Romantic Camelot Cove

Though they were still very young, the relationship between the twins was stronger than even their parents had ever imagined it could be. They obviously loved one another dearly and were almost always found playing together in their bedroom or the living room, sharing secrets and generally behaving like sisters with a strong relationship. Neither of them required a whole lot of parental supervision either, and both Christy and Lancelot often felt that it was best to leave them alone to their play.

Neither of them, however, could avoid noticing the difference in Amelia after her fifth birthday had passed and Christy had made the announcement about the new baby. She seemed sullen and moody and rarely wanted to speak to either of them. Penelope didn’t seem at all affected by her sister’s changes and chattered on almost incessently about the upcoming addition to the family. The more her twin talked, the less time Amelia spent with her sister and the more she seemed to brood.

Clearly there was a problem.

(more…)

It’s odd how sometimes everything you never thought would come together can come together in an instant. The twins were toddlers now, and both Christy and Lancelot were grateful to be out of the year of infancy. While both of them had discovered that they very much did love children, they had also realized that babies were difficult to care for and rarely entertaining. Toddlers, at least, would be fun to play with and watch grow together.

Now that the first year was over it seemed that Christy’s moods were stabilizing and she was feeling much better about her life with her partner and daughters. Suddenly motherhood didn’t seem so bad — in fact, it had become downright awesome! The romance between Lancelot and Christy seemed to be growing day by day, and finally Lancelot decided the time was right to present the woman he loved with the ring he had spent so long saving for.

One night after the twins had been put to bed, Lancelot made his move. The ring was already in his pocket, now all he had to do was ask. And that was going to be the hard part! “Christy!” he called from the living room into the kitchen area. “Can you come here for a minute? I want to talk to you about something important!”

“Sure thing, hon! Just let me finish wiping down the countertops!”

Lancelot sighed. He hated doing the cleaning himself and he was grateful that Christy was willing to keep the house clean for their family, but he wished she would take some time to do some other things, including focus on herself. It seemed that she spent so much of her time taking care of him and the girls that she rarely had time to do anything else.

Finally she came into the living area and gave him a quizzical look. “What is it you wanted to talk to me about, Lance?” She looked into his eyes for a moment and then quickly became concerned. “Is something the matter? Is everything alright? Are you feeling quite well?”

Somehow that question seemed to break Lancelot’s tension and he chuckled softly. “I’m fine, babe,” he told her, looking deep into her beautiful blue eyes. “Just fine.” He smiled softly and slowly sank to one knee. “There is something I wanted to talk to you about though…

The man took a deep breath and gazed up at the lovely visage of the woman he intended to marry. “Christy, we’ve been together for awhile now and we have two beautiful children together. I should have asked you this a long time ago, but I wanted to do it right… Christy Stratton, will you marry me? Will you make me the happiest man alive by becoming Mrs. Lancelot du Lac?”

Christy gaped for a moment, shocked by the proposal. She had long ago stopped expecting it and almost stopped hoping for it. Then she smiled broadly. “Of course I’ll marry you, Lancelot of the Lake. I love you!” She held her hand out for him as he slipped the carat diamond onto her finger and then pulled him into her arms, hugging him tightly. “I love you, she whispered in his ear as she showered him with kisses. “I love you.”

(more…)

Christy, for whom the pregnancy had come quite unexpectedly, was surprised and somewhat alarmed that it resulted in the birth of twin girls. She hadn’t been well throughout her pregnancy and had relied heavily on Lancelot’s support, which had always been in ample supply. Now, with two little ones to look after, there was a deep sense of depression and anxiety. She had never known she wanted children until she had conceived her girls and though she already loved them with all of her being, she also felt threatened by them — they took so much time to look after and she had been weakened by her pregnancy.

Of course Lancelot stood beside her unfailingly, helping her through the most difficult times and supporting her when she felt she could do nothing but cry. For the first few months it was him who did most taking care of the girls, and Christy felt herself guilt-ridden over the fact that she couldn’t do more for them and often didn’t want to do more for them. For awhile it seemed as though her life had ended with the birth of her children.

Her own mother had died in childbirth, leaving her single father to look after Christy and her two older sisters. It had always seemed unfair to her that she’d been denied a mother of her own and she had lived with a long-time fear of pregnancy and childbirth because of her mother’s own untimely end. Though she’d never known her mother she had heard enough about her to miss her all the same, and part of her feared that she herself might one day leave her children early.

She shared none of her fears with Lancelot, who she knew would only try to reassure her. She didn’t want to burden him with her worries. He already did so much for the girls! For nearly a year she lived with her worries and concerns and the constant feelings of depression that plagued her. She spoke to Dr. Portland of her concerns for herself and her children, and he worked hard to reassure her and encourage her to talk about things with her partner, but she just couldn’t bring herself to mention her concerns to Lancelot. She simply didn’t want to burden him.

(more…)

Life couldn’t have been better for Lancelot and Christy. It seemed that the young woman easily put Abhijeet out of her mind and focused on her new relationship with an added fervor that made them closer than she could ever have imagined would be possible. She’d been through several ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em’ types of relationships and it occured to within just a few months of moving in with Lancelot that he was different — he was serious about her!

In fact, she even liked the fact that he didn’t rush to propose engagement to her. She’d already been engaged three times and she knew that a promise meant nothing to some men. In a way it felt good to know that if a promise hadn’t been made, it couldn’t be broken. She was in love with Lancelot and he was obviously in love with her. This left her with a warm feeling inside that she couldn’t quite explain.

Couldn’t quite explain, that is, until she visited Dr. Portland, complaining of nausea and mild stomach cramps. “Yes, Ms. Stratton,” he told her with a warm smile. “You are definitely expecting a baby!”

Christy was shocked! While her woo hoo life with Lancelot was terrific, she had never expected to fall pregnant with his child! He had been the first man with whom she had ever chosen to have an active woo hoo life and she had somehow believed that a baby would simply wait until they had chosen to be married before coming their way. She wasn’t sure what to do. She looked at Dr. Portland with a stumped expression on her face. “Pregnant?” she said, letting the words the doctor had spoken sink into her psyche. “Pregnant?”

“Pregnant,” the doctor confirmed, looking over his notes again. “And nearly three months along by the look of it!”

How could it be that she hadn’t known what had been causing her nausea? Could she have been so foolish as to believe that she had just come down with a bug? She thought about it as she took the long walk home, her hands moving to her belly from time to time. Now it all seemed obvious. She’d thought she had just been gaining a little weight, but the roundness of her belly certainly suggested otherwise!

She wondered how Lancelot would react and if he’d be happy with her news that she was pregnant. They had never talked about children and she’d never really thought herself about whether or not she wanted to have kids. She’d given a lot of consideration at one point to becoming a teacher, as she enjoyed the company and presence of children, but she’d never dreamed she’d have her own one day. It had always seemed that children were something for the distant future. Now they were something for the immediate future. It was something serious they’d have to talk about.

That night over supper Christy made her move. “Lance… Um… I have something I need to tell you,” she said hesitantly.

Lancelot looked up from his plate and smiled. “I think I already know what it is!”

Christy was almost disappointed but she ploughed ahead. “I went to see Dr. Portland today… You know, the OB? He says we’re going to have a baby.”

Lancelot’s smile grew broader. “I just knew it!” he cheered, jumping up from the table to give his partner a big hug. “I knew it! When you left the house today I knew you were going to see the doctor and I was hoping he’d tell you we were going to have a baby! Did he say when you were due?”

Christy took a deep breath and then returned Lancelot’s smile. She was beginning to feel a lot better already! “In about six months,” she told him, her heartrate finally calming. “He said I’m about three months pregnant.” The relief was beginning to spread through her and she was starting to realize that having a family might not be so bad after all — in fact, it might be great! Maybe it was something she’d wanted all along and had just never realized… And now she knew it was something that Lancelot wanted too… Yes, they would make a great family together!

(more…)

As a child, Lacelot du Lac had loved sitting at his father’s feet listening to the heroic tales of how he overcame the poverty in which he, hismelf, had grown up and became the man he was today. He would listen, mouth agape, to the tales of his father’s courage in defeating the odds. And as he grew up he stood taller and taller as he realized what his father had truly accomplished. It had been when he was a teenager that the senior Du Lac had approached his son with a proposition.

“Son, I own my own business now. It may not be huge or even a large business, but it is a business nevertheless, and it’s important to me. You are our only child — the only child who can take over the family company and take it to newer and better heights. Eventually you are going to need to take over my place — not just yet!” he chided at the giddy expression on his son’s face, chuckling softly to himself. “Eventually. When I’m too old to work and choose to retire. There’s some time left before that happens, my boy!”

The young Lancelot had listened attentively to his father’s words in silent rapture. One day the family company would be his! It was something he had silently dreamed of for most of his twenty years and now he was being told that he wouldn’t have to keep his dreams to himself for any longer. His heart was thudding in his chest, pounding hard as he realized that this was what he’d wanted since he was a small boy — and it was a dream that would ultimately come true!

Lancelot’s relationship with his parents was close, and he looked forward to the day that he could make them proud of him. They were a loving family who shared everything — except news of how the business was going. It wasn’t until Lancelot was eighteen years old and looking over some college brochures that his father approached him with some sad news.

“Your college fund is gone, Lance,” he told his son with a deeply sad expression on his face. “The company was in some trouble and we sank all of our money into it. The good news is that things are going better for the company now, and you will have something to inherit. But I’m afraid that if you decide to go to college you’re going to have to do so on grants — we just can’t afford to send you.”

It put Lancelot in an uncomfortable position. He felt deeply for his parents and knew that his father wanted him to go to University, as the senior Du Lac had never been given the opportunity. He’d been working a part-time job since he was fifteen and had scrupulously saved his money, but even the 20,000 simoleans he had in the bank wouldn’t be enough to get him through more than his Sophmore year, at best, and he knew that unless he got a large number of scholarships and grants, he’d never be able to afford to get through school and still have somewhere to hang his hat at the end of the day. He had to make a choice.

“I understand,” he told his father cautiously a few days later. He took a deep breath. “And I’ve made a decision.” He looked his father in the eyes for a long moment, his own blue eyes sad. “I’m going to put off going to college for awhile and see if I can make it in the world on my own. I’ve found a plot of land that would be perfect for setting up a homestead. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

He watched his father’s reaction carefully for a few moments, expecting shock or anger, but neither came. The older man just nodded his head and quietly, solemnly walked away, leaving his son to make his own decisions and to take his own risks.

(more…)