The Billionaire Prince’s Surprise Son by Leslie North

Epilogue

The engagement party was intimate by royal standards—just Nic’s best friends, and Summer’s best friend, and of course Nic’s parents, as well as some other extended family and friends. They held it at the palace, away from prying eyes and paparazzi. The announcement of Harry as royal successor had caused about as much of a brouhaha as he’d expected, but thankfully the press seemed to be embracing Summer as the future princess of Mynia, and honestly, they’d fallen in love with the sunshiny little boy as their future heir. The island was expecting a lavish wedding, so he and Summer couldn’t simply sneak off somewhere and get married. That said, this was something they could keep fairly private.

Even though it was an engagement party, Harry was the undisputed center of attention. He had a bunch of new toys, some puzzles, and some books. He wound up sitting on one of his grandparent’s laps, demanding stories, when he wasn’t zooming around with a stuffed animal or car in one of his chubby little fists. The entire party kept an eye on him, playing with him or talking to him. Harry obviously had an entire family of “aunties” and “uncles” who were ready to dote on him, whether he knew it or not. It warmed Nic’s heart to see his son being so readily and enthusiastically accepted.

“Summer, we wanted to give you this,” his mother said to Summer, as they all looked on. His father presented her with a box. She opened it to find baby clothes.

“They were some of Tom’s baby clothes,” his mother said simply, and he saw Summer tear up as she gave his mother a hug.

“Thank you,” Summer said, and he knew she understood just how important it was, how much of a show of acceptance it was to get a gift that revealed Tom, the son they didn’t usually discuss with outsiders.

“Hey, there.” Nic looked up to see Rachel, looking at him with a grin. “Congratulations. I knew you’d do the right thing.”

“Thanks. You’ll be coming out for the wedding, right?” he confirmed. “You’re maid of honor, after all.”

“I might come to Mynia for more reasons than that,” Rachel said. “And I can’t wait. You’re making Summer really happy. She always wanted the career, but she wanted that family… wanted to show Harry a family where his parents loved each other, like she had before her folks died. She would’ve made it work as a single mom, and she and Harry would’ve been fine, but this is better than she could’ve dreamed.”

“I always want to make Summer happy,” Nic said solemnly. “And from now on, every day is going to be about showing her how much I love her and Harry, and how I support their dreams. I’m not going to mess up like I did, not ever again.”

“Damned right you’re not,” Rachel said, with mock ferocity, then she winked. “Kidding. Sort of. You seem to have your priorities in line now, and we both know our girl wouldn’t let you pull any more shenanigans anyway.”

He laughed. It was true. Summer had as much as promised that she’d smack some sense into him if he got too much into his own head and lost track of what was really important.

“What’s so funny?” Erik asked, hands in his pockets. He was flanked by Ben. Nic made a mental note to spend more time with his friends when he could.

“Nothing. Just commenting on Summer keeping Nic in line,” Rachel said, causing all the men to chuckle.

“She is small, but fierce,” Ben agreed. “The best kind, I’d say. How is she adjusting to life as a princess-to-be?”

“She’s taking to it like a duck to water,” Nic said. “She’ll be taking a permanent position as a doctor, and she’ll be acting on a task force on Mynia’s foster care system.” He grinned. “And of course, we’ll be spending as much time as possible together.”

“That reminds me,” Rachel said, gesturing at Summer, “I meant to ask her about possibly getting a job here. Excuse me.” She rushed to her best friend’s side, and Nic was gratified to see his fiancée’s excited expression. Having her best friend here would be wonderful for her, and anything that made his future wife happy made him happy.

My future wife. God, that had a nice ring to it, no pun intended.

“Your son is a kick,” Ben said, smiling as they watched Nic’s father feeding him slivers of cake, making a mess of both of them in the process. “Thinking of having more of them? Give Harry a few siblings in the near future, perhaps?”

Nic grinned. “We’re not rushing into anything. She’s got to settle into her new job, and new lifestyle, and I’m still carving out a work-life balance. I want to spend more time getting to know Harry. When we’re ready, we’ll probably have more children, but for now, we just want to enjoy each other.”

“I’ll bet,” Erik said, and Ben nudged him hard, until Erik started laughing. Nic chuckled, shaking his head.

“What about you two?” Nic asked. “I’m not the only prince here, and besides, you guys have been bachelors for a while. Thinking of settling down?”

Immediately Erik and Ben started spluttering out protests. Nic kept laughing at them.

“Maybe it’s time I start interfering in your love life,” he mused.

Summer tapped on his shoulder. “Can I steal my fiancé for a moment, gentlemen?” she asked them.

Nic didn’t even wait for their response, he simply tugged Summer with him down the hallway to a private sitting room. Before she could say a word, he started kissing her passionately, tugging her close to him. After several minutes, they broke apart, breathing hard.

“That wasn’t what I meant to pull you aside for, but I’ll take it,” Summer said, as he held her tight. He could feel her heart beating in her chest.

“Sorry. What did you need?” he asked.

“Give me a second. Your kisses make me forget things.”

He smiled, kissing the top of her head. That was exactly the sort of thing he wanted to hear.

“Oh! Right. Your brother’s clothes,” she said.

“I saw my parents had given you that,” Nic said.

“I was honored,” Summer said, emotion thick in her voice. “But I wanted to make sure you were okay with it. Is it going to, you know, bother you…?”

Nic blinked. “You mean, because it will remind me of Tom?”

She bit her lip, then nodded, studying him carefully.

It was incredibly considerate of Summer to worry about him. He stroked her hair. “I had eighteen years with my brother. Some of them were hard, but all of them were worth it—that’s something I had forgotten. And I also had never considered, until I thought about you and your family, that I had Tom longer than you had your parents.”

She let out a small, sad sound. “It’s not like grief is quantifiable,” she said softly.

“I’m not trying to say that it is,” Nic agreed. “I’m just saying, I can focus on the loss, or I can focus on how lucky I was. I can choose to be obsessed with fear and try to control everything, or I can choose to do the best I can and value that. I can choose to try to isolate myself, or I can choose to embrace the woman and son who love me.” He kissed her again, with all the love he felt.

She smirked. “Say, does that door have a lock?”

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “What did you have in mind?”

Before she could respond, they heard the buzz of a cell phone. After quickly checking, it turned out to be Summer’s. She read the text, looking concerned. Nic felt his body tense in response.

“Emergency at the hospital,” she said, frowning. “An accident, involving a child. Since we’re short-staffed, they’ll need me. Is it all right if…?”

He swallowed. He thought about how, so recently, he’d already be running down the hallway, heading for his car and the hospital. He’d be convinced that he had to go fill that role.

It was important… and Summer could handle it.

“Go ahead,” he said with a kiss. “I’ll bundle up Harry with his stuff, get him fed, then get him bathed and to bed. Don’t worry. We’ve got this.”

Summer’s smile was bright. “Yes,” she agreed. “Because we’re a family.”