Epilogue

"Princess! Princess, please do not run!" Henry heard as he heard the pitter patter of running feet get louder. Henry smiled as he waited…. "Papa! I'm here!"

"And who are you?" he asked, smiling as he took in his daughter's appearance. Every day she grew more and more into the likeness of her mother. She was the only one of his children who took mostly after his wife.

He watched as the little girl cross her arms, scowl and huff and he thought to himself how adorable she looked, "It's me, Alice!"

"Alice? No! My alice is in Pembroke, with her brother and sister! And she is much smaller than you, my lady." Henry said as he continued to taunt his youngest daughter.

"Elizabeth, Christian and I arrived yesterday, you know that and I am bigger now because I've become a big girl! I drink my milk every night just as Lady Parr says so that I grow!" Princess Alice reasoned. Henry thought that out of all his children, Alice had inherited a peculiar mix of her parents, Anne's exotic looks, his love for sports, Anne's love for jewels and fashion, but she had also inherited both her parent's mischievousness and wit. All of this made her the most lively child they had.

"Your majesty!" Lady Parr said as she and two more ladies finally caught up with the little princess. "I apologise, for the princess' lack of protocol, she runs much too fast for a girl her age!" Lady Parr exclaimed as she tried to calm her breathing.

"See! Lady Parr knows me! It's me papa! I'm Alice!" Alice said as she ran to her father who had finally knelt down to her level and looked at her closer.

"I suppose, if Lady Parr vouches that you are my beloved Princess?" Henry asked, as he looked amusingly at Lady Parr whose young charge was looking at too, "She does! Tell him Lady Parr! Tell papa I'm Alice!"

"Well, your majesty, the princess is usually well behaved and does not run…." Lady Parr said, finding a silver lining in the situation, if she could get Alice to promise not to run again, at least for the rest of the day, then she would consider it a success. Out of all the royal children, little Alice might be the smallest, but she definitely is the most challenging to look after.

"I only ran because I wanted to see my papa, Lady Parr!" Alice said, almost on the verge of tears. "I won't run anymore, Please Lady Parr, tell my papa I'm his Alice!"

"Oh, I suppose that is understandable," Lady Parr said, feeling bad that her charge was on the verge of tears, Alice may be the most energetic but she is also the sweetest of her charges. "Your majesty, may I present to you, the Princess Alice." Lady Parr said.

"See!" Alice said, as she raised her arms so that her papa may lift her up in his arms. "I'm Alice!"

Henry lifted her up, finally happy that their charade was done so he could have his daughter in his arms. "Alice! It is you! my precious! You've grown so much!" he said as he hugged her tightly.

"I missed you papa! Have you seen Christian?" she asked, at the very moment, the doors opened and in came her twin brother. "Oh, nevermind, he's here!" she said as she asked her father to put her down so she can go be with her brother.

"Hello Papa!" said Christian bowing, as he remained by his governess side, Lady Bryan. At three years old, Christian and Alice had developed their own individual personalities and, while the two had grown up in the same residence, they were very much different from each other; where Alice was lively and mischievous, Christian was more quiet, observant and calculating. That is not to say that he isn't mischievous, Henry found that Christian is just better at hiding it than Alice.

Although it seemed to Henry that while their personalities contrast, they complemented each other well. As Alice's older twin, Christian would always be around his sister, taking care to make sure that while he and Alice always had fun, they wouldn't get into too much trouble. Alice on the other hand always knew when to make Christian smile or laugh and loosen up, as Christian had always been so serious and precocious for his age. One thing that both of them had inherited from their parents, along with Elizabeth, was their thirst for knowledge, they were curious about everything around them and were always asking questions and getting in trouble for trying to do something dangerous all because it piqued their curiosity.

"Christian, how are you my son?" Henry asked as he carried his son in his arms.

"I am fine papa. How are you?" Christian asked. Henry smiled, Christian had always been the thoughtful one, he always asked about other's well being back, he was always so polite and well mannered.

He was too young to understand that he is next in line to the the throne, but it was as if God had prepared him to be a great king, he had shown all signs of being a good ruler ever since he and Alice had learned to understand their surroundings. Henry could see it just by looking at how he treats and takes care of both his sisters and even negotiating some of his own compromises at Pembroke, as was written to him by Lady Bryan, and he is just three years old! Henry thought just knew that Christian will make a fine king some day, he would be sad to know he will never live to see that day come.

"I am well, thank you my boy." Henry said as he placed a kiss on his forehead and placed the boy down, the page announced another person, "The Princess Elizabeth, your majesty."

As his eldest daughter entered, the six year old princess looked as regal as ever. "Your majesty" she said as she gracefully curtsied and bowed her head. For as long as he could remember, Elizabeth had always loved this protocol, as it showed how much of her mother's grace she had inherited. Henry knew that because Elizabeth looked like him and his own mother, Elizabeth of York, she loved to do anything that would remind people that she was her mother's daughter too.

"My jewel." Henry said as he opened his arms for Elizabeth.

"Papa." she said as she approached him smiling.

"Let me look at you my jewel," Henry said as he held Elizabeth in arms length to see her more. At six years old, Elizabeth is quite tall for her age, her hair had turned even more red and her eyes more blue like her mother's. Elizabeth, Henry mused, like her brother, was a Tudor through and through in her appearance, except her eyes. "You've grown even more beautiful, Elizabeth." Henry said as he took in the changes in her appearance. It seemed, to Henry that his children had been bless by God with both looks and intelligence. He could not have been any prouder to have them as his children.

"Thank you papa, may we see mama now?" Elizabeth asked after her father. They had all been asked to travel from Pembroke to celebrate Elizabeth's official betrothal to the King of France's second son. After the celebrations, Elizabeth will be returning to Pembroke while Alice and Christian will be housed in Hatfield. It made her sad to think that she will be alone in Pembroke now but, her parents had decided it was time for her to have a residence of her own and what better place than her mother's own home?

"Of course, she is most excited to see you all. She's missed you very much." Henry said as he allowed Elizabeth to walk out the door first while he carried Alice and held on to Christian's hand.

"Your majesty, the King and the Prince and the Princesses are here." Mary said to her sister. It had been over two years since Anne and Henry had gotten back together and Mary has been officially reinstated as member of the Boleyn family.

Their father, had retired from court and was now residing in Hever permanently, although he does sometimes visit court. His relationship with Anne, George and Mary was still somewhat strained, but he had accepted that his children will no longer bend to his will and so he has decided to just live his life as the Queen's father. If it was any consolation, he quite loved to visit all his grand children in Pembroke.

George had now become the head of the family. He now ran most of the family's estates as well as the titles and lands the King had gifted their father and George himself. George had realized he could not live alone forever and while he still preferred men, he knew he couldn't act so brashly as he did before. He had found a companion in one Lady Anne Marc, a daughter of the English diplomat to Cleves. She had been raised there, and when her father was asked to return to England, had been placed in the Queen's household as a Lady in waiting. They are now expecting their first child.

Mary had continued to stay by Anne's side, her children Edward and Anne had been living with their cousins in Pembroke.

Mary had not wanted to remarry after her last marriage however after a chance encounter with one sir Anthony Knivert, her whole world changed once more. Mary hadn't told Anthony yet, but she suspects that she is expecting their first child together.

"Mama!" Prince Christian shouted as he saw his mother. He loved his Papa very much but Mama always had a special place in his heart.

"Christian, my love." Anne said as she smiled at her children who had immediately approached her.

"I missed you mama! Did you miss me?" Alice said as she tried to climb Anne's bed so she can sit beside her mother.

"Of course, my sweet! I've missed all of you dearly." Anne said as she took in all her children.

"Hello, my love." Henry said as he lifted all three children on Anne's bed and then kissed her on the temple of her head. "How are you today?" he asked.

"Hello, my heart. I am fine, better now that all of you are here." Anne said as she smiled and tilted her chin up so Henry may kiss her. Which he did and then he too sat on the edge of the bed.

"Mama, is that our new baby brother?" Christian said as he snuggled closer to Anne in her bed, pointing at the bundle in Anne's arms while Alice sat right beside Anne's knees and Elizabeth sat beside her little brother, also staring at the small infant in Anne's arms.

Anne smiled,"Yes, Christian. This is your new baby brother." Anne said as she moved her arms so that her children could see the newborn infant in her arms. "Children, this is Edward, your baby brother." Anne said.

Anne had given birth two days ago and her children had arrived just yesterday evening for the celebration of Elizabeth's betrothal, so she was not able to see them as she was still too tired to entertain any visitors and Dr. Linacre forbade her to be too emotional a day after her giving birth, and so, this was the first time she saw any of her children and this would be the first time they will meet their newest sibling.

Anne and Henry watched amusedly as Alice and Christian stared at the newest member of the family. Elizabeth, it seemed, was pleased to have a new sibling.

"How's he going to play with us? He's too little!" Alice asked, Lady Parr and Lady Bryan and Cat always told her, Christian and Elizabeth that when her baby brother or sister arrives, she'll have a new playmate, but her new brother is too small for her to be able to play games with! "He's like a doll!" Alice added.

Anne smiled while Henry suppressed a chuckle at Alice's observation and concern. The ladies around Anne however, were not able to suppress their own chuckles at the little princess' naivety and curiosity.

"He's too little now, Alice but he'll grow bigger soon." Elizabeth said, in a way that reminded Henry of his own mother. It seemed even as a child, Elizabeth had always possessed the wisdom and the intellect beyond her age. If he never had a male heir, he was sure Elizabeth would have made a fine Queen. "You were that small when you were born too, in fact you were smaller because mama had both you and Christian in her tummy and her tummy was too small for the two of you." she added.

"I was? How'd I get bigger?" Alice asked, as she looked at her twin brother who was now more focused on Alice and Elizabeth's conversation than his new baby brother. "And how'd we fit inside mama's tummy?" he asked.

Elizabeth huffed and rolled her eyes, "You got bigger because mama and the other ladies took care of you! and I don't know how you fit inside mama's tummy! I can't even remember being in mama's tummy!" she added.

Anne, Henry, Mary and the rest of Anne's ladies laughed and smiled at the serious conversation between the three siblings. Anne could feel her heart swell as she watched her children, who were growing up happy and healthy and smart, they were all perfect in her eyes and in Henry's too, she was sure.

"Well, we'll just have to take care of Edward too then, if a lot of people take care of him, then he'll grow bigger faster." Christian reasoned, he'd been listening to what Elizabeth said and if mama and the other ladies in Pembroke who took care of them made them grow, then if everyone took care of Edward, then he'd grow faster too, Edward thought.

Alice looked at her brother and thinking that her brother made sense, "You're right, Christian." as she crawled over to her mama's side forcing Christian to scoot a bit farther from Anne's side and said, "Don't worry, Edward, I'll take care of you so you won't be so small." as she moved forward and kissed Edward's forehead and then stared at her newest baby brother.

Henry and Anne were touched by Alice's words. Henry then carried Alice and sat her on his lap as he stayed beside Anne. "You are going to be a very good big sister, sweetheart. I'm proud of you. In fact, I'm very proud of all of you." he said.

"I'm going to be a good big sister like Elizabeth is!" she said, happy at her father's compliment. Elizabeth is a very good sister, she's always so nice and has answers to her questions!

Elizabeth smiled proudly at her sister's compliment, she loves her siblings very much, even though they were noisy and getting into trouble, she'd waited a long time for them to arrive and it even took mama leaving a long time ago before she finally had her brother and sister. She will surely miss them when she returns to Pembroke alone.

"Indeed, you will be, my love. Edward is very lucky to have all of you for his older brother and sisters." Anne said as she touched her daughter's cheek and allowed Elizabeth and Christian to snuggle on her other side. It was in this exact moment that she feels that everything she and Henry had gone through was worth it. All the pain, and the hurt, and the forgiveness, it all had to happen in order for this very moment to come true.

Fin.

AN: aaaaand THE END!

Hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did writing it! (okay, there were times I didn't enjoy writing it as much, but I hope you liked it more than I liked writing it!) I don't really have a lot to say except that thank you all so much for the support and positive messages and reviews you've left for this story! Seriously, if it weren't for those, I would not have been able to finish this sooner! Thank you as well for appreciating the way I write. I feel that at times I wrote quite sloppily and I think it may have transitioned in my actual published posts, but still you stayed and continued reading my story!

I might have another Tudor story out but I'm not so sure I'll be posting it soon, or maybe ever cause I'm just sooo busy with school right now and I'm afraid that by the time I do have the time to write, I'd have forgotten the plot in my head! :(

Again, thank you so much for your support, it means all the world to me! 3

xx
Unamedhpauthor