Chapter Sixteen: Surprise!

It had been a week since Guinevere went to the bar with Gunther. To take her mind off of everything that happened that day, she threw herself into brewing herbal remedies – with some mishaps (mainly catching the room on fire) but overall she had enough remedies to stock her shop for a couple weeks. In between brewing, she would pose for Bernard so he could finish her royal portrait. He finished on Friday, and it was hung up the next morning after it was dry. On her way to Le Fay’s, Guinevere spotted it hanging on the wall where Vladislaus the First’s portrait used to hang. Not bad. I look pretty mysterious and glamorous. I’ll have to thank Bernard next time I see him. She left the castle, hoping Samuel delivered the remedies to the shop while she was sleeping.

As soon as she entered the shop, she was greeted with a familiar sound: The sound of Mimsy singing.
“Mimsy?” Guinevere called. The singing stopped and she heard the light clacking of short heels.
“I just started restocking. I moved around the display tables, removed the frogs and put the remedies there.” Mimsy came around the corner, almost bumping into Guinevere. Quickly, she handed the tablet to her niece and motioned for her to follow. Guinevere looked round and was impressed. Why didn’t I ask her to help sooner?
“This looks great. Thank you. Is there anything else to stock?” As far as Guinevere could see, everything in the main section was fully stocked and ready for the day.
“Yes. I didn’t finish the other side.” Guinevere nodded and walked to the other side of the stone wall – where the big items were displayed. Mimsy followed shortly after grabbing another tablet from the register counter. Together, they finished restocking…just in time to open the shop.

Mimsy assured she could handle the floor with the new employee, Iqbal Alvi. With the stress of that alleviated, Guinevere went to the staff-only room to look around. Yuki startled her, and with Yuki in the room, she decided to forgo looking around, to not arose suspicion. Instead she looked on the computer at the items she cataloged before she renovated to open – to see if there was anything that would have what the Grim Reaper spoke of. A lockbox with a bunch of receipt-like paper, files with documents of what grandmother used to sell, magically sealed letters…all of those are worth looking over. But where to start? Guinevere decided the documents of old inventory might be a good place to start, so she could refer to them when she looked over the receipts. The letters are going to be tricky…who knows what nasty curse seals them. Just as she closed out of the browser, Iqbal came in and requested her presense on the sales floor. “Lady Mimsy rushed to the bathroom, I think she’s ill.” The news did concern Guinevere, but instead of checking on her, she sent Yuki to check on Mimsy while she maintained the customers.

While there was a lapse in customers to talk to, Guinevere cleaned the displays. They grew grimy quickly with the large amount of people that were in the shop.
“Can you just imagine the look on Van Gould’s face if he saw you doing manual labor, Your Majesty?” The smooth drawl of Caleb made her look up briefly.
“I’d prefer not to, his face makes me ill…” Guinevere snickered as she vigorously scrubbed a stubborn spot. “Are you looking for anything in particular? Or just browsing?” She stood straight, spray bottle and cleaning rag in hand.
“I thought I would stop in and see the shop. I figured it would be something to talk about on our first date, since it’s your occupation outside of politics. Besides, I rarely see you outside of League meetings.” Guinevere couldn’t hide the smile on her face.
“Such a sneaky charmer…feel free to browse, I need to finish cleaning. If you want to buy something, just come and find me.” Guinevere winked and left him to look at her remedies.

The day went by like a blur. Guinevere remained with the customers and Iqbal, she hadn’t seen Mimsy until it was time to do inventory and restock. Yuki, Iqbal and Samuel all went home and Guinevere insisted that Mimsy go home too, and rest. Mimsy vehemently denied, insisting she was fine – Guinevere didn’t argue.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Guinevere asked her aunt when they were halfway done restocking.
“I’m perfectly fine dear, don’t worry about me.” Something felt off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She thought about it, then it struck like lightning. She wants to talk about something…and staying behind was the only way.
“Is there something you want to talk about now that we’re alone?” Relief flooded Mimsy’s face.
“Yes. Oh Watcher yes. I-I’ve been trying to figure out a way to say it, but I can’t find the words…but I need to, because I’ll need to tell Bernie, and then I’ll need to renov-” Guinevere waited patiently for her to finish rambling and to get to the point. “because I’m pregnant!” Guinevere stopped and starred at her aunt, dumbfounded and awestruck.
“Really!? Are you sure?” Guinevere knew Mimsy had wanted a child of her own, but could never find the right time – between running the castle and dealing with League drama.
“Yes. I had Yuki bring me one of those human pregnancy tests. They work for vampires too…and it said, clear as day, ‘pregnant.’ I have no idea how I’m going to tell Bernie…he’s not very fond of children you know.” This was news to Guinevere. Well, I haven’t ever seen him with children, so I guess I couldn’t really know.
“I can be there if you want, for moral support.”
“Oh, no honey, I need to do this alone.” Mimsy went back to restocking. The women were silent for a few minutes while they finished their job. Once they were finished, Guinevere felt the need to hug her aunt so she did.
“Everything is going to be fine. I’m sure he’ll be happy. He may not like children, but who knows…maybe he’ll love his own. He loves you, so he’d make an effort to. But no matter what happens, I’m here for you.”
“Thank you Gwen. I wish your mom was here for this.” Mimsy’s voice was soft with sadness.
“Me too.” Was all Guinevere could say.