After that, he was determined to make all our dreams come true.
I cradled my full tummy, where my son Jack slept soundly. It had been a fairy tale for both of us, and he wasn’t even born yet. I didn’t know how much our world was going to change. But if there was one thing that I had learned from our journey thus far, that was probably for the best.
I balled a fist in my back. As we were approaching the finish line, Jack had started to move lower and it was really playing hell on my lower back. I was still having Braxton Hicks contractions, which often played hell with any romantic time with my husband-to-be. This had been the frustrating pattern from the jump. Jack had pretty much made all the rules since we first met. It wasn’t anything we weren’t already used to.
Auggie and I had just sort of decided to roll with it, saving it all for our wedding night.
Still, I had many reservations. Though I no longer shared my life on my socials, I still got alerts whenever someone went through my old posts, liking or commenting as John Q. Public was known to do. Christopher had made his presence known, even though he was legally barred from entering the country. He made damn sure I knew he was watching me like a hawk regardless.
It wasn’t that he wanted me or Jack, he wanted an exclusive to the scandal, or a lot of money, or both. I knew I couldn’t risk an early birth. At least, any earlier than the “early” date of Halloween when I was scheduled for a C-section.
Still, my Auggie was a hard man to resist. When he pulled me closer, there was no pulling away.
That was why I had spent the last few weeks at Greystone Castle, preparing for the wedding of the century. The world watched and waited for the next royal wedding, and I wasn’t about to let them down even if I had to continually pinch myself that the blushing bride that they were talking about was me.
By the end of the next day, I would no longer be known as Peaches McPhee. I would be Peaches, Duchess of Iver, an official member of the House of Quinn.
All I wanted was to be Auggie’s wife. These last two weeks were the longest we’d been apart since we met. I could tell by his texts that it was killing him every bit as much as me, though Queen Maeve made damn sure he stayed busy in the interim.
He had returned to Shimmering Falls, where he began his official grooming to become king. Fortunately, he had finished his education during his Duke of Mayhem days, which he had agreed to in exchange for his freedom to tour. Still, as the King of Aldayne he would be the leader of their armed forces. He required standard military training before he could take the throne. This would put off his coronation for another couple of years, after his 35th birthday.
Both of us were fine with this.
My job was public outreach. After our two-week honeymoon in a location Auggie had decided to keep secret, I would then begin making public appearances to represent the royal family.
Of course, all that would grind to a halt after Halloween when Jack made his “early” appearance, but we had to plan events into November to keep up the ruse.
A quick knock preceded Kelly poking her head around the slightly open door. “They’re almost ready for you, Mum.”
I smiled. The McPhee family had taken over Greystone to prepare for the big day. They had insisted on a bachelorette party the night before the wedding. I expected barbecue, disco, and karaoke in true McPhee fashion. I hoped the ghosts of Greystone would be able to keep up with us, because it promised to be a party unlike anything they’d ever seen. “I’m almost ready,” I told her.
“I’ll let them know,” she said, walking further into the room. “You had another delivery,” she grinned as she held up a small package.
I chuckled. I barely even expected to get married, much less have hundreds of gifts pouring in every day. They came from all over the world, but the Aldayneans would not be outdone. They wanted me to know that they approved of Auggie’s choice.
I think they just loved the idea of a wedding. Who didn’t?