23. Cole

"You ready for this?"

Henri and I stared at the driveway lined with chauffeur-driven cars. All morning vans and trucks had trundled in the service entrance and set up who knew what. This was Father's doing, and we'd agreed.

We'd made a pact with him. We'd participate in pointless ceremonies that involved old-time uniforms and customs so the public, including tourists, could take pics of us. In return, he couldn't interfere with how we raised our baby. He could participate in the little one's life as a grandfather, and we would decide if and when our child was introduced to the intricacies of royal life.

Though we'd signed off on the "we'll attend functions" aspect of our job, Father was a crafty old beast. According to him, baby showers were included in royal functions. In ancient times, welcoming a child into the royal fold was when noble families showed their allegiance by giving the child land, gold, and jewels—even a contingent of soldiers.

I supposed not much had changed, except now it was a party and kids were also invited.

"No, but we'd better get it over with." Henri clasped my hand and lay his head on my shoulder. "We could say we're otherwise engaged. Did we send an RSVP?"

My shoulders shook as I giggled, imagining Father's face when Raine told him we weren't attending the baby shower.

"Let's go. We smile, wave, chat, accept congratulations, and then you say you're exhausted and we retreat to our suite."

My mate elbowed me. "So I'll get the blame for us disappearing from our own baby shower."

The baby was ours, but the shower was all the king's doing.

We took the elevator, a recent addition, because Henri couldn't be heaving him and his bump up steep staircases. The staff opened the large double doors, and my mate and I froze. I took in the scene in the state room that spilled out through the side doors into the palace grounds.

Flowers of every color adorned the tables and walls, including antique ornate furniture. The flowers' combined perfume rushed at me, and my eyes stung and I sneezed. I almost turned and dragged Henri out, thinking his reaction to the flowers would be more intense than mine.

"It's beautiful," Henri gushed.

"It is?"

"Mmmm. And all this for our baby." My mate unhooked his arm from mine and strolled toward the towering cake with at least ten tiers. The room was crowded with stuffed bunnies, bears, unicorns, dragons, tigers, and foxes.

When I caught up to my mate, he whispered that Father had consulted him about where to get a toy fox.

"My father, the king, was asking about stuffed toys? I didn't think he knew they existed."

Henri scooped up a cupcake, with lashings of icing swirled on top, and took a bite. "This is heaven."

"A bite for me?" I pleaded as my mate grabbed another one.

"Get your own. These are all mine."

He pecked my mouth, and I licked the residue of frosting. Mmmm, it was good. Maybe Molly had a hand in baking them rather than an outside caterer. She did pride herself in all things baking, and I'd been her willing guinea pig all these years.

Outside reminded me of county fairs that Papa had taken me to where we cut the ribbon to officially open the fair. There were carousels, kids blowing bubbles and making sandcastles, ring tosses and tin can tosses, three-legged races. It was a beautiful chaos with more laughter, handholding, and back-slapping than I'd ever encountered at the palace.

Like the decorations inside, everything was pastel colors, including the balloons swaying in the breeze. It was more carnival than baby shower, but who said we had to stick to the same old rules about baby showers? Father had gone all out, and I looked around for him, wanting to thank him, because Henri was going from one activity to another, oohing and ahhing and accepting congratulations.

And the guests were people who'd won an invitation in a lottery, not diplomats and bigwigs from industry.

"Your husband seems to be enjoying himself." Father appeared beside me, dressed casually, which was unusual. He used the word husband rather than mate, as we were surrounded by humans. "And so does your papa."

It was rare to have my omega father attend a function if he wasn't forced to, but he was on the carousel with Sandy's son, waving to me as his horse rose up and down. I'd never seen him so giddy. It was a good look.

"Thank you, Father. You've outdone yourself."

He patted my back. "My actions in the past may have seemed cruel, Cole, but I was preparing you for a life that doesn't forgive mistakes. You'll never have to worry about money, but this isn't for everyone."

"That's why we want our child to explore life outside the palace." I was often lonely growing up, as Father didn't want me associating with kids from town. One of the reasons Molly and I were so close. She filled that gap.

"Come and try your hand at the ring toss." Henri bowed at Father before steering me away.

"You think you can beat me, do you?" I rolled up my sleeves.

"I was a champion ring tosser as a kid."

I grabbed the rings, made of thick rope, and tossed one at the target. It teetered and flipped on its side and plopped onto the ground. Damn. I thought this was easy, but there was skill involved, something I was lacking.

But Henri studied the target for a minute, aimed, and threw the ring. "Yes!" he shouted and high-fived a bystander.

Well, damn. I should have practiced. I tried again and failed. But my mate was successful each time, and he won a stuffed bear. He handed it to a child nearby who hugged the toy and thanked my mate. Both Henri and I had tears in our eyes at how happy that small act had affected the little boy.

"That was so kind of you, love."

"We have so much." He tucked his arm in mine. "And we need to share what we have more. I want our baby to see and be a part of that."

I thanked the universe for the thousandth time for putting Henri in my life.