It had been a big decision, asking Matthias if he'd wanted to detour to Norway before Thailand. She'd almost regretted it a couple of times on the way there, but in the end, she knew it was right. She hadn't been sure how to prep Astrid though, so she'd only said she was coming by with friends. She planned to fill her in slowly, after they'd officially met, and hopefully Astrid would handle it well.
After an awkward couple of flights and a long car ride though they finally made it to Lofoten, and the street her aunt and uncle lived on. Solveig took a deep breath, glancing at Matthias before knocking on the door. Then almost immediately she was catching her daughter as she flew into her arms.
"MAMA! How was your flight? You were in Russia, right? What's it like there? Uncle Casper was there too?" She was shooting off questions faster than anyone could possibly answer, until she finally noticed the people Solveig had brought and her eyes got wide. “Is that-? Hellig faen! Matthias Meijer?”
Let’s do the time warp again! Send me “time warp” to meet a younger or older version of my muse!
@matthias-meijer [I couldn’t decide between past or future, so you get a 2 for 1! yay~ lol. Also, special honorable mentions; @katrienmeijer , @margaritaxromanova , plus a couple un-named]
Obligatory disclaimer, I own none of these characters and this isn’t cannon unless unanimously decidedly so.
The Past
Solveig’s hands trembled slightly as she looked at herself in the full length mirror. She’d been training her entire life to asses and take down threats but somehow talking to her best friend had her nerves frayed beyond repair.
The king will be there.
Of course he would, she remind herself. He couldn’t risk the girl saying anything to his son that he didn’t want him to hear. Turning to the side Solveig lifted her shirt enough to show her abdomen. Still flat, lean, and muscular; she wondered how long it would take before she started showing. Another month would put her at the beginning of her second trimester, is that when? How long until she could find out if it was a little boy or girl? She could have easily found these things out online, but somehow Googling it made it too real to handle. No, she’d just wait until she got to Norway to ask her aunt about it.
Putting on her most convincing smile she walked through the halls, doing her best to act like it was just another day. Maybe she wouldn’t even find Matthias in the palace and she could just leave without a word. That sounded easier, and it wasn’t forever, right? Just one year.
A familiar voice pulled her from her worries and she had to pause to gather herself before turning to face him with a grin. “Little prince... I was wondering if I was going to be able to find you before I had to leave.” He didn’t look thrilled, but admittedly not as upset as Solveig expected. Then again, he didn’t really know the full story, just that she was spending a year abroad.
It took everything Solveig had to keep her face passive as the king stepped out of the office behind his son. With Matthias’ back to him his eyes bored holes straight through the teenage girl. She hated the man with every fiber of her being. For threatening her family. For forcing her to lie to his son. For making it so that her own child would barely know her and never meet their father. As much as she hated him though, her fear of him was so much greater. Men like him were the reason she’d joined the rebellion when her father had told her about it months before on her sixteenth birthday. One day he’d be taken down a notch, and she hoped she got to personally see to it.
“It will only be a year, and we can still text and face-time or whatever,” she added with a grin, pulling her attention back to Matthias. Standing on her tip toes she wrapped her arms around him. ‘Little Prince’ had been an ironic moniker for years now. “I promise to bring you back some cool souvenirs.” With that she pulled away before quickly pinching his cheek with a chuckle. “Maybe by the time I get back you will have gotten rid of some of this baby fat.” She was teasing of course, but whether he knew why or not, she needed something to lighten the mood.
Giving a small wave and a lingering glance she left him there in the hall. Even as she re-treated she could feel the king’s eyes on her and it took everything she had not to run from him as quickly as possible. This was only one of the first battles in what would turn into a lifelong war of glares and veiled threats, but she wouldn’t let him win it.
“Ms. Trulson.” Solveig stopped dead in her tracks and took a deep breath before wordlessly looking back at the monarch that had addressed her. “Have a safe trip.”
Solveig had to swallow hard, glad they were far enough away to not see the lump in her throat. He’d managed to make the phrase sound like more of a curse than a payer. Nodding in reply, she didn’t dare speak knowing her voice would be shaky.
---------
The Future
Solveig had to bite her tongue as the small girl tugged on her dress.
“Mama! Maaaaamma~ Asy needs help. Maaaammaaaaa~ You have to come now! Asy needs help! C’mon, Mama! Mammaaaaa!”
Solveig loved the six year old with all her heart, but damn she knew how to be obnoxious. A trait, the blonde was adamant, that she got from her father. Not to mention today was already a whirlwind of stress and emotion to begin with and her youngest child’s constant talking wasn’t helping.
“Okay.” Solveig finally caved, kneeling down to her daughter. “Shh, less volume please, Klara, and take deep breaths.” She waited a moment for the small child to calm down and catch her breath. “Okay, now tell me calmly, what does Astrid need help with.”
“Um, there’s lots of buttons. And, um, she said something about pictures with you helping with her dress and, um, finding Matty....ummmm.” The small child’s eyes seemed to wander as she tried to remember. Solveig knew her daughter well enough to know she wasn’t getting anymore information out of her. Klara’s attention was gone for good. “Mama, I’m hungry.” Yup, there is was, she’d moved on to food. As was usual.
“Your papa is through that door,” she said, spinning the girl to face the double doors to the sanctuary. “He has snacks in his pocket, go find him.” With a pat on the butt she watched the girl run off with a grin. There was still an hour until the ceremony, no need for Klara to sit around in the dressing room bored.
Heading back to where her eldest child was she turned a corner and if she hadn’t been so light on her feet, would have run straight into Matthias. “Oh good, I was just going to come look for you. I am told you are needed, though perhaps my six-year-old is not the best source of reliable information,” she added with a grin.
Taking a moment she looked him over. It was hard to believe they were both in their forties now, their accidental daughter only an hour away from getting married. The last eleven years since he’d found out about Astrid had been somewhat strained, their relationship had never fully recovered, but it had gotten better. She’d seen him a number of times after leaving Russia, especially after the then teenager had decided she wanted to split her living time between her mother and newly found father. He looked older now though, or perhaps just wiser. It seemed the stress of taking over the kingdom the pervious year had aged him some. His hair now speckled with gray and the lines in his shallow though prominent. He still had the same kind eyes though and she couldn’t help but return it as he smiled at her.
He had children with Maggie now, and even Katrien had her own family. Though Solveig was still certain the girl had more adopted pets than children. It seemed like a lifetime ago that they’d all lived under one roof. Pushing the door to the room her daughter was holed up in open she nodded at Matthias. “After you, little...king? That will still take some getting used to,” she mused, following him in.
Seeing her daughter made Solveig gasp. Of course she’d seen her in the dress at the fittings, but here with her hair and makeup done, she looked truly regal. Astrid was kindly directing her bridesmaids around the room though stopped as soon as her parents walked in; her eyes lighting up.
“Mamma! Pappa! I wasn’t sure if Klara would actually relay the message.” The woman wrapped her arms around the two of them together. Solveig couldn’t help but notice it was the closest she’d been to Matthias in a while. “Okay, Mamma, we’re doing pictures with you buttoning my dress. Pappa, I want to get some with you too. Can someone please go find my little sisters, we need getting ready pictures. Then Pappa, I need you to take the photographer to where the boys are getting ready and make sure your son is with you. We need one with the groom and ring bearer.” Just like that Astrid was off on a whirlwind again before pausing as a thought occurred to her. “Is Maggie not with you two? I want one of Maggie doing my buttons too.” She turned to a bridesmaid. “Anita, can you go find the Dutch queen please? And bring my little sisters back while you’re at it, all of them. Thank you.” Without another glance at the woman that was already moving Astrid started for the other side of the room.
Solveig looked to Matthias, his brows raised as he took it in. Men weren’t usually privy to this part, though Solveig had to admit, Astrid was being much nicer right now than she’d been on her wedding day. “Come on,” she said with a grin, tugging him through the fray of moving women to an adjacent room that had been staged for pictures.
---
Solveig bent down, smoothing out Klara’s skirts. Not that they were in disarray, she just needed something to keep her busy. She heard the music start to play though and quickly took her place once more at the front of the processional. The groom was to escort the mother of the bride. So with Solveig back on one arm and Maggie on the other he took off. Glancing back quickly she tried to give Matthias a reassuring smile; he looked nervous.
It had been last minute, but Astrid had decided to switch to Matthias escorting her instead of Solveig. A decision she’d backed entirely. He’d spent too long not knowing his daughter existed. Something Solveig still felt terrible about. The man waved back though just before she turned away and she felt tears sting the back of her eyes. No, things weren’t the way they had been growing up, but they were getting better.
I'll show you what love is and all that you're worth
You'll show me how to put somebody else f i r s t
I hope you like music as much as your mom
That you'll understand that I'm there when I'm g o n e
It's probably too much for me to say in a song
But you belong, you b e l o n g
Do they prefer giving or receiving gifts, ?How indecisive are they?, What do they want most in life?
Do they prefer giving or receiving gifts ?
Solveig prefers giving gifts. She likes taking the time to find something they’d like and sharing things she likes with other people. With that said, she far prefers giving and receiving gifts from people in the same tax bracket as herself. She loves Matthias and Katrien, and does enjoy giving them things, but it always makes her a little uncomfortable to know that she’ll never be able to afford the extravagant things they’re used to or match monetary values of the things they give her. @matthias-meijer @katrienmeijer
How indecisive are they ?
Not at all. Tough decisions she might need to think a little bit longer about, but she always comes to a conclusion. It’s even to the point where if someone can’t or won’t make a decision, or are taking too long, she’ll make it for them.
What do they want most in life ?
An end to the tyrannical monarchy and systematic oppression. To see the people she loves happy and safe, but mostly, the opportunity to raise her daughter in her home. She can’t make up for the time she’s already lost, but she wants nothing more to play a more major role in Astrid’s life. Also maybe to fall in love and have more children living in a small countryside cottage in the south of France, but she’s pretty much given up on that dream.
Astrid? She is absolutely perfect. I have to say though, she takes more after my mother than she does me, she loves music, mostly playing the piano. And she will absolutely talk your ear off, but always kind, she seems to make friends without any effort. I suppose I should find humor in the fact that she is more princess like than many of the princesses that have met without having been raised around that life. Perhaps one day she will find out about who her father is, I would like that. She is getting old enough now that she has so many questions and they are getting harder to deflect and she is noticing. She is a smart one, there is no denying it. All in all though, aside from having raised her myself, I do not think there is a single thing I would change about her. Oh! Except her hair did this awful thing when she was ten or so where it started darkening and now is brown. She was so terribly cute as a little blonde girl, now she looks more like Matthias than she does me. Though I suppose she still has my eyes... [picture here]
Astrid Esmee Julianna Trulson
Birthdate: December 1st, 2106
Parentage: HRH Matthias Meijer Crown Prince of The Netherlands, Solveig Trulson
Pictured 13 years old, going on 14. [September 2120]
@matthias-meijer @rebelwithacausesolveig
“There is a small heart shaped locket in my jewelry box. It is nothing too expensive, but it is engraved beautifully. My daughter, Astrid, gave it to me for Christmas when she was eight. She even had the back engraved to say Verdens beste mamma and I will treasure it dearly for the rest of my life... I pull it out sometimes to hold when I feel most lonely. ”
