Page 123 of Awaiting

“Did you ever feel it with her?”

“What you feel for Bexley?”

“Yes.”

He paused to think for a moment before saying, “It’s complicated, Alex. My father was of a different generation. As was my mother, who was practically told from a young age that she would be marrying the future King. It’s a holdover from another time, but your mother and I were also put together purposefully. We had a fondness for one another in the beginning – don’t get me wrong – but I don’t suppose we had the same type of feelings you have for Bexley at the start of your relationship. We did grow to love one another, though. Your mother has also blessed me with you and your brother, I have two amazing grandchildren – likely another on the way, if Larry and Maggie have anything to say about it – and hopefully, more one day soon.”

“Papa!”

“What? You love the girl. She loves you. I expect we’ll see an engagement and wedding soon, followed by children. I say this not as the King but as your father, Alex. You’ve always wanted to be a mother. I remember how you looked when you held baby Henry for the first time. Your eyes sparkled in that way that you were so happy to be holding your nephew but that you wished you were holding one of your own.”

Alex nodded and said, “I’ve never met a woman I actually wanted children with.”

“Until now?”

“I wish you could’ve seen her with Alice’s twins… She slept in their nursery to ensure they were okay. I woke her up with a stuffed elephant under her head and a baby blanket attempting to cover her body.”

He laughed and said, “She sounds like she’ll make a good mother.”

“She will.”

“So will you, my dear,” her father replied, placing his comforting hand on her knee and patting it. “And in your own time,” he added. “I know your mother pressures you. She pressures you because her parents pressured her, and so on. She was raised to believe that her role in life was to be my wife and have children to carry on the line. She doesn’t mean to make you feel like you’re not enough, Alex. She loves you more than you’ll ever know.”

“Are you sure she doesn’t wish Larry was her firstborn?”

“I am certain of that.” He gave her a definitive stare. “Alex, your mother wanted a daughter more than she wanted a son. Never tell your brother this, of course, but when she found out she was pregnant, she told me she wished for a girl because she wanted the country to have another Queen by blood, not marriage.”

“And then, I turned out gay and unmarried in my mid-thirties.”

Her father laughed again and said, “I find it so strange sometimes. Parents often want to raise their children to be independent and to have their own minds, and yet, we’re so confused when they go their own way, especially when that way is opposite the way we’d prefer for them. Your mother raised you to be independent. She wanted to make sure you had a good head on your shoulders and that you understood the job of being a Princess and being the future Queen. To do that, it also meant reminding you constantly that you’d need someone at your side. It’s not just about marrying to produce children – we’ve no shortage of heirs. It’s not how it was three hundred years ago, Alex. If you’d told us years ago that you never wanted to have children, we would have prepared Larry to raise a future King. You need someone in this with you. Your mother has been a constant support to me all these years. While we might not have been in love when we met, we fell in love over the years. I know there’s no one else I could be doing this with, and that it would have been so lonely to do this without her. She doesn’t ever want you to feel that kind of loneliness.”

“Why doesn’t she just say that?”

“Because she wears armor around her heart. She always has.” He smiled as if recalling a fond memory. “It’s tough to break through, and I suspect you have that same armor. It’s nice to see you finally let someone break through it.”

Alex smiled and said, “I’ve never felt this way before.”

“I can tell,” he replied. “Now, I’m sorry that’s taken you away from Bexley, but with this development, you and I have a lot of talking to do. We’ve made plans assuming you might never marry; we’ve made plans assuming you do marry and don’t have children; and we’ve also made plans that you marry, have children, and they’re not biologically yours.”

“What?” she asked.

“Well, you could have married someone with children already, or your wife could have had your children with her eggs, which would mean–”

“Oh, my God! You’ve made plans for this stuff?”

“Alex, you’re the future Queen of one of the most powerful nations in the world. You will be the face of the most well-known and talked-about monarchy. We already had to change the rules of the Church to allow you to marry. Sweetheart, we have plans for everything.”

“Right.” Alex shook her head rapidly. “What about if I have children thatarebiologically mine?”

“We have that one, too.” Her father chuckled. “Now that you’re serious about someone, we need to discuss the next steps. You’re not going to like this because it’s a business conversation. We’re not talking about love here; we’re talking about how you two will proceed with your relationship. That includes if and when you go public, what that looks like, the next steps after that, giving Bexley any support she needs to understand her potential role in the future, and well, yes, talking about all those things I mentioned with the line of succession. It’s not romantic, but it is necessary.”

“Okay. I understand,” Alex said, nodding.

“How do you think Bexley will deal with the press once you’re public?”

“I don’t know,” she replied.

“We’ll train her up on media relations. I’ll have Tyrone work with her when she returns,” her father said of his head of public relations.

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