“Don’t worry, my beloved Rachel, you will be spectacular,” he promised.
She had her doubts. She’d voice them in detail when she woke up. Right now, the medicine the doctor had given her was kicking in and she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. A good sleep would make it all a lot better.
“It turns out that tomorrow just had to wait until today,” Adriane whispered.
Adriane laughed at his private joke as Rachel fell asleep, safe within his arms.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Music drifted through the cathedral and past its ornate doors to where Rachel stood outside. The morning sunlight seemed to be shooting a ray of light directly on the golden door handles, as if directing her to enter.
She took a breath as she turned to her sister and to her best friend. Did she deserve so much happiness?
“You’re getting married today,” Ari said, smiling in encouragement.
“And becoming queen,” Lia added, making Rachel’s stomach knot.
“Oh, please don’t remind me of that. I have been telling myself that part is just make-believe,” Rachel said with a nervous laugh.
“You will make a wonderful queen. You care about people, Rachel. That’s all that really matters,” Ari said, squeezing her hand.
“Well, unless I say something foolish and land Corythia in a world war,” Rachel said, only half kidding. But though she was terrified of her new role, she wasn’t terrified of marrying Adriane. She loved him and couldn’t picture her life without him now. Enough time had been wasted and she was ready to be his bride.
Only a month had passed since the kidnapping. He’d rescheduled the original wedding date so they all had time to recover from their ordeal. After she’d said yes, she was ready to marry him instantly, but the wait had been good because it showed her that she hadn’t wavered, that she was as sure now as she’d been the moment she’d said yes.
“We’d better get you down that aisle before your stomach grows any bigger,” Lia said with a pointed look. Though Rachel was now five months along, her dress hid the growing bump.
“I can’t believe the twins will be born in only four more months. I figured I’d be as large as a whale by now,” Rachel said with a giggle.
“The last four months is where you’ll really start to expand,” Lia said with evil delight.
“You will get your turn,” Rachel said.
Lia froze as if she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Both Ari and Rachel turned to her in shock.
“Are you pregnant?” Ari asked, a smile breaking out on her face when Lia silently nodded, tears of joy shining in her eyes. “Me too,” she gasped.
All three women stood silent, and then flew into each other’s arms, thrilled to share this special moment together.
“How far along are you?” Lia asked.
“Six weeks. I think it happened on the honeymoon,” she said.
“Me too,” Lia gasped. “Maybe they will be born on the same day. Then it will be like having two sets of twins in the family.”
“I’m sorry, Rachel. I was going to wait to say anything so I wouldn’t take away from your special day,” Ari said.
“I would be so disappointed in both of you had you waited. This only makes this day so much more special,” Rachel hastened to tell them.
“We’d better get you in there,” Lia said. “They’ve restarted the wedding march three times now. I bet Adriane is going to come looking for you if we don’t get to walking.” She adjusted Rachel’s veil and directed the guards manning the doors to go ahead and open them.
With a final smile, Ari began walking down the aisle, followed by Lia.
Rachel took a deep breath and waited until the wedding coordinator motioned for her to step inside. As she stood at the back of the church, butterflies swarmed in her stomach, but no reservations about what she was doing made her hesitate.
In fact, she found herself wishing she could skip all of this tradition and simply kick off her shoes and run to her waiting groom. She’d never been known for her patience.
The music changed and she heard the rustling of clothes as the people who’d filled the church stood and turned, waiting for her to make her way down the aisle. She felt as if she were floating as she counted her steps, drifting closer and closer to Adriane, who looked so handsome in his military uniform, the crest of Corythia proudly standing out on the sash that he wore. She halted at the beautiful picture he made, standing at the altar, waiting for her arrival. He was so suave, so devastatingly handsome — and he was all hers.
His smile faltered at her pause, but as her smile grew, she sent him a silent message that he had nothing to fear. She would make no more attempts at escape.
Taking her father by the arm, she ascended the stairs to the altar and found herself facing Adriane. Though the room was filled with hundreds of people, all she saw was her future husband.
“I love you,” she whispered, overcome by joy.
“You are my life,” he replied.
It took everything in her not to lean forward and kiss his sweet lips. At least in public, she needed to act respectably, as she was soon to be a queen. Awaiting them was a long honeymoon, when they could kiss as much as they wanted.
And that’s exactly what they did.
Epilogue
“My son and daughter are beautiful,” Adriane said to anyone who would listen while he cuddled his baby girl safely against his chest.
“They sure are,” Rafe agreed.
“And little Alessandro came out a full three minutes before his sister,” Adriane made sure to tell everyone for the hundredth time.
“Oh, how wise you were to predict a son first,” Rachel teased him.
He’d been quite pleased when his son was born first, but he’d been mesmerized when Marietta emerged next. Only a month old and already she owned her father’s heart.
“I can’t help it if the Graziani line is all-powerful,” he said, teasing his wife while she cuddled Alessandro to her chest.
“I want to hold my nephew,” Rafe said as he walked into the room and purposefully approached Rachel. She smiled and nodded her head and Rafe picked up little Alessandro. “He adores me.”
“He loves anyone who smiles at him,” Rachel said, though she secretly believed that Alessandro did have a soft spot for his uncle. After all, Rafe had been the one to draw the first smile from her son, making Adriane quite unhappy. Adriane had been blessed with Marietta’s first smile, though, so he’d forgiven Rafe.
“He’s just practicing for when his baby is born,” Ari said as she sat down next to Rachel and rubbed her own belly, which was beginning to be quite noticeable. “This will be the last trip we get to make until after the baby is born, so remember your promise to be there on time.”
“I wouldn’t miss the birth of my niece for anything in this universe,” Rachel assured her.
“Nieces, darling sister. I was just kidding at the wedding, but since we both have the same due date, you may be running back and forth between our delivery rooms,” Lia said as she sat down on Rachel’s other side.
“It would be much easier if the two of you just had them in the same room,” Rachel said.
“That would be far too much screaming to listen to,” Shane said, unwisely. All three women glared at him. “I was just kidding,” he added, and he stepped away with his arms raised in defense.
“Oh, girls, I almost forgot to tell you. I finished reading the journal of your Civil War ancestor. When you come out into the world, you’ll have to read the story with me. It’s magical,” said Ari, a sigh escaping her lips.
“Why, what happened?” Lia asked as she propped her feet up.
“Their story is just heartbreaking. I refuse to tell you what happens, though. You have to come stay with Rafe and me and read it then. I’m telling you, you won’t be able to put the story down.”