Page 120 of Scars and Crowns

"Mumma said happy tears are allowed."

I glance toward Anamika.

She laughs softly through her own tears. "I did say that."

Sara slips out of my arms and runs straight across the room. "Mumma!" Anamika drops to her knees just in time to catch her. She hugs Sara fiercely, burying her face in our daughter's shoulder, whispering something into her hair that I can't hear.

I don't need to. I already know it's love. I stay exactly where I am. Watching the two of them. My family. My chest still feels impossibly full. I've been called many things in this lifetime.

Your Highness.

Hukum.

Yuvraj.

Titles that came wrapped in duty long before I understood their weight. People stood when I entered rooms because of those names. They bowed. They saluted. They obeyed. None of them ever reached me the way one tiny voice did this morning.

Papa.

No title I have ever carried has felt more like home.

EMPIRE OF THREE

YUVAAN

I've arranged for the entire park to be closed to everyone else for the day.

Not because I particularly enjoy empty amusement parks, but because the alternative involves navigating crowds with Sara, trying to keep track of her between strangers, and spending half the day worrying about whether someone is going to knock into her. This seemed easier.

Anamika doesn't agree.

She stands beside the entrance, staring at the deserted park with its colourful rides sitting completely still beneath the morning sun, then turns slowly toward me. "Yuvaan." I know that tone.

"What?"

"You rented an entire amusement park."

"It's only for the day."

"That's not the part I'm questioning."

I glance toward the gates, where two staff members are standing discreetly at a distance. "I thought it would be quieter."

She stares at me. I wait. She shakes her head, but there's a smile tugging at her mouth despite herself. "Normal people just come early on a weekday."

"We've established that we're not normal people."

"You've established that."

"I think the evidence supports me."

She laughs and swats my arm. Before I can say anything else, a small hand slips into mine and yanks hard enough to pull me forward.

"Papa! Come on!" That word still does things to my heart.

Anamika notices, she smiles and squeezes my hand.

Sara has apparently decided our discussion is irrelevant. She is already halfway toward the rides, practically vibrating with excitement. "I want that one!" She points at the brightly painted teacups spinning lazily in the morning light.