Page 75 of Their Princess

“Yes. The kids are dressed and Kora even let me braid her hair,” he announced.

My mouth dropped. “Youbraided her hair?”

His mouth curved down into a frown. “I’m great at braiding hair.”

“You braided mine into knots,” I reminded him.

“That was on purpose because you were being mean to me that day.” He smiled and said, “I actually watched a lot of videos on how to properly braid, in case you ever asked me to.”

“Can you braid tight to the side of my head?” I asked, curious.

He nodded. “Yes.” His eyes dropped to the dress and then up to my hair. “It would actually look really good with this dress. Want me to show you?”

Glancing at the clock on the wall, I hesitated because it was near time.

“Sit on the edge of the bed. We have enough time.”

I was careful with the dress as I sat and despite my nervousness about the time, I really wanted to see what he could do.

“I even made Kayden let me practice on him when he had long hair,” Mason admitted.

“Wait? When did Kay have long hair?”

“He grew it out for about a year,” Mason explained as he began to braid my hair on the right side of my head. “When we decided to come home to see you, though, he cut it.”

“Did it look bad?” I asked. Kayden would look good in any hairstyle, I thought.

“No, but he wanted to look his best when we saw you again, so he opted for a cut that he could style.” He paused and sighed loudly.

“What?”

“I forgot to grab hair bands first.”

Standing, he held the hair he had finished braiding as we walked to the bathroom together to get the small rubber bands I kept for the rare occasions when I braided my hair.

I froze as I stared at the mirror and the beautiful braid along the right side of my head above my ear. It was incredibly well done and showed he had indeed practiced a lot.

“You like it so far?” he asked, nervousness flitting down our bond.

“It’s amazing,” I praised. Looking in the mirror to meet his eyes, I asked, “You really learned this for me?”

He wrapped an arm around my waist and rested his chin atop my head, our eyes locked in the mirror. “I knew you were the one for me when I was a child and that never left. The separation we experienced was agonizing and I know we’ve discussed wishing we could go back and change it, but throughout it all, I never stopped preparing to be your mate. I never stopped doing what I could to become someone that would be useful to you. Whether that use came from my blade or my hands, I made certain I was preparing.”

Tears pooled in my eyes, but I blinked them away quickly so I didn’t ruin my makeup. “I love you so much, Mason.”

He kissed the top of my head and smiled at me in the mirror. “I love you, too. Now, let’s get this braiding job finished before your family shows up.”

When he did finish, I couldn’t believe how gorgeous it looked and how well it fit with the dress like he’d said it would.

There was a press of magic just as we headed out of the bedroom and I heard Mom squeal the next moment, which told me she and my fathers had teleported in.

“That dress looks even better on you than I thought it would,” Mom praised Kora.

We stepped into the living room and watched as Kora did a spin in it. “I like when it flies out!” Kora announced.

Mom gushed over her and it warmed my heart so much because I knew she would have reacted the exact same way had Kora been my blood related child or not. She was just an amazing person and knew these children deserved love.

Triston high-fived Elrith over his shirt choice and I was happy to see them bonding more.

---