“Thank you,” Natalie tells her. “I’m not hungry right now, so how about I save it for later.”
Jasmine shrugs. “Okay. Are you ready to go now?” She hops off the stool. “We still have to go visit the bridge and the gardens… and the church.” I find myself smiling that she knows several of the most popular tourist attractions here in Lexenburg. They’ve done their research.
Jasmine walks over to me. “Thank you for letting us visit your castle. It’s very pretty.”
My eyes flit between her and her mom. She’s ready to leave… because she doesn’t know who I am. She doesn’t know this isn’t just my castle. It’s our castle. Because this is where she belongs. Where they both belong. Here with me.
“Actually, my love, there’s something we need to talk to you about.” Natalie glances up at me. “Maybe… we should go sit somewhere.” She glances over at Stephanie and my mom, uncomfortable with having an audience. My mom raises her brows, silently demanding an introduction.
“Before we do, I’d like you both to meet my mom, Helena Christianson. This is Jasmine and Natalie…” And then it hits me, I don’t know their last name.
“Zapata,” Natalie finishes for me.
“We already met,” Jasmine says.
“We did,” Mom agrees, standing, “but it’s nice to meet you.” She extends her hand and they shake. This is all very informal and nothing like what would be happening if they met in public. I have no idea at this point where I’m going and how to handle any of this.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Natalie says with tightness in her voice. She’s nervous. She’s meeting royalty and the grandmother of her daughter at the same time. This can’t be easy for her.
Stephanie clears her throat. “I’m Stephanie,” she says, introducing herself. “William’s assistant, advisor, and much more.” When she emphasizes the much more, Natalie flinches but quickly schools her features.
“Much more meaning friends since we were in diapers,” I explain, refusing to allow Stephanie to insinuate anything else. She might want there to be more between us, but I’ve never gone there and I have no intention of ever doing so.
I ignore the hard glare Stephanie is shooting my way. “Mom, Natalie and I need to speak to Jasmine, but once we’re done, I would like to speak to you as well.”
My mom nods in understanding, then excuses herself, dragging Stephanie along when she doesn’t get the hint that we want to speak to Jasmine alone.
“Mommy, is everything okay?” Jasmine asks, her gaze bouncing between us.
“Everything is perfect,” Natalie says, her voice upbeat.
“Let’s go to the sitting room,” I suggest. Once the three of us are inside, I close the door for privacy and then join them on the sofa.
“Remember what I’ve told you about your daddy?” Natalie says to Jasmine, who nods.
“Yes, that you loved him very much, but you didn’t get his phone number, so you couldn’t find him. But if he knew about me, he would love me.”
My breath catches at her words. She loved me and spoke fondly of me even though she assumed I left her all those years ago without a goodbye.
“That’s right,” Natalie tells her. “Well, I have some good news. Liam...” She stops and looks at me and raises a single brow. “Liam or William?”
“To you, Liam… To everyone else, it’s William.” I can’t imagine her calling me anything other than Liam. Liam is the carefree man in Las Vegas, the man who didn’t have the weight of an entire country perched on his shoulders.
“Liam is your daddy,” she says with a small smile.
Jasmine’s eyes comically widen, and her attention turns to me. “You’re my daddy?” She looks at her mom. “He’s the one in the picture?”
“I am,” I tell her, then hold my breath, waiting for her response.
She’s quiet, her top teeth gnawing on her bottom lip, just like her mom does. I would give anything to know what she’s thinking, but I wait, not so patiently, for her to wrap her head around what she’s just learned. She’s only five and needs time to process.
Finally, after several long moments, the most beautiful smile spreads across her face. “If you’re my daddy and the king, that makes me…” Her eyes light up. “That makes me a princess!” She looks at her mom. “Right? I’m a princess.”
Natalie snorts, and I release the breath I was holding. “Yes, that makes you a princess,” Natalie tells her.
“Wow,” Jasmine breathes. “My fairy-tale story came true.” Then she frowns. “Does that make you a queen?”
Natalie shakes her head. “No, my love, it doesn’t, but that’s okay because we found your daddy.”
I want to argue and tell her if I have it my way, she’ll become my queen, but it’s probably too soon to be making declarations like that. Right now, our attention needs to be on our daughter, but once things settle down, I have every intention of figuring out how to make Natalie my queen.