“Or a royal flush?” I say with a little grin. “I think that’s the highest, isn’t it?”
She winks at me. “See how smart you are?” She reaches up and kisses me on the cheek. “Beautiful, too. You’ve got your father’s bright green eyes. Now, put all this nonsense behind you and get on with it. But first, you’d better do your lips. They’re so pale, it’s like they’ve disappeared.”
Oh, there we go. Now she’s back. I pick up my lipstick and apply it. Dexter comes by and stands beside me, watching me in the mirror. Huh, can he actually see me in the mirror? I reach down and pat his head. “Good boy.”
He’ll love me no matter how big I get.
My mum laughs. “He looks like he’d like some lipstick, too.” She’s quite taken with Dex, which is surprising given the fact that both she and my dad are very anti-farm animals in the house.
“That would look silly. Lipstick on a pig,” I say, scratching behind his ears. When I look up at myself in the mirror, my shoulders drop. In this light gray suit with the pink silk shirt underneath it, I have the exact same colouring as Dexter. My heart drops to my swollen toes. “Maybe I should change?”
The late alarm on my phone goes off, which means I should have left three minutes ago. I’ll just have to go dressed as Dexter. Making my way down the wide, long hall, I whisper, “Breathe, stay calm, and don’t fu—mess up.”
***
IARRIVE FOUR MINUTESlate for the interview, only to find that Arthur and Veronica are deep in discussion, and something he's just said must be absolutely hilarious because she's laughing and touching his arm at the same time. I glare at her fingers, wishing I had laser beam eyes as I walk toward them. It's not that I want to do major damage or anything. It's just that I would like to give her a gentle reminder that she's to keep her hands off my husband. Like, Shock Jogger gentle.
Arthur notices me first and strides over, then gives me a light kiss on the cheek. "There you are. I was just about to come look for you."
"Sorry I'm late. Getting ready took a bit longer than I thought it might."
"Well, you’re worth the wait, because you certainly look beautiful." Putting his hands on my tummy, he says, “Good morning, babies.”
He’s been talking to them so much lately—almost more than to me, actually. There’s a slight possibility he’s doing it to get them to move for his voice instead of Xav’s, but it’s still utterly enchanting. Reaching up, I pretend to straighten his already perfectly-in-place tie as a little sign to Veronica that says he's coming home with me when the interview’s over. I know I shouldn't stoop to such pettiness—I mean, it certainly isn’t very regal—and yet, here I am doing it. Because matching crowns or not, sometimes a woman has to claim her territory. And if said woman is completely bloated, is wearing a suit that matches her pet pig, and is feeling rather insecure at the moment, not-so-subtle displays of possessiveness should be tolerated.
“You ready?” he asks.
“Not really, but we’ll have to do it anyway, won’t we?”
“I’m afraid so,” he says. “Oh! I was thinking we should have Troy bring Dexter by to lighten things up a bit.”
I shake my head vigorously. “No, very bad idea. He’s...got awful gas today.”
“Poor little guy. I wonder if it’s the Jalapeño Doritos he got into last night.”
“I’m sure that’s it. You probably shouldn’t leave those on the coffee table.”
“Princess Tessa!” Veronica says, gliding toward me. She's giving me that look that says, ‘Oh my, how did you get so big so fast?’ Her nose is wrinkled up, and her smile doesn't quite reach her wide eyes. She's dressed in a short red dress with colour blocking to allow her tiny waist to look even smaller. We give each other a cool greeting, then one of the show's producers calls her over to discuss something. This gives me and Arthur another moment to talk privately.
"Are you okay?" Arthur asks as he reaches up and massages the little spot between my eyebrows, which I didn't realize was crinkled together until just this moment.
“Never better.” I nod and smile. There's no way I'm going to admit to him how insecure I feel. "Just a little nervous. I've heard from everyone from my mother to Dylan and Nikki this morning, and it appears as though no one has the confidence that I'm going to be able to pull off this interview without making a fool of myself."
Arthur wraps his arms around me and says, "Oh, nonsense. You're going to be brilliant."
"Well, if I am, it'll be a first."
"I didn't fall in love with some stiff royal version of a Stepford wife. I fell for you because you're truly yourself all the time...which is a good thing."
Just when my heart is about to melt, he gives me that little smirk, then says, "Besides, it's a bit of an adrenaline rush doing public appearances with you. Forget base jumping; I love the thrill of not knowing what you're going to say or do next."
***
ARTHUR AND I SIT ONthe love seat together, holding hands, while Veronica sits on a chair angled toward us. She starts with congratulating us on the upcoming birth of our child, even though very clearly she isn’t the slightest bit happy for us.
"There have been some hints of scandal, however, surrounding the conception. After the announcement of the due date, a reporter atThe Chronicleused a reverse conception date calculator and determined that you, Prince Arthur, were in France for the G-20 summit whilst Tessa was here in Valcourt on the day of conception."
I open my mouth to let her have it, but Arthur squeezes my hand gently and says, "Well, that type of speculation is uncalled for, insulting, and quite frankly, irresponsible journalism. These online calculators tend to have a large margin of error, and there is absolutely no need to question the circumstances because Tessa and I are very much in love and are starting our family together on the basis of a solid foundation."
