Althena

52. Husband

I wake up and cuddle with Mike. "I love you."

"I love you, babygirl. How are you feeling?"

"I have 2."

"Yep."

"Is that ok?"

"Of course. We knew this was coming."

"Are you ok?"

"Yes. Everything is fine, babygirl."

"But where will he live?"

"Wherever he lives now."

"But I live with you... Everywhere."

He chuckles. "Yes, you do. Give it some time. It'll sort itself out. Don't stress about everything all at once. Take your time getting close to him. Everything will be fine. Tomorrow, we'll go see those people I found. Maybe they can help a little."

I nod and snuggle him.

We wake up to Chris banging on the door. Then he rushes us to the helicopter. We're at the palace before I'm fully awake.

We walk in the front door and Drogon, his dad, and Jax are standing there. They already have nice suits on. I'm in shorts and a tank top. My hair is all over the place. I didn't remember my shoes. I yawn.

Chris pushes me. "Keep going."

I sit on the floor.

"Someone else."

Conner picks me up and puts me between Drogon and Jax. "You're going to get stepped on."

Mike comes in with his tie over his shoulder. He's buttoning his shirt. "I need a mirror."

"This way, sir."

"Thank you. Send for her servants."

"Yes, sir."

Clayton shows up and laughs at me. "Nice hair."

I lean on one of the boy's legs.

Eleanor fixes her bracelet. "You should probably wake her up."

Jax answers, "She has 2 damn mates. Where are they? I'll find them."

One of the girls squats in front of me. "Are you ready to get dressed and do your hair?"

I stretch and shake my head.

She stands up. "Carry her."

Drogon picks me up. I wrap around him and close my eyes. He's warm.

Then he puts me in a cold chair. I hold onto him. "Cold."

"You need to wake up and get ready for dinner."

One of the girls says, "I put a blanket on the chair. It's warm now."

He puts me back and it's a heated blanket. I throw it over my legs and wrap it around me.

"We got it from here. Thank you, sir." She pushes him out and shuts the door.

They start right away. They don't get me options for anything. It's ok. I don't think I can make decisions anyway. I am not awake.

"So, that boy was cute." One of the girls smiles.

"I like him. He's warm."

"I think he likes you too."

"Did you see the footage of the concert they went to?"

"No. I didn't even know they were dating." She giggles. "I'm behind on the times."

"A man got through the ropes and ran for her. He nearly carried her out of there."

"I was going to get back in the car. Then I forgot how to walk."

"It happens. I think he would have thrown you over his shoulder if he had to. Red or black dress?"

"Black. I like lace." It's a tight dress that goes to my thighs. Then it has a layer of lace that sticks out the bottom.

"Me too." They finish my hair and makeup. Then get the dress on. By the time I put my shoes on, I'm awake. They throw some jewelry on me that I've never seen and off we go.

"You're in the dining room today. It's the royals from all cities and their immediate groups and dates. Around 40 people total."

"That's not bad."

"Yea, a lot less than yesterday." She opens the door for me.

I step in and nothing breaks today. Clayton and Chris crack up laughing anyway. I look at them, and they're staring at Drogon. He's shaking his head at them from across the room. I remember I'm supposed to pick someone to walk to. So, I walk to him. "What are they laughing at?"

He turns his head to me so quickly. "Nothing. I'm just standing here."

"Fine. I'll ask them." I turn and take a step.

He grabs my arm and smiles. "Let's dance."

We start to dance and Eleanor loses it.

"I will find out, sir. I don't have toilet paper stuck on my shoe or something, do I?"

He pulls me closer. "No. I think they were making sure I wasn't by the champagne when you walked in."

I laugh and put my arms around his neck. "Is that when you knocked the table over?"

"Yea. That dress you had on, about killed me."

"This one isn't so bad. I think you'll be fine around tables."

"I don't know." He spins me. "You are sexy in anything. Even in those grunge clothes or the damn shorts you had on earlier." He shivers.

He's so close and warm. I glance at his lips. He smiles, then he spins me again.

Mike has his arms crossed right beside us. "Hi, love. Didn't see you there."

"I noticed. Let's sit down. Dinner's about to start."

Drogon hands me over, and I sit between Mike and Conner.

There are 2 long rectangle tables. My group is Clayton, Eleanor, Chris, Conner, Jax, Jax's date, Mike, Me, Drogon, another couple by Clayton, then the Gold royalty and their dates. Darmon's not here. Neither is his fiance. The only people I know at that end of the table are Anita and the king. There are 6 other people down there.

The other table is Mary, my dad, all their people. Storm is there. The other end of the table is for the Stone royalty. King and Queen Stone. 3 princes, their dates, 1 princess, I did not know about. She is a few years younger than me though. No date for her. Then 2 other couples. Their table is full.

The kings each make a speech. I don't know what they talk about. I stare out the window and think about blowing those out too. Then everyone claps, so I clap.

Mike glances at me and chuckles. "Good job, babygirl."

"Thank you. I tried."

Chris leans across the table and puts his hand over his mouth. "He keeps staring at you."

"Who?" I know better than to turn around.

"Cyrus. He is eyeing you. I think he sat there so he could watch you."

"Doesn't he have a date?"

"She doesn't seem phased in the slightest. I don't know if she knows where she is."

I catch my laugh and hold it. "They're probably engaged. Darmon's didn't know what was going on either."

"Very true. I expect jewelry with this one."

"You can have the last one's jewelry."

"Sweet. Where is it?"

"I think we left it in Crystal Falls."

"We'll get it later."

Conner rubs my back. "Can you two sit right now?"

"Sorry." I lay my head on his shoulder.

"No reason to be sorry, baby." He kisses my head as they put the salads down.

After dinner, I sneak out to the garden. I haven't seen it yet.

Walking around is beautiful. I don't know what the bushes that are cut into mazes are called, but there are a lot of them. Statues pop up sporadically. There's a gazebo with fairy lights and roses around it. I'm shocked to find there's no pool here. I thought all rich people had pools.

I find my way back in and sit by Mary. I'm kind of tired, and she'll tell me I can leave soon.

Queen Stone comes over. "She is a beauty."

"Yes, she is." Mary bounces my curls.

Then Cyrus's brothers come over. "He thought you were outside."

The Stone queen looks at them. "Please do not help your brother. He's being stupid enough on his own."

The boys laugh and walk away.

Conner takes my hand and leads me back outside. "You ok?"

"Kind of tired."

"I meant with me."

I put my arm around him. "Yes. It's shocking. I don't know what to do with 2 of you. But I know I love you."

He stops us and kisses me. "I love you too. We can figure things out slowly. There's no rush. We've been friends for so long. It's a shift for us."

"Did you like me when I was younger?"

"Yes. I wanted you the second I saw you. And every second after. But you were alone and living by yourself. I had to hide all that and make sure you were ok. That's what was important. Not the crush I thought I was having."

"And Mike?"

He sighs and hugs me. "I was sad and happy. Happy you had your mate. Sad that it wasn't me. I didn't think I would ever be paired with someone like you anyway. But I liked knowing you were happy."

"Orphan with nothing?"

"A beautiful woman. So very strong. Loving. Fun. Brave. Honest. Pure. Then you came here and turned into a princess. You've always been too good for me." He brushes my hair back and kisses me again.

"You were the one that was too good. I always felt like I was using you. You did everything. I couldn't do anything on my own."

"It was you, baby. You did it all, and I was along for the ride. I tried to help where I could."

I shake my head. "You did everything."

He smiles and kisses me. "We figured it out together. Like we always will."

"Are you cheating on your boyfriend?" Cyrus is standing there scratching his head.

"No. This is my boyfriend. Mike's my husband."

His eyebrow shoots up and Conner loses it.

Chris walks over to us. "What happened?"

Conner rubs his face. "Mike's her husband. I'm her boyfriend."

He laughs and runs inside.

I nod. "He's going to start some rumors with that."

"Yea, he is." He kisses my head. "That'll be funny." Then he looks at Cyrus. "So, how is your..."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY WIFE?" Mike comes running out the door.

Conner can't finish his sentence. "I'M STEALING HER."

"Like hell you are." Mike laughs and picks me up.

I wrap around him and Conner rubs my back. "I think she's tired."

Drogon comes out with Chris. Chris is still laughing his ass off. "Her dad called you both idiots."

Drogon nods. "She has multiple mates. She's not cheating on anyone. They're hers. I'm only saying it because they will keep this going for all eternity."

Conner laughs. "I'm her boyfriend. This is gonna be fun."

Drogon shakes his head. "You're going to make it seem like she's cheating on Mike."

Mike smiles. "I'll let him be her husband sometimes. I'll sneak around with her too."

Drogon rubs his face. "Neither of them see how this could come back to bite them in the ass."

"You have two mates?" Cyrus seems to be catching up.

"No. I have 4."

"Who are the others?"

"We don't know."

Clayton and Eleanor join us. "Dad ended the dinner. We're free. What's everyone doing?"

"I am going to make cottage cheese salad and cheesy potatoes while this one goes to bed. She's been trying to sleep since we got here." Mike bounces me.

I hug him. "I'm going to help."

"Ok."

"Sweet. Breakfast at your place." Clayton walks Eleanor inside.

Chris stares at me. "Drogon needs an apartment temporarily. His dad is even driving me crazy now. Trying to get your damn schedule. f**k. I don't know."

"Yea, he won't stop. He's insane."

Chris nods. "Yea, he wants you on the throne. I get it. But shoving you down her throat isn't going to make you soulmates. Either you are or you aren't. There's no use annoying the hell out of everyone."

Mike kisses my head. "Yea, we'll give you a penthouse. It'll save us from having to see your father every morning at 7."

Drogon rubs his eyes. "I made him wait until 7."

"I want one."

Everyone looks at Cyrus.

"I want to see how stuff here works. Everything is different from my city."

Mike nods. "That'll be fine. Will your girlfriend be there with you?"

"No. My mother sets up dates for us. We have no contact with them other than events. We don't date like you are thinking."

I flip around. "The whole city?"

"I think so. But definitely me and my brothers. It's not tolerated. There's no point in dating when you already have a mate somewhere. They also say dating causes drama. Being here, I see that."

I hug Mike. "Yea, I'm a good example."

Mike chuckles and pats my butt. "Let's get out of here."