Page 54 of The Prince of New York

Until we were out of the courthouse, I expected the RPS agent would title us all. As such, I pretended he had used my name. “That’s right. I made the decision to take custody, so I’ll handle all the bills. Which suites will they be getting?”

“We’ll be placing them next to Madelyn in a pair of connecting suites. We’ll handle the matter of their RPS details once you’re back from California. California will have a team ready to help with security.”

Right. Adoption meant they, like it or not, were officially little princesses, no matter what their birth caste had been. In New York, any child of a king, queen, or heir was a prince or princess, and that was that. With my sister and her husband serving as the secondary custodian, and Montana’s heir and her partner serving as the tertiary custodians, they would always be a short distance from a throne.

New York’s politicians would have kittens upon finding out what I’d done. Their kittens would then have puppies, and everything would descend into madness.

As we had two sleeping children to contend with, the RPS cleared us to use the elevator, which cost twenty minutes as the courthouse needed to make certain all dangerous criminals in the building were contained. While creaky, the elevator failed to eat anybody.

In the time we were upstairs, someone had gotten a car seat for Baby and had installed it in the back of Terry’s SUV. I somehow got her strapped in without waking her, although we lacked such luck with May. Fortunately, I managed to calm her before she began to cry. To keep her amused, I showed her my phone, loaded a game on it, and taught her how to play it.

She handled the device with reverence, and I could only guess that one of her parents had given her a reason to be careful with technology. The puzzle game kept her engaged the entire drive, which went smoothly enough for the area. Upon our arrival at the palace, May gaped at the grounds, and her eyes widened. “It’s so big.”

“You’ll have plenty of time to explore it, and the gardeners would love to tell you about the plants.” I’d been rather astonished to discover the staff would gush over every little flower. On rare occasion, I cornered someone to ask questions. “Tonight, you’ll be meeting with a doctor and watching me and Aunt Rachel play on an obstacle course. Once the doctor says you can use it, you’ll get a chance to play on it, too—but we need to make sure your bruises heal first.”

“Really?”

“Really,” I promised. “There are some parts of the course that are too dangerous for you and your sister, but you’ll get to try the safer sections.”

Since my departure earlier in the day, the horse trailer and truck had been removed, and Dr. Stanton and Melody waited on the steps. While Terry parked, I gestured to the women. “Dr. Stanton is a royal physician from North Dakota, and she’s been helping my sister with some health problems. The other lady is Princess Melody of Maine.”

“She’s aprincess?”

I somehow kept from laughing, aware the little girl might not have pieced together my status as a prince—and that my sister was the queen. “She’s a princess, and one day, she’ll be the Queen of Maine. She’s really nice, and she’ll help you and your sister feel better.”

The skeptical look the girl gave me hurt, mostly because I understood the reason why.

I doubted she had ever felt better.

Bruises hurt for a long time, and it had taken me a while to learn to live life without everything aching all the time.

“You’ll see,” I promised.

Once Terry got out and came around the vehicle to open the door, I helped May unbuckle, well aware of how much the simple task could hurt when covered in bruises. After he helped her out of the vehicle, I went the route of efficiency, unbuckling the car seat and hauling the whole thing, child and all, out so I wouldn’t risk waking Baby.

The toddler remained asleep. As I worried the little girl suffered even more than May, I went straight for Dr. Stanton. “I’m not sure which one of you is better at treating this sort of trauma, but the bruising is extensive, and I’m worried there might be internal injuries for both of the girls.”

Melody eyed May, who held Terry’s hand and regarded the princess with a rather worshipping expression. “I’ll take the older one, Dr. Stanton.”

“What did you tell her, Ian?”

“That Melody is a princess. May seems to be rather infatuated with princesses, and she does not yet realize she was just adopted by a prince. I was titled in the courtroom, but I suspect that she was under so much stress that she didn’t compute what the titles mean. She’s had a chance to have a nap and relax, so I’m not surprised she’s fixating on something magical to her. She loves flowers. We’ll have issues with Baby, though. I don’t know if her mother just addressed her as ‘the baby’ or maybe ‘your baby sister,’ but she thinks her name is Baby. According to her birth certificate, her name is Danielle. For now, I’m calling her Baby because that’s what she knows. Where do you want me to take her, Dr. Stanton?”

“We’ll use their suites for the examination. We just finished setting them up. His Royal Majesty of Montana is on the way. He heard about the girls, and he wants to handle the questioning personally. His Royal Majesty of Alaska is also on the way.” Dr. Stanton grimaced. “I tried to discourage them, but once Daphne informed her cousin about the situation, it was out of my hands. He’s been riled up, and he will not be deterred. In good news, the monarchs are going to be bringing the horse plane for your horse, and the girls will also have ponies to ride for physical therapy. California asked for a week; they’re adding an extension to their stable, but it isn’t ready yet.”

A week would give us a chance to settle the children before going on an adventure across the continent. “If it works for everyone, it works for me.”

“Eddie will be here tomorrow,” Dr. Stanton warned.

Well, I wouldn’t be worried about the kids with Eddie around. “Eddie’s perfect. Maybe he can teach me to cook.”

“Unless we can deter them somehow, their Royal Majesties of Texas will be accompanying him.”

My eyes crossed at the thought of monarchs from around the Royal States invading the palace because I’d taken the initiative on a child abuse case. “Please tell me I’m qualified to care for two kids, Dr. Stanton.”

“Oh, Ian. You’re one of the first men I think of when asked who should help raise two little girls. I know what you did for your sister, and I have no doubt you’ll do everything you can to give these children a happy childhood. Yes, you have a lot to learn about being a father, but between everyone in the palace, you’ll be fine. You already know everything you need to know about treating children right.”

My parents had, in their cruel way, taught me what not to do, leaving me with a list of everything I wish had been done for me. “My sister will owe me a horse if I graduate from therapy first.”

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