Jerrold

by Katie Dowe

  “I know I won’t.”

  *****

  Noelle looked up as Jerrold came into the playroom where she was sitting on the carpeted floor with the three children. Their nannies had gone to prepare their baths and she had volunteered to entertain them. The boys were entertaining themselves, but Gabriella was sharing her dolls with Noelle. They had finished dinner, the meal comprising of six courses of delicious wonder, and now Noelle felt as if she was on the verge of bursting! She had finally gone into the large modernized kitchen to meet the chef and complimented him on his cooking skills. The large Spanish native had beamed at her and promised to show her how to make the light fluffy pastry he had served for dessert. Both Alexander and Debbie were meeting with some of the guards in the throne room.

  “Hi.” She tilted her head to look up at him as he hunkered down next to them.

  “Hi.” Brushing his hands over Gabriella’s curls, he bent down and kissed Noelle on the lips, the movement slow and erotic and firing them both up. He had not seen her since he had left her naked and sprawled on top of the sheets and he felt starved. He released her mouth, taking a long deep breath as he forced himself to move away from her a little. “Debbie told me that you were quite a hit at the hospital.”

  “She was the star, I was merely an understudy.” She lifted her free hand and brushed against his hard cheek. “You should see her with the children, Jerrold, they love her, and the feeling was mutual.” She settled back against him as he put his arms around her waist. “I have never felt as if I belonged anywhere before and all my life, I have been trying to find a place to belong. I think I have found it with you and right here in this beautiful place.”

  Jerrold stared down at the little girl in her arms who hugged the doll to her chest. He loved seeing her like this, cradling the child inside her arms and with that contented look on her face. He would do anything for her, anything in his power to make her happy, and he was sure he had accomplished that. “I love you, darling,” he said huskily. “So much that I am tied up in knots about it. I will always put you first no matter what and I will always be there for you as well.”

  “Want Dadda,” the little girl said, looking up at her.

  “And Dadda is right here querida.” They had been so absorbed in their conversation that they had not seen the couple come in. Alexander reached down and took his daughter out of Noelle’s arms while Debbie went to see to their sons. Just then the nannies came in to take the children.

  “How about a game of pool, my friend?” Alexander asked him in amusement. “Or are you otherwise occupied?”

  Jerrold leaned forward and kissed Noelle lingeringly before getting to his feet. “See you later, darling, after I have trounced your highness.”

  “Have some respect, “Alexander said with a grin as he walked over to kiss his wife. “Later, darling.”

  Chapter 15

  “A spring wedding at the end of April to coincide with the annual spring ball!” Debbie announced at the dinner table two weeks later. Noelle had been keeping busy making the rounds with her and fascinated by the many different things to be done as a princess of a region. Debbie took her duties seriously and made sure the people in her country were taken care of. She had hospital visits two times for the week, rounds of functions she had to head and be responsible for, and dinner invitations that she had to accept. During the days when she was at the palace, she spent the time cooped up in her large and comfortable office with her secretary as they responded to correspondences among other things. And she involved Noelle in everything. Her husband and Jerrold were busy seeing to the commencement of breaking ground for the huge sports complex as well as getting a team together.

  Both Jerrold and Noelle looked over at her as they enjoyed their meal. She was still trying to get accustomed to eating so late in the evening, but at least the nausea had disappeared as if by magic and she was putting the weight back on.

  “That’s two weeks away,” Noelle reminded her.

  “So?” Debbie said airily. “Plans are already in place for the ball, it’s just a matter of changing a few things around to include a wedding. A number of our friends will be arriving for it and I could ask Leesa and Kelly to come over a week earlier to help with the wedding plans. Monique as well. She can come and help you to choose your wedding dress.”

  “When my wife gets something in her head, you would do well to give in to her,” Prince Alexander told them dryly.

  “I have to say that I am agreeing with her.” Jerrold looked at his fiancée as he said it. “I think it is a very good idea, darling.”

  Noelle stared at each of them as they waited for her to say something. “It’s crazy!” she said with a laugh. “But yes, I guess we could get married at the end of the month.”

  “Good,” Debbie said with a brisk nod of her head. “I will get Sabrina stared on the arrangements.” She looked at Noelle. “You will not have to lift a finger, honey; everything will be taken care of.”

  *****

  “We are getting married at the end of the month,” Noelle said dazedly as she stared at Jerrold. She was propped up on the pillows later that night as she watched him climb into bed with her. She was happier and relaxed and he remembered the woman he had first met and the way she had looked then without a smile on her face.

  “You don’t mind?” He pulled her into his arms and secured her head onto his chest. He was happy! He had everything he needed right here in his arms and somewhere he could call home. He was excited about the sports complex and had told Alexander as much. He worked with the man and had been on rounds with him for the past two weeks and was astounded at the amount of responsibilities he had to handle. He was sovereign for people who looked to him for guidance and everything came under his portfolio and yet he still had time to play and be with his wife and be a father to his three children. He definitely admired that.

  “I am not sure ‘mind’ is the word I would use.” Noelle snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes. “I am thinking more of rushed and dazed.”

  Jerrold fisted his fingers into the thick dark hair and angled her face to look up at him. “You don’t have to feel rushed. I have the means to handle whatever it is to be handled. Debbie’s secretary, Sabrina, is this super-efficient woman and if she is not enough I could hire someone else.”

  “I have to call my dad.”

  “That’s fine. I am also going to have to call my parents before they hear it on the news and I have the team members to invite. When the news breaks, we are going to have to be prepared for the flood of reporters who will be coming here, but the palace is fortified so there is no fear of them getting past the perimeters.” He bent his head and kissed her softly. “I have wanted to marry you for a very long time, Noelle, and I don’t want to wait any longer.”

  *****

  Noelle found herself caught up in the flurry of activities over the next week. Word had gotten out that there was to be a wedding the very same day of the spring ball and the excitement in Costa Land built to near fever pitch. The word had gotten out around the world as well and the newspapers were buzzing with the news of the world famous basketball player Jerrold Littman and his impending marriage to physiotherapist Noelle Buckner. The phone calls kept coming in and Debbie had to go ahead and hire someone else just to deal with the calls and the press. But she was in her element! Noelle had no idea how she did it, but aside from the duties she had as princess for the region, she managed to put together the plans for her friends’ wedding and also attend a tournament that involved her sons as well as planned and reside over a state dinner for her husband during that same week. She had also made arrangements for the women who would be coming in over the weekend. Leesa, Kelly, and Monique had cleared their schedules and would be flying in over the weekend and would be staying until after the wedding.

  “How do you do it?” Noelle asked her one night as she helped her to settle down the children for bed. She had given the nannies the night off and was spending some qualit
y time with the children. Both Alexander and Jerrold had gone outdoors to play golf on the excellent course at the far corner of the palace grounds. It was Sunday night and come tomorrow it would be the culmination of a rush of activities that would lead to the wedding next weekend.

  “Do what, honey?” Debbie pulled the sheets over her daughter before slipping out of the room and partially closing the door behind her. She indicated for Noelle to follow her into her private sitting room. Noelle had finally gotten the tour of the sumptuous palace and had been amazed at the antique furnishings the silken wall papers and the evidence of extreme wealth in every room. The suite that belonged to Alexander and Debbie took up an entire section of the palace and comprised of eight suites altogether with each child having a suite of their own. The master suite reminded Noelle of a sultan’s palace with the richness of the fabrics at the large widely spaced windows and the thick carpets underfoot. A huge bed was placed on a dais and surrounded by filmy gauze like curtains to give the appearance of privacy. The bathroom was almost as large as the room with an old fashioned claw foot bath in the middle and other modern amenities decorating the room.

  Debbie went to get a bottle of wine from a cabinet recessed in the wall and grabbing two glasses she came and joined her friend on the silk sofa. “This is Costa Fruity so no alcohol.”

  “How do you manage all that you do and still have so much energy?” Noelle asked as she accepted the wine and settled back against the cushions.

  Debbie laughed at that. “When I just came here to live, I spent the first week hiding in this very sitting room and crying my eyes out. I was dewy eyed with love and passion for the very handsome prince I had married and never thought what it would mean to leave my home and family and come to this foreign place that I knew absolutely nothing about.” She sipped the wine and her dark brown eyes twinkled. “So after the honeymoon I was told the rules and the parts I had to play and I sat there and listened and when I was finished listening I came here and had a good cry. My husband was huddled with my father-in-law and had no idea what was going on, but my mother-in-law found me because she had an idea what I was going through. I blubbered like a damned baby and told her that I could not do this, I was not a freaking princess, and I had no idea what it took to be one. I told her that I want to go back home and if Alexander wanted to come with me then it was entirely up to him, but I was leaving.”

  “What did she say to that?”

  Debbie sipped her wine and smile. “She told me that if I felt so strongly that of course I should leave, but I must realize that Alexander’s place is here and loving me the way he does he would feel honor bound to come after me and I would be breaking his heart. And that he would come to resent me. She told me that it had been the same for her, but she loved her husband and eventually she learned to do what was necessary. And it was something that I could do as well because I am strong. She left me there to think and a few hours later my husband came into the room and sat at my feet, his eyes intent on my face. I knew then that his mother had said something to him and he was silently asking me what my decision was. I knew that had I could tell him that I wanted to go back to the States and he would come with me, but I could not do that to him. So I decided then and there to be there for him. He ended up compromising for me. Whenever I get homesick, we fly home and go to the opera, attend parties, and just spend some time in my hometown and visit my family and then come back here. But when I started having kids, everything changed and I realized that this place was my home. I hired Sabrina, who is a genius and who plans my days for me. I go where she points me and to tell you the truth, the only thing I have to do is show up. I have people who pick out the clothes I am supposed to wear and what basically do what needs to be done. A team is at my disposal to make sure that happens, Noelle, and that is the secret to the mystery.” She reached out and touched the girl’s hands. “Now that you are here, I am going to utilize you and we are going to be doing things together. There are so many things to be done!” She waved a slender hand to demonstrate her point. “Costa Land is basically a modern country, but because it is small in comparison to other places, there is still a lot to be done. My in-laws were reluctant to bring changes about because they feared that it would change the place, but Alexander and I have persuaded them that not all changes are bad and we are making the changes happen. You and Jerrold being here will only help to make those changes happen.”

  “I am happy I am here as well and I want to thank you and Alexander for the chance of being here.”

  “Nonsense!” Debbie said with a wide smile on her lovely face. “You are family.”

  *****

  Meeting the three dynamic women she had seen so often in the news and on the internet was a little daunting at first, but she was made to feel at ease the minute they stepped in the throne room and the sounds of their whoops of delight erupted in the cast and stately room as they embraced not only Debbie but Noelle as well. She knew that Leesa and Kelly had been former international models and the women’s striking lithe and graceful beauty was outstanding. Monique Romano was a gentle beauty who had managed to meet and fall in love with the strikingly dark handsome Italian Lorenzo Romano, the sole heir to the powerful clothing company, and have that love returned by a man who had before now being a well-publicized playboy. The three women looked like they had just come from the pages of a fashion magazine even though all three were dressed in faded denims and cashmere sweaters.

  “Where is the prince and the groom-to-be?” Leesa demanded as soon as they came up for air.

  “Off on errands.” Debbie stared at the three women. “How long has it been since all three of us have been in a room together?”

  “Too long,” Kelly said dryly as she linked her hand through Noelle’s arm. It was late Friday afternoon and they had the wedding plans to take care of in the space of less than a week but they had come prepared.

  “And we know that you probably have in the pocket of your pants a list of things and activities geared towards us being here, Princess, but you are going to tear up that list and we are going to make a fresh one,” Leesa told her with a determined smile.

  “The wedding dresses are on their way by special delivery and will be here tomorrow as well as the other outfits ordered by your man, darling,” Monique said in her quiet cultured voice.

  “Now the only thing we need to do at this point is go somewhere in this vast palace right after we say hello to those adorable children of yours and open a bottle or two of your excellent wines and gossip!” Kelly said with relish.

  *****

  Both Jerrold and Alexander came home to the sound of peals of feminine laughter that seemed to fill every corner of palace and made the prudent decision to avoid the room after they made it their duty to greet them.

  “We will leave you girls alone,” Alexander said as he kissed the top of his wife’s head. They were all sprawled on the ground in her private sitting room, even his crowned princess, and he wondered with a rueful smile what her subjects would think if they happened to see her.

  “That’s wise, Prince,” Leesa told him with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Go away, boys, and leave us alone.”

  Alexander led the way to one of the game rooms and poured Jerrold a glass of well-known scotch before pouring himself one.

  “Chess?” Prince Alexander asked as his eyes scanned the shelves stocked with every game imaginable.

  “Why not?” Jerrold sat at one of the tables with his drink in hand.

  Alexander brought the game over and spread it onto the table before sitting down. “Be prepared for them to talk until the early hours of the morning. When Debbie just got here, I was guilty that I had taken her away from all that she holds familiar so I devised the plan to bring over the women she had gotten close to. I think it was one of my biggest mistakes,” he added wryly as he made his move, his dark eyes scanning the pieces with that of an expert which he was. “I invited Leesa and Kelly and Monique and I think Carrie as well an
d after my beautiful wife sufficiently thanked me in our bedroom that was the last night I had her alone for the entire time they were here. I was booted out of my suite and told to go and find some ‘princely’ things to occupy my time because they had a lot of catching up to do.”

  “Let me guess,” Jerrold said with a grin. “Those were Leesa’s words?”

  “Kelly’s,” Alexander said wryly as he maneuvered and cleverly captured Jerrold’s queen. “They spent a week and I was chafing with impatience and starving for attention while they were here. Leesa told me that their husbands were starving for attention as well so why should I be any different.”

  “I don’t mind in the least. I love that Noelle finally has female friends.”

  Alexander looked at him and raised his thick dark brows. “Just you wait, my friend.”

  *****

  It took three days for Alexander’s words to come to pass. The women were involved in a whirl of activities during the days and after dinner they would go and be with the children and then go off by themselves to exchange topics of conversations, their laughter sounding all around the palace. Jerrold would go to bed without Noelle and would only feel her creeping in next to him in the early hours of the morning. He was not willing to complain, but he had not made love to her in three days and he was feeling the brunt of it! His temper was short and he was irritable and took it out on Alexander when they were on the road.

  “Why don’t you save the righteous indignation and frustration to be directed to the women involved?” Alexander asked him mildly as they alighted the vehicle as the driver opened the door for them, making the usual bow as the prince got out. “I am suffering the same way you are, man, but I am channeling that frustration into work and I am looking forward to the time when I get my wife to myself and spend the time making up for the ones I have lost. I suggest you do the same.”