Page 119 of The Prince of New York

It hadn’t been until I’d returned to the Royal States, delayed in Thailand for an extra two weeks for the dress to be ready for transport, that I’d learned the significance of why Chailai had thought the gown to be worthy of even a queen.

To her, yellow was everything good in her life, something she wanted for us to enjoy for the rest of our days.

Smalls, who remained stunted and might never grow much, attended the ceremony, observing from a special bowl on a pedestal nearby. Sika and Tumen stayed close to their reptilian sidekick, wearing gem-studded collars matching Madelyn’s gown.

Bumble and Mirage wore their gems on their harnesses and leashes, as we had not been able to train the cats to stay put for more than ten minutes at a time without the tools indicating we needed them to behave for once in their lives.

Our four Lampang horses would steal the show when it came time for us to abandon the reception for our honeymoon, which we’d spend touring museums across the country while Pat and Jessica entertained our little girls.

The Texan monarchs missed having children underfoot, our little girls loved everything about the pair, and as such, Madelyn and I would be able to steal away three weeks to settle into our new lives together before resuming our role as parents.

In one of the planned lulls, where the RPS agents coordinated the gifts we were not permitted to refuse, I leaned back in my chair and wondered what I’d done to deserve everything going right in my life.

Madelyn smacked her slippered foot into my shin. “You’re doing it again.”

Damn it. “My face tattled on me, didn’t it?”

My face exposed my state of mind with frightening regularity, as the wonder of my new circumstances sank in and I really understood I’d been set free in all ways.

“Yep. Fortunately, your sister has not noticed, as May is explaining the significance of every single flower used in the ceremony. The first day that botanist came to the palace, I had some serious questions about what you were doing and why, but then I look at her and understand you had the right idea all along. You honestly don’t give a flying shit about their general education, do you?”

“Oh, I do, but I’m encouraging them to read by setting them onto a path where they need to read books about what truly interests them. May’s already reading college texts about plants. Danielle is at the sixth grade level, and she’s onlythree. They’re brilliant children, especially now that they’ve been undergoing their treatments and have been given a chance to shine. But now isn’t the time to teach them regular education. It’s the time to teach them they love the process of becoming educated. Should they ever actually go to school with other kids, they’re going to go becausethey want to. We’ll teach them everything they need to be grounded in life, but they’ve had a hard enough time of things. I wanted their learning to be something that brings them joy. For May? That’s understanding how plants work right down to the types of cells, their functions, and how things can go wrong with plants even on the cellular level. And if I have to hear the word cell one more time this week, I really might start crying, Madelyn. Racheldidcry because May used a scientific term she did not know. Shecried.”

“The lack of sleep from just having had twins has something to do with that,” Madelyn reminded me with a grin. “Terry cried, too. He was laughing, but he definitely cried. Everyone except us in this palace is exhausted. The only reason we’re not exhausted is because you wisely cultivated a pair of teaching nannies to control the tiny demons we’re attempting to raise. You also opted to delegate everything you absolutely could, stealing tasks from me like you were going to handle it yourself before passing it off to people you hired specifically for the purpose of dealing with the bullshit. Had I known how much bullshit would be involved with planning this wedding, we would have run away and eloped.”

I laughed. “That’s why I hired people and made it clear that I was the actual threat. You are a terrible bridezilla. I’m the groom from the depths of some dark hell, ready to set Smalls loose upon all offenders.”

Madelyn glanced in the direction of the menagerie, who had a throne of cushions to rest on during the long waits. “She’s what, seven whole inches now?”

“Yep, she’s grown an inch since she adopted me, which means her habitat in our suite should be good for a while.”

“Do you think we can teach her to eat those damned crickets a little faster?”

I snickered, as Smalls loved hunting crickets, but the sound would inevitably drive us all mad. As such, we gave Smalls crickets once a week and dealt with the two days of noise before she dispatched her living snacks. “I’m just glad that it turns out Smallsdoeshave scales, else her proper name would be rather strange. As it is, people give me weird looks because I named her You Scaly Little Bastard.”

“It’s hilarious, but I’m glad we generally call her Smalls. How are you handling the gifts?”

“I’m not handling it nearly as well as you are. Everyone is onto you. You areneverrunning out of painting supplies. I’m receiving hints that we don’t have enough children yet, parts for a car that I’m pretty sure is just a frame in my junkyard right now, and paintings. Honestly, Ilikethe paintings. And as there are a bunch of assholes around this palace barring me from going to my junkyard, I’m pretty sure there are a bunch of presents I’m going to have to deal with there. Peter has been sneaking off daily, Zach has been pretending like Peter was around the whole time, and the other RPS agents flee before I can corner them. I’ve been told that we’re going to the junkyard before we are headed off on our honeymoon. Do you know what isn’t appropriate? Your dress in that junkyard.”

Thanks to my wisdom, I’d snapped a picture of the price tag, discovering that Madelyn wore a six million dollar work of art covered in precious jewels. As far as I was concerned, the gown was a family heirloom, it would stay in the family for all eternity, and I’d somehow convinced Chailai to let me pay for half of it as a compromise.

Threatening to cry if I couldn’t help pay for Madelyn’s dress had won me the war, but she’d forced me to accept one penny lower than half because she had embraced being a true source of evil.

Madelyn laughed at me. “My dress will be fine. We’re actually going to our hotel first so I can change my clothes, and then we’re going to your junkyard in the morning. The junkyard is a morning of our departure event, as we both need to unwind, relax, and make good use of the nice tub I’ve been promised is waiting for our use. I do have a present for you, however.”

As a general rule, Madelyn had taken to offering presents to notify me that she wished for positive attention in our bedroom. As her ex had controlled every element of her life, I used treats, usually in the form of her favorite chocolate, as an indication I would welcome positive attention at her leisure. If the chocolate disappeared and a come hither was issued, she had accepted my offer of adult entertainment in our suite.

Only several days ago, she’d made her first foray into bossing me around via text and ordering me to bed to make myself useful. I’d delighted in ditching my sister and work for a midday seduction. One day, I would test the waters, toss my woman on our bed, and give her many reasons to enjoy when I took the initiative.

“I always enjoy when you’re giving me a present,” I informed her in a solemn tone. “I am ready to accept my gift.”

“After discussing the matter with Mackenzie, I took her advice and ran my birth control through a blender before giving the powder to Dr. Stanton. Melody was there as well. I put them both on notice that I have a stud and I’m willing to use him.”

It was good to be me. “I’m very interested in hearing about how you have a stud and a willingness to use him.”

She leered at me. “I bet you are. And I’m aware that you’re due for your next shot. I ordered the dose be removed from the palace grounds and hidden away so it can’t bother us again. Dr. Stanton gave me a range of dates when you should be appropriately useful along with a warning that New Yorkers seem to toss off the preferred birth control ahead of schedule, as evidenced by your sister’s pregnancy.”

“I see. Were you encouraging people to encourage me through prank cards and gifts giving me hints on what I should be doing?”

---