by Eliza Ellis
“What about your husband? Or soon-to-be ex-husband, I should say.”
Deanna blinked away the rush of tears. “I…”
Maxim hadn’t shown up. She had paced her greenroom like a madwoman, waiting to hear from him. She even had her phone underneath her thigh to check it during scheduled breaks. She had called him with her new number. No return calls or messages.
“I was a fool,” Deanna heard herself say. “Yes, we weren’t matched as highly as I do my clients, but…but I don’t care. We’ve both grown from our experience together and…” She let the tears have their way on her cheeks. “And I love him, and I miss him, and I was wrong to let him go.” She sat shaking and crying while everyone stared at her. A pin drop could be heard on set.
A gasp came instead. Maxim appeared on stage, looking smartly dressed in a suit and tie, a pleased grin on his face. From behind his back, he produced a box. The crowd cheered when he dropped to one knee before Deanna.
“I have been waiting to hear you say those words, Dee.”
“Maxim?” she whispered hoarsely. Her fingers shook as they rounded his shoulders. He was here? He was on one knee?
He opened the box, producing a diamond and sapphire-studded crown. The crowd went nuts. People fell out of their chairs, others were jumping up and down. Carlie had dropped her mic and her jaw.
“I’m sorry I’m late. But it was brutal getting this through customs.”
Deanna laughed and sniffed. She wiped her tears. “It’s okay.”
“I know it’s not a life you planned, but I don’t want to share it with anyone else. Please say you’ll come home with me and be my queen.”
“You’re…king of Degonia?”
“It’s very likely I will be.”
“Girl, don’t be stupid,” Carlie implored. “Say yes!”
Dr. Allen nodded emphatically. “I agree. It’s not every day a girl gets to marry the man she loves and he’s a prince. King. My apologies, Your Highness.”
“Well?” Maxim said in a hopeful voice. “Marry me again?”
“Yes!” Deanna cried, flinging her arms around his neck. Maxim lifted her with one arm and twirled her around to a cheering crowd.
Carlie found her microphone. “Is this the best show or what? We’ll be back with more romance and royalty.”
Deanna pressed her lips to Maxim’s, shutting out everything and everyone but him. “Take me home,” she whispered against his mouth.
“I’d rather take you to bed first, if you don’t mind.”
“Uh, your mic is still on,” Carlie whispered with a giggle.
Deanna buried her face in Maxim’s neck while he laughed. “I don’t mind,” she whispered into his ear.
Epilogue
Deanna rounded her large bump with her hand. The twins were beating her insides up. She’d gone to the bathroom about twenty times in thirty minutes, and she could swear bruises were forming on her belly from the inside. “Shouldn’t they be calmer by now?” Her water had broken ten minutes ago.
“They’re fighting for first place,” Maxim said, placing a kiss on her head.
“Don’t they know it doesn’t matter?” Parliament had agreed to pass a law that would allow whichever child was firstborn to inherit the crown—boy or girl. She was carrying one of each.
“I think we may have power-hungry children.”
Deanna blew out a breath and moaned, pain shooting through her middle. Her contractions were coming hard and fast now. Her mother fluffed the pillow behind her head and kissed her daughter’s cheek. “It’ll be any minute now. Maxim, hold her hand.”
Maxim obeyed, sitting next to her on the oversized hospital bed designed for a queen, in her and Maxim’s palace chambers. Everything the doctor could possibly need was brought to the palace.
Back from their work, and just in time, Deanna’s parents came to Degonia and proudly congratulated her and Maxim for finding and sticking with each other. Her parents praised Deanna for her work and welcomed Maxim with open and loving arms. Deanna felt a turn had taken in her relationship with them, and the stress she felt before they had arrived had since melted away.
Her mother was right; ten minutes later, a prince was born, followed by a princess. Although Degonia would have another king before a queen, Deanna was happy that any future firstborn girl wouldn’t have to worry about the ancient law. And since Maxim was truly a Malenkov by birth, the dynasty continued.
Rita and Grace had moved to Degonia, eager to find their own royal matches. Deanna’s business was now entirely online, with a newly developed app that the dating world couldn’t get enough of. Both women oohed and ahed over the prince and princess, each offering to babysit whenever Maxim and Deanna wanted alone time.
In a palace full of people, Maxim and Deanna were rarely alone and had plenty of babysitters.
Deanna and Maxim each held a baby, speaking softly to them. Periodically, Maxim would gently kiss Deanna’s cheek. “Thank you.”
“This is partly your doing,” Deanna teased.
Maxim chuckled. “Had a wonderful time, too.”
Deanna’s cheeks went hot. After appearing on the talk show, he took her back to his place and they both couldn’t get their clothes off fast enough. Soon, they were on a plane to Degonia to settle the question of the monarchy.
Novak and Jelena were happily established in their new lives as parents to a baby girl. Both Deanna and Maxim noticed Novak more relaxed and jovial after he relinquished the crown to his younger brother. Clearly the stress of being king had been taking a toll on his health.
Maxim, however, was born to lead. He enjoyed problem-solving and enacting solutions, with Deanna by his side. Deanna had found transitioning into her role as queen challenging, but with Maxim’s help, they were a unified team. Together, Degonia moved forward as a more stable and economically prosperous country.
Deanna placed a lingering kiss on her husband’s lips. Regardless of what her algorithm predicted, she couldn’t have been happier than she was right now.
Dear Reader,
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Eliza
