Reluctantly Royal

by Nichole Chase

  “It’s going to be okay,” I murmured against her head.

  “How can you know?” she whispered.

  “I just do.” God, please let him be all right. Meredith had dealt with enough.

  “The last thing I said to him was that he didn’t matter.” She sucked in one of those horrible body-shaking breaths.

  “He knows better.” But maybe he had needed to hear that.

  “He’s an awful man, but I love him. God, why do I love him?” Tears gathered in her eyes.

  “He’s your father.” I kissed her head. “And you had some good times.”

  “Yeah.” She shook her head. “Maybe this will be his bottom.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Alcoholics have to hit bottom before they are ready to make a change. It’s different for each person, but maybe this was his.” She gave a wet chuckle. “I had a counselor explain that to me in school.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Thank you.” She sat up in my arms and turned to face me.

  “For what?” I cocked my head to the side.

  “For being here. For treating me like family.” She closed her eyes. “For being so good to Marty. For showing me that it was okay to let some people in.”

  “Don’t you get it, yet?” I brushed the hair out of her face.

  “What?” She opened her eyes.

  “Meredith, you are my family.” I cupped her chin so that she couldn’t look away. “I don’t know when exactly it happened. Maybe it was when you yelled at me, or poked me in the chest. Maybe it was when I watched you stand up to your father, or how you take care of Marty. But sometime this week, I fell in love with you. You and Marty. You are my family.”

  Tears spilled down her face and I had a moment of panic. Should I have not told her? Should I have waited? I looked around the tiny office and frowned. I guess I could have tried to find a more romantic place. Or maybe she didn’t love me and was now worried she was going to hurt my feelings.

  “Meredith?” I brushed tears away from her cheek. “Say something. Anything. Even if it’s that you hate me. But please don’t cry.”

  “I—I—I have been trying—to.” She hiccupped.

  “I didn’t mean to upset you.” My heart sank in my chest.

  “Would . . . you . . . shut up?” She wiped at her nose.

  “Okay.” I held up my hands in surrender.

  “I’ve been trying to figure out how I was going to convince you that you love me, because I love you so much, so much, and I couldn’t stand the thought of walking away from you.” Her words fell out of her mouth like a flood. “I love you. I love the way you draw when you’re upset. I love that you say things without thinking. I love—love the way you treat Marty. I love how loyal you are and how you love your family. I just . . . I love you.”

  She shook her head and started laughing.

  “Is it funny?” I brushed the hair away from her face and kissed her nose. “Loving me is funny?”

  “At the funeral, in the limo—I was laughing because that’s when I realized I loved you. That you had swooped in and stolen my heart in a matter of days.” She shook her head. “It’s just . . . funny. I was lost the first time you kissed me and all I could think was that it was a good thing I had a strict no-kissing motto. Because apparently you could steal my heart with just one good smack-a-roo.”

  “Well, it was a really good kiss.” I smiled.

  “Yes, it was.” She traced my jaw with her fingers. “And I want you to keep doing it for a long, long time.”

  “I think that can be arranged.” In fact, I was already forming a plan. Leaning forward, I kissed her softly.

  When I pulled back, she snuggled against my chest and promptly fell asleep. I shook my head when she started snoring and shifted her to a more comfortable position.

  When the surgeon came to see us, I shook her gently to wake her up. She moved to the seat next to me and listened as he explained the surgery and told her that everything was going to be okay.

  “His recovery won’t be swift, but I’ve seen worse.”

  “He has a problem with alcohol.” Meredith sat up. “Is there a way to make sure his medicine is regulated?”

  “Absolutely.” The surgeon nodded his head. “Detoxing and withdrawal will make his recovery more difficult, but still manageable. I’ll let the appropriate staff know. We can also have him set up to enter rehab when he’s ready.”

  “Thank you.” She nodded her head. “When will he wake up?”

  “Not for a while. You should go get some rest. One of the nurses will call you when he’s up.”

  She chewed on her lip, and I knew she was trying to decide if she wanted to leave or not.

  “I’m happy to stay,” Rachel said from the doorway. “I brought my knitting supplies with me and will be just fine.”

  “I hate to ask you to do that.” Meredith frowned.

  “You didn’t. I offered.” Rachel made a shooing gesture at us. “Go tuck your boy in. I’ll call you when something changes.”

  I put my arm around Meredith’s shoulders and steered her out the door. “You need some real sleep.”

  “You’re such a charmer, you know that?” She rolled her eyes. “Always telling me how tired I look.”

  “Baby, you’re covered in blood but you’re still the most beautiful woman here.”

  She laughed. “You need to get that panty-dropping book back out and study some more.”

  “Nah. You like my awkwardness. You already told me. You can’t take it back now.” I pulled her closer against my side. Pride filled my chest as we walked to the car. Mine. She was mine. How the hell had I managed to get so lucky?

  By the time we made it to D’Lynsal, Marty was already asleep. Sam was snoring on the couch, her head on Alex’s lap while he read through paperwork.

  “How is he?” Alex whispered.

  “He’s going to be okay.” Meredith yawned. “Thank you for watching Marty.”

  “It was our pleasure.” Alex smiled.

  “Okay, cut the nicey-nice stuff. I’m too tired for it. How’d he really do?” She put a hand on her hip and Alex’s smile grew. The men in our family had a thing for feisty women, it would seem.

  I snorted and set her purse on the table before kicking off my wet shoes.

  “He does not like broccoli, lost a fishing rod in the lake, and accidentally squirted ketchup on Sam’s dress.” Alex chuckled softly. “But Samantha absolutely loved every minute of it. She took pictures of the fish they caught. He has them in his room.”

  “Now that I believe.” Meredith smiled and dropped her hand from her hip. “I’m going to take a shower.”

  “I’ll join you,” I said.

  Her eyes grew to the size of saucers and Alex chuckled quietly. When he started to hum softly, her face turned red.

  “Are you humming ‘Tubthumping’?” She looked incredulously at my brother.

  “Oh good, I got the melody right.”

  I flung one of my wet socks at his head and smiled when it made contact. “Score!”

  “Shh.” He threw the nasty sock off to the side and motioned to his sleeping wife.

  “Right, then.” Meredith shook her head. “Good night.”

  I followed her up the stairs and into her room. Despite the way I loved her gorgeous body, I wasn’t really looking for sex. I just wanted to be near her, to hold her.

  In the shower I made her turn around so that I could work the shampoo through the knots in her hair. She took her time washing my body, scrubbing every part except my feet. She threw me the sponge to do those myself.

  “I’m going to have to call my school tomorrow. I guess I can withdraw from classes.” She frowned as she towel dried her hair.

  “You could hire a steward.”

  “That just doesn’t sit right with me. They welcomed us back, and look at all the drama we’ve caused. Dad’s probably going to have charges brought against him for driving under the influence. G
randdad just died . . . I can’t leave them now.” She shook her head. “Maybe I’ll get a business degree locally.”

  “That would be a waste.” I pulled up my pajama pants and looked at her reflection in the mirror. “Can you not go to England during the week and come back on the weekends?”

  “Not if I’m in a show. It’s constant practices, and showtimes are usually on the weekends.” She looked down at the counter. “Being a singing duchess just isn’t going to work. Really, I should have known better. At some point the title was going to fall to me. I guess I’d just hoped that I’d have a little longer first.”

  I didn’t have an easy solution for that. Instead I threw the pillows off the bed and pulled back the covers while she got dressed. She crawled in and lay on her side looking at me.

  “Are you not going to stay?” She frowned.

  “I was waiting for you to ask.”

  “That didn’t stop you with my shower.” She gave me a sleepy smile. “Come on.”

  I slid under the blanket and pulled her against me. Tracing her arm with my fingertips, I thought about what she had said. She had to give up her dream to accept her family responsibility. Something she had been doing her whole life.

  “You could always have family help you run Thysmer.” I said the words quietly.

  “Dad’s got a lot of recovery to go through and there’s no telling if he’ll stay sober.” She sighed.

  I took a deep breath. “What about me?”

  “I can’t ask you to do that.” She sat up and looked at me. “Thysmer isn’t your responsibility.”

  “I told you that you were my family.” I shifted so I was sitting and looked at her. “I want to make that official.” A wave of possessiveness swept through my body. Mine. I wanted everyone to know that she and Marty were mine.

  “What?” Her eyes widened.

  “Marry me, Meredith.” I didn’t realize I was holding my breath. I hadn’t thought those words would ever leave my mouth.

  “Is this one of those times where you blurt out something and then realize you didn’t mean it?” She gripped the blanket with white knuckles. “Is it?”

  “Well, I blurted it out.” I smiled sheepishly. “But I really mean it. I was going to ask you later, somewhere romantic, but I blurted it out.”

  “But . . . but . . . you can’t . . . we’ve only had a week!” She looked at me like I’d grown a second head, and I was starting to think that maybe I was crazy. “You’re only doing this because you feel sorry for me.”

  “What?” I frowned.

  “You feel bad for me.” Her eyes wouldn’t meet mine.

  I pulled her to me so that our foreheads were touching. “I want to marry you, Meredith Thysmer. I want Marty to teach me how to fish. I want to watch him grow up. And I want to sit in the wings, out of the spotlight, while you sing. You, me, and Marty. It’s that simple. I don’t feel sorry for you. How can you feel sorry for the strongest person you know? I just want to be part of your life every day. The good and the bad. Forever.”

  She looked into my eyes, and tears lined her eyelashes.

  “I wasn’t trying to make you cry.”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Yes I was trying to make you cry?”

  “Yes, I’ll marry you, you idiot.” She gave me a watery chuckle. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

  “I love you.” I leaned forward and kissed her. She fell back on the bed, pulling me with her.

  “I love you too.”

  EPILOGUE

  I HATE HIM,” SAM declared loudly.

  “No you don’t,” I said.

  “I do. I hate him.” She glared over her shoulder at Alex. “And his stupid penis.”

  “It’s going to be worth it.” I pushed her IV as she walked around the large birthing suite.

  “I want to put his penis in clamps.” She grunted and bent over a bit. Alex was on his feet in a heartbeat but I waved him away.

  “Breathe, Sam.”

  “I’m . . . breathing.” She stood up once the contraction passed. “What was I saying? Clamps. Industrial clamps. That’ll almost make it even.”

  I winced at the thought and had to consciously force myself to not fondle my goods. Looking toward the door, I wished that Meredith or Cathy were here to deal with this, but both had been hours away when Sam went into labor.

  So, here I was, with my very pregnant, very angry sister-in-law. Anytime Alex took a step in her direction she would growl. And honestly, seeing how much pain she was in, I didn’t blame her.

  “Have you picked a name yet?” I asked as we started walking again.

  “Ha. I’m not telling you. You just want to win that stupid bet.” She glanced at me.

  “Nah. I’m just trying to distract you.” I kept pace with her slow waddle. It was like walking with a giant penguin. A giant, pissed-off penguin.

  “Where are Cathy and Meredith? You look too much like Alex.”

  “They’re on their way.” Please, God, let them get here soon.

  “I brought a birthing ball!” Chadwick walked into the room with a giant rubber ball. It looked like something from a yoga studio.

  “What?” Sam turned to look at her assistant.

  “You sit on it and bounce. It’s supposed to help.” He put the ball down next to the bed.

  “I’ll try anything.” Sam waddled over to the ball. I grabbed one arm while Chadwick grabbed the other. “I feel like I’m going to fall over.”

  “The instructions said to lean forward a little.”

  “Don’t let me fall,” Sam told us.

  “Yes, ma’am,” I said.

  “Don’t patronize me.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Now, just bounce gently. It’s supposed to help get the baby in position and lessen some of the pain,” Chadwick told her.

  “Okay.” Sam closed her eyes as another contraction hit her.

  “We’re here!” Cathy announced as she, David, and Meredith walked through the door.

  Sam tried to stand up, and that was the moment her water broke. It dribbled down her legs onto the ball, the floor, and my shoes. It took some doing, but I was able to keep my face blank.

  “Are you okay?” Alex was by my side before I could comprehend what had happened.

  “Whoa.” Cathy’ s voice sounded small.

  “Oh no.” Sam’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m so sorry, Max, Chadwick.”

  “It’s okay.” I leaned forward and kissed her head before letting Alex take my spot.

  “Hey, that’s exactly what you wanted to happen.” Meredith took Chadwick’s place. “This is good, it means the labor will go faster.”

  “I know, but it got all over them!” Sam’s bottom lip trembled.

  “They don’t care,” Meredith assured her. “Do you?”

  “Nope,” I agreed.

  “Not at all. I even wore shoes that could get dirty just in case.” Chadwick lifted his foot.

  “Should we get the nurse?” Alex asked.

  “Yes.”

  “On it!” Cathy hollered as she ran out of the room. David rocked back and forth on his feet, looking incredibly uncomfortable.

  “Let’s get you back in the bed. They’re going to need to check you.” Meredith steered Sam toward the hospital bed but glanced in my direction. “Would you go out with Marty? He’s in the waiting room with Charles.”

  “I’ll join you,” David announced. “I think I’m just in the way here.”

  “Of course.” I went to the bed and kissed Sam’s head. “Don’t kill anyone while I’m gone, okay?”

  “Okay.” She smiled at me briefly. “Thanks for letting me take it out on you.”

  “I’ll find a way to pay you back.” I winked at her as I left the room and made my way down the hall. The waiting room was full of other families waiting on their newest addition. Some of them watched me as I walked out, but for the most part they were more interested in what was happening with their own loved ones.

  “We
’re over here.” Marty waved at me. He was sitting with Charles next to a vending machine.

  “What are you playing?” I looked down at his handheld game.

  “Day of Doom Two.”

  “I thought your mom said you couldn’t have that one.” I frowned.

  “Charles got it for me.” The boy shrugged, never taking his eyes from the zombies he was killing.

  I looked at my bodyguard and raised an eyebrow.

  “I didn’t know.” His mouth twitched to one side in a half smile.

  “Right.” I looked for Marty’s bag. “What else did you bring with you?”

  “Racing games, a couple of space games. I grabbed whatever was on my dresser.”

  “Switch it out.” I picked up the bag from the floor.

  “Ah, man.”

  “Come on. I’m so not taking a beating for letting you play that.” I narrowed my gaze at him. “You know better than to break your mom’s rules.”

  “Are you going to tell?” He looked up at me with puppy dog eyes.

  David snorted from where he was sitting, but managed to not laugh out loud.

  “You better believe it.”

  “Are you going to take my system?” He held up his handheld device.

  “I’m not that cruel. You can play while we’re at the hospital, but then it’s gone for a week.” I leaned back in my chair. Being the bad cop did not come easily to me. Even with a few months of practice. But I was getting better at it.

  The waiting room cleared of families as the hours passed. Marty was tucked against my side, his head rolling forward. Charles got up to stretch, walking around the open space and reading the plaques on the wall. David was dozing off, his arms crossed over his chest.

  I’d had no idea it took so long to have a baby. Poor Sam.

  “Are you and Mom going to have babies?” Marty’s tiny voice made me jump.

  “I thought you were asleep.” I looked down at him.

  “I’m not.” He yawned. “Are you and Mom going to have babies? Zach, at school, said his mom and new dad are having a baby.”