A chart on the board listed everyone’s name and gave them three options - boys, girls, one of each. Those paying attention would figure it out immediately. There would be points tallied up as the evening games went on, but someone could only win if they guessed the gender correctly.
The prize was the opportunity to have the first public photos with the babies, or at least the first non-immediate-family photos.
“It all looks wonderful,” she told Vesta as the other woman tweaked a vase of flowers.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Esther looked around. “So how exactly are we finding out the gender?”
Vesta wagged a finger at her. “You’ll find out later.”
With a grin, Esther took one last look then went upstairs to finish getting ready for lunch, if the anticipation didn’t send her into early labor first.
But eventually, the time came. She and Darius were already seated in the ballroom when the doors opened and family members started trickling in.
Queen Eliana came first, her squeal announcing to the room that there was something more going on. “Twins?”
Esther nodded and laughed as Darius hugged his mother.
“We just found out the other day,” he told her. “We thought it would be more fun this way.”
More squeals told them his sisters had also figured it out.
Dinner was a buffet with small tables situated around the room. After they finished eating, the next two hours were filled with games like pin the safety pin on the diaper - a lot like the game pin the tail on the donkey, though Esther had never played that one - and lullaby musical chairs.
Most of those present participated. As she laughed, Esther wondered how much they could sell the pictures for. Two royal families having a blast sliding across the floor in their socks, while holding pacifiers on spoons to see who could get the most to the other side.
Esther and Anabelle begged off due to pregnancy and the risk of falling in socks on a ball room floor as they raced.
Everyone wore a crown or tiara in blue or pink to go with their guess. A couple of them managed to wear both.
Even Grandmother played a couple of the games. She didn’t play broom ball with a baby bottle, but neither did the other queens.
Esther thought everyone participated, but as the night wore on, she realized Benjamin never actually left his seat. Instead, he sipped a sparkling water and watched with an impassive look on his face.
Finally, the big moment arrived. Vesta handed her a slip of paper as everyone took a seat at the tables. Esther made the announcements. “So, you can’t win the prize unless you chose correctly on the chalkboard as you came in. The person with the most points who chose two girls is Queen Eliana.”
Everyone clapped as the former queen stood and curtsied.
“The person with the most points who chose two boys is Jordan.”
Jordan jumped up with his hands in the air as everyone laughed.
“And the person with the most points who chose one of each is Alfred.”
Darius’s youngest brother just sat there as his face turned red.
Vesta and Louis wheeled in a table with two cakes on it. So that’s how they were going to find out.
But rather than motion for them to come over to the table, Louis released a handle. Two crowns dropped from the ceiling.
Esther laughed, along with everyone else, as they recognized them. They were replicas of the Coronation Crowns from each country.
Vesta handed each of them a stick. “Pick a crown. Take a whack. Then we’ll know.”
“We? You already know,” Esther pointed out.
Vesta shrugged.
“Ready?” Darius tapped his stick against the Cordovan Dynasty Coronation Crown.
“Let’s do this.” Esther poked the Quatremaine Imperial Crown with her own weapon, then took a whack. It swung wildly to the delight of everyone as did Darius’s crown.
Several more hits and one burst open after the other. Esther laughed and stood there as the pink candies rained down from both.
They were having girls.
29
They stayed up way too late talking baby names, but Darius was wide awake bright and early on Christmas Eve.
He slid out of bed and got ready quietly to let Esther sleep a little longer. No one else waited in the kitchen, so he started a big pot of coffee like Louis showed him the day before. Everyone would want some before breakfast was over.
No sooner had he sat down than King Edward walked in. Darius started to stand so he could bow, but Edward waved him off.
“No need. It’s Christmas Eve morning, and we’re the only ones around.” He filled a mug with coffee. “Esther still sleeping?”
Darius nodded. “We might have been talking about girl names for far too long last night.”
Edward chuckled. “I remember those days. We only had one royal family to worry about. You have two.”
“That was one part of the discussion. Do we name one girl after one family and the second one after the other? Or do we mix and match? How do we not offend one family or the other?” The king started to say something, but Darius shook his head. “Or one country or the other, anyway.”
This time the king grinned. “At least you’re having twins, and know ahead of time. You can pick which baby will get which name, based on their position in the womb not order of birth. Give one a first name from Eyjanian history, the other a first name of San Majorian or Cordovan Dynasty influence. Mix it up with the middle names.”
“That was the solution we came to, though not what names just yet.”
“I hope the countries are able to celebrate with you when the time comes in a few months.” Edward sipped his coffee. “But I’m not ready for this to become public yet. Maybe not until graduation a year from now.”
Darius just nodded as he heard voices upstairs. “I think the rest of the family is about to descend.”
“I agree.”
Within minutes, everyone gathered in the dining hall for breakfast. His brother had opened up, a little bit. Not much. But he did make a few comments about the quality of the food. That was more than Darius had heard from him that wasn’t strictly business in years.
While they ate, someone moved all of the gifts under the tree in the great room. He and Esther had wrapped most of them, but the last of the special orders for the males hadn’t arrived until the night before. Someone else had wrapped them.
As breakfast wrapped up, Darius stood. “It has been wonderful having all of you here with us. I know my family is leaving before lunch so they can be home for Christmas Eve services this evening. If everyone will go into the grand room, we do have something for all of you before you leave.”
Chairs scraped back and little girls squealed as they ran for the other room. There weren’t enough seats on couches and such for everyone, but the younger dads sat on the floor with their daughters along with Jacqueline Grace and his younger siblings.
Once they had all taken their seats, Darius enlisted the help of the little girls to pass out the gifts. By now, they knew who everyone was, though they couldn’t keep his twin siblings straight.
“We didn’t get too creative,” Esther warned from her seat. “All the women get the same thing, and we have extras for the girls as they get older, but they get something else now. All of the men get the same thing as well.”
“Who opens first?” Darius asked, as he leaned against the chair where his mother sat. “Men or women?”
“The little ones go first.” Esther’s grandmother took charge.
With the encouragement of their parents, the three little girls opened their presents. They all squealed as they found hand-carved toys. Each set had ten animal families, Noah and his wife, and an ark that really floated. There was another set for baby David.
“They’re gorgeous,” his mother whispered.
“We found them at a local shop a few days ago,” he told her. “That’s where we found all of them.”
“Gentlemen, go ahead.” Queen Grace motioned toward several of the males sitting together.
“Oh, no.” Edward spoke up. “Ladies first.”
Queen Grace chuckled. “Very well. Ladies?”
With a laugh, the women ripped into the paper of their presents. Exclamations came from around the room as they looked at their necklace and earring sets.
“Those are made of Mozarkite,” Esther explained as they looked at each other’s sets. “It comes in every color of the rainbow and is found only in the state of Missouri. A local artist created the sets and made the chains as well. The etching on the necklace stone is of Serenity Lake.”
“These are quite lovely.” Queen Miriam studied hers. “I do believe I’ll wear it tomorrow.”
Queen Grace waved her hand. “Gentlemen, you may now open your gifts.”
Each of them found a handcrafted wooden box with his name on it and the same carving of Serenity Lake. Inside was a storage area, suitable for watches or medals given to them by their monarch and worn on formal occasions, along with cuff links and other non-jewelry things that men often wore.
The younger males expressed their thanks, but Darius got the impression they were a bit disappointed. He could understand that. The San Majorian men were a bit more vocal in their appreciation of the craftsmanship.
As the group broke up, Darius found his older brother and handed him a gift bag.
“What’s this?” Benjamin asked.
“Something else for you.”
Benjamin pulled a baseball hat out. “What’s this for?”
“Something I thought about a while back. Esther said she looked right past me twice when she was looking for me after class one day. I was wearing a baseball hat similar to this one. I just thought you might like to get out of the palace occasionally. That’s all.”
Benjamin stared at the logo on the front. “I see.”
Darius shrugged and took a step back. “Just thought you might like the option. That’s all.” He started to walk away.
“Wait,” Benjamin called after him. “There’s something I need to discuss with you.”
Esther remained in the great room as many of the others dispersed.
Queen Eliana opened her jewelry case again. “These are really quite lovely. I’ve never seen a lake etched into jewelry before, but if you didn’t know what it was, you’d think it was just an intriguing design.”
“I’m glad you like it. We have a set for each of the younger girls and a commission for several more so the boys’ wives will all have them someday.”
“Brilliant.” Queen Eliana smiled softly. “I’m quite glad you and my son have married.”
“Me, too.”
“Will you be coming to visit Eyjania anytime soon? Perhaps before your break ends?”
Esther hesitated, knowing Darius hadn’t told his mother everything. “I don’t know. It might be best for us to wait until our relationship has gone public.”
“You’ve been to San Majoria twice,” Queen Eliana pointed out. “You stayed at the palace the whole time so no one would see you.”
Esther stared at the floor. “I know, but my father has asked us not to return to Eyjania for the time being.”
She glanced up in time to see her mother-in-law swipe at her cheek. “I understand. Perhaps someday.”
“We would love for you to come visit when the babies are born, maybe even before.” Esther tried to imagine what this must be like for Queen Eliana and failed.
“Perhaps now that I know the full story, my son will call me more often.”
“Maybe we can talk sometimes, too. I’d like to get to know you better.”
Queen Eliana smiled at Esther. “I would like that very much.”
“What time is your flight?” Esther hadn’t heard the details.
“Whenever we get there, but it’s a six-hour time difference and a seven-and-a-half hour flight. I know Darius said we were planning to attend Christmas Eve services, but we would have had to leave by six or so this morning to do that. Earlier if we wanted time to go home and change first.”
“We were never planning on the Christmas Eve service, Mother.” One of the twin sisters walked in. Genevieve, Esther thought. “We were planning to go to the midnight service. We need to be at the palace by eleven to change, which means landing about ten-thirty. With the time difference, that would require landing about four-thirty Serenity Landing time. We would have had to leave about nine to do that. There’s also a sunrise service that will likely be more practical.”
“Who told you that?” Queen Eliana asked her daughter.
“Benjamin. Earlier today. He said because we had to open gifts, we wouldn’t be leaving in time for the midnight service, so we would be attending the sunrise service instead. He sounded annoyed.”
“He’s always annoyed,” the Queen Mother muttered under her breath.
Esther filed that bit of information away, though it didn’t really surprise her.
“Evangeline and I made sure everything was packed up in the apartment we shared,” Genevieve went on. “We checked on the other apartment and Alfred’s room, too, because the princes certainly weren’t going to.”
“Thank you for taking care of it.”
“My pleasure, Mama.”
Queen Eliana sipped her tea. “I suppose as long as we leave by noon, we’ll get home in time for some sleep in our own beds before waking early for the sunrise service.”
“Then home to open presents!” Genevieve rubbed her hands together. “I know it’s about much more than getting gifts, but I do love that part.”
Esther should ask Darius what kind of presents his family did for future reference.
“What’s your favorite part of living here, Esther?” Genevieve asked the question.
“Some of the food. The people. We’ve made some friends here. I’ve learned some fun words that aren’t curse words, though I’ve heard a few of those too.”
“Fun words?”
Esther laughed. “I think my favorite is fiddlesticks, but I never remember to use it.”
“What does it mean?” her mother-in-law prompted.
“I think it’s usually said in frustration. Like ‘oh, fiddlesticks!’ when you accidentally burn dinner or something like that.”
Queen Eliana laughed. “I love it. I do believe I will have to start using it.”
“Not in public, I hope, Mama.” Genevieve rolled her eyes. “We’d never hear the end of it.”
“We’ll see.”
Members of both families began to pour into the room. The Quatremaines all had their coats with them, though they weren’t supposed to leave for another half hour.
Esther chose to say goodbye to everyone and return to her room to rest. She’d enjoyed having the families there, but was looking forward to returning to their own home, snuggling with Raja, who’d been staying with Samantha and Vince, and spending a quiet Christmas with Darius. They’d insisted Louis and Vesta take the day off and promised Ian and the rest of the security staff they’d stay home to minimize the amount of work they would need to do.
It hadn’t been long, but she’d just started to doze off when Darius walked in. The stress was evident on his face and in the set of his shoulders.
She didn’t sit up, but did prop herself on her elbow to look at him. “What is it?”
He sat on a chair near the door and leaned forward with his forearms resting on his knees and his hands clasped. “Benjamin says our marriage isn’t legal.”
30
Emotions Darius didn’t want to name crossed Esther’s face, too many to name even if he wanted to.
“What exactly did he say?” Her voice was more subdued than he’d heard it in a while.
“He didn’t explain, just said the marriage isn’t legal and never can be.” His head throbbed with the implications.
She stood and went into the bathroom, emerging with her favorite cardigan wrapped around her. “Go get him. Now. I�
�m going to find my parents. We’ll meet in your mother’s sitting room. I want to know what this is all about, and I want to know now.”
“They’re getting ready to leave. The cars are already here.” Darius wanted to find out more, but he also knew his brother wasn’t going to say anything else.
Esther stopped in front of him. “You get him to your mother’s sitting room, or I will make sure everyone in this house knows your brother is a coward who won’t talk to us. Don’t try me on this, Darius.”
He pushed up out of the chair. “I’ll get him.” His brother would be angry, but Darius would rather make his brother mad than his wife. Maybe he could find Edward and have him summon Benjamin.
Esther was already halfway down the stairs. Would she just find all of them near the front door?
No. He heard movement in his brother’s suite. He knocked on Benjamin’s door, but he didn’t answer.
After knocking louder, he finally called out. “If you don’t answer, I’m coming in, Benjamin.”
The door finally opened. “What?”
He still needed to tread somewhat carefully. You didn’t order your older brother around, especially if he was also your king. “Your presence has been requested in Mother’s sitting room.” Mother didn’t know about it, but she would soon enough.
“Why does Mother want to talk to me?”
Darius shrugged. “I was told to get you.”
Benjamin still glared, but he closed the door behind him as he started down the stairs with Darius trailing the mandatory step behind him. By the time they made it to his mother’s room, the rest of them already waited.
Esther looked furious. She wasn’t even sitting down. She stood, arms over her chest, and foot tapping.
Darius had never seen her this mad.
All three parents looked confused.
“Care to elaborate?” Esther demanded.
“Elaborate on what?” Benjamin took a seat without Mother offering him one.
“Why you told Darius our marriage isn’t legal.”
A Royally Beautiful Mess Page 23