The Wild Heir(87)

She cocks a brow. “Is getting him going another way of saying getting drunk?”

I laugh. “Pretty much.”

“I feel awful for him to lose his wife like that.”

“And leave him with his two young daughters.”

Her eyes go round, and she lets out a soft gasp. “Daughters? You never told me he has kids.”

I take out an assortment of colored ties. “Yup. Sweet girls too. You know, as far as children go.”

She pauses, putting down the dress for a second. “You’re not a fan of kids?”

I shrug because I haven’t thought about it either way, and then I realize who I’m talking to.

My wife to be.

“You just shrugged…” she says.

“Sorry,” I tell her, giving her a quick smile. “I’ve honestly never thought about it.”

“You’ve never thought about it?”

I shrug again, and I can tell that’s driving her crazy. She’s getting that fiery look in her eyes.

“I don’t know what to say,” I tell her. “It’s just never been on my agenda. What, has it been on yours? You’re only twenty-two.”

She puts her hands on her hips. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I frown. “That you’re young, and you shouldn’t be thinking about shit like that.”

“Shit. Like. That?” she repeats slowly, and now I know I’ve entered the danger zone.

No choice now but to back away slowly.

I pick up a purple tie and start waving it around. “This is a white flag. I surrender. Let’s not argue.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “It’s too late for that. The door has been opened and I am stepping in.”

I give her an odd look. “That’s not the wittiest saying you ever had…”

“Magnus, just because I’m young doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about having children, because I have.” I open my mouth to speak, and she raises her finger to cut me off. “And before you say anything ignorant, it’s not because I’m a woman either. I just happen to want them, and I know that already.”

Oh. There’s no reason for that to surprise me at all and yet it does. Goes to show I probably should have had this on my radar. “Okay. Good to know.”

She shakes her head slightly, looking pained. “I can’t believe I didn’t think to discuss this with you before I signed the contract.”

“Why? What would you have done? Put a baby in there with one of the clauses? First house, then dog, then baby?”

“Oh, come on,” she snaps. “You know it would have been good to at least discuss it. I eventually want kids. Don’t you?” She quickly adds, “And don’t you dare shrug.”

I mentally will my shoulders to stay down. “To be honest, Ella, I never gave it any thought.”

“But you’re the heir to the throne. Your whole, I don’t know, business is based on handing down this position to the next in line. Who does it go to after you?”

I manage to get one shoulder up in a shrug before she spears me with her eyes. “I don’t know. Cristina? Irene? One of them.”

“Magnus.”

“What?” I throw my arms out. “What do you want me to say?”

“Didn’t you think you’d get married?”

“I never thought about it either.”

“You just assumed you would stay single for the rest of your life?”

It sounds dumb when she says it like that, but, “Yeah.”

“I can’t believe you,” she says softly, staring blankly down at the ties.

“Wait, what? I just never gave any thought about the future before, it was like it didn’t exist. Ella, you can’t get mad over things I thought before I met you. That’s not fair.”

She looks at me with forlorn eyes. “But you only met me six weeks ago.”

“Things change. They’ve changed big time. We’re getting married!”

“Because you have to!”

“No. No, because I want to. You should know that by now, please.”

She’s shaking her head, pressing her lips together until they’re a thin white line.

I sigh and come around over to her, grabbing her hands, making her drop the dress. “Ella. Look at me.”

Reluctantly she raises her head.

“We’ll get through this,” I tell her gently.

“Through what?” she asks, searching my eyes. “There is so much for us to get through already.”

“I know this has been really stressful and hard on you and you’re handling it so well, but you just need to handle it for a little more. In two weeks we’ll be married.”

“In two weeks I might be married to a man who doesn’t want children.”

“That’s not fair.”

She moves out of my grasp. “No, it’s not fair. I always thought I would have kids one day, especially if I got married.”

I bite my lip, staring at the carpet for a long beat. “Yeah, but…” I look back at her. “Didn’t you also see yourself having kids with someone that you loved?”

And there it is.

There’s the elephant in the room that has been following us from room to room to room throughout our entire engagement.