Page 112 of My Five Daddies

I shrug and don’t bother to denyit.

Maggie laughs and puts her tea down. “I can see you’re handling him well already. I’m very pleased. If I can be frank, I was glad he wanted to marry, but I wasn’t so sure aboutyou.”

I nod slowly. “I can understand. You don’t know me. And I’mforeign.”

“More that you’re foreign, no offense, dear. Polovia is a very closedplace.”

“Something I want to change,” Nolan cutsin.

His mother looks at him appraisingly. “Yes, well. Maybe you’ll get yourchance.”

“What has father said about this?” Nolan asksher.

Maggie glances at me. “Is this the best time to discussthat?”

“You can be honest,” I say. “I won’t beoffended.”

She hesitates but sighs. “Your father is glad you’re marrying, but he still isn’tconvinced.”

Nolan purses his lips. “I’m notsurprised.”

“It was never going to be easy,” his mother says. “But you know I’m pushing foryou.”

That’s a surprise to me, although maybe it shouldn’t be. I should have guessed that Nolan’s own mother would be on his side, though I assumed that if his relationship with his father wasn’t good, then it probably wasn’t great with his mother, either. Clearly I was wrong about that. Just from seeing them together for a bit, I can tell that they’reclose.

Which makes me wonder how much sway the queen has over the king. If he picked the cousin as his heir, despite the queen’s obvious desire to have her son take the crown, it suggests that she isn’t as in control of the king as I thought at first. Still, she’s a powerful ally, and it’s good to know that Nolan hassupporters.

We fall back into small talk, mostly chatting about how I find life in the castle. She does ask me about my work before we married, and I admit that I was a maid. She knows, of course, and asks me about my workingconditions.

I’m a little surprised, but they both listen attentively. I’ve never met rich people that really care about the people that work for them, but I get the sense that Maggie and Nolan both care deeply. Although Nolan is new to the castle, I can tell that he wants to treat everyone with kindness andrespect.

We talk for maybe a half hour before the queen finally nods. “Well, this was good,” she says. “I need to get back to work,though.”

“Thanks for seeing us, mother,” Nolansays.

“Any time.” She turns to me. “Seriously dear, any time you want to see me, justcome.”

“Thank you. That means alot.”

She nods and kisses my cheek again. “Be good to him,” she sayssoftly.

We all stand and say goodbye. Nolan leads me from the room and as soon as we’re alone in the hall, he gives me an enormousgrin.

“Good job in there,” hesays.

“Yeah? You think she likedme?”

“She loved you,” he says. “I can tell, believeme.”

“How do youknow?”

“You’re not the first woman who’s met my mother. But you’re the first one that she willingly said she would seeagain.”

I feel a little proud of that, though it’s only slightly marred by the fact that I’m not the first girl he’s brought home. I don’t know why I would ever think that, of course. He’s older than me, which means he’s had more girlfriends than I know about, I’msure.

Either way, I got through the first parental meeting. I know that was supposed to be difficult, even with a family that isn’t royal, but it really wasn’t that bad. His mother was kind and welcoming, and I feel so much better after having mether.

I don’t know what the future holds. But at least I know his mother doesn’t hate me. And that means a lot right now, when I’m trying to figure out if I really belong in this foreignplace.

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