by V Vee
Algerone sighed with relief. “These are my brothers. Andreas, Augustus, Alastair, and Alfie, this is my mother and father-in-law: Lorraine and Lloyd Hall.” He pointed at Valerie’s siblings. “And those are my wife’s older brothers: Leon and Duan, and her younger sisters: Ella and Merlina.”
Lorraine grabbed the folds of her skirt and curtsied. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highnesses.”
“Please, madam, none of you need to curtsey or bow to any of us. We may just be meeting, but we are all family, and from what we hear, we have been for the past fourteen years,” Augustus’s voice came from Algerone’s right, deep, silkly and with just a bit of reprimand directed towards Algerone.
“So you finally told your family?” Duan asked.
Algerone turned toward his brother-in-law. “Yes. I did. I was actually intending to do so upon my return to Malvidence, but I was ambushed by my parents’ surprise engagement announcement to a woman I cannot stand, and then later, as I was telling them about your sister and our children, I heard of her trip here.” He sighed. “I know this is something that is fourteen years late, but I have every intention of spending the rest of my life making up my error in judgement to my wife and children.”
“Kothrar!” Beaumont’s voice put a halt to whatever it was that Duan may have been about to say, and Algerone turned to an open door and saw his son rushing from it. He knelt with his free arm open, and wrapped his son up in a hug.
“I am so happy you are here. I told AJ you were coming back” Beaumont said, with his face pressed into Algerone’s shoulder.
“Of course I was. I am always here if you need me,” Algerone said, his voice choked. He looked up and saw AJ with his hands on Chikere and Chiamaka’s shoulders. Algerone gestured them all forward. Chikere and Chiamaka ran to him, waking up Dahni as they pressed as close as they could. AJ followed much slower, but still, he wrapped his thin arms around Algerone’s neck.
Algerone felt tears slide down his cheeks. How scared must his children have been? To have their mother—the one constant parent—rushed to the hospital, and their father, whom they weren’t certain they could call, or when he would next appear, thousands of miles away? Never again, Algerone promised himself. I will always be around, available, and here for my family. We will never be separated again.
He looked up at his brothers and saw that all of them, though they were all taught to never display emotion in public, all with their square jaws, broad shoulders, and very alpha personalities, all had tears in their eyes as they looked at their nieces and nephews. Algerone pulled away from his children, and wiped their tears, before swiping at his own.
“Would you guys like to meet your uncles?” he asked them.
He watched with pride as his brothers pulled back their shoulders, puffing out their chests as if awaiting inspection, and his children, turned as one to look up at the tall men with awe. The four men who looked so much like their father. The four “Bad Boy Princes of Malvidence” who were their uncles.
“Augustus, Andreas, Alastair, Alfie? These are my children: Algerone Junior, my heir. Beaumont. The twins: Chikere and Chiamaka. And my current youngest: Dahni.” He smiled broadly. “Your nieces and nephews.”
“We are very happy to finally meet you,” Alastair said as he crouched down with his hand outstretched to AJ, whom he was closest to.
“Lxo pree higafin kreo, Kreum,” AJ responded.
Alastair chuckled and looked at Algerone. “They know Malvidencian?” he asked as he shook AJ’s hand.
“Mommy teaches us,” Chiamaka stated proudly. “I mean…” she bit her lower lip. Chikere leaned over to whisper in her ear and she nodded. “Kuthrar woplix tuvo. Kuthrar oc bulrin dolzyax.” She corrected herself, saying the phrase in Malvidencian and adding that her mother was a great teacher.
“She certainly is,” Alfie said with an amusing smile.
Algerone rose to his feet. He needed to see Valerie. Now that he was assured his children were okay, and had introduced his brothers to his wife’s family and their children, the ache in his chest demanded that he check on his love. On the other half of his soul.
“Go, Son,” Lloyd said, lifting Dahni from his arms. “We’ve got the kids. Go see Valerie.”
“Thank you,” Algerone said, laying a hand on his father-in-law’s shoulder before heading to his wife’s hospital room, anxiousness in his every step.
Algerone stepped into valerie’s hospital room and caught his breath at the sight of her laying in the bed, tubes and sensors connected to her. Algerone had been present for the birth of each of his children, it was a small boon for him, since he was rarely around for most of the years following, so seeing Valerie in the hospital was not altogether a new experience for him. However, the grey tint to her normally shining, dark brown skin, and the listlestness in her gaze made his heart feel as if it were being wrenched from his chest then slowly skinned and flayed by a jagged piece of glass. Algerone reached out for the wall next to him, and tried to catch his breath. How had he allowed this to happen?
“Algie?” Valerie’s voice came to him roughly and in a whisper.
Algerone looked up and when he saw the pain in her eyes, he rushed forward and fell to his knees at her bedside. He grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it, mindful of the IV that punctured her skin. Hot tears, heavy with regret and guilt, flowed down his cheeks as he held Valerie’s hand close to his forehead.
“I’m so sorry,” he choked out.
“For leaving or for lying to me about your fiancee?” Valerie asked, her own tears clogging her words.
“For leaving, and for not claiming you and our children earlier so that my parents didn’t feel as if they had the right to try and force me into a marriage with a woman I don’t know, don’t like, and don’t love.” He looked up at Valerie. “You are every single beat of my heart. I inhale your spirit and exhale your heart. My every thought is of you and our children. My soul is but a breath in the blowing wind of life, without you there to keep me anchored, without your soul there to make it whole. My spirit is fused with yours. I am nothing if not for you and our children. I will be nothing if you leave me. You are all I ever dreamed and prayed and wished for. Everything I never knew I always needed.”
A sob sliped from Valerie’s lips and Algerone rose and gathered her in his arms. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, her cheeks, her chin, the tip of her slightly flared nose, and her full, plush, pillow soft lips. He would not try and rush her or force her to say that she still felt the same way for him. He had betrayed her. And because of that, he knew he had much to make up for. Just to have her in his arms again, to know that she was okay, was more than enough for him.
“I love you Valerie Smythe, Princess of Malvidence, wife of Crown Prince Algerone Aiden Smythe,” he said to her.
“I love you too, Algie,” Valerie replied, wrapping her arms around him finally. Algerone sighed in relief.
“I told my parents and brothers about you and the children, as a matter of fact, my brothers are here now, they have met the children and your family. Now they just want to meet you. I also told my parents that I would set the world straight about how I did not agree to marry Lady Taylor, and our love and marriage. Our children. Our family and life.” Algerone murmured before pulling back slightly to look down into Valerie’s face. “I am never leaving you, or the kids ever again.” He gave her a crooked grin. “You’re stuck with me now, Mrs. Smythe.”
Valerie giggled. “That is Princess Smythe to you,” she stated with a haughty sniff, then her face quickly grew serious. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted, Algie.”
“I know my love, and I shall spend the rest of my life making it up to you. This I vow.”
Algerone leaned down to place a hard, possessive kiss on his wife’s lips, knowing that once he walked outside of the hospital doors, flanked by his brothers to announce to the world, the truth he’d been keeping secret for the last fourteen years, that none of their lives would ever be the s
ame again.
But those thoughts could wait. He placed a hand on Valerie’s stomach and quirked an eyebrow.
“So… is there something you want to tell me?” he asked her.
Valerie tilted her head back and laughed. She then proceeded to tell him about how she’d only recently found out. Though it was too early to find out the sex, Valerie was only at the end of her first trimester, the two of them began to discuss baby names, and dream about what the life their sixth—and final—child could possibly lead.
Algerone stayed by Valerie’s side until her eyes began to droop, then he kissed her softly on the lips, promised that he would return, and would make sure the children were well cared for, then he set off to do what he should have done long before.
It was time to introduce the world to the new Princess Valerie Smythe, wife of Crown Prince Algerone Smythe. His wife. And their children: Prince Algerone Junior, Prince Beaumont, Prince Chikere, Princess Chiamaka, and Princess Dahni, and let the world know there would soon be a new baby royal joining the kingdom of Malvidence.
Squaring his shoulders, Algerone stepped out of his wife’s hospital room and nodded at his brothers.
The Bad Boy Princes of Malvidence was about to lose a member, and gain a princess.
The Princess of Malvidence
Chapter Seventeen
“T
hank you ladies and gentlemen for your presence and your concern on this late evening,” Algerone began. He had no notecards to read from. He was going to speak from the heart, tell the truth, then get back upstairs to his family.
“I know that many of you in the news media, on social media, in the tabloids, and even those in positions of leadership in world government are wondering why I am here at the hospital if I am not a patient, and if the royal family appears to all be healthy, as you can see by the appearance of my four brothers beside me. I am here because the love of my life, and the mother of my children has been admitted here to the hospital. My wife, Valerie Hall-Smythe.” He waited until the murmurings and the gasps had died down.
“I know that there is much confusion as news was just released that stated that I was engaged to be married to Lady Taylor Weshian of the Province of Sovrex. That news is false, and the people reporting on it misinformed. This is mainly my part. For the past fourteen years, I have been married to my current wife Valerie, we have five children together, with a sixth child on the way. I am extremely happy and over-the-moon in love with my family, and I love my in-laws and the friends I have made here in the States.
“Before I am asked this question: no, I did not keep my marriage a secret because I am ashamed of my wife and children, if anything I think that my wife can do much better than me. I have become a better man because of her. She has a successful career as a highly sought after artist, she has a college degree, a supportive family, she is a genius, she is beautiful, and for the past thirteen years she has been raising our children with me only stopping in for a couple of weeks four times a year, when my schedule would allow it.” Algerone sighed and shook his head.
“I did not tell my parents, my brothers, or the people of Malvidence because I was concerned that the expectations placed upon my mother when she became queen, the expectations of what a princess should be, should look like, were not so far removed from my wife, but that people would think that they were. I was concerned with losing my wife. My children. My family. It was something I considered unconsciounsable. And so I waited for the perfect moment. The best moment to reveal my secret. But the perfect moment does not exist. And due to my hesitance, my cowardice, my parents arranged a marriage for me, that I did not agree to, not knowing that I was already married. My wife saw the news coverage and the shock of the news and what she thought was a betrayal put the health of our unborn child and her own life at risk.”
Algerone wiped a hand over his face. “One woman: Lady Taylor Weshian has been horribly embarrassed by my inability to speak up. Another, the woman I love more than anything else in the world, now rests in this hospital, trying to recover, as she grows my sixth child within her.”
He looked intently at each reporter and journalist that stood outside recording him. Some of them were looking at him with disgust, some with admiration, some looked at him with greed, as if they were vultures, and some of them: mostly women, though there were some men, looked at him with tears in their eyes. He did not need their sympathy, nor their understanding. He simply needed them to report his words as he’d spoken them without putting a spin on them for ratings or clicks.
“This is a very delicate time for not only my wife, my children, my family, and myself, but for the kingdom of Malvidence who are learning that they have a new princess, and that the bloodline of the Royal family of Smythe has been assured. I ask for your compassion and your understanding for my wife, children, my brothers, my parents, my in-laws, and my kingdom, and even for Lady Weshian and her family at this time. Please allow us this time. Thank you.” He nodded and without another word, he turned and headed back inside the hospital ignoring the shouting behind him. His brothers following behind him. Just as he knew they would.
“Damn, just like a king,” Alfie huffed in Malvidencian, in order to assure their privacy.
Augustus chuckled. “And it’s about time too,” he responded.
Algerone couldn’t agree more. He stepped into the elevator, his brothers following him, their broad forms almost making it too cramped to fit inside the steel enclosure. Without a word, he pressed the appropriate button to take them up to the maternity ward. Step one was complete. Now that he’d claimed his family, it was time to get them read for life as a royal. His royal secret was a secret no more.
Now he had to present them to the world and most importantly his parents. It wouldn’t be a problem. Between himself and his brothers, they would be ready. He was sure of it.
Chapter Eighteen
T he muffled sound of voices around her, pulled Valerie out of her deep sleep. She blinked her eyes open and found Algerone standing in the room with four other equally handsome, tall, and broad shouldered men. As she took in the sight of the strangers with her husband, who were all holding one of her children, she realized that these were her husband’s brothers. Her brothers-in-law. She didn’t know which was which, but by their similarities she could definitely tell they were related to the man who’d stolen her heart.
“Well, look at that, the beautiful princess has awaken from her slumber,” one of the men stated with a smile on his face. He was the biggest, and broadest of all the brothers in the room and his voice boomed in the space like thunder, though Valerie could tell he wasn’t speaking loudly.
“Will you stop looking at my wife that way, Augustus?” Algerone said with a scowl on his face.
Valerie blushed as she smiled at her husband. She tried to sit up, whispering a soft thank you at Algerone when he came over to assist her.
“Hello,” she softly greeted the princes.
“Rarru, Princess Valerie,” Augustus said with a bow. Chiamaka giggled as she was dipped down in her uncle’s arms.
Valerie’s brow lowered in confusion. “I remember you telling me about confessing all to your brothers,” she said, speaking to Algerone. “But, why do I have the feeling he’s talking about more than just revealing the truth to your family?”
Algerone blushed as he reached out to run the backs of his fingers against her cheeks. “He is. While you were sleeping, I stepped out to speak to the press and I told them a bit of our story. Not all of it, mind you. Just the important parts.”
Valerie quirked an eyebrow in his direction. “And what parts would that be?” she asked.
“The part where you two are married, have been for fourteen years, have five children with another on the way, and our parents stepped in to try and make him marry another woman, because they didn’t know,” another brother spoke up.
Algerone rolled his eyes. “Thank you, Alfie.”
“Not a problem, bruthrar,” Alfie,
Algerone’s youngest brother replied with a grin.
Valerie could tell that Alfie was a bit of a troublemaker if the mischievous look in his eyes was anything to go by. She was certain there was quite a bit of troublemaking in the youngest Smythe prince’s life. She would have to keep an eye on him around her children.
She returned her gaze to Algerone. “You what?”
Algerone shrugged. “I told you I would make things right. And so I did.”
Valerie nodded and bit her lower lip. “So you did.” She agreed. “So, what happens now?” She was certain that Algerone’s declaration came with consequences and a massive change for herself and their children.
Algerone glanced around at his brothers. “That was what we were just discussing when you woke up. My parents haven’t called just yet, but we feel as though we should… prepare you and the kids for life in the palace.”
“Prepare us? With what? Royalty training classes or something?” Valerie asked with a laugh. Her amusement trailed off when she realized that neither her husband nor his brothers shared her humor. “Wait. You’re not serious, are you?”
“They aren’t anything too difficult, from what we’ve seen and heard, you have already taken the first step,” another brother said.
“And what step was that…” she waved her hand at him.
“I am Andreas, but you can call me Andy. Everyone does,” he said with a soft smile in her direction. He held Beaumont in his arms, and Valerie nodded at him. Beaumont was old enough and really, big enough to not need to be held, but he seemed to be fascinated by the necklace his uncle was wearing around his neck and so Valerie didn’t say anything.
“And there is more to know beyond the language?” Valerie wondered.