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6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Bren

Working at a coffee shop wasn't the worst thing. After all, I had an unlimited supply of all the coffee I could ever want. And who could complain about that? Well, I could because coffee kept me up, and I needed as much sleep as I could possibly get since my four-month-old son wasn't sleeping through the night—not that I expected him to. It was natural for a baby to wake often to eat.

And as much as people said, "Sleep when the baby sleeps," I couldn't exactly cook while a baby cooked or do laundry while the baby did laundry. So I had to make do on what I could. Which was little sleep and way too much caffeine.

I had moved back to Swena a month prior, when my son was just three months old. My application for citizenship for myself and my son had gone through. It was all very exciting. But I wondered, not for the first time, if this was all crazy. Moving to an entirely different country with only my sister to help? Who did that?

Of course, now that I'd been here, I'd met several other single parents, and I was making a lot of really great friends. There was a single parents' group at the daycare that we went to, and they were amazing. Plus, I had my friends from the coffee shop.

All in all, I was ten times happier than I had been all alone and pregnant while living in my home country. I had given birth at the hospital completely by myself. My sister had been on speakerphone, but of course, she hadn't been able to come home for the occasion. If I hadn't been having the most amazing experience of my life—welcoming my son into the world—it would have been incredibly depressing.

Now here I was, back in Swena working at the same coffee shop. My coworker came and clocked in, so I had no choice but to go home, as much as I wanted and needed the extra hours. The shop wasn't that busy right now.

My phone pinged just as I was hanging up my apron and grabbing my street clothes. It was my sister.

"Hey, Steph, what's up?" I said. "I'm just about to head out to pick up Neale."

"Get here quick."

My blood ran cold. "Is there something wrong? Is Neale okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. One of the royal princes is visiting."

"What?"

I could practically hear her eye roll as she let out a frustrated sigh. "One of the princes is here. From the royal family."

"Which one?"

"One of the twins, I think."

Even though I was now a citizen of Swena, I had done a crap job of understanding the dynamics of having a monarchy. I, of course, had watched the royal wedding when it happened two years ago but hadn't paid much attention beyond that. I knew that there were five princes and three of them were married, but that was largely irrelevant to me. I could probably come up with their names, especially the previous king's consort Neale. I had liked that name so much I'd named my son Neale. Beyond that though, I had my own problems to deal with, getting caught up in the gossip related to the royal family just wasn't my thing.

"Can I just pick up Neale and leave?"

"No, they kind of want quite a few families there to greet the prince. The daycare won a grant and so we're celebrating."

"Right. Okay, I can hang around." I had heard about that. They had talked about the expansion in the single dads group. It was all very exciting, and I would love to be a part of it. Only I did not have the mental capacity to give to anything like that, as much as I wanted to be involved. Perhaps in time, when I had my feet underneath me, I could volunteer more and be a part of the community. For now, I would focus on keeping my head above water.

"I'll be there in a minute, but goodness, I smell like coffee and my shirt is stained. I am a mess."

"Just get here. No one cares what you look like."

"Yeah, right." With royalty visiting, they would probably vet the parents for who would be appropriate to be seen in public. I would not make the list.

I hung up the phone. I had no choice but to go to the daycare center. I needed to get my son. When I arrived, the place was a bit of a shit show, with security everywhere. Men in black suits with earpieces lined the parking lot, while one lonely news van had a camera crew at the ready. Luckily, when I told the guards that my child was in there and gave my name, they let me through. I was assuming they had a list of the families that would be picking up their children.

What a mess.

I entered in the front door and went straight to the baby room, where my infant son was lying on the floor doing his tummy time.

His little head turned the minute he heard my voice, and he began to squeal. It was moments like this when I couldn't regret a single thing that had happened. Even if I was extremely lonely and wished that I could share my son with someone, seeing my infant son happy to see me at just four months old was everything. It told me that I was doing a good job, despite the circumstances.

I picked him up and kissed his chubby little cheeks. His smile lit up my whole world, and all the troubles—financial and otherwise—melted away.

"We're going to line you all up, and the prince will come by here in a moment to check out the infant room. He'll shake hands and then move along." Miss Taylor, the manager of the daycare, gave out instructions. She'd dressed up for the occasion, wearing a navy suit that anyone who worked with children regularly would never wear. She was lucky it wasn't already marred with spit-up.

I was sure to everyone here who had been raised in Swena, this was an extraordinary opportunity to meet a member of the royal family. But I was just so gosh darn tired. I needed to get home to wash the bottles from today, then make sure they were ready for tomorrow. I had gobs of laundry to do, and I needed to go over my budget to make sure that I could clear next month's daycare bill. But out of respect to the people who cared for my son while I worked, I pasted on a smile. My sister stood at my side.

"Don't you want to be with the other teachers?" I asked.

"No, this is too exciting."

"If you say so."

"We're meeting royalty, Bren."

"Yes, royalty. How exciting." She shot me a glare, so I stayed quiet. Instead, I focused on my son, gazing down at him as I cradled him in my arms. He could hold his head up now, so I could hold him on my shoulder, but I did so enjoy having him in my arms like this where I could keep him close and just stare at him. Sometimes it was hard to imagine that he was real.

They announced the prince, and he was shaking hands and making his way down the row. It wasn't until he got close to me that I heard the timbre of his voice, and it sparked a memory in me.

"Hello, nice to meet you."

My head snapped up, and my eyes landed on the man who'd made me a father—the man whose number I did not get and who I had been dreaming of for the past year. His eyes widened when he saw me and looked down at my infant son.

"Cal?" I squeaked. "What's going on?"

"Bren." He cleared his throat and took a step back. "I think we need to talk."

"You think?" I said.

Everyone in the room was looking at me. Cal was there, two bodyguards flanking his side, as well as an entourage of people. He wore a simple crown on his head, gleaming with its intricate silver design. His suit cost more than anything I'd ever owned. I'd never seen him in anything other than faded jeans and t-shirts, or completely naked. The suit looked good on him; it made him look completely different.

"It's really nice to meet you, Your Highness," I said.

"Can you just give me a moment?" He turned to his attendants.

The father of my child was royalty.

The man that I had fallen in love with was a prince. How could this be real?

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