Playing Dirty (A Bad Boy Sports Romance) (42 page)

Epilogue

Keira

Three years later

“I can’t believe you actually bought me a vacuum cleaner for our anniversary…”

I grinned over at Andrew, while James bounced up and down on my lap. “Well, I did promise you a long time ago that I’d teach you how to use one,” I replied.

He chuckled. “True. I’ll have to use it soon. I think James shredded a piece of paper in his room. I was just in there, and it looks like it snowed all over the carpet.”

I looked down at our son, who currently had the most angelic expression known to man on his face. “James…is that true?” I asked.

His eyes widened as he looked up at me, and he shook his head and stuck a finger in his mouth. Andrew laughed. “He’s just like his father. Absolute scoundrel.”

I smiled, gently rubbing our toddler’s back. He was two and a half now, and it was incredible to see him growing so much every day. Andrew had been with me in the hospital when I’d given birth to him, and he’d been a hands-on father ever since James took his first breath. We had a nanny to help out whenever we had to attend to royal duties, but we still tried to spend as much time as we possibly could with our son, and we were both looking forward to adding to our family very soon.

Speaking of which, I had another anniversary surprise for Andrew…but that could wait a while. We had a busy day ahead of us.

“So Michael and Sarah’s flight will be arriving at three,” Andrew said, glancing down at his watch.

“Yep. I can’t wait to see them!”

Of all the people in the entire world that Sarah could’ve chosen to finally settle down with, she’d picked Andrew’s brother. She’d come to visit us in London not long after I’d given birth to James, and Michael had been home from one of his new charity endeavors at the time. They were total opposites in every single way, yet they’d somehow hit it off, and they were still going strong. They seemed to balance each other out, and it was good to see how much Michael had relaxed in the last few years. It was also great to see Sarah finding a new love for the first time in years; someone she could really be with. She’d been helping him with a charity he’d set up in central Africa, and they were due back this afternoon after spending six months there.

As for Andrew and me, we’d been keeping busy as well, which probably went without saying, given the fact that we had a toddler. When I had time in between raising him and dealing with my new royal obligations, I gave guest lectures on art history at several universities around the country, and I’d also finished my book on hidden royal masterpieces and had it published about a year ago. While it was never going to sell as much as an E.L. James book, it had done quite well, and I’d had several letters from people telling me that my book had inspired them to learn more about art, which I was really proud of.

Andrew had been doing his best to serve Britain as a Counsellor of State, seeing as he’d squandered so many years in his early twenties acting like a buffoon and partying all the time, and his popularity had shot up even more. I knew he’d make a great King one day, and he’d approach the job with a sense of modernity that had been sorely lacking in previous monarchs. On top of that, the general public loved the new dedicated family man image he had going on, and his mother loved it even more. She was still the Queen, and therefore often busy, but she still made as much time as she could to play with her grandson.

And soon, she’d have to make even more time…

“Andrew,” I said, putting James down for a second so I could stand up. “Remember when you proposed to me? And you’d been planning on waiting longer for some big perfect moment….and instead you ended up proposing in my bedroom that morning?”

He smiled. “Hard to forget. Why?”

I took a deep breath. “Well, I have something to tell you. I was going to wait till later, till after our anniversary dinner tonight, because I thought that’d make a good moment. But I have to tell you now, because I just can’t hold this secret in any longer.”

He sighed. “I knew it. James’ real father is Brad Pitt. No wonder he’s such a handsome boy.”

I grinned and rolled my eyes. One thing that had never changed over the years was Andrew’s shockingly bad sense of humor. “All jokes aside, I really do have some big news to share.”

His eyes twinkled, and I had a feeling that he knew exactly what was coming. “What is it?” he asked, grabbing my hand.

“We’re having another baby. I don’t know if it’s a girl or boy yet; it’s too early to tell. But—”

I was cut off by Andrew pulling me into a hug and holding me tight against his hard chest. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a boy or girl,” he murmured against my ear. He sounded a little choked up with emotion. “As long as he or she is healthy and happy, just like James.”

With that, he pulled back and sank down to his knees before kissing my stomach, and I smiled and watched, gently rubbing his hair as I contemplated our future together.

I’d read a lot of fairytales as a child, and I’d always loved losing myself in the imaginary worlds. However, I’d always known that they were just stories; fantasies that never actually happened and probably never would.

But now it
had
happened.

Through our love, Andrew and I had made our dreams and fantasies come true, and we’d made our very own happily-ever-after happen.

This was our fairytale.

THE END