Page 71 of The Prince of New York

“We can install one safe enough for the children with medical staff on hand should anyone be injured. We will use one installed at ground level, and there will be padding beneath the trampoline in case it breaks, padding around the springs, and cushioning on the ground surrounding the trampoline itself. We have a system that’s rated to be safe for royals, so if you would like a turn with a trampoline, arrangements can be made.”

“Please start the process of installing one and hide your activities from my sister. I want to see her face when I’m using it and she realizes we have one.”

Barb grinned at me. “I can do that, Ian. And yes, we’re on standing orders to avoid titles around the children, and all visiting royalty are notified that we are using first names until further notice. We will not be able to do this in California, but we have processed the necessary paperwork for within New York’s borders.”

“Excellent.” I headed across my suite and into the hallway, where Celeste continued to murmur into her microphone. “Please inquire with the doctors about sports and leisure activities they might enjoy. Bring trainers for solo activities so they can play and test out what they like. If they like group sports, figure out who can call around to get them enrolled into a program. Ideally, we’ll start socializing them with other children after they’re vaccinated.”

“I’ll look into some programs,” she promised. She stared at her partner, waited for her to finish talking, and said, “Celeste, we’re going to need a physical fitness program and social programming. It seems we have a sensible principal for once in our lives.”

Celeste snickered. “That depends on how often he attends practices and meets.”

“Likely more often than the other RPS agents prefer.” I’d been there and done that; my attendance on a frequent basis would do more good for the girls than anything else. “If they’re in separate activities, I’ll make sure they get equal time. I can always bring work with me if I must, but make it clear that during any actual events and matches, I will not be available. Celeste, tell the accountants that I’m authorizing any purchases of equipment they need for their activities. If you want a breather, just tell the on duty agents I’ll be in the kitchen with May—and if Danielle gets tired of bouncing on the bed, that I’ll be making enough soup for her, too.”

“Roger,” the woman reported.

Then, to my relief, the women scattered to handle their duties, leaving me to make the hike to the kitchen without much of an audience. A yawning Monty came down the hall, dressed in dark plaid pajamas. I waited for him to get close before asking, “Did that mean Terry make you sleep in the palace tonight?”

“Honestly, Olivia started to cry because she couldn’t decide if she wanted to go home and fetch Pink Lady’s cage or roll around on her bed and have a chance to bounce on it, too. I offered to stay at the palace so the pregnant woman could test bouncing on her bed and play with her squirrel. My current attire is my work uniform until ten in the morning, so says your sister.”

I could see my sister issuing an edict of that nature. A quick check on May revealed the little girl was about twenty seconds from falling back to sleep. As such, I slowed and took care with my steps so I wouldn’t startle her back to fully awake. “Is there even a safe spot we can stash her in the kitchen?”

“There is,” he confirmed. “We anticipated tired children sitting on the counters earlier, so we did weight and safety checks. There are a few spots where the girls can sit and watch, and the on duty agents will serve as extra hands to make sure they come to no harm. Danielle will be along shortly, as she’s rapidly running out of energy to bounce on the bed.”

“Soup or protein shakes?” One day, I might better understand what children needed, but nothing was normal about their situation.

“Try for both. We’ll give them each a protein shake while you make them soup. I’ve been told to warn you not to worry if they don’t eat much to start with. It’s normal. We’ll work on getting them to a regular eating schedule over the next few weeks. Right now, we’re more worried about getting their weight up and giving them a chance to heal. Both are at risk of eating disorders, but the Hawaiians are trained on how to handle it, and they’ll teach us what we need to know.” Monty took the lead, handling the doors so I wouldn’t disturb May and otherwise made certain we made it to the kitchen in one piece. “Expect a lot of RPS agents sleeping in the palace of their own volition for the next few weeks. We’re also getting clearance to bring our spouses and kids in. We threatened to pitch a fit if we couldn’t help socialize the girls using our own children.”

I foresaw needing to hire more than a few nannies to help contain all the kids that would be underfoot. “Pitch a daycare for RPS agents to Terry and tell him it’s my idea. If you’re threatening a revolt based on wanting your kids to come play with our kids, I see no reason why we can’t just up the number of nannies and spare the RPS agents the daycare bills. It works well for everybody, and if thereisan emergency, the agents will know exactly where their kids are at.”

Little things, like royalty understanding RPS agents were real people with families, made a big difference.

“I’ll talk to Terry and Olivia in the morning. I bet we can contain the Iron Beast and Her Royal Hormones in one fell swoop that way.”

I snickered at the nickname. “Who started calling her that?”

“She did. She self-addressed herself as Her Royal Hormones, and if the subject of her wrath didn’t like it, he’d pay. Terry had no idea what sort of payment he would be issuing and finally gave up, asking her if he was supposed to like it or not.”

Poor Terry. “Do the Montana women ever settle down?”

“We think it’s part of her bloodline magic. Most Montana princesses have a few kids by now, and her magic has been cooking for years. Dr. Stanton is concerned she just will not hit menopause until she has at least a herd of ten to fifteen. There is talk of taking Olivia to the hospital for testing to get an idea of how strong her egg supply is. In good news, Terry volunteered to match her and have his fertility tested despite the evidence he has zero problems with his fertility.”

I fought the urge to burst into laughter as I didn’t want to disturb May until I had something to feed her and be in a position to offer her comfort should she wake frightened. The possibility existed that she feigned sleep as well, fearful of retribution.

She would learn with time.

Until then, I would be a predictable and reliable haven. If she needed to crawl into bed for comfort each night, so be it. I would miss the sleep, but I would catch naps as I could until she settled. If her sister needed the same, I foresaw them running me ragged within a month, but I would do my best to hide my frustrations—or relieve the stress in safe fashions.

I foresaw spending an absurd amount of time conquering the mud run.

In the kitchen, I settled her on the counter Monty gestured to, taking care with how I woke her up. “It’s snack time,” I whispered, aware of how I had flinched every time my parents had raised their voices, even when I hadn’t done something wrong.

May went through the motions of yawning and rubbing at her eyes, and I suspected she worked to trick me into thinking she’d slept. As I wanted her comfortable with me, I played the game her way, and once she was settled enough to sit on her own, I went to work in the kitchen, retrieving the containers of soup from the fridge I’d stashed it in after making the batch with Vincent’s help. I also grabbed one of the chocolate protein drinks, twisted off the cap, and gave it to her.

The girl abandoned her sleepy ways to get the chocolate treat into her belly where it belonged. One day, we’d work on her taking her time with the drink, but as long as she didn’t choke, it could wait. Within five minutes, a pair of agents I didn’t recognize wearing Hawaiian RPS pins came into the kitchen, and one of the women carried Danielle.

I returned to the fridge, got another bottle, and waited for the agents to settle the toddler next to her sister before making sure she had her drink, too.

Unlike May, Danielle took her time with the chocolate, savoring every sip with the sort of open enjoyment I wanted her to experience for the rest of her life.

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