I bit my nails, sitting with Reid in our usual room at the fertility clinic. My stomach churned with nausea born of worried anticipation. My heart felt like it was beating a little too fast, my breaths coming shallowly.

It had been a long, glorious month since that argument I’d had with Lesandra over the breakfast table. While she hadn’t let up with her insults, and her mood had continued to grow darker, her words more vicious, I cared less and less about what she actually said. Nothing mattered to me except the life I was living with Reid.

Every weekday, he went to work and Haley went to school. We always had dinner together, and the two of them ended up staying overnight more often than not.

On the weekends, staying over was an absolute guarantee. We filled our days with fun activities around the palaces and in the city. And, at night, Haley either spent the night with her friends or in her own private room in my wing of the palace, where she was sure to be safe.

Reid would sneak out of his room, come to mine, and head back early in the morning so his daughter didn’t suspect we were a couple. I didn’t like tiptoeing around that little girl, but I understood why he did it. I had learned much about Alexander and what a wonderful man he was. There was no way I was going to risk having Haley think I was trying to take her daddy’s place.

All that might be coming to an end soon. For the past couple days, Reid had been complaining of feeling a little under the weather. We didn’t get our hopes up, trying to convince ourselves he had a cold. When no real cold symptoms appeared, we made the decision and came here together. No appointment.

Dr. Jensen — or Dr. Hung, as I liked to call him — took us in right away. After listening to Reid explain how he had been feeling, Dr. Jensen appeared to grow very excited. He didn’t say much except that he thought we should get a blood test, but it was clear that he had high hopes for us.

I had high hopes for us, too.

“You’re going to end up eating your own fingers on accident,” Reid said.

I looked over at him, one of my nails still snared between my teeth. I dropped my hand back down into my lap, clasping both of them together. “I can’t help it,” I admitted. “I really wish we could just know the answer already.”

“It’s going to take as long as it takes,” Reid replied patiently.

“How are you so calm?” I demanded.

Reid laughed. “I’m not calm. I’m so nervous I can barely think. But I don’t want to get my hopes up.

“I mean, I’m pretty sure this is how I felt right before I found out I was pregnant with Haley. But that doesn’t mean I’d feel exactly the same for a second pregnancy. I don’t want to…”

Before he could finish speaking, the door to the room opened and Dr. Jensen came inside. His hands were clasped together behind his back, although the telltale rustling told me he held a piece of paper with the results of the test on it.

My hand shot out and I grabbed at Reid. He clutched at me with all of his strength, his grip revealing his true feelings. His palms were clammy. So were mine.

Dr. Jensen looked at us, his face impassive. Then, a wide smile broke out across his lips and he exclaimed, “Congratulations!”

For a moment, I didn’t feel anything. Then, the shock wore off and I leapt to my feet with my arms tossed into the air. “Yes! Yes! Fuck yes!”

I felt like I had won something I’d been working for my whole entire life, and I wasn’t even referring to the throne. In fact, I couldn’t have cared less about that.

Reid was going to have my baby. That meant so, so much more than the dumb competition I had going on with Lesandra. This was my future, my hope, my dream coming to reality.

Spinning to face Reid, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and dragged him up to me, to kiss him over and over. I tasted the salt of his tears and kissed him so much harder, trying to share with him everything I was feeling. His heart pounded against mine, seeming to almost be bursting through his chest. I wove my fingers through his hair, caressing him, still kissing him.

Behind us, Dr. Jensen let out a soft cough. “Well, it seems my work here is done. I’ll leave you two to it. You can stay in here for as long as you like. You won’t need to schedule another appointment with us. Your next step should be to consult with your regular doctor, so you can be recommended to a an OB/GYN and any other specialists he thinks you might need.”

Reid nodded, looking over my shoulder at the doctor. “Thank you.”

“Thanks,” I echoed, even though I hadn’t really been paying attention to what he’d said. I couldn’t focus on anything but Reid right now.

The door opened and shut again. I swept Reid deeper against me and planted kisses all over his face. “I can’t believe it!” I crowed. “A baby! Our baby! Reid! Can you believe it?”

Reid let out a watery laugh, tucking his face down against my shoulder. He wiped his tears on me. “Not yet. But when I start blowing up like a whale and throwing up everywhere, I’m sure I’ll be able to believe it.”

“I can’t wait!” I exclaimed, and pulled Reid up into my arms to carry him out of the room, to the waiting room, and outside. The sun was warm on my shoulders, but nothing was warmer than my heart in that moment. Nothing else would ever compare to this.

For once, the paparazzi weren’t waiting for us. I kept kissing Reid as I opened the door to my car and bent to put him inside. I leaned over him, letting my lips love his until I had to pull away to catch my breath. “Let’s go home. I’m putting you on permanent bedrest until you have the baby.”

As I shut the car door, I heard Reid mutter, “I wish.”

Smiling to myself, feeling like I was floating, I went around to the other side of the car and climbed inside. On the drive home, it was difficult for me to focus on the road. My thoughts wandered far ahead of me, into the future.

Reid would need to visit a pregnancy doctor, as Dr. Jensen had said. We’d be able to watch the baby grow and develop, listen to its heartbeat, discover its gender. After many long months, Reid would give birth, and we would finally be able to meet our child. He or she would be the culmination of our love, the combination of our beings. Our souls had come together to make this happen.

Tears rose up into my eyes. Once upon a time, I’d heard it said that people don’t cry because they’re happy or sad. They cry when their emotions have overwhelmed them, reaching a point where they’re too strong to be held back.

That was what was happening to me, I felt. I was so excited, so eager, so glad for this moment, that I couldn’t stop one of my tears from escaping and rolling down my cheek.

Reid touched my cheek, swiping my tear away. The gentleness of his touch made several more fall, and he caught those, too. “The manliest tears ever,” he whispered.

I laughed and sniffled. “Just wait until you give birth. I’m going to be bawling like a baby.”

“There’s a long way to go until I give birth.”

“I know,” I said. We stopped at a light. I twisted in my seat and held Reid’s hand in my own. I felt the stickiness of my tears on his skin, and it reminded me of a blood-brother bond that some teen boys make.

“Reid, I don’t know what I did to deserve this chance with you. I’m not deserving of it. I promise you that I will try and try to be worthy. I will always be here for the baby. And for you.”

Reid closed his eyes. He squeezed my hand. He didn’t say anything, but that was okay. There were things that words couldn’t express. I knew that, because I was feeling the same way. I could talk about my promise for a hundred years and never quite convey everything I wanted.

Rather than fill a precious silence with words, I decided to dedicate those hundred years — or however many I had — to proving my feelings through actions.