That he was able to walk away from it was proof enough of his innocence, at least to me.
Auggie, however, didn’t see it that way. He believed his hatred towards Cillian and Eloise, and bitterness for their betrayal, implicated him nonetheless. In his mind, the fact that it could have been him was bad enough.
It was a sense of honor and responsibility that automatically made him better than any male member of the Byrne family.
It made me think about the times Cillian had hinted that I didn’t know the whole story. Clearly, this was what he meant. Now a parent myself, I felt instant empathy for him for losing his son. I absolutely couldn’t imagine it.
Of course, he was now interfering with my son by cozying up to Christopher Tyler.
I decided to keep that to myself until I found a better way to handle it. Auggie had been through enough.
As the days of our idyllic honeymoon dwindled, I doted on my new husband. I wanted to remind him how amazing he was, despite the understandable urge to want revenge against an enemy. He never aimed that gun at a person, only a deer—which, frankly, was bad enough. But it wasn’t murder and he needed to release himself from that misplaced guilt.
By that final Friday, he had finally made peace with it. I found him in one of the drawing rooms, playing something soft on the piano. I came to sit next to him as he played. I rested my head on his shoulder as he finished.
“That’s beautiful,” I murmured.
“I was just playing around,” he dismissed with a shrug. He closed the fallboard. “It’s not like I can really create anymore.”
“Why not?”
“No time,” he answered with a smirk. “I’m a husband now. About to be a new father. And a king,” he added softly.
“So, be a king who creates,” I said as lifted the fallboard back up again. “Surround our son with beauty, Auggie.”
He took my left hand in his to kiss the rings that now adorned my third finger. “I already did. When I chose you.”
I reached for a kiss. A long time ago, he said this would be Jack’s origin story, us, sitting together on a piano bench, when our passion overtook us, and we fell headlong into love. “This is where we started, after all.”
His gaze inhaled me as his mouth covered mine while his fingers encouraged beautiful music from the keys. My fingers tangled in his hair, to press him closer, to kiss him deeper. Music rose from the piano as he composed a new song that was inspired by nothing more than my kiss, with the subtle nuances and rising crescendo matching note for note.
It was the most beautiful music I’d ever heard.
When he was done, he straddled the bench and pulled me into his lap, my legs straddling either side. He deftly unzipped his pants to expose his raging erection. I lifted my dress and slid aside my underwear so that he could enter me right then and there, just like the story he once told. I loved making it real, especially on our romantic honeymoon.
If I hadn’t already been pregnant, I likely would have been after the past two weeks.
I said as much to him after he spent himself in me, yet again, and I clutched him tight into my body.
“That is my plan, Princess,” he grinned. “Barefoot and pregnant, for next ten years at least.”
I laughed. “Ten? Can we just get through Jack’s birth first?”
He cuddled me close. “If you insist,” he caved dramatically. He caressed my tummy. “I can’t believe he’s almost here.”
“Me either,” I grinned. “Let’s hope he holds out until after the Masquerade Ball.”
We were admittedly cutting it close. I was due on Halloween, and the ball was on Saturday less than a week before. It was a close shave by all accounts. We had talked about our plans a lot in the last two weeks, sending updates to Maeve in the interim so that they could get the ball rolling.
It was our first royal engagement as a married couple, and as the future king and queen. To say it was a big deal would be an understatement.
When we left Castlegate that Sunday morning, I was as in love with it and Mercy Island as Auggie was. It was a beautiful place where we could spend many happy family vacations away from the prying eye of the public. We were already planning a return in December, when Castlewick was opened to the public for Christmas.
“Just think,” I said as we watched the island fade in the distance, “the next time we come, we’ll have a baby.”
He bent for a kiss. “And the next time we come we’ll make another.”
“A girl this time?” I asked as I cuddled close.
“A girl every time,” he promised as he hugged me tight.
We braced against the cold and headed back to Aldayne, where real life waited to start.
It was only when we got to Castlewick that we learned life had not waited for us.
Chapter Ten
We arrived home to Castlewick just before two o’clock Sunday afternoon. The staff was prepared to meet us upon our return, so the McPhees were present and accounted for as well. I saw Dashie bouncing up and down as the 1947 Alda Coupe rounded the circular drive towards the front.
Sean looked especially spiffy as he hopped out to open our door and welcome us home properly.
“Your Grace,” he grinned.
“Major,” we both acknowledged with smiles of our own. We turned to greet the staff, who bowed or curtsied as was custom. We met Hedwig at the top step.
“Your Grace,” she said with the appropriate curtsy. “You had a lovely honeymoon, I trust.”
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “In every possible way. Thank you, Hedwig.”
She turned to me. “Ma’am,” she acknowledged, though I sensed it was begrudgingly. She turned back to Auggie. “Your quarters are all prepared.”
“Lovely,” he nodded. “What time shall we come down for dinner?”
She appeared confused by the question. “You’re having dinner at Shimmering Falls, sir. With Her Majesty.”
We exchanged a glance. I offered a shrug. I knew nothing about this change of plans.
“We just got back,” he told Hedwig.
“I understand that, sir, but it was a direct request.”
“You mean an order,” Auggie quipped. Hedwig stammered, unsure what to say. “Never mind. That will be all, Hedwig.”
She bowed her head in response before she dismissed the rest of the staff back to their duties. We turned to my family.
Our family.
Dash took a running leap but launching towards Auggie instead of me thanks to my burgeoning tummy. We closed in for a double hug. “I’ve missed you so much!” he said, squeezing our necks tight.
I had to laugh. “I’m sure you had plenty to do here.”
He nodded as Auggie set him on his feet. He grabbed his new brother-in-law by the hand. “The stables are all ready for the horses, Auggie!”
“Excellent,” Auggie grinned. “You’ll have to show them to me after we get settled.”
We turned to Dallas, who offered us both hugs. “Have a fun honeymoon, sis?”
“The best.”
“Where’d you go?” Dash wanted to know.
“Castlegate on Mercy Island.”
Dash proceeded to immediately fill Dallas in on the history of Castlegate, showing off how much he’d learned while we were gone.
“I can’t wait to take you there,” I told my younger siblings, before turning to my parents.
Mom gave me a big squeeze around my neck. “I’ve missed you, girl.”
“I missed you, too, Mom.”
She pulled away, both awed and sad. “Your wedding day was so spectacular, it’s hard to believe it was real.”
“Oh, it was real,” Dash assured her. “They took pictures and video.” He turned back to me. “I saw myself on television! Did you see the wedding on TV?”
I shook my head. “We didn’t watch any TV on the island.”
He scrunched his little nose. “Really? You were gone two whole weeks. What were you doing if you weren’t
watching TV?”
The adults laughed as my dad joined the fray. “Never you mind about that, Dashiell,” he said in that Dad voice we knew not to challenge. He was a soft-spoken man, but he meant the things he said.
“Where’s Fern?” I asked.
“They’re house hunting,” Mom said. “Audra and Archer went with them.”
“Ah,” I said, knowingly. “Cupid’s working overtime in Aldayne.”
My parents laughed. “They’ll meet us tonight at Shimmering Falls,” my mom informed me.
“What’s this all about?” I asked her. “Do you know?”
Mom just shrugged. “I think Maeve wants everyone on the same page for the events for the rest of the month.”
I noticed how she didn’t look me in the eye. It was very un-Mom-like. “Mom,” I said.
She sighed before turning to Dallas. “Why don’t you take Dashie upstairs? Watch some of the TV he seems to think we can’t live without.”
“But I want to stay here and hear about Mercy Island,” Dash pouted.
Auggie stepped up. “Peaches and I need to settle in a bit first. Is that okay by you, milord?”
Dash always stood a little straighter when Auggie bestowed titles upon him. “Okay,” he decided. “But we have to leave in a couple of hours for Shimmering Falls. So, don’t wait too long.”
Auggie chuckled. “You have my word.”
We waited till the younger kids were out of earshot before we turned back to my folks. “What’s going on, Mom?”
My parents shared a look. Finally, Mom sighed. “It’s your grandparents, Pea. It’s been a scandal ever since the wedding.”
I thought about Christopher with a scowl. “I just bet.”
Auggie’s brow furrowed. “What scandal?”
It was my turn to sigh. “PING dug up some disgruntled roots from the family tree.”
“Of course, they did,” Auggie clipped, his mouth forming a thin, angry line.
“Anyway, with everything that is happening, the Masquerade Ball and Jack and everything, I think she just wants to get us all on the same page how to deal with it.”
“She told us not to speak to any press about it,” Dad confided. “Not like we would, but… she was pretty emphatic.”
“I’m sorry about that, Doug,” Auggie told him. Dad just brushed it off.
“I’m the one who is sorry. I never wanted all that to mess up Pea’s perfect day.”
“It didn’t,” I assured him. In all the hubbub—and including hearing the even more painful and complicated history between Auggie and Cillian—I had sort of forgotten about it all.
It was easy to forget about people who were barely there for you. Ever since they wrote off Dashie, I had no use for them.
But Queen Maeve probably had a few things to say about it. It made my stomach knot with dread.
“It’s nothing we can fix right now,” Mom decided, taking me by the hand. “Let’s get you settled.”
Though my apartment with Auggie was on the third floor just like the new McPhee residence, it was on the opposite side of the palace in another wing, offering us total privacy and autonomy as a newly married couple. The walls were still mostly blank, waiting for our personal touches, with only an official photo or portrait to make the place more regal.
Our wedding portrait hung above the sizeable fireplace in the living room, and several of the wedding gifts we had received from other royalty were displayed prominently in the room. It was already such a surreal memory it was almost like the whole experience happened to someone else, despite the fact I could see myself in that ornate wedding gown, wearing a crown jewel atop my head as I stood next to my groom, the heir apparent, in full uniform including a kilt and his saber.
Dash was eager to give us a tour of the three-bedroom apartment complete with its own office, study, and game room.
The nursery was dressed in blue and already decorated thanks to our lovely friends in Ademar. The walls were painted with a view of the island, with Luz Del Mar on one wall, Mount Belvedere on the other wall, the picturesque town of Lucia del Sol on the third wall, and a picture of the sandy beach on another. There were plenty of plants to give the room some vibrancy, along with a royal cradle with its own canopy. Plush, stuffed animals filled the room, along with hand-knitted blankets of all colors and designs, all gifts from the people of Ademar.
Tears sprang to my eyes as I took it all in. It was so sweet and so perfect. I took Auggie’s hand in mine.
“Is it okay?” Dash asked. “Audra said you’d love it. Do you love it?”
“I love it,” I told him. “And I can’t wait to take you to Ademar so you can see why.”
That jump-started a half-hour discussion of all the things he’d learned about Ademar. Finally, Mom and Dad shooed the younger kids away so we could be alone at last. We went to the bedroom to change. All our belongings were already put neatly away.
Having a staff had certain advantages.
“What do you think she’s going to say?” I asked.
“What can she say?” he replied. “You can’t un-ring a bell.”
“Obviously, she wants to say something. We’re being summoned by the Queen.”
He shrugged out of his clothes into something more appropriate to meet with his grandmother. “Maybe she just wants to see us. We have a lot to do and we’ve been gone for two weeks. She likely wants to hit the ground running if I know Old Mother.”
I wasn’t convinced. I still worried that Cillian was going to strike with news the baby wasn’t Auggie’s. While I was certain that wouldn’t change anything for the Queen, it would likely change some things for the Aldayneans he would serve.
Our house of cards teetered precariously on more than a few scandals hidden under the rug.
Noting how worried I was, Auggie walked over to me to place a reassuring kiss on my forehead. “You look tired, babe. Take a nap. It’ll look a little bit better when you’re refreshed.”
I nodded. Now that we were in the homestretch to labor and delivery, my body was a lot less forgiving than it used to be. I tired out more easily, which had been fine during our two-week honeymoon where we could nap and relax at our leisure.
Now that we were back on the job, I knew I’d have to preserve my precious energy. Jack would be here before we knew it, and then opportunities to rest would depend on his schedule and not ours.
“We could get a nanny,” Auggie had suggested at Castlegate. I shut that down immediately. I didn’t want to sign off the care of my child to anyone, least of all some stranger hand-picked by the queen to turn him into a royal robot.
Besides, why would we need additional assistance? That was why my family was staying at Castlewick. I trusted no one more.
I lay on our new bed in our new apartment, my arm curled around my tummy, and was asleep before Auggie had finished changing. And admittedly I was a bit more refreshed when he gently prodded me awake what felt like a few seconds later.
“A few more minutes,” I protested as I snuggled closer.
“Sorry, babe. I let you sleep as long as I could. It was all I could do to keep Dash from doing a running leap on the bed,” Auggie grinned.
I giggled. “Yeah, you might rethink having the whole McPhee clan living with us after a while.”
“Never,” he promised. “I love being a part of this big, loud, chaotic family.” He caressed my tummy. “I can’t wait till it gets even bigger.”
I shuddered a little to think that was a little over two weeks away. We were about to meet our son. The thought was both exhilarating and terrifying.
“Are you scared?” he asked, reading me like a book.
I nodded. “A little. You?”
He nodded. “A lot.”
I laughed. “At least you don’t have to risk an episiotomy.”
He bent for a kiss. “For you, my love, I will make the exception.”
We kissed long and slow for as long as the clock would allow, then dragged ourselves from the bed
to prepare for dinner with the queen.
Though we were family now, I felt compelled to dress accordingly for the situation, with a nicer dress and comfortable pumps. I applied makeup and styled my hair a little more conservatively. Looking in the mirror, I felt like a wife and a mother, not the single, fabulous, and stylish fashionista I was at the start of the year.
My closet was now filled with an entire line from Cabot’s, with many Darcy Masters originals. But there were also clothes sent to me by Aldaynean clothiers who wanted to dress the new princess. I felt like a celebrity with all the products that were given to me to use, simply so they could say a princess used them.
And Jack’s room was stocked full of clothes and blankets and necessities. I barely even had to think about what needed to be done because it was always done before I realized it was needed. This left me time to worry about the bigger things, like a command performance with the queen.
Sean flew us to Shimmering Falls in our private helicopter. This allowed us total privacy during our commute. Dash, however, still felt it was all a grand adventure. He sat near Sean, asking tons of questions the old major was kind enough to patiently indulge.
Turns out, Dash was his favorite, too.
We arrived just before six. More guards met us as we landed, though it was a more private affair than our wedding day. Fern, Gav, Audra, and Archer were already there, enjoying cocktails in Maeve’s favorite drawing room. It was decorated in darker blues and greens, with gilded decorative molding and ornate tapestries lining the wall. Angels were carved into the fireplace mantle, which reached all the way up towards the barrel vault ceiling.
It was sumptuous and cozy while being regal and stately. I could see why she liked it.
Despite our surroundings, Fern gave a squeal when she saw me. “Pea!” She rushed over to give me a big hug. We’d never been apart for two weeks our entire lives, so both of us felt the absence. I hugged her tight. “You look beautiful!” she said as she pulled away to give me a good look. “Where’d you go? Hawaii? Belize? Ademar?”
I laughed. “Nothing so far away. We stayed on Mercy Island.”
The Duke Takes a Bride (The Rocking Royal Trilogy Book 2) Page 10