Permanently Princess by Marianne Knightly

Author:Marianne Knightly
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter Eight

Nate caught up with Charlie in their apartment, standing just in the foyer.

“Charlie.”

She was breathing slowly, deliberately. “I’m sorry.”

Facing her, he put his hands on her shoulders. He wanted to pull her into his arms but sensed she needed some space. “What are you apologizing for?”

Her hands were once against twisting her shirt. “For…for…causing that?”

“You didn’t cause that. That was my family being monumental assholes, a rare occurrence but something that happens nonetheless.”

“I knew this would happen. I knew it. They’ll hate you now, too.”

Too? “Charlie, they don’t hate you.”

“We should have told them sooner. Or maybe never.”

“It shouldn’t matter when we told them. Their reaction was unacceptable and extreme. Charlie, why did you decide to reveal our news? We’d decided that I’d be the one to do it.”

She sighed. “I know. But, well, I figured your parents might be upset. I figured they’d be more upset at the person who actually said it, for a while anyway. So I thought by announcing it I could take some of the heat off of you. Stupid, right?”

He stilled as her words send a comforting wave of warmth through his body.

His Charlotte. So giving, though she never thought of herself like that. She so rarely took, as she grew up never getting, never trusting. She’d trusted him. Not only with her body, but with her heart and her future. He wondered if he’d ever be able to give enough back to her.

Now he couldn’t resist pulling her against him. He kissed her forehead. “No, Charlotte-mine. It wasn’t stupid. It was incredibly kind and sweet. Just like you.”

She shook her head and kept her face down, hidden from him. “That’s not me.”

“You never see yourself clearly.”

“I’d say that you never see me clearly.”

“Charlie.”

“They hate me,” she whispered.

His heart broke for her. “They don’t hate you.”

The tears were falling now, a slow few drops that would lead to a steady stream. She so rarely cried. His Charlie was too tough for that or felt that she needed to be tougher than that. “You’ll have to choose now.”

He cupped her face and tilted it until their eyes met. “No, I won’t. My family—our family—are acting like assholes, but they’ll apologize.”

She started shaking her head again, but he kept speaking.

“We’re married. I love you. I’m pathetically, desperately in love with you.”

She huffed a half-hearted snort.

“I am.” One of his hands shifted down her body to rest over her womb. Both of their faces tipped down to watch. “I’m also desperately in love with our child.”

“Nate.”

“How could I not love something that’s half you?”

“God, Nate. That’s one of the nicest things you’ve ever said to me. But your family—”

“Will deal with this and show us the respect we deserve.” His voice was hard now, unrelenting. “I won’t have you or our child made to feel they’re not wanted.” His family had made him feel that way at times, and he wouldn’t stand for it anymore. Not with him, not with Charlie, nor with their child.

She wiped away the trickle of tears on her cheek.

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