Sunlight poured in through the shades, and I blinked lazily as I rolled over. I was surprised to see that I was waking up alone, though I smiled as I remembered that Antonio had spent the night in our beachside home, where I had opted for a hotel. Though we had spent many passionate nights together in the previous months, Antonio was fiercely traditional in some ways, and had insisted on spending the night before our wedding apart.

Of course, I tried to tell him that it was all meaningless superstition, but he wouldn’t hear any of it. He had been raised to believe such things were bad luck, and he wasn’t going to risk it. After all, he’d told me that I was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him, and he didn’t want to do anything that could jinx our marriage down the road.

We’d been back in San Peluzzi for six months by the time the day of the ceremony arrived, having returned from our travels three months before our baby’s due date. Since I’d been expecting when we’d got engaged, we had decided that it would be a good idea to take a pre-wedding honeymoon and enjoy as much time as we could, just the two of us, before the baby arrived. We’d both known that once that happened, we were going to be full-time parents, though nothing could have prepared us for the rush of love and bonding that came when our daughter was born.

While we already considered ourselves a family in every way, I couldn’t deny that I was looking forward to make things official. Even though my fiancé had talked me through the basics, I had no idea what to expect as a princess—and later as a queen. I knew I was going to primarily be responsible for supporting Antonio in his royal duties, offering my own advice when and where I felt it was needed, but besides that, I didn’t know much at all about the days that were ahead of me.

Antonio assured me all those things could be worried about later, and he wanted to get to know me in every way possible before the wedding—and the baby. His parents, having decided that he was now fit to take on the throne, agreed to us leaving and spending a few months traveling around Europe, him experiencing things without having the responsibilities of the kingdom on his shoulders.

Needless to say, I was more than eager to begin the journey—and my new life with Antonio. A year before, I had quit my job back in the States with nothing more than a phone call and a few transfers of the weddings that I was supposed to be planning, then I had called my parents to let them know the news of the wedding and of my pregnancy. They had been shocked, but at the same time my mother had known that there had been something going on between me and this Italian prince, so when I had told her that I was going back to Europe on short notice, she had been less than surprised.

We’d packed for the trip and left almost immediately, neither one of us feeling inclined to stick around and deal with the rumors Antonio was sure to face after his second wedding ended in scandal.

It had been the most magical time of my life, and I had enjoyed every second of it. Although Antonio had proclaimed his love for me on the couch that glorious afternoon, it wasn’t exactly the kind of proposal that was going to satisfy me, nor was it the proposal that did him justice. Antonio had been used to simply asking women if they would marry him and throwing some sort of ring on their finger, but that wasn’t the way I wanted to do things, and it certainly wasn’t the way he was going to do things with me.

He’d made his formal proposal in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, getting down on one knee in front of the crowd that had gathered to see the structure lit up at night, and though we were already planning to get married, I couldn’t help but tear up at the gesture. He simply pulled the ring out of his pocket and looked up at me, asking me to be by his side for the rest of his life.

For one of the only moments in my life, I had been rendered completely speechless. With a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, I’d nodded as I leaned forward and put my arms around his neck, a few of the nearby tourists cheering and taking photos of us.

We’d gone back to our hotel room and made passionate love to each other, and though back then my pregnancy had been starting to show by that point, I hadn’t hesitated in taking my clothes off for him. It didn’t matter how much weight I gained or was going to gain, Antonio made it clear that he had eyes only for me.

The rest of the trip had been just as romantic and mystifying, as each day I had to remind myself that I was engaged to a prince, and going to one day be a queen. It felt so surreal, like it was something out of a story book I’d read when I was a child. But, every day I rolled over first thing in the morning and saw Antonio sleeping next to me, and I reminded myself that this wasn’t at all a dream—it was my life.

Now that our wedding day had arrived, I was feeling nervous, anxious even. Our baby daughter was at her grandparents’ house—the palace, and Antonio was at our house, his once-bachelor pad. It was strange being the only one in the hotel room, and the quiet weighed down on me, though I could feel a sense of calm washing over me as I slid out of bed and walked across the room to the window. I had often dreamed of the day I was going to get married, but it hadn’t ever been anything like this.

There were butterflies in my stomach, and I couldn’t wait to get over to our place to get ready. I did find it ironic that he didn’t want to spend the night with me but would allow me to get ready for our ceremony at his house, though like many other things, I had learned not to question some of Antonio’s quirks. I pulled on my silk robe and rang for breakfast to be brought to my room, then I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror.

Though it had only been three months since our daughter was born, the baby weight was coming off faster than I had ever thought possible, and I could already see my old curves and figure returning. Part of me was relieved that I had lost enough weight to fit into the dress I had chosen to wear, but another part of me was happy that I had reached a point in my life that I didn’t care about such frivolous things any longer. I was going to be a queen, and I could allow myself to carry a bit of extra weight from the pregnancy of the new princess of the nation.

I heard my phone chime in the other room and hurried through brushing my teeth and combing my hair. Before I even reached my phone I knew it was going to be Antonio texting me and wishing me a good morning, and in the back of my mind I was glad this was going to be the last time he’d have to text me such a thing.

There were no doubts left in my mind. I was ready for the next chapter in my life, and I was more than eager to get it started. I knew I was going to make a good wife, and Antonio was the man for me. There were little worries still circulating in my stomach about becoming queen, but at the same time, I knew as long as I had Antonio there to help me, then I was going to make it through just fine.

It didn’t matter that he was royalty and I was just some girl from New York. We had fallen in love, and I was going to do everything in my power to make him the happiest man on the planet.

No matter what.

* * *

“Hurry up, or you’re going to be late!”

“I can’t be late to my own wedding!” I rolled my eyes and grinned as I finished putting the final touches to my makeup. I slipped outside, eager to get into the limo for the short ride down to the beach. Antonio was already out in the car, and when I arrived, he gave me the most charming smile.

“You look like a queen,” he said with a wink, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

We arrived on the beach—the very same beach we had met on all those months ago—and I sighed happily as I saw that it was flooded with guests. I had done much of the planning myself, and I had been more than happy to do so. I could see that everything was as I wanted it to be.

Antonio got out of the car first and headed to the front of the gathering, waiting for me. I took a few deep breaths when I was alone, getting ready to make my own appearance. I could see all the people were waiting, and I silently prayed that I was going to make it through the ceremony without doing anything embarrassing. With a sudden surge, I pushed through the door and walked into the sunlight.

The guests all gasped as I walked up the aisle, but at that moment, the only person I could see was the love of my life. I was going to be married to this man. I was going to rule by his side, even if that meant I did only support for the decisions that he made. I was going to be there for him; I was going to rise to the occasion.

We would exchange our vows, and we would tell the world that we were now one. Nothing was going to separate us, and nothing was going to come between us. All that mattered in life now was me, Antonio, and our baby. I never thought I’d be this happy. I never thought that there might be a person out there who was meant for me.

I had to hold back tears as I spotted my daughter being held by her grandmother, the two of them surrounded by the excited faces of our friends and family. Looking ahead, everything else seemed to fade into the background as I took in the man standing at the front of the group with his eyes on me—the only queen in his world.

I reached the top of the aisle and turned to face him, thrilled that I was going to become this man’s wife. In that moment, I knew that nothing else mattered. It was going to be him and me now.

King and queen forever.