Page 59 of Royally Knocked Up
CHAPTER 23
ENZO
“Do you truly insist on having her here for the coronation?” the king asked.
He was complaining, but Enzo chose to focus on the bright side. His father had chosen to allow Hailey to remain in the country. Not only that, he had allowed her to attend the coronation. He might not be happy about it, but he certainly had the power to send her away from the festivities if that was what he had wanted to do.
He had clearly decided not to do that, and Enzo was grateful.
“She’s the mother of my child, Father,” Enzo said. “She’s important to me.”
“You two are in a relationship now, is that it?”
“We were in a relationship before. It was just that neither of us understood that we had the freedom to make that choice,” Enzo said. “Now we know, and we’re going to protect our bond. So she’s going to attend the coronation.”
“I hope you realize that you’re going to be hounded by reporters all day long,” his father said.
“We do. I’ve spoken with Hailey, and she knows to expect it.” Enzo said. He hesitated. “I realize that today is meant to be about you, Father, and about your coronation. It’s not my intention to detract focus from that — I know that this will. But I have to have her here. It’s important to me. Hailey and I are working on building a life together, and I have to include her in important things.”
“You’re really going to do this, aren’t you,” his father said. “You’re going to try to make this work with her. No matter what I say.”
“I am,” Enzo said. “It’s not out of any desire to thwart you, Father. It’s just that this is what I need. She’s the mother of my child. They’re my family now.”
“And you do understand that we have the power to make this go away? I don’t want you feeling trapped into something that isn’t truly what you want,” his father said. “We can set her up in a lovely home anywhere in the world. We can do it in a way that doesn’t tie her to the royal family at all. We can release the news that the baby wasn’t yours after all. We can compensate her for any difficulty that brings her. We can make sure she and the child are both provided for as long as they live. She wouldn’t suffer.”
“You’d really be willing to do that?” Enzo was surprised. “Believing that I’ve been irresponsible, you would still bail me out like that?”
“Enzo, you’re my son,” his father said. “No matter what I may think about your choices, I will always support you.”
“Then I trust you’ll support me when I say that I’m in love with Hailey,” Enzo told his father. “I have no doubts or second thoughts. I don’t want a way out. All I want is her.”
His father nodded. “You sound very sure,” he said. “And I suppose you’re going to make your own decision.”
“I am. I only hope that, in time, you can come to see her the way I do, for the remarkable woman she is.”
His father examined him closely. “What you say is true,” he said. “I do see a change in you since you returned from Vista Piccola. Something happened to you there. I sent you away from Luria to keep you out of trouble, but it turned you into a different kind of man. And I believe I have her to thank for that.”
“You do,” Enzo said.
“But I want you to know this, too,” his father said. “Whatever happened out there — it wasn’t just her. It was you too, Enzo. She might have inspired you to be different, but you are the one who actually made the changes I see in you. I honor you for that.”
Enzo didn’t know what to say. He had never imagined he would earn his father’s respect.
He nodded, the lump in his throat making it too difficult to form words, and left his father to prepare for the coronation.
“Are you sure it’s all right for us to be here?” Hailey asked. “You don’t need to be with your family?”
Enzo wrapped an arm around her shoulders and smiled. “I am with my family,” he told her. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else on a day as important as this one.”
Hailey’s eyes widened. “If you consider me family…”
“You are family. You’re the mother of my child.”
“Does that make me a part of the royal family?”
“In a sense, yes. But I don’t think you should worry about that today. We have plenty of time to try to figure out how all that is going to work. For now, let’s just worry about facing the press.”
Hailey drew a deep breath. “Don’t let me embarrass you.”
