Pregnant with a Royal Baby!

His honestly hit her like the swell of an ocean wave. The king might have kept the news from him, but he probably would have stayed away anyway. “Well, that certainly shines a light on that.”

“That’s why my dad’s lesson was such a good one. I had to see what it felt like to have all my choices taken away from me. When I thought...knew...he was behind my not seeing the baby’s birth, I felt the unfairness of it and ridiculous anger. But flying over on the plane, I realized what I just told you. That I might have pushed it back and put it off until I missed it by my own doing. I would have been disappointed but I would have made those crazy royalty excuses about duty, and I’d have forgiven myself. I had to experience it this way to feel the real loss.”

He met her gaze again. “It gave me a totally new perspective.”

Her heart jumped a bit. “So you’re going to be a good dad?”

He laughed. “Yes.”

And suddenly her war with him lost some of its oomph, too. Even as his changing attitude made her glad for their baby’s sake, it also made her very sad. Very tired. Technically, she and Dom were back to where they were when they made this silly deal.

She said, “That’s good,” but her heart absolutely shattered. She’d have loved to have raised her baby with this Dom.

“Can you forgive me?”

“For missing the baby’s birth? Since it means you’re going to be a better dad? Yes.” She tried to smile but just couldn’t quite do it.

“What about for the other stuff?”

“Like...” The man had been sweet and kind. Attentive in a way that might not have been romantic, but he’d been good to her the whole time they were together. He’d always told her he didn’t want to fall in love. She was the one who’d pushed. “...what?”

“You wanted me to love you.”

Oh, great. Just what she wanted to talk about again. How he didn’t love her.

“It’s okay.”

“Not for me. If you decided you don’t want me to love you anymore, I’m in real trouble, because I realized flying over that ocean that I’ve probably always loved you.”

Tears stung her eyes. “Really? Because I’ve told you that.”

He chuckled. “I know you did. But just like the lesson my dad gave me, I sort of needed to lose you—lose everything—before I could realize what I had.”

He laid the baby in the makeshift bed. “We’re putting a future king in a dresser drawer.”

She tried to laugh but a sob came out. He walked over and enfolded her in his arms. “I am so sorry.”

She wanted to say, “That’s okay,” but she couldn’t stop sobbing. She’d been alone for days, making decisions she didn’t want to make, trying to get food in a house that was way too small. And she’d missed him. And felt betrayed. Alone.

He let her cry until her sobs became hiccups. Then he whispered, “Shouldn’t you be in bed, too?”

“I’m fine.”

“Right. Just like you were fine right before you fainted in front of poor Marco.” He shifted the baby drawer to one side of the bed and pulled down the covers. “Come here.”

She did. He helped her lie down, took off her shoes, pulled the covers to her chin and she fell into her first sound sleep in days.

When she woke, it was to the sounds of her son crying.

Dom lay beside her on the bed, watching her. “I think our son wants to be fed.”

“Sounds like.”

“We are going to have to name him sometime.”

“I’m starting to think of him as Jimmy.”

“He’ll be King James...like in the Bible.”

“Better than captain of the starship Enterprise.”

She slid out of the bed, got James from his drawer, opened her shirt and began to nurse.

Some of the strain appeared to be gone from Dom’s face. “You napped?”

He stretched and said, “A bit.”

“Do we have to go home right away?”

His eyes leaped to hers. “You’re coming with me?”

“We are raising a king together.”

“Yes, we are.”

“And your dad is nuts with his rules and his tests.”

“I think he’s going to let us alone with the tests.”

“Yeah, wait until you see the dress I’m going to have made for his next formal dinner. He’s not the only one who can push people’s buttons. Except this time I owe him.”

He laughed and for the first time in days, Ginny felt normal. She nudged her head, indicating he should join her and the baby. “Come watch.”

“Really?”

“Sure. He’s cute. It’s fun to watch him eat like a little horse.”