Prince's Christmas Baby Surprise--A heart-warming Christmas romance not to miss in 2021 by Ellie Darkins

Author:Ellie Darkins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-09-12T20:31:05+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE TEN DAYS until Christmas had stretched before her like an eternity, making her wonder how she was going to fill the time. For a ‘small’ wedding with only a handful of guests, it seemed to require just as much planning as the largest society wedding. And as much as she and Gio had told his parents and their staff that they didn’t need to sign off on every detail, still the questions kept coming. About menus, vows, music, candles. The only area where Hailey truly had an opinion was, of course, the flowers.

She sat with the head gardener and the palace florist, talking about what was in season locally, what was flowering in the greenhouses, what displays had already been planned for the holidays and could be adapted for a wedding.

She walked in the forest with the groundskeepers, pointing out foliage for garlands to be strung, wound and arranged around the morning room where the ceremony would take place and the stairs where the Queen was insisting that they had formal photographs taken. They had at least managed to draw the line at a press conference on the wedding day itself. Instead they had promised official engagement photographs in exchange for an embargo on the news until Christmas Eve and the press keeping their distance from the wedding itself.

She had a video conference with her ob-gyn in New York and a local specialist she and Gio had chosen, to ensure her continuity of care whether they were in Adria or New York.

She now stood looking at the rail of dresses that Gio’s private secretary had sent over for approval. It was Christmas Eve, snowing, below freezing outdoors, which meant it was barely above that temperature in the vast formal rooms of the palace. How was she meant to choose what to wear? This was more than just what she liked and what was comfortable. The dress she chose today would be photographed and shared around the world in an instant. This outfit was going to be all that people knew about her. If she chose a designer outfit, would she look out of touch? If she went high street, was she going to be the commoner who was dragging the royal family and the whole of Adria into the gutter she’d emerged from?

She flicked through the rail: navy trouser suit, emerald shift dress, a deep ruby wrap dress cut on the bias, with a cascade of pleats to the front. Well, that would solve the baby bump issue, she supposed, which had suddenly decided to make itself known on the morning of the photoshoot. She checked the notes that Gio’s chamberlain had provided with each outfit, with the details about where each item had come from.

This one was from an up-and-coming Adrian designer. A one-off piece. She held the dress up in front of her in the mirror and smiled at how the colour added roses to her cheeks and brought out the chestnut tones in her hair.

She turned her head at a knock at the door and raised an eyebrow at Gio in question when he walked in.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.