Page 79 of The Prince of New York

“I probably deserve some scenarios for this,” I whispered to him once confident Madelyn couldn’t hear me. “I know this entire garden is a nightmarish security gap.”

“It’s good practice for us, and it’s an excellent and calming activity for you and your bond. As you do not have an open bond yet, she is absolutely thrilled you loaned her your camera. Good call on telling her you wanted to play with your other one. Once you said you just preferred the one you’re using, she relaxed—and she was delighted you picked the same one she had gotten. It’s a good camera, and I suspect she feels nothing cheap is good enough for a royal.”

“Hopefully, she understands that’s not the case when we were in the art store.” I crossed my eyes over that portion of the venture, which had resulted in Madelyn suffering from copious amounts of anxiety, as she couldn’t decide which art kit she wanted. I’d selected five different kits for her, told her the ones she didn’t prefer would be available for the children to play with if they wanted to get into art, and promised we could come back so she could better pick supplies later. “I hope I hadn’t come across as terribly impatient.”

“Picking from different brands across different price points was an excellent move. You acknowledged her points about the brands, and you picked the ones she had most interest in. We did, however, acquire the expensive kit we know she lusted for, but you had no way of knowing she lusted for, as she refused to even look at it. That will be going to California with us, and you can steal the credit for it. It’s the premier brand for watercolors, and frankly spoken,wecried looking at the price. We will show you how to find the premier brands, so you can be honest when you say you wanted her to have the best. But the price is horrific.”

“Please define horrific for me.”

“A set of a hundred colors, accessories, brushes, and paper cost a thousand dollars.”

I whistled. “I’m going to be honest and tell her I asked for someone to get her the best, as that is what I would do, and I’m going to suggest she use the cheaper kits for general practice and the good stuff for when she wants to paint something special. That might save me. Dare I ask what you got for me? Because I know you RPS agents—you got something for me.”

“We got you cheap watercolors and a coloring book. That will amuse her and give you something to do if she wants to paint and you don’t want to deal with modeling clay. You got good entry level supplies for your new craft, so we decided to have some fun at your expense.”

I laughed. “Will the RPS cry if I ask someone to go back to that store and make a few extra purchases?”

“Of course not. What do you need?”

If I was going to go all in on Madelyn and the girls, I would go all in. “Get me one of those ridiculously expensive watercolor sets should they have a second one, get a pair of the best colored pencil sets they have, paper for sketching, and then grab a cart and go through the entire store and get four entry level kits of every damned craft they have in there. The ones that aren’t currently age appropriate for Danielle we’ll hold on to until she’s old enough to handle them. But let’s stock the palace with a complete set of crafts. If you need storage space, make use of my junkyard where I was storing the computer components. Talk around the RPS and find the parents with kids Danielle’s age and send them to my suite to scold me on excess and to help me select the best crafts for the trip. I’d rather not add that sort of venture while in California.”

Steven smiled. “Your wish is our command, Ian. You might be new to being a father, but you have the right idea. The greatest gifts any parent can give to their child is their love and their time. You’ll figure out the rest as you go. Now, you let us handle that. You keep an eye on your woman, else we might lose her to the roses.”

“Let her be lost for a while. She could use the peace, because mark my words, none of us are getting any peace starting tomorrow.”

“I hate how right you are,” the RPS agent muttered before stepping aside to arrange for what I needed to survive a triple dose of crafty ladies in my household.

* * *

We spentthree hours in the rose garden before Steven warned me the girls were showing signs of waking up and we needed to return to the palace. Fortunately for my sanity, I was able to rein Madelyn in with a sole comment that the girls might take over the kingdom if left unsupervised. I strolled into my bedroom in time to witness a sleepy May sit upright and blink, working to comprehend where she was.

“Good afternoon,” I greeted before giving her a kiss on her forehead. Then I began the process of waking the tigers, which involved hearty slaps to their rumps, cooing, kisses to their noses, and otherwise convincing the beasts I loved them best. Madelyn’s cats got ear scratches and pettings, and Angel got a kiss to his nose, ruffled fur, and an order to get back to work and check on my sister.

The husky warbled complaints but did as told, bounding out of the room, howling to be let out so he could attend to his duties.

Once everyone except Danielle was awake, I began the tedious process of rousing the toddler. With how her parents had behaved and her tendency to wake crying from fear, the last thing I wanted to do was shake her or do anything physical that might evoke old memories and trauma.

It took some time, but calling her name and stroking her hair got the job done. Before she could start to cry, I scooped her up and settled her against me, cooing and rocking her in the hopes the changed routine would distract her. To my relief and delight, it worked, and rather than deal with lengthy sobbing, she giggled, wrapped her arms around my neck, and held on tight.

“We’re going on a little adventure today after we have a meal,” I announced.

May regarded me with wide eyes. “A trip?”

“As I noticed you like playing with animals, and you were able to treat my sister’s tigers, her dog, and Madelyn’s cats with care and respect, we are going to be visiting an animal shelter to rescue a few pets for you. They will be your responsibility, and you will have help with their care. Your pets will live in your suite with you and keep you company at night, so you’re going to have to teach them that they’re loved, okay?”

Danielle gasped. “Kitty?”

“Yes, I will be taking you to meet some kitties.” I might regret it, but I’d introduce them to some puppies, too.

If we came across a dog that might work as a service animal, I’d rescue first and train later.

I foresaw the New York Royal Family needing more than a few service animals in the upcoming years. And if I ended up with suites filled with trauma in need of love, I would deal with the consequences.

As long as the girls and the animals were all safe and happy, that was all I cared about.

I bounced Danielle some more, and to keep them relaxed, I said, “You’ll have your snack in your pajamas, and then we’ll get you both changed and go on our trip. You’ll get bubble baths tonight, and you’ll start learning how to care for your new pets.”

Rather than relax them, the idea they might have pets drove them into a frenzy, which made the process of herding them to the family dining room rather challenging. As I’d already captured Danielle, I dealt with her bouncing, squealing, and losing her mind over the idea of a trip and something furry to cuddle with at night.

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