"Yes, but I wanted to say it by itself. You know...so you get the real meaning."
She laughed again. And the quiet, two-o'clock-in-the-morning world of Terra Mas, Texas, righted itself.
EPILOGUE
THE DAY GINNY and Dominic returned from Texas, the baby's birth was announced in the papers. It was reported that he'd been born in the time of crisis for the country, and to keep him safe, his birth had been concealed. Most of their subjects had agreed that keeping his birth a secret had made sense. Others yammered on and on about it on talk radio.
Ginny didn't care. Her life was perfect. She just wanted one more promise from her husband.
Rolling Jimmy into a tiny onesie, she said, "This is our last lie."
Dom pulled his sweater over his head before he said, "It isn't a lie. Technically, Jimmy was born in an insecure time for the country. Technically, my dad had been working to keep him safe. Technically, I had been too involved to leave to witness his birth."
"Now you're stretching things." She picked up the baby and he cooed with delight. "I think he likes these pj's."
Dominic put a quick kiss on her lips. "Or he likes his mom."
"He'd better. It'll take me decades to get my figure back."
"I like you a little rounded."
She sniffed. "Right."
Carrying the baby, she walked to the sitting room, Dom on her heels.
"Sally says it will look better if I hold the baby while we're standing on the balcony, waving."
"Drat. I was hoping to do a Princess Kate and strategically place the blanket so no one can see I still have a baby bump."
Diaper bag over his shoulder, Dom held the apartment door open for her. "You're paranoid."
"Isabelle doesn't think so," she said, referring to the nanny who had just been hired by Sally. "She perfectly understands wanting to look my best in public."
They entered the elevator. Dom pressed the button for the second floor. When the doors opened, the king and Ginny's mom stood waiting for them.
Rose said, "I get to hold him first."
The king nudged her aside. "You held him first yesterday."
Bodyguards silently, expressionlessly stood by doors, glanced out windows.
Rose sighed. "Fine."
Ronaldo said, "Maybe I should be the one to hold him on the balcony."
Dom and Ginny simultaneously said, "No!"
"I need him and a long blanket to cover my baby weight."
"And Sally says my holding Jimmy will go a long way toward repairing my image for not being around for the baby's birth."
The king laughed as he led the three adults to his quarters. "You're a war hero."
Dom blew out his breath disgustedly. "Some war hero."
"Hey, you made the choice to call in the local police rather than send in the military. Technically, that was the big decision of the conflict."
Jimmy squirmed and began to whimper. Rose immediately took him from Ronaldo's arms. "Come to your Grammy Pajammy, sweet boy," she crooned, patting his back.
Dom said, "Grammy Pajammy?"
His father sighed. "It's a long story."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I called her Mama Pajama until I was about ten."
Dom laughed. "Really?" Then he frowned and glanced at his dad. "And how do you know this?"
The king slid his arm around Rose's shoulders. "I suppose this is as good of a time as any to come clean about our relationship."
Ginny laughed but Dom's mouth fell open. "What?"
Rose grinned. "Second chance at love, honey." She leaned over the baby to put a kiss on the king's cheek. "There's nothing like it."
Dom stood shell-shocked, and Ginny held her breath. She'd suspected a little something was going on with her mom and the king, but buried in their own problems, neither she nor Dom had actually seen it.
Finally, Dom's lips lifted into a smile. His simple heartfelt "Welcome to the family" warmed Ginny all over. So did the realization that her mom would be staying. Forever.
She had a family.
They walked through two sitting rooms and a den to get to the balcony. Ginny put a blanket over her arm in such a way it draped in front of her stomach, and Rose placed the baby in her arms.
But right before they would have stepped out onto the balcony, she stopped and smiled at Dom. "Here."
"You're letting me hold him?"
"He's yours as well as mine." She sighed. "Besides, the bigger I look today the easier it will be for people to notice I'm losing weight."
He laughed and stepped out onto the balcony, but he stopped, too.
He caught his dad's gaze. "You and Rose come with us."
His dad waved a hand. "No. No. You and Ginny and Jimmy are the stars here. Have your moment in the sun."
"I'd rather we looked like a family."
Rose said, "Mmm-hmm."
Ginny pressed a finger to her lips to keep her still-humming hormones from making her cry. They hadn't had a big discussion about the king keeping Ginny's labor from Dom. When they'd returned the day before, Dom had simply said, "You were right," and King Ronaldo had nodded. Dom wanting them to be a family spoke volumes.
The king said, "I think that would be nice."
They stepped out onto the balcony to present their son to the kingdom and in the last second, Alex came racing through the door. "I heard this is a family moment."
Dom said, "It is."
Alex straightened to his full height, grinning like an idiot.
Ginny leaned over to Dom and whispered, "What's up with him?"
"Our father and Princess Eva's father are having a phone call tomorrow to talk about the wedding. He's trying to get on Dad's good side, hoping he'll give him another year of freedom."
Ginny winced. "Do you think your dad will do it?"
Dom glanced at his father, who beamed at little Jimmy and laughed. "Nope. I think my dad likes being a grandfather." He cuddled Jimmy to him, then waved to the crowd below.
Ginny nestled against him. "We'll give him another one soon."
Dom glanced down at her. "Really?"
Ginny laughed and snuggled more tightly against him. "Sure, we'll have two kids, and then I'll get my figure back, and then it's Alex and Eva's turn."
Cameras whirred and flashed, but Ginny didn't care. For twenty-five years she'd longed for a family and she'd finally gotten one.