A knock echoed through the room. I jumped.
It had to be Erich, right? He said he would leave me alone this morning, but maybe he couldn’t wait. I pulled open the door, expecting to see him there, but instead, found his omega father, Neale.
“Oh, Your Highness.” I gave a slight bow.
He shot me a look. “None of that today. It’s your wedding day.”
“Right,” I said. I pushed the test stick away, which, of course, drew his gaze to it.
He squeaked in surprise, then grabbed my hand. “We’ll pretend I didn’t see that. I’ll be surprised later when you tell us or don’t tell us. I didn’t see anything. I promise.”
I let out a breath. “Thank you.”
He pulled me out into the main sitting room where I’d be getting ready. We kept the entire event very low-key, it was all happening at the palace. The only guests were the family and the photographer, along with a majority of the royal guard. Sadas it was, I hadn’t really made that many friends outside of just having Thomas. I could change all of that now that I felt like I truly belonged. Even if I wasn’t marrying Erich today, I really, truly felt like I had a home here.
The wedding was just the icing on the cake.
“Let’s get you dressed,” Neale said.
Thomas came in, his youngest toddling behind him. “I tried to convince him to hang out with his dad so I could focus totally on you, but he wanted to be with Uncle Jaq.”
I held out my hands to the little tyke, and he leapt over to me. I settled him on my hip.
“Your Highness, don’t you want to be with Erich?” I asked Neale.
Neale waved a hand in the air. “If you aren’t going to call me by my first name, can you at least just call me Dad? Anything but Your Highness. First of all, I’m not the king’s consort anymore. And two, it’s just silly, dear. We’re family.”
I swallowed thickly. “Dad, don’t you want to be with Erich?” I couldn’t recall a single time in my life where I’d said that word with any real feeling behind it. I felt it now, though. Maybe someday I’d be able to say it without my throat going tight and my eyes getting blurry. Today was not that day.
He smiled, his whole face relaxed, and his eyes shone with unshed tears. He put his hand over mine and squeezed. “No, Iwant to be here with you. I spent last evening with him and the boys playing some card game. I couldn’t keep track. Either way, I told him I would be with you this morning. He understood.” Neale unzipped the garment bag that held my suit and began pulling the items off the hanger. “Everyone should have their parent with them on a special day like this, and that’s what I’m going to be, if that’s all right with you.”
I nodded, tears streaming down my cheeks now. Thankfully we had a makeup artist on hand to make sure we all looked our best for pictures. “I would really like that,” I said.
Together we all got me dressed. I was well versed in putting on a tuxedo, but it was nice to have Neale there to handle the tie for me. He then grabbed a small box from the end table.
“All the boys insisted on getting their own cufflinks for their wedding, so I didn’t really have a chance to share these with anyone. Cort wore his father’s for their wedding, and well, the rest of the boys just didn’t have a preference. Iain got a pair as a gift from his husband, so he didn’t wear them. I like to think that fate has its way of working out and these were meant for you. I’d like you to have them.” He opened it up and pulled out two silver pieces and held them in the palm of his hand. “These are not technically a part of the crown jewels. They’re actually not even that expensive. They’re just cufflinks, after all.”
“I love them,” I said. “Thank you. Thank you.” My hands shook as I ran a finger over the simple, elegant cufflinks. They were rectangular, with sapphire jewels lining each side and silver in the center.
Neale smiled. “I’ve been trying for years to get you to feel like a part of this family, and now I think you do.”
I nodded. “I do.”
“Good.” He kissed my cheek and then put the cufflinks on me. “All right, we better get going if we’re going to get this done. Apparently, the photographer said the best light will be at three o’clock, whatever that means. Let’s make this official.”
The wedding itself went off without a hitch. It’s amazing how easy things could be when I let myself relax and enjoy the ride. I didn’t feel like we were causing a fuss or getting in the way, we were simply getting married. Erich and I were committing to spending the rest of our lives together, and that started today.
Cort officiated the ceremony. As king, thanks to some old law, he had the power to declare just about anyone married.
“Do you Jacques Kingson, Viscount of Merrick, take this sorry excuse for a prince—”
“Hey!”
We all laughed.
“To be your husband?”
“I do.” The words came out without hesitation, I’d never been more sure about anything ever.
