Alex’s arm wraps around me, and I lean gratefully into his warmth.
Dr. McGill nods and leaves the room.
“He doesn’t seem worried,” Alex notes, tightening his arm around me just a little. “I’m sure that’s a good sign.”
“He’d be a terrible doctor if he showed he was worried,” I say. I close my eyes.
“Are you okay?” Alex asks.
“I feel a little dizzy.”
The door opens, but I don’t open my eyes to see who it is or what’s going on. A moment later, Alex speaks. “Orange juice, Erica.”
I shake my head. I’m so nervous, I feel like I’m going to be sick.
“You need to have some,” Alex insists. “You didn’t eat any breakfast, and your adrenaline has been through the roof because of this incident. You’re going to crash in a minute. Come on.” I hear the crinkly sound of a lid being peeled back from a cup, and then he’s closing my hand around the plastic. “Here. Drink.”
I don’t have the energy to argue. I raise the cup to my lips and take a sip.
“Keep drinking,” Alex urges, so I do.
Sure enough, the juice seems to revive me a little, and after some time has passed, I open my eyes. He’s watching me, concern written all over his face.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“I just need to know about the baby,” I say.
Alex opens his mouth—perhaps to say that we’ll find out about the baby soon enough—but the door opens again, cutting him off. Dr. McGill has returned to the room, clipboard in hand.
“Okay, Erica,” he says, and a smile breaks across his face. “It’s good news. All your tests came back fine. You’ve got nothing at all to worry about.”
I can’t believe it. I’m stunned into silence for a moment. Finally, I find words.
“My baby is okay?”
The doctor pulls something off his clipboard and hands it to me. I look down. It’s an ultrasound photo.
“Is this him?” I ask. “Or her?”
“Them,” the doctor corrects me.
Alex gasps, but I don’t understand.
“Who?”
“Your babies,” Dr. McGill says. “You’re expecting twins, Erica.”
“I’m what?”
“Are you sure?” Alex asks.
“I’m certain,” the doctor says. “Look.” He approaches and points to the ultrasound photo. “Here’s one, and here’s the other. There are definitely two. And all our tests indicate that they’re both healthy and strong, and you’re doing well, too. Get home and get some rest and you’ll feel much better.”
“So she’s all right?” Alex confirms. “There’s nothing wrong with her?”
“Just a bit of anxiety, I’d say,” the doctor says. “Take care of her today.”
Alex nods. “I can do that.”
Back at home, Alex carries me to bed and tucks me in.
“You’re staying right here for the rest of the day,” he insists. “No moving. Anything you need, I’ll get it for you.”
“Come on,” I say. “I’m not comfortable with that.”
“Please.” He sits on the foot of my bed. “Let me do this, Erica. You’re carrying our baby—our babies. You get to give a part of yourself to them every single day. I can’t do that, so please let me do what I can. Let me wait on you a little. It would be a gift to me.”
I close my eyes. It’s hard to accept someone serving me. I’ve always been self-sufficient. I’ve never even gotten comfortable with the costumers and hair and makeup artist helping me get ready for a day of filming, and I never sent anyone to get food for me during work hours. But Alex is looking at me with a genuine plea in his eyes, and I believe what he’s saying. He wants to help with the babies, and really, there’s so little he can do. Taking care of me is his only recourse.
I nod assent. “I could use my book. I left it in the living room. And maybe…some breakfast?”
He jumps to his feet eagerly. “What would you like?”
“Oh, anything is fine.”
“Pancakes?”
“That sounds great.”
He squeezes my hand and disappears. After dropping off my book, he heads to the kitchen, and I hear him rattling around with pots and pans. Has he ever cooked before? He’s a prince, after all. He must have someone in his employ who does that sort of thing for him. I wonder whether he has any idea how to make pancakes.
But he must, because a few minutes later he returns with a huge, fluffy stack and a bowl of cut-up strawberries and bananas.
“Breakfast is served,” he says, bowing slightly enough that it feels sincere and not like a mockery.
I smile and pick out a strawberry. It’s perfectly ripe and delicious, the flavor bursting across my tongue.
“Do you mind if I call home?” Alex asks. “My family will want to know about today’s news.”
“Of course not,” I say. “Please, go ahead.”
He pulls out his phone.
“I should really wait,” he confesses as he dials. “It’s the middle of the night in Ava—Father? It’s Alessandro—no, let’s speak English, I’m in America, and Erica is here with me.” He shoots a glance at me. “We’ve just been to the doctor.”
A pause. I can hear a voice on the other end of the phone. The king. It gives me a little shiver to think about it.
“She’s fine,” Alex says. “But we did get a surprise. She—we—we’re expecting twins.”
Another long, ominous pause.
Then I hear a burst of laughter through the phone, and a rattling of Avaranian as the king forgets to speak English. I don’t know what he’s saying, but a smile breaks across Alex’s face like the dawn, and I know instantly it must be good.
“That’s right,” Alex agrees. “Two royal babies.”
The voice over the phone laughs delightedly and then continues to speak in Avaranian. Alex gives my hand a squeeze, gets to his feet, and leaves the room to speak to his father.
I rest a hand on my belly, wondering. Two royal babies. Two little princes, or princesses, or one of each. What will their lives look like? What will it be like to grow up as the children of a Hollywood actress and a member of the royal family? How famous will my children be, and how sought after by the paparazzi? Will they ever know a moment’s peace or privacy?
Royal babies, Alex called them. And he was echoing the king. So what does that mean? What are royal babies, royal children, expected to do? And how will that change if Alex is stripped of his title? He doesn’t have a sibling, so who will be next in the line of succession? Will the throne fall to his cousins, to Enzo’s children? And if so, would our babies still be in line?
Royal babies.
I think about my friend Lizzie, who grew up in Hollywood, whose perspective on life and the world is so vastly different from mine. I’ve often felt she wouldn’t make it in the real world, that if she was transplanted to Ohio and had to deal with things like shoveling snow and paying taxes and taking her car to the shop she would fall apart. But it’s unfair to judge Lizzie on those terms, and I know it. That isn’t Lizzie’s world. Her world is the world of fame and fans and followers, and she navigates that like a pro.
That’s the skill my children will have to have. They’ll have to learn their way around Avaranian courts, in addition to managing the perils of Hollywood. Their upbringing won’t be anything like mine was. They won’t have the struggles of getting by in an average high school. They won’t learn to drive when they turn fifteen—will they ever?
Even if Alex is forced to give up his throne, they will be highborn royals in Avaran. Alex will no doubt take some lesser title, just like his uncle did. My children will never be normal.
Alex comes back into the bedroom, phone in hand, all smiles. “Well, he’s happy,” he says.
“I could tell,” I say. I reach behind me to rearrange my pillows, but Alex jumps in and does it before I can. “What did he say?” I ask.
“Good news on that front too,�
�� Alex says.
“What do you mean?”
“Parliament came to an agreement.”
I grab his hand. “Tell me.”
“They’re not going to force me to abdicate,” he says. “My father went back and pled my case after I left Avaran, and in the end, enough of them saw sense. I’ll retain my title.”
“Oh, God, Alex, that’s wonderful.” I fling my arms around him.
He nods. “And it means our children will be the rightful heirs to the throne.”
And there it is, the part that frightens me. But I am not going to allow myself to be worried by that, not right now. Not on this miraculous day when everything is going so well. Alex is here with me, and we are in love. Our babies are healthy and whole, and there are two of them, two new children to welcome into our family and share our love. And now Alex will get to remain as prince of his beloved country.
This couldn’t possibly have worked out any more perfectly.
Alex is watching me carefully. “Are you all right with it?” he asks.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“There are going to be challenges,” he says. “There are going to be complications, raising royal children.”
“I’m trying not to focus on that right now,” I tell him honestly. “I want to have your children. That makes them royal. It’s a fair bargain.”
He laughs.
“What?” I ask. “What’s funny?”
“It’s strange to hear you put it that way,” he says. “Do you know how many people feel the opposite way about it? That they wouldn’t mind whose children they had to have, as long as those children were royal? As long as their children could help them gain status, power or money?”
“I already have more status and power and money than I need,” I say.
“This is what I meant when I told you that celebrities were American royalty,” Alex says.
I nod. “I suppose you had a point there.”
“We’re going to need to go back to Avaran,” he says. “My father’s insisting upon it. And honestly, I think he’s right. He says we’d do best to have the babies born there.”
“That’s not a problem,” I say. “We already talked about it, remember? We wanted them to have Avaranian citizenship.”
He nods, seeming relieved that I’m taking it so well.
“It’s also custom that members of the royal family are born in the palace, so it’s a good way to honor our children and legitimize their place in the line of succession,” he says. “Even though Parliament has agreed, there are plenty of people in Avaran who will dispute my claim to the throne and the legitimacy of our children. By adhering to custom, we’ll take our first steps toward sweeping away those doubts.”
“That makes sense,” I say. “I do want to honor royal tradition in some way, at least. I want the babies to begin their lives the right way. You were right before when you pointed out that we’d gone about this whole thing out of order.”
“I don’t have any regrets,” Alex says quickly.
“No, I don’t either,” I reassure him. “But moving forward, we need to be careful to do everything right. We need to follow the rules and stick to traditions. Because it’s not just us who will be paying for our mistakes now.” I rest a hand on my stomach and look at him significantly. “We can’t afford to alienate the Avaranian people.”
“It’s a lot to ask,” Alex says. “I know it’s a lot to ask. You’ll be leaving behind your family, your country, everything that’s familiar to you.”
“It’s not as if I’ve never done that before,” I point out. “I did that when I left Ohio to come to Hollywood. I traded familiarity and comfort for the promise of something I wanted even more. That’s what I’m doing this time, too. I can handle it.”
“And there’s your career to think of,” Alex persists. “You’ll be away until the children are born, at least. Your acting career is just getting started. Your star is rising. To be away for so long…”
“It doesn’t matter where I am,” I say firmly. “I’m not going to be able to act until after the babies are born anyway. Royal Blue will either have to extend the hiatus or write my character off the show.”
“And that’s okay?” he asks. “You won’t be violating any contracts, or, I don’t know, making anyone angry? I worry about you, Erica. I know this isn’t just complicated for me. I’m not the only one who has a life that this has to fit into, and I realize that.”
“It’s all right,” I say. “I haven’t signed my contract for next season yet. I suppose they might get angry when they find out I’ll have to take a few months off from filming, but there’s very little they can reasonably ask me to do about it, and I haven’t broken any contracts.” I take his hand. “There’s nothing keeping me here, Alex. There’s only my parents, and they’ll be able to visit, won’t they?”
“Of course,” he says.
“Then I have no reason to stay,” I tell him. “Let’s go to Avaran. Let’s take our children home.”
“You know you’ll be seized on immediately, don’t you?” Alex asks. “Everyone is going to want to know everything about you. You’re the American girl who captured the heart of the prince.” He chuckles a little at his own spin job. “People are going to be clamoring to get your story, to get photos of you, to get you to sit down for interviews or give them sound bites.”
“That happens already,” I point out. “That doctor we went to today was specifically chosen because he deals with celebrities and doesn’t sell our stories to the press.”
“It’ll be worse in Avaran,” Alex warns. “Here you’re famous, but you’re one of hundreds of famous people, and many of them are a lot more famous than you are. In Avaran, you’re all anybody’s talking about right now. The royal family is big, but it isn’t that big, and none of the rest of them have anything exciting going on. You and I are the only news, and you’re the only one they don’t know. They’re going to be on you as soon as we land.”
“I don’t care,” I say. I know I sound stubborn, but I don’t care about that either. “It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that we’re all together.”
Alex nods and pulls me close for a kiss. “Then I’ll make the arrangements.”
Chapter 20
Six Months Later
“I brought you more books,” Alex calls from the door to my bedroom.
I’m reclining on a chaise on my balcony overlooking the capital city of Avaran and feeling every bit a princess. This is nothing like playing Princess Aeryn was. Aeryn was always dirty and grimy, always running around the unseemly parts of the kingdom, getting involved in swordplay and even fist fights. She was a compelling character, to be sure, but she did not remind me of a princess.
But here in Avaran, it’s a completely different story. Since I arrived here six months ago, I’ve been treated like royalty. I have my own suite of rooms in the palace, adjoining Alex’s, and my own staff of maids and butlers to help me with anything I need.
I’m uncomfortable calling on them for anything, despite the fact that they’ve reassured me hundreds of times that that’s what they’re there for, that it’s part of their job and that they want to help make my life easier. One butler, after I told him I couldn’t possibly ask him to bring me the milkshake I was craving at two in the morning, even took me aside and showed me one of his pay stubs, and after that I did feel better about it.
Alex appears on the balcony and dumps the pile of books beside me. “I was at the library for over an hour,” he says. “I’ve never spent such a long time among the books before. But you read them so quickly.”
“I have to,” I say, looking through the stack. “My children are going to be Avaranian royalty. It’ll be my job to teach them the history of their country and their people.”
“They’ll have tutors for that,” Alex points out. “And me.”
“Even so, it wouldn’t be right if their own mother didn’t know anything about the country they’re goin
g to rule one day, would it? Besides, there will be plenty of people who have problems with me raising them,” I point out. “If I can demonstrate from the start that I understand their importance to the country and that I want to help prepare them for their future roles, so much the better.”
Alex takes a seat at the foot of my chaise.
“What have you been studying this morning?”
“Language,” I say, showing him the app on my phone that’s been pronouncing Avaranian words into my ear all day. “It sounds a lot like Italian.”
“You know Italian?”
“I know Spanish. Spanish also sounds like Italian.”
He smiles and reaches out to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear.
“You’re so dedicated,” he says. “I can’t believe how hard you’ve been working since you arrived here. How quickly you’ve been learning. Our children are so lucky to have you for a mother.”
I pull the new books into my arms. “What did you bring me today?”
He picks up the book that’s on top of the stack. “This is a history of our establishment as an independent nation,” he says. “Avaran takes pride in the fact that we’ve never been involved in a war. Even for our independence, we never went to battle.”
“How did that happen?”
“Read the book,” he says with a grin. He places it on the table and takes another from me. “This is a biography of Avaran’s best-loved prime minister. It will give you some history of the politics of our country, and it’ll also provide some insight into how the royal family interacts with Parliament.”
I nod. “That’s something the kids will need to know about.”
“Yes, exactly,” he says with a smile. “It important that they keep the body of elected officials happy at all times, because nothing can be accomplished unless Parliament and whoever is on the throne are in agreement. When there’s a standoff, it can lead to hard times for the country and the people. A good ruler has to learn when to compromise and when to hold fast to his ideals.” He taps the cover of the book. “This prime minister dealt with a king who was particularly good at that, and it was one of the most prosperous periods in Avaranian history.”
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