Page 41 of The Royally Broke Billionaire
Finn and Piper gave each other perplexed looks, wondering what it was he wanted them to do. They were both loyal subjects, but they were at a loss for how to please him.
Queen Tess gave her husband a knowing smile. “Even though you’re king of this great land, I don’t think that gives you the right to force Piper and Finn to live together.”
“Of course not… They should be married first.” The king announced.
The queen shook her head and smiled at her presumptuous husband. “You can’t make them do that, either.”
“I don’t see why not. They’re obviously madly in love with each other. What are they waiting for?” His tone sounded outraged, but he couldn’t keep the smile from creeping in to give away his lighthearted intention.
Finn grinned at Piper. “He has a point.”
Piper’s pulse was pounding with thrilled excitement, but her first thought was worry about her son. Liam’s wellbeing was and always would be her top priority.
As if he could sense why the shadow darkened her eyes, Finn said, “I already love Liam like he’s my own son. I would be honored to officially become his father and your husband.”
Daring to begin to hope that all of her dreams might actually be coming true, Piper tipped her head towards King Sebastian and asked Finn, “You’re not just doing this because the king commanded it?”
Finn’s grin widened as he shook his head. “I am loyal to my monarch, but no, he doesn’t get to decide who I will marry or when.”
Chuckles sounded around the table as the king made over-exaggerated blustering noises, pretending to be offended by Finn’s statement.
Standing from his chair, Finn walked over and took a knee in front of Piper. “I’m the one who gets to make those decisions. I choose you, Piper, and I don’t want to wait any longer.”
A look of concern washed over his face before he said, “I don’t have a ring yet, but this seems like the perfect time anyway.”
The king made a vague gesture with his hand and a waiter swooped forward with a tiny velvet ring box resting on an intricately decorated silver platter.
At Finn’s surprised look, the king answered his unasked question. “I’ve had it ready for weeks, waiting for you to pop the question. It was taking you so long, I decided to give you a gentle nudge.”
“Gentle?!?” Mo scoffed and scrunched her face into a mask of disbelief. When the queen gave her a poignant look, silently asking her best friend to let it go without any further impertinence, Mo was quiet.
Popping open the ring box, Finn and Piper’s eyes both widened with delighted surprise when they saw the gorgeous, classic princess-cut platinum ring from the royal vault.
Turning to the king, Finn said, “It’s too much.”
“Nonsense,” the monarch scoffed. “Let me be in charge of something. Consider it a bonus for you both being valued, irreplaceable employees.”
Swallowing his nerves, Finn turned back to Piper and continued with his proposal. “Piper Pearson, will you make me the luckiest and happiest man alive by agreeing to marry me and share your life with me as we raise Liam and the rest of our gaggle of kids together?”
Piper’s cheeks hurt from smiling so wide, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “Exactly how many kids are in a gaggle?” She answered his question with one of her own.
“I don’t think a group of kids is called a gaggle… that’s geese.” Mo weighed in.
The royals raced to search their phones for the answer. Ignoring them, Finn only had eyes for Piper when he answered her, “I don’t know… Three? Four? Ten?”
“Ten?!?” Piper screeched. “You want ten kids?”
“I want as many as you do,” he murmured near her ear.
“A migraine!” The queen practically shouted, losing her normally carefully-held decorum for a moment, when she discovered the answer. “A group of kids is called a migraine.”
“Sounds about right,” someone quipped.
It was the king that pulled the group back to the topic at hand. “Piper, you didn’t answer his proposal.”
The room waited with bated breath until Piper nodded her head, wrapped her arms around the neck of the royal steward she loved, and said with happiness emanating from her voice, “Yes, I’ll marry you!”
The whoops of excitement were as un-royal as could be as they echoed through the palace hallways all the way upstairs to the nursery. At the exuberant sounds, Liam bounced excitedly in his nanny’s arms as if he knew his mother and father were destined to live happily ever after.
