Reluctantly Royal(91)

Whoa. What the hell was I thinking about? I didn’t even know if Meredith wanted more kids. We hadn’t talked about it.

Cathy stuck her head out of the swinging doors and motioned for us to come in. Picking up Marty, I followed her to Sam’s room.

Everyone was gathered around the bed, so I sat Marty down on the large chair and joined them.

“Do you want to hold your niece?” Sam smiled at me.

There was a tiny little blanket-wrapped bundle on her chest, with a tuft of dark brown hair on its head.

“Will it hurt her?” I frowned.

“No.” Sam laughed. Her face was tired, but she radiated happiness.

“Okay.”

Alex lifted the bundle off Sam and placed her in my arms. I shifted on my feet, and tried to get my arms just right. A tiny little hand reached out of the blanket and waved as if looking for something. Ever so carefully, I shifted her to one arm and let her grab my finger.

As I looked down at her tiny hand, button nose, and chubby cheeks, I was a goner. She was this perfect combination of Sam and Alex.

Eventually I had to let someone else have a turn, but it was hard to let go. My fingers itched and I wished I had thought to bring my sketchbook with me, but with Sam hollering and Alex freaking out, I was lucky I’d remembered to wear pants.

Meredith came to me and wrapped her arms around my waist.

“You look rather sexy holding a baby.” She smiled up at me.

I grunted and watched as Cathy sat down next to Marty to show him his new cousin.

“What’s wrong?” She tilted her head to the side.

“Marty asked me if we were going to have babies.” I raised an eyebrow.

“Oh.” Her eyes widened.

“Actually he said lots of babies.”

“Lots?” She shook her head and looked over at her son.

“Yes, he gave his blessing. Apparently Zach has a new sibling on the way.” I ran my hands over her back.

“Ah.” She laughed. “I don’t know about lots of babies.”

“One might be nice,” I said. “One day.”

“I thought you didn’t want kids.” She cocked her head to the side, but her smile grew.

“Maybe I’m changing my mind.” I shrugged.

“You’ve been doing that a lot lately.” She reached down and pinched my butt.

“Hey.” I mock-glared at her. “Stop that. I said someday. Not today. You’ll get me all excited.”

“So you’d really consider having a baby?” The tenderness in her expression almost killed me.

“If you want to be technical about it, you’d be the one having the baby. I’d just be the punching bag in the delivery room.” Why did I blurt out idiotic things when I was nervous?

“I think that, one day, it would be nice to have another baby.” She smiled shyly.

Leaning down, I kissed her softly. “Me too.”

Life had changed. My plans for the future had shifted.

I was marrying a woman who had been contacted by several theater companies to perform for them. I was going to be the father to a six-year-old boy I loved more than drawing, painting, or breathing. I was helping run a duchy. Me, the royal who hated everything about being a royal. I still had my art. That would always be with me. And I’d keep making and creating things because I couldn’t stop. It was part of who I am. But so were Meredith and Marty.

I wasn’t where I thought I would be and I was incredibly grateful for that. I wouldn’t trade my life for anything.