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jo-harrington · 1 year

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Freaky Friday - A Stranger Things Story (Part 1)

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

Word Count: 3.5k

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader, Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader, Eddie and Steve (Enemies to Friends)

Summary: Eddie thinks that Steve has everything in life handed to him on a silver platter (including his new girlfriend who Eddie has a crush on). And Steve just can't believe that the kids look up to Eddie the Freak, or that he lives his life without giving a single fuck.

Must be nice. But you know what they say, the grass is always greener.

Warnings/Themes: AU with no Upside Down. Body swapping, dark magic/alchemy, unrequited love--some crushes at least, Babysitter Steve, No Upside Down means slightly still King Steve, unresolved feelings, manipulation/deception, Reader gets a nickname (Honey), no Y/N if I can help it, no smut in Part 1 but liable to be in other chapters

Note: After a very hot and fast suggestion by @shiftingtherain, this mini-series was born. And instead of working on Store Manager Verse like I wanted to, here we are. This part is a little shorter...it's the intro, sue me. Next few parts will be a tad longer.

Credit for the header partially goes to me for the design and the logistics but I was tired, so I may have borrowed gifs from @emziess and Netflix itself as a jumping off point (with permission from Emzies and Netflix is a corporation so they can rot). I can only do so much guys, I also had to write this thing too.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

If Eddie never saw Steve Harrington again in his life, it would still be too soon.

He didn't always indulge in rentals from Family Video—if it was too cold and wet to have band practice in Gareth's garage, or if he was having an especially bad week at school, or if he needed something a little more realistic than the illustrations of Heavy Metal magazine to help him satisfy his needs—but today just had that special feel to it.

He'd gotten a B on his math test, Rick had been feeling a little under the weather and let Eddie make the rounds to his usuals for a sweet little cut, and he had found a dusty old book about alchemy and occultism at the library that was going to help him put the finishing touches on tomorrow night's Hellfire session.

For all of that, Eddie thought a little reward was in order.

A little Dark Crystal, a little pizza from Lou's, a little weed...he'd be having the best Thursday night.

Except...

For the past twenty minutes, he'd pretended to hem and haw over the selection of movies just so he could glare across the store at the counter, where Steve stood, flirting and making grandiose promises, with you.

He burned with jealousy, and God, it took almost everything in him not to gag as Steve reached across the counter to slyly hold your hand. And everything else for his heart not to break as you just let it happen.

Eddie didn't know how or when or why this started—when Harrington had gotten his claws into you and how he had managed to charm his way into your heart—when it should have been Eddie instead.

Eddie'd had a crush on you for years but had always been too nervous to do anything about it.

You were a year younger than him, and friends with his pal Mickey's younger sister, so he'd seen you around quite a bit. Smart and funny and pretty; maybe not as unpopular as Eddie was, but certainly not in the running for homecoming court or whatever other social hierarchies were in place at Hawkins High either. He figured...you know, maybe once he got to senior year he'd get the courage. Maybe take you to prom or something; who wouldn't want to go out with a senior?

But he'd gotten the notice from Higgins that he wouldn't be graduating with the rest of the Class of '84 and it really put a damper on his plans.

He had been hopeful again the following year, actually had a few classes with you and sat with you for partner work when no one else wanted to work with him, when they laughed at him. You weren't even afraid to go up to him in the cafeteria to ask a question, or walk with him in the hall if you had to go in the same direction for your next class. You'd talk about assignments mostly, but he savored every little fact he could learn about you. What books you'd been reading, the fact that you watched Svengoolie on Saturday nights—just like he did—or that you'd had some squabble with Mickey's sister over a scrunchie of all things and were no longer speaking.

But Eddie knew how bad his grades were—somehow even worse than the year before—and aside from the work you did with him, he knew it wasn't gonna be enough for him to graduate. So he wasn't gonna put himself in the position for you to laugh in his face—not that you would but...just in case you did—by asking you out.

He thought you would disappear from his life after you graduated. Get the hell out of Hawkins the way everyone else wanted to. But no. You took a few classes at the community college and worked the dinner shift at Benny's a few nights a week. You'd been there every Tuesday night, when he and the guys grabbed food after their gig at the Hideout. The usual booth reserved, drinks already poured by the time they sat down, and their usual orders already written in your little order pad.

You usually gave him extra whipped cream on his slice of cherry pie too.

The guys always urged him to ask for your number...but he never did. How could he? Even if you were stuck in this town the same way he was...he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

And now...here you were, listening to Harrington talk about some great surprise he had planned for your third date the next day.

Eddie wondered why you hadn't screamed in outrage when Steve mentioned how much Nancy Wheeler had liked it when he took her to this mystery place. He would have definitely expected you to at least flinch at the mention of his ex-girlfriend's name.

"It sounds really great," you said instead, smiling and nodding. "I get out of class at 3 on Fridays...should I be here around 4?"

"4 is perfect, honey," Steve grinned.

Eddie couldn't stand to hear whatever sickeningly sweet goodbye you both would come up with so he just grabbed whatever tape was in front of him and approached the counter. You and Steve both flinched when Eddie slammed his selections down on the counter to be checked out.

“Uh…I’ll see you tomorrow then. Bye Steve,” you muttered, eyeing Eddie with a half-smile that felt a bit sad. “Bye Eddie.”

"Bye honey."

“Bye honey,” Eddie mocked once you were out the door, then turned back to Steve. “You gonna try and make goo goo eyes at me next Harrington? I don’t have all day.”

“Jesus Munson. What’s up your ass?” Steve scoffed, grabbing the tapes.

“I’m just trying to get my videos and go.” Eddie rapped his knuckles on the counter. “Not really interested in the kind of customer service you're trying to provide."

Steve wondered what the likelihood of getting fired would be, if he just punched that smug look right off of Munson's face.

Keith hated the guy too, he always left the Adult section looking like a mess. Maybe Steve would get a promotion instead.

For years Eddie roamed around Hawkins being a general menace with his gaggle of friends. Causing trouble, shouting at people, making faces at old ladies. He’d gotten “taken in” to the police station one too many times but always seemed to make it out without actually being arrested. Which baffled Steve; Eddie was a drug dealer for crying out loud.

And yeah, Steve had even asked him to come and deal at a party or two but…people like that were bad. Simple as that.

Even after all of that, after you got past the “bad boy” persona….he was a fucking nerd. He wasn’t even cool like the bad boys in movies were. Steve felt like someone was tricking him the first time he had walked past the Hellfire Club’s table in the cafeteria. For all the leather and chains and band tees—all the talk of satanic rituals and blood sacrifices—there was sure a lot of talk about elves and…and bards and Star Wars.

So it shouldn’t have been a surprise to Steve that the kids would flock to Eddie by the time they made it to Hawkins High.

But it had been. A huge shock.

His unexpected little gaggle of morons…weren’t really his anymore.

Steve had dropped Dustin off on the first day of school and said “don’t get into any trouble.” Even made Robin promise to keep an eye out for him. He expected the kid to…join the mathletes or something. Get roped in with the science nerds.

But by the end of the week, the kids were all clamoring about how they would need to reschedule movie nights with Steve so they could go to Hellfire club with Eddie.

Steve couldn’t understand it. Eddie was a freak, a punk, some good for nothing…and now the kids were suddenly following him like he was some sort of prophet. Spreading the word of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

See? Steve could do the nerd talk too when he wanted...thanks to Dustin.

Who, much to Steve's annoyance, was apparently Eddie's biggest fan. The guy could do no wrong in Dustin's eyes, and it really irked Steve.

Will and Lucas were spending Saturdays at the library—not for homework, but for research because apparently Eddie really liked incorporating mythology into his campaigns. (Whatever that meant.) Mike was growing his hair out because "Eddie's hair was cool.” What about Steve, whose literal nickname was The Hair? Shit, he'd even seen Eddie give Max a ride to school on a few occasions when he was late dropping Robin off. And he knew Max and her mom had been having a hard time since her step-dad skipped town and Billy...

Steve knew some of the town gossip about Eddie was just a bunch of bullshit...but if Max Mayfield was cool with him?

Yeah, he just couldn't help but be suspicious of the guy.

Regardless, the sooner Steve could get him out of the store, the better his night was gonna get.

...actually...

"That's gonna be $10." Steve announced dryly.

"Woah, $10?!" Eddie scoffed. "I have a membership."

"Since when?" Steve asked, hands immediately landing on his hips.

"I use one every time I'm in here."

"Yeah you use Reefer Rick's."

"So?"

"New policy," Steve lied, hoping it would get Eddie out of his hair for a good while. "No sharing memberships outside of your family. Last I checked, your last name isn't Lipton. So you either cough up the $25 for a new membership Munson, or the $10 for your rental. What's it gonna be?"

Eddie grumbled and dug his wallet out of his pocket, slamming the money on the counter.

"Any candy?" Steve asked mockingly before grabbing the cash.

Eddie grabbed the tape and grumbled under his breath as he exited the store.

Yeah, Steve wasn't gonna be dealing with him any time soon.

For a second though, as he went to start processing returns, he wondered...

If Eddie was in some ritualistic cult...what kind of curse could he possibly put on me?

But that was a dumb thought to have.

Eddie's night just went down hill from the minute he left Family Video.

He didn't notice that they'd given him the wrong pizza at Lou's so now he was stuck with some specialty veggie pie with broccoli on it, the tape he had grabbed indiscriminately had been some artsy foreign romance crap, and just now he'd just spilled Dr. Pepper all over his Hellfire notebook.

"Fuck," he shouted as it spilled over the side of the coffee table and onto his sock-clad feet. He couldn't give a shit about the carpet, he could even ignore his wet socks, but his notebook. Weeks of work, planning and toiling over the most sadistic campaign.

He liked to keep all of the notes of Hellfire's completed campaigns, a sort of...record for future kids to look back on and reference. And now this specific masterpiece would be lost to memory.

He cleaned everything up as best he could before making a quick trip back to his room for an extra notebook or something he could use to salvage his plans for tomorrow's session. He had always been really bad at...keeping spare notebooks on hand. Even the ones he'd used for class always ended up covered in his drawings or notes, little bits and ideas of dialogue he could use for speeches or NPCs.

The best he could find was his math notebook from last year which, surprisingly, sat relatively untouched.

Eddie knew why: that was a class he shared with you. And as he opened to some random mostly-empty page, he saw his little scribbles in the margins surrounding half-faded, penciled-in algebraic equations. Daggers and hearts and his and your initials intertwined together.

It was the one class where he would never encounter partner work with you, so he felt compelled to fill the pages with his daydreams instead of fantasies and lore. You would never see it.

"Well," he huffed as he dropped back down onto the floor and slapped the notebook onto the coffee table. He grabbed his pen and scribbled over the drawings on the page. "Now that she's with Harrington, no use living in this fantasy. Fuck, I was stupid, so stupid to ever think she would want anything to do with me."

He grabbed the dusty old alchemical book from the library and found his place, staring at old sigils and runes and text indiscriminately until he came upon one that looked too perfect for the campaign. Concentric circles, arcane lettering, angular lines...

While Eddie would usually use a clean page for something like this—something he would hand off to his players—he drew a copy of the sigil onto the page and planned to rip the edges off, maybe singe them with his lighter to make it look more authentic.

He kept staring at the still-noticeable doodles beneath the pen scribbles and his heart ached a little in his chest.

Yeah, he would definitely want to burn those too.

By the time he was done copying the sigil, a wave of exhaustion overtook him and he glanced down at his watch.

It wasn't much later than he usually went to bed on a weeknight...

He stared at the half-ruined notes for tomorrow's session that he still needed to rewrite and sighed.

"Fuck it, I'll just redo them in the morning." He got up and stretched his arms over his head. "I can just sleep in tomorrow. Skip class. Show up for Hellfire. Who cares anymore.”

He put the rest of the pizza in the fridge for Wayne and then headed to bed, only to be plagued with dreams of scribbled out love hearts, movie theater candy, guitar solos, and big red gum.

When Eddie woke up the next morning, he felt...honestly felt like he was floating on a cloud. Every muscle in his body felt looser, yet somehow tighter at the same time. His skin felt tighter, like it wasn't right, like it didn't fit somehow, it was suffocating him.

He must have died but he wasn't quite sure if this was heaven or hell.

His eyes burned and blurred slightly as he opened them and what he saw was...unexpected.

Gone were the off-white walls, his posters, the piles of his crap, and that concerning patch of probably-mold in the corner of the ceiling. Instead there was a sturdy ceiling, plaid-papered walls, and matching curtains?

Eddie groaned and rolled over.

What the fuck was this place?

There was a slam of a door somewhere that practically shook the walls surrounding Eddie and as he sat up, he found himself only wearing...briefs? He didn't wear briefs.

This wasn’t his bed, wasn’t his room…wasn’t his… body?

He looked down at his chest, his arms, his hands…his fingers weren’t right, he didn’t have this many freckles and moles, he didn’t have…abs, if that’s what you could call the slight definition on his torso. Still it was more than his body had ever had. His skin…was itchy and mostly hairless.

Eddie reached up and touches his hair—shorter than he was used to, not curly…at all—then his face, as if that was any indicator to what he—

“A mirror!” He exclaimed. His voice…sounded familiar, but different. Fuck what kind of dream was this?

Because it had to be a dream right? It had to be. How else did he wake up in someone else’s body?

He pushed himself out of the bed, walking slightly off-cadence, which…yeah probably came with the territory of your brain needing to get used to a new body. Fuck…was his brain even his brain or did his mind just get transported what was happening?

Ugh it was too early to think about that.

Eddie slowly cracked the bedroom door open and peaked into the rest of the house. He spotted a bathroom just across the way, otherwise…shit, this place actually looked a little familiar. Where the fuck was he? Who the fuck was he?

He quickly crossed the landing into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him. He heaved a breath and leaned back against the door for a moment to calm himself; his hands were shaking and felt cold. Could he even feel his fingers? Nice to know the occasional nervousness that snuck up on him at his lowest moments hadn’t been left behind in his old body, that they’d followed him to this one.

His body…would it still be in his bed? What if he really had died and…had jumped into his new body? Was this reincarnation?

Fuck, if he was dead…Wayne would find him. Could he even…see his uncle again? How could he ever explain who he was?

Eddie felt the tears prick his eyes and his throat tighten and he slapped his face a few times.

“Come on man, come on,” he muttered. “It’s not that bad. It’s only…mildly awful. Fuck, ok. Just go, just look, just…rip it off like a bandaid.”

Eddie took a deep breath and nodded, then crossed the short distance to stand in front of the sink. He stared at his new feet, wiggled his new toes. You never…appreciated the toes you had until you have new ones.

That was awful and you’re an idiot. Just look.

Eddie closed his eyes again and turned his face up towards the mirror. He could do it. He would do it.

He opened his eyes.

“Jesus H. Christ!”

Steve woke up feeling like absolute shit. Everything ached—like he had pulled a muscle or something by sleeping crookedly—he had awful cottonmouth, and he had inhaled…some yarn or something because he woke up coughing and gagging until he got the intrusive strands out of his mouth.

“Gahh, shit, shit,” he said and scratched at his throat. He sounded hoarse. Ugh was he getting sick? He’d have to ask his mom to bring home some soup or something.

Could he call out of work? Shit he had to take Robin to school. She could walk today, he felt awful.

Steve blinked his eyes open and took in the unfamiliar popcorn ceiling with growing concern.

He looked around at the…piles of garbage and the cracks in the plaster walls partially covered by band posters...and felt the rise of panic grow within him. He tried to recall the night before.

He’d wrapped up his shift at Family Video, gone home and had a rare dinner with both of his parents, then…felt extremely tired and went to bed.

So how did he end up here…wherever here was?

This was a kidnapping; it had to be. He was…drugged—explained the cottonmouth—and kidnapped. And now someone was holding him for ransom or something to…blackmail his father? Thomas Harrington was kind of a dick sometimes, sure, but still…he was a pretty decent guy. Who would want to blackmail him?

“H-hello?” Steve called out. “Anyone there? C-can anyone hear me?”

There was some shuffling outside of the door of the room.

Thankfully Steve wasn’t tied up or anything. God, what kind of kidnappers were these? He quickly glanced around the room for a weapon of some sort and he immediately spotted...

A guitar? A few guitars actually. Man these kidnappers really liked music huh?

One was a weird shape--he'd seen some hair metal bands use guitars like that in magazines, but he'd never seen one in person--and was a mottled red color. One was just what you'd expect when someone said "electric guitar." And one was acoustic and looked like it could pack a real wallop.

Bingo.

Steve pushed himself out of the bed and immediately jumped because whatever had been in his mouth was on his shoulders now. He reached up to grab it: hair. Long, wavy, messy...knotty and frizzy. Like it hadn't been brushed for days, maybe weeks?

And his arm, sticking out from whatever t-shirt he'd been put in...was lithe and weak and there were tattoos. On both arms. A creepy claw hand and a bunch of bats.

What was this? How long had they held him hostage for? No wonder they didn't feel the need to tie him up! He'd been knocked out cold.

He needed to get out of here. Now. He needed to get home.

Steve crossed the room to grab the guitar when he noticed it. At first he thought it was another person. But no, it was just a mirror...and in the mirror...his reflection.

Only it wasn't...his reflection.

It had startled him and he had jumped. Then he moved his arms a little and watched the figure in the mirror mimic him. Over and over.

A wave, a turn, a funny face.

He couldn’t believe it. This had to be a joke. A dream. A nightmare.

Because it was him, his reflection. But it was not his—Steve Harrington’s—reflection.

It was Eddie Munson's.

#Eddie munson x reader #Eddie munson fluff #Eddie munson stranger things #Steve Harrington x reader #Steve Harrington stranger things #Eddie and steve #stranger things fic #Eddie munson fic #eddie munson imagine #Steve Harrington imagine

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ao719 · 1 year

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Breaking Point

Breaking Point - I Need Your Hand But I Don’t Want To Burn It (Part 9)

Characters belong to Pixelberry.

Series Song Inspiration: Broken - Jonah Kagen

Chapter Song: I’m Doing Fine - Mike Waters

Summary: A person can only repress so much before they reach their limit.

A/N: *Insert the ‘it’s been 84 years’ gif here.* I’m sorry this part took so long to get out! Hopefully the next part won’t take as long 🫣 This stems from a few conversations about PB’s inability to let Liam acknowledge anything that he’s gone through. I wanted to let him be human. It’s set in the beginning of the two year time jump at the end of TRH3, prior to any knowledge of the Via Imperii. Thank you to @burnsoslow for prereading. Please excuse any errors.

Pairing: Liam x MC (Riley)

Rating: M • Warnings: This series will contain some sensitive topics of discussion.

Catch Up Here

The woman stares at Liam for a moment, watching his gaze drift off. “So, things didn’t settle down for you and Riley after the wedding?”

“I mean …” Liam takes in a breath and slowly lets it out. “As far as scandals and attacks, yes. But after we were married, our personal life took center stage because the entire country was waiting with bated breath to hear news regarding an heir to the throne.”

“Ah,” the woman nods in understanding. “And when did that start?”

“Almost immediately,” Liam replies. “We were on our honeymoon; it was our first night on the private island and we were having dinner. The butler brought out an amuse-bouche for us; it was freshly caught tuna sashimi. As he was telling us what it was, he suddenly panicked and smacked the tasting spoon out of Riley’s hand before she could even take a bite.”

The woman’s brows raise in surprise. “He … he smacked it out of her hand?”

Liam nods. “He began apologizing profusely, saying it was unacceptable and that they almost ‘destroyed Cordonia’s future.’” He meets the woman’s gaze and can see the confusion and the hint of amusement written in her expression, and he smiles with a roll of his eyes. “It was definitely a bit dramatic, but I knew right then what he was thinking.”

“Did Riley?”

“Not at first. The butler apologized again and said he would speak with the chef and hurried off. I asked her if she knew what that was about, and she said no … but then it dawned on her that the man had made a very bold assumption.”

“Well, you had said last session that you two talked about having children, so I would imagine she knew what to expect, right?”

“She didn’t,” Liam shakes his head. “We did talk about having children before the wedding, and she asked me how soon we would be expected to have a baby. I told her that right after we were married people would be waiting, but I didn’t explain as well as I should have. Once that particular incident happened on the honeymoon, we talked about it again. I tried explaining why it was such a big deal to the country … that having an heir was seen as a sign of stability.”

“What did she have to say about that?”

“I think …” Liam trails off for a moment, thinking back. “I think that was the first time Riley really felt the pressure of the crown, knowing that everyone assumed we had taken that trip solely for that purpose alone. And I think it weirded her out — I mean, it did me — knowing that a lot of people were having casual conversations regarding that very personal aspect of our lives.”

“Yeah, I could see why that would make someone feel a little uncomfortable,” the woman says.

“It was definitely … odd,” Liam shakes his head. “But I told her that I didn’t care what everyone else thought. I wanted to know what she thought.”

“And what did she say?”

Liam smiles warmly. “We both admitted we were a little nervous and scared … which I think is normal for anyone making the decision to start trying for a baby, but starting a family for ourselves was something we both wanted.”

“Well, that’s good that you two were on the same page.”

“Yes, but … neither of us expected the media attention that was coming. And I certainly didn’t expect people to be so … domineering when it came to the topic of us conceiving. They had press on boats in the water spying on us during the honeymoon. If they caught Riley taking so much as a sip of anything but water, it would make the front page of every tabloid and newspaper, saying she was putting the future heir at risk.”

“So you two suddenly found yourselves under even more of a microscope …”

“More so Riley.”

The woman studies Liam for a moment, recognizing the look on his face. “And you felt guilty …”

Liam scoffs with a nod. “Yes. I did.” He pauses for a moment. “I feel like … I did her an injustice by not preparing her better.”

The woman furrows her brows. “But you just said that even you didn’t expect the attention.”

“I didn’t … but I feel like I should have seen it coming. The media attention surrounding her leading up to the wedding should have been my first clue. And with everything else happening during that time, the attention went even beyond our borders.”

“What do you mean?”

“Once we returned from our honeymoon, Cordonia was being courted, so to speak, by other kingdoms for an alliance. And that just added to the pressure Riley was already feeling because part of their terms was a betrothal agreement between one of their heirs and the not-yet-conceived heir to the Cordonian throne.”

“A betrothal agreement …” the woman repeats his words, and he can hear the surprise in her tone.

Liam nods. “It wasn’t something either of us wanted; Riley and I had both agreed on that right from the start. We … entertained the idea while weighing our options regarding a potential alliance, however, only to appease them and keep them off our backs for as long as we could. They knew it was something we weren’t fully on board with, but they were under the impression they could still sway our decision on the matter.”

“So, you and Riley have everyone watching you regarding an heir to the throne and the added pressure of appeasing other kingdoms for a potential alliance on top of your regular duties. How did you two handle the stress of it all?”

“I wanted Riley to be as stress-free as possible because the doctor mentioned at her preconception appointment that doing so was an important part of the whole process. Our friends were getting married in the States, so I cleared our schedules and we headed off to Texas for a few weeks.”

“That must have been a nice getaway,” the woman smiles.

“The press followed us …” Liam sighed. “We landed in New York and planned to drive to Texas … making a road trip out of it. They followed us across multiple states. Once we arrived in Texas, it wasn’t as bad, though. We were in the middle of nowhere on a ranch.”

“And do you think you succeeded in keeping Riley as stress-free as you could?”

“For the most part, I think so. But I guess being away from home … having more time to herself to think and get lost in her thoughts … she started to worry more about becoming pregnant. One morning, she felt off and was feeling a little nauseous, so she decided to take a test. She got her hopes up … but it came back negative and she was really disappointed. I think that’s when it started to get to her, but I did everything I could to not let that one test stress her out. I reminded her that we both knew that it was something we had no control over and that it could take some time.”

“So you were trying to keep her hopes up during this time, trying to keep her stress free … but what about you? How were you feeling?”

“I …” Liam trails off, thinking back to that time. “I was nervous. I’m someone who usually has a plan … someone who tries to prepare for situations ahead of time so I can maintain a semblance of control over them. But this … this was something entirely out of my hands and I had no idea what to expect, which left me a little on edge. And if I was feeling that way … I could only imagine how Riley was feeling. I know she was under a lot of pressure. And this was something I had wanted for so long; I had told Riley during the Social Season that having a family of my own was my biggest dream. And I think knowing that, despite her never having said it out loud, was where a lot of that pressure she felt came from …”

“You think that she wasn’t worried so much about disappointing Cordonia as she was about disappointing you?” the woman asks.

Liam nods. “And I felt guilty … feeling as though I put this extra weight on her shoulders that she didn’t need. I just kept telling her — and myself — that it would happen eventually.”

“And it did,” the woman smiles.

Liam meets her gaze with a smile of his own. “It did …”

“What was that like? That moment Riley told you she was pregnant?”

Liam’s gaze grows wistful. “I was … over the moon, but …”

The woman’s brows furrow. “But?”

Liam heaves a sigh. “I wanted a family of my own more than anything. And then Riley was there, standing in front of me and making this dream of mine a reality … giving me the one thing I wanted most in this world, and I was beyond happy. But …” He trails off, shaking his head as his fingers steeple over his lips, staying silent for a moment. “That night she had found out, we were laying in bed; she had fallen asleep, and it finally sank in and I was suddenly faced with this realization that I was going to be a father. I think the weight of that realization was heavier than any crown. And I … I was absolutely terrified …”

The moonlight coming through the window illuminates Riley’s skin in a warm, white glow; she’s laying next to Liam with the sheet draped over her lower half, sound asleep. He, on the other hand, is wide awake. He’s still smiling as his eyes scan the delicate features of her face before they drift down to her exposed bare stomach. A soft breath escapes him as he lifts his large hand and, careful not to wake her, gently rests it against her belly.

Liam’s mind is swirling with thoughts, still reeling in the emotions of Riley’s news that she’s pregnant. He never knew he could feel so much love for a person he hadn’t even met yet, but there isn’t a single part of him that doesn’t already love this child — his child. As he lays there with his hand over her belly, it suddenly hits him like a ton of bricks.

I’m going to be a father.

Another breath escapes Liam as his heart starts to race and an overwhelming sense of fear shoots through his whole body. He is going to be a father; he is going to be responsible for another life. This child is going to be completely dependent on his ability to care for and protect them. It’s going to be his job to raise them to be kind, to do the right thing, to teach and guide them through not only all of life’s everyday obstacles but those that will come with their title as heir to the Cordonian throne.

What if, despite wanting this so badly, he’s not up to the task?

What if he fails them?

As his thoughts continue to jumble, Liam rises from the bed and walks to the window; he leans against the frame, feeling his skin become clammy. He’s terrified. The doubts are enveloping him. He’s afraid of anything that could possibly go wrong both during and after the pregnancy actually going wrong because every single worst-case scenario starts to fill his head.

Sure, he and Riley finally made it to this point, but this entire situation is still very much out of his control. He has no way of knowing what’s going to happen over the next several months, no way of ensuring that everything will be ok.

Then, he thinks of his own childhood. What if that happens? He doesn’t want their child to grow up the way he did, without a mother. And he can’t raise a child on his own without Riley by his side; they’re supposed to do this together.

“Liam?” Riley’s voice softly calls out to him.

Without hesitation, Liam whirls around and rushes to the bed. “What is it? Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” Riley says with a sleepy smile. “Just wondering why you aren’t next to me …”

Liam lets out a breath as he crawls back into bed beside her. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t sleep … and I didn’t want to wake you.”

Riley nestles into his side, resting her head on his chest as his arm wraps around her. “Couldn’t sleep, huh?” she questions through a yawn. “What are you thinking about?”

Turning his head, he kisses the top of hers. “It’s nothing. Get some sleep, love.”

The woman looks at him. “I think what you were feeling is what a lot of first-time parents feel, Liam.”

“Perhaps,” Liam shrugs.

“But you didn’t talk to Riley about it …”

“No,” Liam shakes his head.

“Why?”

“I guess … at the time I just felt like she had enough on her plate. I mean, she was growing a life inside her. She didn’t need to be worried about anything else. Least of all, me. And I’m sure she wasn’t having the exact same fears as I was … I didn’t want to put any thoughts or concerns into her head that may not have been there already.”

The woman nods, scrawling something onto her notepad before looking back up at him. “What was it like once you returned home from the States?”

“My main concern was Riley,” Liam answers. “She had a rough time at the beginning of the pregnancy with terrible morning sickness. She pushed through, though, like she always does. But I knew she was on edge waiting for that first ultrasound appointment. So was I. We both wanted to see the baby and to hear the doctor tell us that everything was ok and progressing as it should. I didn’t realize how daunting that waiting would be.”

“And when you finally got to that appointment?”

“It was … surreal,” Liam smiles. “When we finally saw that little blob on the screen and heard the heartbeat … it’s something I will never forget. And hearing the doctor say that both Riley and the baby were doing good and were healthy … it was a relief.”

Liam falls quiet, and the woman watches his eyes grow distant for a moment. “Liam?” she questions, and he looks at her. “What were you thinking about just now?”

Liam sighs. “I, uh … at that appointment …” He trails off, running his palms along his thighs. “At the appointment, when we met with the doctor prior to going for the ultrasound, Riley brought up her morning sickness, and the doctor said …” He trailed off again, clearing his throat. “She recommended apple tea … and said that my mother swore by it because she had such a terrible time with morning sickness herself, but … that was news to me …”

The woman stares at Liam for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“Riley’s doctor was not the doctor that my mother saw when she was pregnant with me … all of our family’s doctors are listed in the royal medical records and I knew for certain she was not one of them. And my mother used to joke that she knew I was going to be an easy child because she had such an easy pregnancy with me … with no sickness at all. That day, when the doctor left to get the ultrasound room set up, Olivia came into the office — she had basically become Riley’s guard during that time because neither of us trusted anyone else enough to look after her — and when we mentioned that the doctor had more or less just confirmed my mother was a patient of hers, Olivia recalled something from when we were kids …”

“What was that?”

“She had overheard my mother and Drake’s father, who was her guard … they were talking about her being sick, and my mother said that it was hyperemesis gravidarum, which is a condition of extreme nausea … during pregnancy …”

The woman shifts in her chair as she stares at Liam. “So, you’re saying …”

“We found out that day that my mother had been pregnant when she died.”

Raising her brows, the woman continues to stare at Liam for a long silent moment before looking down at her notepad. “And … how did that make you feel?” she asks before scribbling something down.

“It was … shocking. Neither of my parents ever mentioned it to me or Leo … so I wasn’t sure why it was kept a secret. But to hear that I almost had another sibling …” Liam shakes his head. “I wanted to know more … I had so many questions, but there weren't a lot of places for me to look for answers …”

“I bet that had to be a little … tough.”

“It was,” Liam nods. “But I let it go because I needed to focus on Riley and the baby. And that’s what I did.”

“So … you have your wife who is pregnant, you have the press constantly barraging you, you have other kingdoms seeking an alliance, all on top of your regular day-to-day duties … that’s a lot on your plate at once. Tell me about dealing with everything during that time.”

Liam thinks for a moment. “I guess … I was just kind of going through the motions, to be honest. We dealt with the courting kingdoms as best we could, we kept the press and people updated with what we deemed was necessary for them to know, and we still carried out our duties. But most of my attention — my every thought — was on Riley. Watching her embrace her pregnancy … watching her belly grow,” Liam smiles, “those first moments of feeling the baby kick, seeing her at every appointment getting bigger and stronger … I was in awe. But I was … I felt like I was in a constant state of worry, wanting to make sure Riley was ok and comfortable, not wanting her to overexert herself. I didn’t like being away from her … I always made sure someone was with her if I had something to attend to … I didn’t want her to be alone.”

The woman smiles. “Would you say that you became a bit overprotective?”

“No … not that she knew of, anyway,” Liam smiles sheepishly, but then his smile falls as he looks down at his hands in his lap. “I kept it pretty well hidden … until I didn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“Riley was nearing the end of the pregnancy and we headed to Lythikos for a stop on Maxwell’s book tour. Before the event that evening, I had made arrangements to take Riley to this mountain resort for the day, just to get away, just the two of us.” Liam sighs. “We got into the helicopter to take us up the mountain … and I started panicking, wondering if that was the best idea. I was asking them ridiculous questions about how their last safety inspection went, reading pamphlets on their emergency procedures, asking Riley one too many times if she was comfortable … and she caught on fairly quickly that something else was bothering me …”

“And did you tell her?”

Liam meets her gaze and nods. “I did.” He takes in a breath and lets it out slowly. “I had been thinking of my mother a lot more after learning what we did at that first appointment, and as Riley’s pregnancy progressed, the more I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to happen to her … that our child was going to grow up the way I did …”

“Without their mother …”

Chewing the inside of his cheek, Liam nods. “The closer she got to the end of the pregnancy, the more I thought about it. Eventually, it became an everyday thing … worrying about how I would raise a child without her, worrying about them never knowing her … terrified of going through any part of life without her …”

“And what did Riley say when you told her this?”

“She said that nothing was going to happen to her. That she had me there to protect her … that I showed her time and time again that I would do anything and everything to keep her safe …”

“And did that help ease any qualms you had?”

“No,” Liam laughs wryly as he shakes his head. “I dropped it after that, not wanting to ruin this little getaway I had planned for us or worry her further … but I couldn’t shake …” He trails off for a moment. “I couldn’t shake this feeling I had that something was going to happen …”

“It was just a feeling, though, Liam,” the woman says. “I think that you—” She pauses when Liam starts to shake his head. “What?”

“It turned out that it wasn’t … it wasn’t just a feeling …” Liam rubs his hand over his mouth. “That night, after we left the bookstore for Maxwell’s event … the press swarmed us — Riley — the moment we stepped outside. We had to barricade her just so she could get into the SUV. When we pulled away and started back toward the Lythikos keep … they chased us.” The woman’s brows raise in surprise. “There was a car and one on a motorcycle; they caught up to us quickly. Bastien was swerving to avoid hitting them because they were getting so close to us to try and get any photos they could, but the flashes from their cameras were doing him no favors. Bastien finally got us off the main road and we thought we lost them … but they caught back up …”

Liam pauses, glancing out the window as he remembers that night, and his jaw tenses. He can still hear the screeching of the tires, the sound of the metal crumpling as it wrapped around the pole, the shattering of the glass … and Riley’s screams. His chest tightens and he can feel his palms begin to sweat as he recalls the instant crushing fear he felt that something had happened to her.

“Liam …?”

Pulled from his daze, Liam clears his throat. “The man on the motorcycle lost control when he tried taking a picture … and he hit the side of our vehicle. Bastien swerved to try and miss him when he started coming towards us again, and we went off the road. We hit a pole … and Riley was on the side that took all of the impact …”

The woman lets out a breath. “I can imagine that was pretty scary for all of you involved.” She sees Liam nod in response. “Walk me through that …”

Liam shakes his head. “I remember hearing her whimper my name …”

The shock of the impact quickly fades when Liam hears the faint sound of his name; he snaps his head over to Riley, and his heart starts to race. She’s covered in shards of glass from the broken window, and her door is bent inward, pressing against her side; she’s trapped by her seatbelt’s locking mechanism.

“Riley!” Liam scrambles to unbuckle himself, quickly moving to her side. “Hold on, ok? I’m going to get you out of here.” In the back of his mind, he knows he shouldn’t move her, that it could potentially do more bad than good, but all he can think about at that moment is getting her out.

“Is she ok?” Drake asks from the third row behind them as he looks over the seat.

“Riley?” Liam looks at her, and she winces as she attempts to move. “Hold on, love.”

Bastien helps Olivia across the front seat and out of the driver’s side before he rushes to open the King’s passenger door. Liam reaches across Riley, unbuckling her seatbelt before carefully scooping her into his arms. He pulls her from the wreckage, finding a safe spot away from the vehicle in the grass that he lowers her down to, and she sits up against the trunk of a large tree as the others help one another out.

Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Liam snaps his head up; he feels a wave of anger he’s never felt before crash over him at the sight of the paparazzi. Instead of asking if they’re alright from the accident they caused, instead of offering to help or even call for help … they hold their cameras up, ready to take more photos.

Liam sees red.

The King rises to his feet, stepping in front of Riley to shield her; he squares his shoulders, his jaw clenching as his hands ball into fists. “This has gone too far! YOU’VE gone too far!” he bellows, his voice echoing in the wooded night air. “You endangered my wife? My CHILD? What the HELL is wrong with you?”

When neither of them moves, Liam charges forward, but he’s stopped by Drake. “Li,” he says, holding him back.

“Get the hell out of here. NOW!” Liam shouts.

Without hesitation, the two men turn and run off.

Overhearing Bastien on the phone calling for medics, Liam turns, dropping to his knees in front of Riley again. “Bastien is calling an ambulance.” His eyes are frantically scanning her. “Riley, talk to me. Say something … please.”

“I-I’m scared,” Riley whimpers.

“I’m right here,” Liam says, taking her into his arms again. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I … I don’t think so,” Riley replies meekly. “But the baby …” He can hear the worry dripping in her voice. “I just want to know that the baby is ok.”

Liam rests a hand on her belly; he doesn’t feel any kicks. It doesn’t necessarily mean something’s wrong, but considering the circumstances, a wave of panic washes over him as the worst-case scenario fills his head. He closes his eyes, fighting back his emotions, if only for Riley’s sake. Please, he thinks to himself. Please let them be ok. “I … I failed you, Riley,” he shakes his head. “I’m so sorry.”

“Liam, this isn’t your fault.”

Liam chews the inside of his cheek, and his eyes sting when he looks at her. “You’re my whole world,” he says in a broken whisper. “The two of you. You’re everything to me. If I lose you … I lose everything.”

Riley lifts her hand to Liam’s cheek. “You’re not going to lose either of us.”

“And you didn’t lose them …” the woman says.

Liam shakes his head and lets out a breath. “Riley came out of it with a few bumps and bruises — which was still too much, in my opinion — but both she and the baby were ok otherwise. Thankfully. It could have been worse … so much worse.”

“And did anything happen with the members of the press that were involved?”

“Not specifically, no,” Liam replies. “The ones who chased us were freelance photographers who made their money by selling photos to the tabloids. We could have dug a little and figured out how to find them, but Riley just wanted to put it behind her. I agreed for her sake. I was made aware, however, by Donnie Brine from the CBC and Ana de Luca from Trend that they were both offered photos from that night to run; they were contacted by email from ‘anonymous’ sources, but they refused to buy them out of respect for us, which was greatly appreciated. Riley and I did plan to increase our security, though.”

“Was what happened that night the sole reason for that? Or was it everything that happened over time?”

“Both,” Liam answers. “When we were at the hospital getting Riley checked out, she mentioned that the press always seemed to be one step ahead of us ever since our arrival back from the States. I hadn’t thought much of it at the time because of all of the attention she was receiving prior to that … but when I thought back, she was right. We had one last public event before Riley’s due date, so we planned to speak to the council regarding the increase in security for that.”

“And how was that received when you brought it up?”

“We actually didn’t need to. The suggestion was brought up by another council member … Godfrey.”

When Liam shakes his head, seemingly irritated by the mere mention of the man’s name, the woman stares at him curiously. “You don’t seem pleased about it …?”

Liam’s jaw ticks. “At the time … I thought it was great. With what just happened to Riley a week prior … I agreed. I said it would make me feel better knowing those extra measures were in place. Since this last ball was a public event in honor of Riley about to give birth to the heir, at the council meeting for the final preparations, he suggested the increased security because the kingdoms seeking an alliance would be in attendance — we were going to be telling them that night that there would be no official alliance if their terms for a betrothal between heirs wasn’t taken off the table.”

“And Riley? What did she think of the suggestion?”

“She agreed as well. I think at the time, like me, it made her feel better …”

The woman eyes him curiously. “You keep saying ‘at the time’ as if looking back you don’t think it was a good idea … are you referring to the extra security or going along with Godfrey’s plans?”

“Both,” Liam scoffs. “Had I known then what we learned the evening of the ball …” He trails off, anger, sadness, and betrayal twisting his expression.

The woman scribbles something down on her notepad before looking at him again. “What did you learn?”

“That evening, Drake’s mother was in attendance; she was visiting, and I extended an invitation to the ball. She approached Riley and I to thank us — my father didn’t give the Walkers the compensation he promised them after Jackson died, something I had no idea about until our trip to the States, and something I righted after I found out. When we were speaking to her, she mentioned something about my mother … and how Jackson used to sneak her out of the palace for doctor appointments through a secret passageway … for her pregnancy …” The woman’s brows raise in both surprise and intrigue. “The shocked look on my face told her that I had no idea …”

“What did she say?”

“She apologized. She thought I knew. But she confirmed that my mother … that she was pregnant before she died …” Liam sighs heavily. “She said that Jackson thought that my mother didn’t want my father to know about the pregnancy … but she had no idea why.”

“You said you already knew about the pregnancy, or at least thought … but what was it like hearing that confirmation?”

“I …” Liam pauses, searching for the right words. “I didn’t know what to think, honestly. I don’t know why she chose to keep it a secret from my father or me, but I want to believe that she had her reasons. It brought up a lot of what-ifs … but I didn’t really have time to dwell on them …”

“Why is that?”

“During the ball, Riley and I had taken a moment to ourselves out in the courtyard … and when we returned, Drake and the others were waiting for us. Drake said something was bothering him about what his mother said about his father sneaking my mother out through secret passageways.”

“Why would that bother him?”

“My mother had been heavily on my mind during that time. Inwardly … I had turned back into that eight-year-old boy who wanted nothing more than to figure out what happened to her … and Drake knew, even though I didn’t say it aloud. He knew,” Liam nods. “And I think he just wanted to help me try and get that closure.”

“So, what did he have to say?”

“Drake and I grew up exploring all of these secret passageways within the palace; we knew every single one of them inside and out. We knew for certain that none led out of the palace from my parents’ quarters, especially none that my father wouldn’t have known about. Which meant that the only place that secret passageway could have been that my mother used to leave during that time was in her private quarters …”

Watching him, the woman notices how Liam seems to disassociate for a moment; his eyes grow distant and his expression shifts in a few different ways, as if he’s reliving a memory in vivid detail. She sees his hands clench in his lap before her eyes flicker up to see his jaw tense.

“Liam …” she says tentatively.

Pulled from his daze, Liam looks at her before casting his eyes downward. “We went to her quarters … it was the first time I’d been there since the investigation into her death …”

Liam’s hand imperceptibly trembles as he pushes open the old wooden door; he reaches over and flicks a switch, dimly lighting the room as he steps inside and the others follow behind him. He closes his eyes, swearing he can make out a faint hint of jasmine that lingers in the air, even after all of this time.

As the others set to work exploring the late Queen’s room for any signs or clues of a passageway, Liam is hit with a wave of nostalgia. He glances at the vanity, the one he would see his mother sitting at in the mornings when he would rush up to her room to see her. He stares at the bench, swallowing over the lump in his throat.

“Good morning, Mother!”

Eleanor turns on her bench, beaming at Liam with a brilliant smile as he rushes toward her, throwing his arms around her in a hug that she eagerly returns. “Good morning, my little love,” she says. Drawing back, she cups his face in her gentle hands. “Sleep well?” He nods in response. She grins, kisses his forehead, and stands, extending her arm down. “So, what adventures are on our agenda today?” she asks as they walk out of the room, hand-in-hand.

Liam sees her hairbrush that still sits on the mahogany surface of the vanity, covered in dust, and a pang hits his chest when he sees a few strands of golden blonde hair still tangled in its bristles. His eyes shift to the dusty vintage bottle of perfume; he reaches out and lifts it in his hand, plucking the decorated topper from it before raising it to his nose; he closes his eyes as notes of jasmine and citrus fill his senses, comforting him like a warm embrace. He sets the bottle down and turns toward the ornate canopy bed. Spotting a book on her nightstand, he walks over to it; through the specks of dust, he sees the familiar image of the dragon silhouette on the cover.

As she sits back against her headboard, Eleanor’s hand softly runs through Liam’s hair; he’s curled up beside her as she reads to him. “Was there really a mighty blue dragon?” Liam asks.

Eleanor smiles softly. “If you believe there was, there was.”

“I … I think so,” Liam replies, fighting through a yawn. He nestles further into her side as she continues to read, the scent of her perfume and the gentle lilt of her voice lulling him to sleep.

Liam manages to blink the sting in his eyes away when he hears his name. He glances over to see Riley looking at him; he gives a soft nod, telling her he’s ok. “Your mom never mentioned anything about a secret passage to you? Or mentioned anything that seemed odd at the time?” Riley asks.

“Not even, y’know, the night she …” Drake trails off when his best friend meets his sympathetic gaze.

Liam shakes his head. “To be honest, I try not to think too much about that night. As much as I want to treasure all my memories of her, the last one’s … it’s a bit difficult to touch.” He lets out a slow breath. “But … maybe it is worth talking the details over. It’s been a long time since the investigation …”

“And did anything come to mind when you thought back to that night?” the woman asks.

Liam nods. “I … I remembered seeing her for the first time when she returned … she had been gone for months on a diplomatic trip abroad. And I was so excited to tell her that I’d been practicing this song … our song. It was something she was teaching me before she left … so I wanted to show her. We sang it together …” He’s unable to stop himself from thinking about it. All things grow in their own time … red flowers bloom, slow vines unwind. Those that wait till spring’s last glow, still hold more colors than you know. “Then I remembered her being pulled away … she was going to have a drink with my father and Godfrey because Godfrey had just given her an antique wine goblet as a gift to commemorate her return. Then …” He trails off, rubbing his hand over his mouth as he blinks back the sting in his eyes. “Then she walked away … and that was the last time I ever saw her …”

The woman stares at Liam, seeing the heartbreak in his expression as he recalls the last moments he had with his mother. “And did that memory help you in any way?”

“It did, actually,” Liam nods, clearing his throat. “Riley was the one to piece it together, but the song that I had been practicing … the words were actually the key.” The woman’s brows knit in confusion. “Some of the words matched up with specific books on her bookshelf … they had locking mechanisms …”

“The secret passageway …”

Liam nods. “It was behind her bookshelf. We got it open … it led into this dark corridor where a secret office was located on the way out … her secret office. We found all of her old journals … a letter she had written to me … and a letter she had written to my future wife.”

“Did you read them?”

“We did,” Liam nods.

“What was that like? Reading a letter to you from your mother after all that time?”

“Oddly enough … comforting.” Liam’s brows slightly furrow. “She knew … she knew something was going to happen to her. She told me how much she loved me … her hopes for me and my life. How … how she would be watching over me …” His voice cracks and his lip trembles as a tear finally manages to sneak its way out. He can remember the letter word for word; he’s read it dozens of times since first finding it. He treasures it.

I want all of the good things for you in life, my son. And I wish I could protect you from all of the bad. But instead, just know how very much you are loved. Now. Always. Forever.

Liam wipes his cheek, clearing his throat. “And Riley … she read hers …”

“I bet that was a bit surreal.”

Liam nods with a sad smile. He remembers that letter word for word as well. Riley allowed him to read it. It was a testament to how well his mother knew him … how well she knew the man he would one day become.

To the one my son chooses...

I hope you know how special he is. His heart is kind, but strong. He’s slow to anger, quick to defend his friends or anyone in need.

He has all of the best parts of his father, and, if I can be so bold, everything good from myself that I could give him as well.

Courage, compassion, selflessness.

I suppose every mother wishes the best for her child. I hope you are everything he deserves.

I hope you support him when he is in doubt and challenge him when he needs to be challenged.

I hope you’re able to share the joys of this life with him, and get each other through the sorrows.

Know that he will want to give you everything. He will love you entirely.

That’s the way his heart is.

Please be good to him, because he believes so deeply in the goodness of the world, and I never want to see that vanish.

If he has found you, then I am glad you’ll be there for him if I am not.

Thank you.

All of my love...

Eleanor

If his mother was looking down on him, and proud of anything he’s accomplished in his life thus far, Liam knows it’s his relationship with Riley. She’s everything his mother hoped he would find, everything she wished her son’s future wife would be. She sees him for who he really is, and she loves him unconditionally, flaws and all. She’s his rock, his safe harbor … his entire world.

“Did you find anything else in this passageway?”

The woman notices how her question immediately takes Liam from a place of nostalgia to anger. He nods stiffly as he shifts his position on the sofa, his jaw set tight. “We found the goblet … the one that Godfrey had given my mother that night …” He pauses, trying to comport himself as a wave of fury starts to burn inside him. “I knew that my mother hadn’t been poisoned by the wine she drank because, during the investigation into her death, my father had every bottle of wine in the palace tested, including the one they drank that night.”

“So you believed it was the goblet that had been tampered with?”

“Once we found the goblet, I knew for certain,” Liam says. “After her death, I had become obsessed with learning as much about poisons as I could, wanting to figure out what happened to her. And one of the things I learned was how a chemical could be harmless until it interacts with a specific metal … then it becomes deadly. There was …” Liam lets out a harsh breath as he shakes his head. “There was a small jagged hole inside the goblet … one that was put there intentionally, so whatever was put in her drink reacted with the metal beneath the gold inlay … causing her death.”

The woman stares at Liam, somewhat shocked. “And Godfrey gave her that goblet …”

Liam nods. “Godfrey — one of my father’s best friends and a respected noble in his court — was the one who poisoned my mother … he killed her.”

A silence settles in the room as Liam’s words hang in the air. “That had to be a hard revelation,” the woman says. Liam simply nods in response as he stares off. “But I have a question.” Liam looks at her and inclines his head for her to continue. “Knowing what you know now about Godfrey … how close he was with your father, the access he had to the court — to your mother — and without looking suspicious at all because of who he was and his standings as a respected noble in both Cordonia and England … how can you still carry so much guilt over the choice you made during your coronation?”

Liam stares at her, knitting his brows in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You said you made your choice at the coronation to keep Riley safe, knowing that whoever was behind the scandal had considerable access to the court … to her. You said that you made the choice because that night, what happened to your mother flashed in your mind and you felt, based on what you knew at the time, that it was the only way to keep her safe. Learning this truth about what happened to your mother and who was really behind it … don’t you feel like your concerns over Riley’s safety were justified?”

“I …” Liam trails off. He’s never thought of it that way before.

“Your father was Godfrey in that case. Your father was someone no one would have suspected because of not only who he is to Cordonia but to you. Being unsure of the lengths he would have gone to keep you and Riley apart … that has to mean something, Liam. That has to take some of that guilt you feel away. Because you were right in your desire to protect her. Your concerns over what could have happened to her and the potential danger she was in … they were valid.”

Another bout of silence settles between them. It’s the first time in years Liam even considers, despite having known deep down, that his actions were justified. All he ever wanted was to keep Riley safe; he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if something had happened to her because of him.

The woman clears her throat. “I think that’s a good place to stop today.” Liam nods, slightly bemused as he continues to mull over her words. Shaking himself from his thoughts, he stands from the sofa. “I think you handled today’s session well, all things considered,” she smiles. “I don’t know if the Liam I met eight weeks ago would have gotten through it with as much equanimity as you did today.”

“I don’t know if I would say I was that composed the entire time,” Liam says quietly.

“Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’ve made some great progress when it comes to dealing with things.”

Liam nods in thanks. “I’ll see you next week.”

****

That night, Liam sits in the chair inside Eleanor’s room; he watches his little princess with a warm smile, waiting for her to bring him her book of choice for her bedtime story. Finally choosing one from her shelf, she toddles toward him with a grin.

“Let’s see what we have here.”

Liam smiles as he lifts her into his lap. She snuggles into his side as he flips the book over, and he stares wistfully at the cover. She’s never chosen it before, and despite knowing that perhaps she’s still a bit young for this particular read, he nods in agreement to her choice before kissing the top of her head.

After that day, he can’t help but feel like it’s a sign.

“Ready?” Liam asks.

“Weady,” Eleanor chirps in reply, clutching her sippy cup in her hands.

Liam rests his cheek against her head as he flips to the first page. “Long ago, there lived a mighty blue dragon …”

********

A week later, Liam sits inside the therapist’s office as he waits for his session to begin. His fingers drum against his leg; he’s feeling anxious, knowing what today’s session will cover. He’s determined to get through it, however.

The door opens, and Liam glances up, smiling as the woman steps inside; he stands, extending his hand in a greeting. “Hello, Liam,” she smiles as she shakes it.

“Hello.”

She gestures for him to sit as she takes her own seat, holding her notepad in her lap. “How was your week?”

“It was ok,” Liam nods. “Leo came to visit,” he smiles.

“I bet that was fun.”

“It was. Riley and I got to see our nephews, and Eleanor got to play with her cousins. It was a good visit.”

“Did you talk to him at all about any of what you’ve been dealing with?”

Liam chuckles. “I did. He kind of cornered me into it, but … I found it easier than I have in the past to talk about it.”

“That’s good,” she smiles. “That’s progress.” Liam nods in response before she looks down at her notepad. “So … picking up where we left off …” She looks at him, already sensing him tensing up. “Godfrey … and the revelation you had.”

Liam clears his throat. “Yes …”

“He was in attendance that night at the ball. Did you confront him?”

“We did …” Liam takes in a breath and slowly lets it out. “Right in the ballroom, in front of everyone. I told him I knew what he did to my mother. When he realized he wasn’t going to get away with it, he began spewing nonsense about how everything he did was for Cordonia …” He shakes his head. “I wasn’t interested in hearing anything he had to say. I called the guards over to detain him … and that’s when all hell broke loose …”

The woman settles back in her chair. “How so?”

“In the middle of being detained, he managed to trigger the security system that apparently only he knew how to work,” Liam scoffs in irritation. “All the lights went out, steel doors started coming down around all of the windows and exits … but he got out … leaving everyone else trapped inside.” He shifts in his seat, looking to the side. “When the lights came back on … I found Riley on the floor … and she was in labor …”

The woman’s brows raise. “So you were about to become a father?”

Liam slowly nods as he meets her gaze again. “It was the scariest, most emotional night of my entire life …”

***************************************

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