8
The trip to the zoo wasn’t just a trip to the zoo, no matter how much Rafael wanted it to be.
There would be a speech, and open questions from the press. They might not take kindly to Felicity. The media reception of the grocery outing had been mostly positive, sure, but there had been a few articles questioning whether Felicity herself was a stunt. This interview needed to convince the country that Felicity was going to become queen because they were in love.
Rafael pulled the notecard with his main talking points for the speech out of his lapel pocket and gave it another glance. Felicity didn’t seem to notice. She was talking to Hope about all the animals they were going to see at the zoo. “…bears, penguins, and rabbits…” she was saying. “Won’t there, Rafael?”
Hope held up her worn teddy bear. “This bear.”
“Yes, sweetheart,” he answered. “That’s a bear, too.”
“Mr. Bear isn’t a real bear,” Felicity said with a comfortable little laugh, and Rafael was surprised to find out that he’d come to think of Mr. Bear as part of the family. Almost like a real person. Was that what parenthood was like?
“Felicity…” They only had a few more minutes before they arrived at the zoo. “I just want to be sure you’re prepared for what’s coming.”
She patted at his leg, still looking at Hope. “We don’t have to go over this again. I think I’ll be fine.” Then she seemed to realize that this was not a comforting response and turned to smile at Rafael. “It’ll be fine.”
But he wasn’t sure that it would be. He’d tried to approach Felicity several times over the last week to go over the questions the press might ask, and every time, she’d deftly steered the conversation into a totally different direction.
“It’s a different kind of appearance,” he pressed on. “Members of the media will have more access this time. Not like at the grocery store.”
“Do you think they’ll be interested in the bears, too?” she joked.
“Bear!” cried Hope, giggling.
“I think they will be,” said Felicity. Then she was off and running, back to the conversation about all the animals with Hope. It was, he had to admit, a talent he was a bit in awe of…and a little suspicious of. She’d left him once, and he did not want to be left again. She was just so adept at changing the subject, redirecting the conversation… Of course, there was one positive: Felicity had an innate talent that many people outside the royal family had to learn through hard work. She could somehow get him to express his feelings without ever getting around to expressing her own.
“I want it to go well,” he said, aware that he was falling right back into that same pattern. The car pulled up to the curb in front of the zoo’s entrance. He was almost out of time. “For all of us.”
Felicity turned to face him, and the memory of her red-faced and spent on his kitchen counter flashed into his mind. This was not the time to think about that.
The moment they stepped out of the vehicle, Rafael felt his defenses go up. The press corps, it turned out, would follow them throughout their tour of the zoo. Felicity took this in stride, loading Hope into the stroller and carrying gamely on as the director personally took them to each of the exhibits. “Birds!” Hope cried inside the penguin house. “Many birds.” Felicity seemed totally absorbed in all the animals, crouching down next to Hope whenever they stopped to point out what they were seeing.
The press, Rafael couldn’t help noticing, loved it. They snapped photo after photo of the three of them, of Hope’s enchantment, and of Felicity being an attentive, involved mother. And when Rafael took Hope out of the stroller and lifted her up so she could see the giraffes, the shutters on their cameras went into a frenzy.
Then it was time for the speech, followed by questions. There was a little area cordoned off back by the entrance and Rafael stepped forward. The words tumbled from his mouth without much thought—the speech was about how the zoo provided an essential experience for the children of Stolvenia—but then he came to its natural conclusion.
The first question, as he suspected, went to Felicity.
“Felicity, how did Hope like the zoo?”
Felicity smiled, stepping up next to Rafael. “She loved it.” There was a slight hitch as she hesitated. “It’s a wonderful place to visit.”
Then she reached out and took Rafael’s hand.
This was tiptoeing up to the line of breaking protocol. It wasn’t technically against the rules to hold hands in public, but Rafael felt them inching closer.
Felicity also forgot to wear pantyhose, which he didn’t personally have a problem with. What was he going to do about either thing now? Nothing. He couldn’t pull his hand away, and he didn’t really want to.
“You have a wonderful resource here,” Felicity finished, sounding stronger now that she was touching him. “I think Hope would stay all day if she didn’t need a nap.”
There was a chuckle from the reporters, but then another man pushed his way forward. “Felicity, don’t you think the people of Stolvenia have a right to decide how our most precious resources are funded?”
Her grip on his hand tightened, and Rafael stifled the urge to step in front of her.
“I think…” Felicity blinked. “I think the people of Stolvenia have every right to express their thoughts about all…funding…to the government.” She stood up a little straighter. “In fact, I know that Prince Artur has been working closely on forming committees to do just that. If you’ll leave your name, I can get back to you with the correct contact information.”
Back at the palace, when Hope was in bed and the two of them were on Rafael’s couch, he reflected on that moment. When push came to shove, Felicity could handle herself like a member of the royal family, albeit a new one. Which was exactly what she was.