrow he wanted to watch Rick, who still stood a chance to medal himself. But the morning after that they could definitely leave. She would have preferred tomorrow evening, but she realised they would get home very late and be very tired. And they might miss the train.

She had been a passenger in one of the cars that conveyed the rest of the family, but they were going back tomorrow and she definitely wanted to go back together with Frederick. That left only the train – and she was glad that she, in her previous job, had secured a TGV connection to Paris for their capital.

He had not said anything to her about the closing ceremony. Athletes who wanted to attend and who had already finished, could come back for it, but she did not know if he wanted to. The officials might want him to carry the flag, but she knew he would be able to come up with that himself. There was no need to bother him with that now.

She came back with Alex dressed in a Paris 2024 romper and unclipped his teething ring from Frederick’s shirt without disturbing his conversation.

After the people close to him had spoken to him, fans began to approach when Isabelle and her family had returned to the house. Anna Margaret stayed, because he had said he was coming back with her. The two NOC officials hung around and she wondered what for. They would definitely not be coming to the house with them. It was fine if they wanted to wait here until Frederick was done swimming, but maybe they should return to watch the road race.

When all fans were finished with asking for selfies, the two officials got up and addressed Frederick. “We should go back,” said one.

“Have a good trip,” Frederick replied.

“But...”

“I’m coming back later.”

“Later?”

“I’ll be back in about three hours.”

The official looked uncomfortable. “But what are you going to do?”

“The same as I’ve done after every previous race.”

“But you have obligations now.”

“No, I don’t,” Frederick said coolly. “I’ll be present at the team meeting, but there’s nothing else I need to attend. I’ve done all the ceremonies and necessities here and I’ve spoken to the minister, the prime minister and the queen and half the country.”

“There are interviews and sponsors.”

“I have no business with sponsors, as I’ve already explained, and I don’t do extra interviews outside of the mixed zone and the winners’ press conference.”

“But will you go back alone?”

“I’ve been doing that for days and nobody cared.” He looked at Anna Margaret. “Let’s go.”