“I can and I do.” She took her own deep breath and then plunged into a pool she had never swum in before. “I believe you love me, too. I really do.”
“I do love you, my precious wife. I do. Thank God you believe me…thank God.” He closed his eyes as if sending those thanks on the wings of angels and then opened them again. “From this point forward you will never again have cause to doubt it. I give you my word as a prince.”
“I believe you,” she said again, her heart burbling with a kind of happiness she had never known.
He leaned forward and kissed her. It was the most poignant meeting of their lips they had ever known, for it affirmed in a wholly nonsexual way that they were two halves of one whole. Always.
EPILOGUE
THE surgery was a complete success and, miraculously, so was the IVF procedure performed two months later. Therese’s doctor was shocked it had worked on the first try, but she wasn’t. After discovering Claudio loved her as she loved him, she didn’t find it all that difficult to believe in miracles anymore.
Her pregnancy was confirmed on the eve of Flavia and King Vincente’s wedding. The entire family rejoiced and were still rejoicing seven and a half months later when she gave birth to triplets, one girl and two boys. Although the babies were slightly premature and tiny, they were healthy and strong.
Their daughter was the oldest and when King Vincente laid his hand on her head and confirmed the right of progenitor, Therese almost fainted.
“I thought only males could inherit the throne.”
“Where did you get that archaic idea?” Claudio asked with a laugh. “Just because Scorsolini babies are almost always male, that does not mean we do not allow our daughters to inherit. We are a modern royal family…I keep telling you that.”
“But…you always talked about your nephew inheriting.”
“He’s the oldest.”
“Oh. So, she’s going to be a queen?”
“Just like her mama. Yes.”
Therese grinned, exhausted from the delivery, but happier than she’d ever been. “It wouldn’t have mattered. I would have loved her the same anyway.”
“Of course you would…our children will know nothing but love from us all the days of their lives.”
She smiled, her heart so filled with joy that some days she did not know if she could hold it all in. He’d been showing her his love in ways she could never mistake. He’d started with allowing his brothers to share more of the burden of leadership while his father was convalescing so he could oversee her return to health with minute attention.
He even stayed in the hospital with her and the tabloids had a heyday with it. Some poking fun, but most saying that it was obvious this royal family did not stick with the tradition of marrying for convenience. He had made huge inroads into spending more time together all the time and now when he traveled, she went with him.
Even when she’d been pregnant.
She reached out and took his hand, loving the feel of his long, strong fingers intertwined with hers. “I happen to know you are an expert at giving love, I have no doubts our children will know nothing but an abundance of that commodity from you.”
He grinned down at her.
And King Vincente smiled at them both. “The Scorsolini men are very lucky…we must raise my grandchildren to know the blessing of love the Scorsolinis are known for.”
Remembering the curse the king used to believe it was, Therese felt tears fill her eyes. “We’ll make sure they know the blessing of love, Papa.”
And they did…all the days of their lives.