Page 23 of Royal

I am not going to go without because of that bitch.

Naomi

Seeing the kids spilling out of the school has my nerves at an all-time high. Donovan is now fast asleep in the back seat. After Royal drove through a fast-food place for lunch, I handed him a sippy cup, and then he was out.

We got here early to get Penny from school, so we have time to sit and wait, but that makes me even more nervous because I just have time to dwell on meeting Penny for the first time.

What if she doesn’t like me?

Royal is determined for me to move into his life, and if she doesn’t like me, then it would be soul-crushing.

Royal steps out onto the curb, and a little girl who looks much like him runs to him. I bite my lip as he bends down, tells her something, and then points to the truck.

Penny claps her hands and has a beaming smile on her face. Holy shit, she seems excited.

I decide then to open the door and get out to introduce myself properly. Her eyes are glued to me. The second I’m around the door, she takes a good look at me.

I smile at her. “Hi, my name is Naomi. You must be Princess Penny, whom I have heard so much about.” I have heard from Royal that she loves everything princess.

Her eyes sparkle at that. “You look like Cinderella!” she says excitedly. I giggle at her antics. I hold my hand for her to shake, and she looks at it and then at my face. “Hug?” she asks instead.

I swear that tears spring to my eyes. “You sure can, sweetheart.” She closes the distance, dropping her backpack in the process. I hug her tightly and lift her off of the ground.

I look at Royal over her shoulder. “Thank you,” he mouths to me, and I give him a soft look because this moment is more beautiful than I had ever dreamed.

She is holding on to me like a lifeline, and Royal walks to us and hugs us simultaneously. “Do you know where we are going?” I ask her.

She leans back and eyes me. “Where?”

“We are going to the trampoline place,” I tell her, and she squeezes me so tight.

“All right, you’re going to choke her.” Royal laughs and takes her from me, and I grab her backpack from the ground.

Royal opens the door to the back and settles her in the booster seat. “Oh my God, my very own baby.” She looks at Donovan like he is the cutest thing.

We both laugh. I set her backpack on the floor at her feet, and Royal hands her a Happy Meal. “I’m starving.” Penny takes the food from him and opens it, and then we are forgotten because the food is her main priority.

When he shuts the door, he pulls me into him, and my head presses against his chest. “I was terrified that it wouldn’t go well,” I admit.

He tilts my head back from his chest. “I knew it would. All of this is fucking meant to be.” He kisses my forehead sweetly, leads me to the passenger seat, and helps me inside.

He won’t allow me to open my own door and insists on helping me inside the truck. He is such a gentleman.

Royal pulls off his cut before he gets in the driver's seat, and then we are off across town toward the trampoline place.

Almost there is when Donovan wakes up. “Oh my God, he is awake!” I turn around and see Penny handing him one of her fries. I smile as his little hands reach out, wanting to take it from her. Royal is watching in the rearview mirror at the two of them.

“You know we left my car at my place. If the neighbors find out I’m not there at home, they will strip it bare,” I point out to him once we park in front of the place.

“I will call one of the prospects to get it for you and bring it to my place.” He sends a text before he helps me out, and then we turn to the kids. One by one, he reaches in and brings them out.

“Can I hold his hand? I won’t let him go into the street.” Penny’s eyes are enormous, like the cat from Shrek, and there is no telling her no.

Royal sets Donovan on the ground. “Of course. Can I hold your hand, Penny?” I ask her.

She lifts her other hand out for me, and I smile at the princess ring on her finger and the sparkly bracelets on her wrists. I take her outstretched hand, and Royal takes Donovan’s free one.

Donovan is a runner, he has slipped away from me many times. He loves anything with a motor, so if a car catches his eye, he’s like a puppy running after a tire, wanting to chase it down.

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