Prince

                                    

                                          
Christmas 2020 was a very different one. Originally Boris Johnson has allowed five days over Christmas for up to three households to meet, but it was changed down to just one day, Christmas day.

                          
Sadly people of London couldn't do that at all, due to a new variant of the coronavirus, London has been placed into the highest tier. 
                          
Amelia and Gwilym had planned for Ben and Brianna to come over with Erin since none of their parents can visit but in the end, it was just a quiet family Christmas.
                          
In the week after new years eve, things took a sad turn, "Mum!" Freddie calls, running down the stairs into the music room. Amelia is teaching Taylor how to play the piano.
                          
"Don't run on the stairs, please. How many times do I have to tell you?" She hates the thought of one of them falling down the stairs.
                          
"Sorry, mum but I can't find Prince anywhere. I've looked all over the house."
                          
"Then he's probably in the garden." She's not too worried Prince has become more of an outdoor cat since she moved into the Lodge, "Is Queenie in the house?"
                          
"Yeah, she's with dad in the study," Gwilym has been sent the second half of the script for series two of The Great and is taking some quiet time to read through it. His energy after covid is taking a while to come back too, he still gets tired easily.
                          
They're hoping to start filming again next May covid pending and once Rosie and some of the other cast members can fly to England. They also need to wait till Rosie had her baby.
                          
"Go have a look outside, if he's not there then come tell me and I'll help you look," He runs out of the room and Amelia continues Taylor's lesson.
                          
Freddie still can't find him so Amelia helps him look but they can't find him anywhere. She tells Freddie not to worry he'll back later but as bedtime draws closer he's still not back. 
                          
While Gwilym is putting Taylor to bed and Freddie is having his bath, Amelia grabs the tub of cat treats and stands on the porch shaking the tub and calling Prince's name. 
                          
That normally has him running back. Queenie hears the tub and is there in a flash but still nothing. Amelia starts to worry, Prince is nearly 18 years old and she knows he's getting slower but he always comes back at night. 
                          
Every night since Freddie was born, without fail, he's curled up on Freddie's bed, only once did he sleep elsewhere but that was years ago when he slept on Amelia's bed because she had a bad sickness bug.
                          
"Anything?" Gwilym joins her on the porch. 
                          
"Nothing. I hope he hasn't been hit by a car or..."
                          
"Or what?" He takes the tub of treats and tries himself calling louder.
                          
"Well they say with cats when they're ready to die, they go away and just don't come back." 
                          
He's on that same wavelength but tries the stay positive, "Let's not go there yet. Give him the night then if he's not back in the morning, I'll go out and look for him."
                          
Amelia had a hard time getting Freddie to go to bed that night, he didn't want to sleep without Prince on his bed but eventually, he did go to sleep after she told him a white lie that he would be back by morning.
                          
He wasn't. 
                          
After breakfast, Gwilym went out and started looking any place he could think of for the fluffy animal. Amelia wanted to go with him but someone needed to stay with the kids and he didn't want her walking around for hours while she's 30 weeks pregnant.
                          
He was out most of the morning coming back after lunchtime, "Did you find him, daddy?" Taylor runs over to meet him at the door, looking at him with those innocent blue eyes, his eyes. 
                          
What was he meant to tell her the truth or a lie, either way, all three of his family members are going to be heartbroken. 
                          
Looking up from his daughter, Amelia and Freddie are standing in the doorway of the kitchen.
                          
Picking her up he leads them through to the living room placing Taylor on the sofa next to Freddie, "He's gone isn't he?" Freddie speaks before his dad can, worryingly calm.
                          
Amelia knows by her husbands struggled silence that he found Prince but not in a good way, meeting his eyes confirms it. She keeps herself together, the best she can in front of her children, "Yes baby. Prince is gone, he's gone to heaven like Great Grandma Jer and Granddad Freddie."
                          
"Granddad Freddie will look after him though right?" Taylor lip trembles, teary eyes filled with concern.
                          
"Of course he will," Gwilym pulls his youngest into his lap.
                          
Freddie remains silent eyes willing up, "But he can't be gone. Why would he run away to do it? Why didn't he stay here?"
                          
"Because he knew that if you found him like that you'd be even more upset."
                          
"I want my buddy back," Tears slips down his cheeks and Amelia pulls him into a hug feeling his tears on her shoulder. Hearing her brother crying, upsets Taylor and she cries into Gwilym's chest. 
                          
Pulling away from his mum, Freddie goes upstairs to his room and Taylor falls asleep against Gwilym so he takes her up to her cot for a nap.
                          
Coming back down he finds Amelia where he left her in the living room but she's now holding a photo of Prince as a kitten, "Did you find him?"
                          
"Yeah, I found him. He was curled up under bush not far from here," He didn't think he was that attached to Prince until he found him like that, feeling him cold with no life or breath in him, "I guess he just fell asleep."
                          
"You didn't leave him there did you?" She knows he wouldn't, but she hates the thought of her fur baby being out in the cold like that for god knows how long before Gwilym found him.
                          
"No, I took him to the vets and they'll sort it from there. You should get a call later just to inform you," Gwilym pulls Prince's collar from his pocket. Amelia takes and starts sobbing, falling into her husbands embrace. 
                          
"He's been with me for so long it'll be so strange not having him around the house," She went through a lot with Prince. He'd been her only company when she first moved into her flat and when she lived in New York. 
                          
When Michael became violent, he would be under the spare bed most of the time but at night, Prince would come out and comfort Amelia. Curling up with her and providing her comfort when she hurt or cried.
                          
He followed her everywhere around her parent's house when she was pregnant with Freddie and of course when Freddie was born Prince became his guard cat. 
                          
Prince sleeping in Freddie's crib was actually a comfort to her, especially when they moved into the Lodge and Freddie moved into the nursery. Knowing that Prince was watching over her son relaxed her somehow. 
                          
She loves Queenie of course she does but like Prince, Queenie is Taylor's guard cat, Amelia doesn't have the same bond with Queenie.
                          
Pulling away she wipes her eyes, "I'm going to go and see if Freddie's alright." Walking past Gwilym, she heads upstairs.
                          
Poor Queenie wanders around the Lodge looking for her fur brother, meowing when she can't find him.
                          
It took a while for Freddie to get over losing Prince, Amelia wanted more than anything to take him out for the day and cheer him up a little but England is back in lockdown until March, so that's not happening anytime soon.
                          
Sorry, it's was a sad one, just two more chapters left.