‘The event of the century’ was what it had been called, which wasn’t surprising at all to Alex, who had been preparing for this day her entire life – not in the way that most women prepare for their wedding, but in that way that she’d always known the whole world would be watching when she did this. With very few exceptions, everything, even the guest list, wasn’t really under her control. Certain traditions would be upheld, though they could slightly be modernized, and neither Alex nor her bride could choose the actual location of most of the events of the ceremony because Bexley wasn’t just marrying Alex – she was marrying Princess Alexandria, who would one day be Queen, and that came with certain steps and requirements.

After what many had considered to be a long time as a couple without a ring, they’d had a very short engagement. To Alex, though, they’d gone at the exact right pace for both of them, giving them time to fall in love slowly, let Bexley get adjusted to life in the UK with Alex as her girlfriend, and get engaged on a plane of all places. Her mother had been the one who had insisted that the wedding be as soon as possible, despite all of the arrangements that had to be made, but Alex knew why.

It was her job to provide the next heir to the throne, and laws had already been changed to allow that said heir to be birthed by Alex’s wife if she didn’t want to or wasn’t able to carry a child herself. It also hadn’t helped that Alex had waited a while to find Bexley, so neither of them was considered young when it came to having a baby. Both of them wanted to be mothers and were hoping to have more than one, though, and that meant that they needed to get started on that process. Of course, no one outside of Alex and Bexley’s immediate families knew that they already had.

“God, I want to see her,” Alex said to her brother, Larry, who was acting as her best man.

“You two decided not to see one another before you got to the church.”

“But she’s… She’s already so beautiful, Larry. I’m going to cry ugly tears, as Alice would call it, when I see her. Why did I agree to that?”

“I have no idea. But there’s nothing wrong with crying ugly tears, either,” he replied and patted his sister on her shoulder. “She’s going to cry, too, when she sees you in this uniform.”

“She’s seen me in my uniform before.”

“Not like this; not in the full regalia for your wedding day and with your hair just cut. You two didn’t cheat last night and see one another after Mother warned you about it being bad luck?”

“That’s a silly superstition. But no, we didn’t. Is there too much product in my hair? I still want it to look natural up there.”

“Alex, you’ve had the best stylist, hair, and makeup professionals in the whole of the United Kingdom helping you get ready – you look beautiful. And I can’t wait for you to walk back down that aisle with your wife on your arm. There’s just nothing like meeting the love of your life and marrying her, having a family with her, and building that life together. You and Bexley have already started that life, but you’re about to start a new chapter. I am very happy for you.”

“Thank you,” Alex replied to her little brother whom she’d once thought would have made a better King than she Queen.

In recent years, she’d come to realize that she’d been wrong. While her brother would’ve made a great King, that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t also be a great Queen when the time came; hopefully, very far off into the future. It had taken her a long time to get to that revelation, and the woman she was about to marry had helped her tremendously.

“Are you ready to marry the love of your life, Princess Alexandria?” Larry asked.

“Today, with everything going on around us, I’ve told Bexley that I am still just her Alex. So, yes, Alex is ready to marry the love of her life.” She let out a deep breath as she stared into the full-length mirror.

After getting ready, she’d gone into the carriage and had been driven to the church. Bexley had followed in a carriage behind her, and Alex hadn’t seen her soon-to-be wife in her dress, with the veil Bexley hadn’t wanted to wear. Still, it was also part of a tradition. When Alex’s mother wanted Bexley to wear her veil from her own wedding to Alex’s father, though, Alex had been the one to insist that it be Bexley’s choice. When they’d found the veil that Bexley’s grandmother had worn to marry Bexley’s grandfather, all it had needed was a cleaning and some minor tweaking to be ready for their big day. Of course, Alex had seen the old version of the veil, not the new one, so it would still be a surprise to her when Bexley walked down the aisle, escorted by Stan, who would be acting in the role of Bexley’s father.

Alex wished more than anything that Bexley’s parents would have been there to see their daughter get married. Bexley’s brothers would be standing on Alex’s side of the aisle, though, and they had promised to do their best to represent their side of the family. On Bexley’s side, it was Alice and Elin’s sister, Mari, whom Bexley had befriended more recently, along with Palmer, Sophia, Palmer and Elizabeth’s daughter, and Ingrid, Elin’s wife. To round it all out, Alex had asked for her nephews to stand at her side, given that her niece was only a baby and couldn’t join them up there. It wasn’t common to have that many members of the bridal party for a royal wedding such as this one, but Alex had insisted they be allowed to break a few traditions.

When the door was opened for her, Alex made her way out. Cameras flashed instantly as she took her spot at the front of the large church lined with people, most of whom were mere acquaintances to her; people she’d met over the years as part of her job as a working royal more than people she’d actually want to attend her wedding.

Larry stood at her side, and Alex did her best to control her heartbeat. Her mother was there, too, beaming at her, and her father winked at her and gave her a smile. Soon after, her attention was drawn to the doors as they opened.

“Oh, my God,” she said to herself, and her hand went to her mouth.

Her soulmate was walking toward her in a beautiful, flowing white dress, with a veil that covered only half her face, allowing Alex to see Bexley’s wide smile as she slowly made her way toward her to the sounds of the choir singing filling the hall.

“That’s your wife,” Larry whispered to her.

“I don’t deserve her,” Alex said in disbelief, remembering to lower her hand.

“She’s just what you deserve, and you’re what she deserves. That’s how this works.”

Alex wiped a happy tear from her cheek, and when Bexley joined her, she took her hand and nodded at Stan, who moved to his position at her side next to Larry.

“You are a vision,” Alex said as she tried to take her in.

“So are you,” Bexley replied, still with that big smile on her face.

“I love you,” Alex mouthed.

“I love you,” Bexley mouthed back.

Then, the ceremony began. The ceremonies were always brief, just like her brother’s had been, but it felt like it went by in a second when she married Bexley. Before she knew it, they were wed and walking down the aisle toward the carriage, where they waved and smiled along the route to the thousands of people who had shown up.

“My love,” she said and kissed Bexley’s hand when they arrived at their destination.

“Where are we? I thought we–”

“We’re going upstairs so we can change out of these formal outfits. Then, I have a surprise for you,” Alex interrupted.

“A surprise?” Bexley asked.

“Upstairs to change.”

“We’re at the cottage, Alex. We’re supposed to be at the palace.”

“We will be there shortly. Please, my love.”

“Okay,” Bexley said before she cupped both of Alex’s cheeks. “We’re married, Alex.”

“Yes, we are, Princess.”

“Oh, God. I’m a Princess now.”

“Well, Father will bestow titles on you now that we’re wed, but you’re married to the heir, so you are now HRH Princess of Wales, Bexley, with a myriad of other words after all of that. You’ll be a Duchess, too. Prepare to have a whole set of things that people can call you.”

“You went over all this with me, but I don’t know that it settled in until right now… I’m a Princess.”

“Yes, you are. You’re my Princess.” Alex kissed her. “Well, the whole country’s technically, too, but right now, I don’t feel like sharing.” She kissed her wife once more. “Now, off to change we go.”

“What are we wearing, exactly?”

***

Bexley had been surprised when Alex had had another white dress laid out for her on their bed in the cottage, but she knew Alex liked to surprise her, so she put it on, not wanting to ruin whatever her wife had planned. God, Bexley had a wife. She had Alex, the woman she hadn’t been sure she’d been good enough for not all that long ago, and they were not only together but would one day be Queen and Queen Consort of the nation. Bexley still couldn’t believe it as they left the cottage and walked along the path that connected their property to the small pond where they sometimes sat out and read together, or Bexley would just lie against Alex’s chest and they’d do nothing at all.

“Alex…”

“I know you had to give up the wedding you wanted for yourself. In order for everything to be legal, we had to do the big show we just went through first, but I thought perhaps you might want to marry me again, right here, in front of our friends and family.”

Bexley looked out at the grassy area by the pond and saw a much shorter aisle separating two small sections of white chairs. At the end of that aisle, she saw the same bishop who had married them an hour earlier and their bridal party. They were all smiling at her. In the chairs were people that Bexley had invited from her old life in Kansas and her new one here in the UK, along with Alex’s close friends and family.

“Bexley, I know you asked Stanley to walk you down the aisle, and I understand why, but I was hoping that I might be able to have the honor this time,” Alex’s father, the King, said when he held out his elbow.

“You did this for me?” Bexley asked Alex.

“I would do anything for you, my love.” Alex kissed her forehead. “Now, I must take my place. Will you meet me up there?”

“Absolutely,” Bexley replied.

She gave her arm to the King, who placed his hand over her own.

“I couldn’t have imagined a better partner for my daughter. Welcome to the family, Dear,” he said.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“Right now, I am just a father.” He winked at her. “Shall we get you married for the second time today?”

“Yes, please,” she said confidently.

They walked down the short aisle toward her wife. Alex nodded at her father and took Bexley’s hands in her own. She’d changed into a more traditional suit for this ceremony, and Bexley never got tired of looking at her wife in formal wear. Any formal wear.

“You knew about this?” she asked Stan, who was standing next to Larry.

“Of course, I knew about it. Who do you think she told first?”

“I did not tell him first,” Alex corrected. “I told Alice first. She told Stan.”

“Narc,” Alice whispered.

“Ladies, shall we?” the bishop asked.

“Yes,” Alex said for both of them.

***

“Now, we need to talk,” Alex’s mother said as she walked into the cottage without a preamble.

“We literally just returned from our honeymoon, Mother.”

“And it’s time we discuss the next step now that you’re married, Alex.”

“Mother, Bexley and I are very clear on what that next step is. You’ll get no arguments from us. All right?”

“You are?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Very well. When can we start? I’ll have everyone at the ready when you are.”

“Huh? Who’s everyone?”

“Everyone needed, Alex.”

“Mum, what are you talking about? We already have everyone we need.”

“You have the movers, the decorators, the staff?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Moving.”

“Moving what?”

“You and Bexley.”

“Why are you moving me and Bexley?”

“Alex, this cottage is too small. You’re married now. We pray that soon, we’ll be welcoming grandchildren into the family. You’ll need a bigger home. We’ve got one ready for you. Did your father not tell you?”

“He did. But he didn’t say anything about needing to move the day after we return from our trip.”

“What’s going on?” Bexley asked as she came down the stairs.

“My mother wants us to move.”

“When?”

“Now, apparently.”

“Not this instant. Soon, though. I’ll take care of everything, so all you have to do is be there. The house will be in your taste, but if you want to meet with the decorators and designers – you may, of course, do so.”

Bexley moved into Alex’s side.

“Can we maybe have, like, a week of being home before we start moving?”

“You’ll have longer than that since we want to make changes to the house.”

“Then, why did you rush over here at eight in the morning, Mother?” Alex asked.

“Because we need to get the house ready, so the process needs to begin now. I won’t have my grandchildren crammed into this cottage. It was fine when you were single, Alex, but I’m surprised that Bexley put up with this place for so long.”

“I like it,” Bexley replied. “It’s our little home.”

“Yes, it’s very little. I’m aware that you two plan on having, hopefully, several children.”

“We were thinking we’d start with one,” Alex returned.

“But we want two or three,” Bexley added, lightly slapping at Alex’s stomach.

“Well, where will they all sleep?”

“We have another bedroom, Mum.”

“The house was a wedding present from your father, Alex.”

“He could have gotten us a gift card,” Alex joked.

Bexley laughed.

“Mum, tell Father thank-you. And we will figure out the moving thing soon, but not today, all right?”

“Very well. Welcome back.”

“Probably could have led with that,” Alex said.

“Yes, Dear,” her mother replied sarcastically before she left.

“She has no idea,” Bexley said. “Should we have told her?”

“No, we should stick to our plan. They can all find out tonight at the party.”

***

They’d been married for a month before they’d taken their honeymoon, and that had been by design. Their month-long honeymoon had mostly been a trip around the Commonwealth, but they’d had a week to themselves on a beach where they’d mainly relaxed and made love, enjoying their privacy and preparing for the next step of their lives; the biggest one yet. Alex’s parents had insisted on throwing a post-wedding party in their honor upon their return, and Bexley had invited their friends to join them as well.

“Hey, welcome back,” Alice said and pulled Bexley in for a hug.

“Thanks. Is Stan here yet?”

“Yeah, he’s over there.” Alice nodded at Stanley, who was standing next to his boyfriend of a year and a half.

“Can you grab him and meet me in the parlor?”

“Parlor? God, we’re so European now, aren’t we?”

Bexley laughed at her friend’s joke and waited for her to reach Stan. Then, she nodded at Alex, who grabbed Nora, Elin and Ingrid, and Larry with his wife, Margaret. Bexley found Elizabeth and Palmer. Mari, one of her closest friends now, hadn’t been able to make it due to her commitments as the future Queen of Denmark.

“What’s going on? Why did we leave the party?” Stan asked once they were all gathered.

“We’re about to tell everyone, but you lot are our friends and chosen family, so we wanted to tell you first,” Alex said and took Bexley’s hand.

“Before we got married, we started the process of meeting with doctors to find out what we could do. It’s been an arduous process, with decisions to make and tests to run… But before we left on our honeymoon, we more officially started the process, if you know what I mean. And we… well, I’m pregnant,” Bexley revealed.

“What? Already?” Stan asked.

“Yes,” Bexley said with a smile and turned to Alex, who wrapped an arm around her.

“We’ve been working on it pretty much since we got engaged. We’ve both wanted a family. We had to wait to actually try until after we got married because of, well, me, and the rules on inheriting, but we did, and it took. We’re incredibly lucky.”

“I’m only seven weeks,” Bexley shared. “We’re not going public just yet, and we’re only going to tell the people at this party tonight, but we wanted you all to know first.”

“Congrats, Bex! Our kids will be about the same age,” Alice exclaimed happily and hugged Bexley for the second time that night.

“Future best friends, just like us,” Bexley said and hugged her back hard.

“Congratulations, you two,” Nora said and shook Alex’s hand in that very butch handshake-and-a-nod way.

Elizabeth and Palmer followed with their congratulations and hugs. Elin and Ingrid joined in and offered to babysit. Stan hugged Bexley next.

“I am so proud of you,” he said. “They all would be, too,” he added of Bexley’s parents and the grandmother that they were all so close to, including Alice, who had once lived in the home that Bexley’s grandmother had owned.

“Thank you,” she said.

Then, she looked over and saw Alex hugging her brother and sister-in-law. They both looked so happy for her, and it made Bexley’s smile grow even wider.

“How will it work? Can I ask that?” Stan asked. “I only know that Alice had the babies herself. And so did Elizabeth, right? Isn’t this complicated because you’re having them?” He nodded to Bexley.

“My father saw to it that the law was adjusted, but we did something else to help ensure there would be no issues,” Alex said and placed a gentle hand over Bexley’s belly.

“We used her egg and donor sperm,” Bexley explained and covered Alex’s hand with her own. “One of the reasons we wanted to start sooner than later. It’s a longer process, and we weren’t sure it would take, but it did, and now, we’re having a baby.”

“That’s amazing, you two,” Palmer said.

“Agreed,” Alex replied. “And we might decide to have another one or two later, but our plans might change, of course. For now, though, we’re both incredibly happy that we’re about to be parents, and we’re going to put all of our focus on this little one.”

“What is going on in here?” Alex’s mother said when she walked into the parlor with the King on her arm. Her eyes lowered to where Alex’s hand was positioned, and her hands went to her mouth. “No? Really?”

“Mother, Father, you’re about to be grandparents again. I hope you’re ready for it.”

“We are more than ready for it,” her mother replied and practically rushed toward Bexley to pull her in for a hug that Bexley hadn’t been expecting.

“Father,” Alex said and held out her hand for her father to shake.

Alex’s father pulled her into a hug instead, and Bexley heard him say, “I am very proud of you.”

“We used Alex’s egg,” Bexley said to the Queen. “I thought you should know, in case there end up being any issues later. I know you changed the law, and–”

“Oh, Sweetheart,” Alex’s mom said, interrupting her. “None of that matters to us. We know you wanted to be parents. Larry and his children would have carried on the line, as would the thousands of other relatives. I know I’m not the easiest woman to get along with where the country and duty are concerned, but I’ve always wanted my daughter to be happy. And you make her so very happy, Bexley. You and this little one will make her so happy, and I cannot wait to be a grandmother again.”

Bexley’s eyes welled with tears as she was pulled into another hug. She looked over and saw her two best friends in the world standing next to each other, smiling in her direction. Then, Bexley felt a soft yet firm hand in her own and knew that it was her wife’s. She pulled out of the hug and moved to Alex’s side.

“Are you going to be one of those overprotective partners, like Nora was with me?” Alice asked Alex.

“Oh, of course.”

“I’ve got tips, if you need them,” Nora told her.

“I might just,” Alex replied.

Bexley wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck and rested her face in her wife’s neck.

“You don’t need any tips. You’ll do a grape job, babe,” Bexley assured before she smiled at their inside joke.