Disclaimer: All characters (with the exception of the ones I’ve created) are owned by Pixelberry and I claim no ownership of them. Enjoy!
Their friends left the next morning to continue on the last leg of the Unity Tour. Riley and Drake came downstairs to see Bianca, Savannah, and Riley’s family with Jess standing around in their kitchen. Drake scanned the room for a second, taking in his family meshing perfectly with hers as they shared a laugh over coffee. Bianca was standing in front of the stove, a buffet of eggs, pancakes, and bacon cooking in front of her. He noticed her brothers standing next to each other and realized now he had brothers. Actual brothers. They were no more connected to him than Liam was realistically, but he married into a large family. James was the first to see him and walked over to pat Drake enthusiastically on the shoulder.
“Morning, son,” he said with a smile.
Son. Another man called him son. For the first time in 16 years, he was a man’s son again. The first time they spoke came flooding into his memory.
“Hi Mr. Johnson. It’s Drake Walker.”
“Yes! Hi Drake! It’s so good to finally get to talk to you. Riley has told me a lot about you.”
“All good things I hope?” How cliché. He shook his head at himself. His nerves were getting the best of him.
“They most certainly were.”
“I’m glad to hear it. I, uh, wanted to apologize for not talking to you sooner, specifically before asking Riley to marry me. I hadn’t planned on doing it at that moment. I much rather would have spoken to you first.”
“I understand. The whole thing has been a bit of a whirlwind for all of us. Riley has always been a free spirit. Most parents would probably go batshit if their kid left to fly across the country with strangers, but for her it was just another Saturday.”
“She’s definitely one for an adventure, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, she’s always been our wild child.” James laughed.
“Speaking of us getting married, I need a little bit of a favor from you and your family.”
“Sure! What can we do for ya?”
“Well, given our new circumstances of Riley leading a duchy, we’re on the verge of being denied a more intimate ceremony that we were originally planning.”
“You mean being married in front of royals isn’t intimate?”
“Heh. No, not exactly on my list of things I want to do.”
“So what’s the favor?”
“I want to surprise her with a small wedding before the big one. I’d like for you and Mrs. Johnson and her siblings to come to Texas if that’s something you guys would be able to do.”
“A surprise wedding huh?” he paused, “I’m not one to turn down seeing the look of shock on her face. It’s hard to pull off.”
“So is that a yes?” Drake grinned.
“That’s a hell yes. We wouldn’t miss it for the world. I wasn’t sure we’d be able to make it to the big wedding because of work. The law firm is busting my chops about taking time off and with Lynn working so much at the hospital it’ll be a crap shoot on whether we’ll be able to get out there so this is a perfect opportunity in case we can’t.”
“Then it’s settled. I can’t wait to meet you guys.”
“We’re very excited to meet this prince charming that’s swept our little girl off her feet.”
“Liam was the prince, I’m just a commoner.”
“We’re all commoners here, bud. You’ll fit right in.”
Drake snapped back into current time at the sound of his mother’s voice.
“Alright, I hope you guys are hungry because I made about 5 people too many’s worth of food.”
The newly bound family sat around the table. Riley sat to Drake’s right, his mother to his left. Savannah sat on Bianca’s other side and Jack was sandwiched between her and Lynn. Next to Lynn was James, then Greyson, Chrissy, and then Jess sat between her and Riley. Their voices faded as Drake looked around, taking in all the new people he had to look forward to spending time with. For once he enjoyed company. When his dad died, it was always just him, his mom, and his sister. Life just the three of them never felt complete. He felt like he hadn’t had a real family since his mom had left, and that feeling only got worse when Savannah followed. But now Riley had given him two brothers, a sister, another mom, and a dad. Her family was the kind that just pulled you right in as soon as you met them. They made you feel welcomed and comfortable. He could see where Riley got it from. For the first time in years, he had a real family. He’d never be able to repay her for all that she’d given him, but he’d spend his whole life trying.
The rest of the day was spent hanging around their home, playing games, eating food, and genuinely enjoying their time together. Riley hadn’t seen her family in almost a year, and Drake knew she’d been missing them even if she never really said it. He looked over at one point to see Riley and Jess talking in a corner.
“I cannot believe you are going to run a duchy. Or that you turned down marrying a king. Or that you’re moving so damn far away!” Jess leaned in towards Riley and grabbed her hand. “This is crazy, you know that right?”
“I know, but a lot has happened in the last year. I’m almost like a celebrity over there. People cheer and wave when I’m around crowds. They dubbed me ‘the American’. I’m not the only American, at least.”
“You’re not?”
“No, Drake is half American. His mom’s house is not far from here. She’s from Texas, his dad was from Cordonia.”
“Nice. A good ol’ southern boy,” Jess said with a southern twang.
“Hardly,” Riley laughed, “he lived in Cordonia his whole life. More like a good ol’ Mediterranean boy.”
“Exotic men are great, too! Speaking of which, Jesus Christ your husband is one of the hottest people I’ve ever seen. He looks like a Roman statue.”
“I can’t argue with you there,” She wiggled her eyebrows, “but he’s more of a Greek statue.”
“Liam is also one of the hottest people I’ve ever seen. Did you guys sleep together?!”
“Jesus, Jess!”
“What? Your best friend can’t be curious?” She stared at Riley with expectant eyes.
“If you MUST know, yes, we did.”
“Who’s better?”
“JESS!”
“No one can hear us. Come on. Spill.”
Riley let out a defeated sigh.
“It’s like comparing chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Both are good, but in different ways. One is strong and rich, one is simple and sweet.”
“Drake’s the chocolate isn’t he?”
“Well if you stood Liam and Drake side by side, which would be which?”
Jess looked over at Drake, who was talking to Greyson about the football game that was on the TV in the living room and examined him with intensity.
“Drake is definitely chocolate.”
“Yes, Drake is definitely chocolate.” She stared at her husband with the same doe-eyes as the night before.
“So why did you say no to Liam anyways?”
“You know, when Maxwell asked me to go to Cordonia, I thought it was a great opportunity to see the world and maybe fall in love with Liam. We’d shared an instant bond. But the longer the social season went on, things got really complicated. I’m not one to admit defeat, but I will say I might have gotten in a little over my head at some points. Drake is Liam’s best friend and Liam had told him to keep an eye on me. Some crazy shit went down and long story short Drake and I just kind of happened somewhere along the way. It really sucked to say no to Liam. And I mean really sucked, but my heart just wasn’t in it.”
“That sounds like a soap opera.”
“Soap operas are way less eventful than what I went through.”
“At any rate, Drake seems like a really great guy. He fits into the family really well.”
“Yeah, I noticed that too. It kind of feels like a dream seeing you all in the same place. Liam is an amazing guy, but I just kind of feel like he never would have really fit in here, you know? He’s a great friend, but I’m guessing the properness of nobility is why they marry within each other and not normal citizens. That divide between social classes and upbringing is just too big of a hurdle to jump.”
“Well,” Jess shrugged, “he’s a hot king and you got to sleep with him so at least you can cross ‘fuck royalty’ off your bucket list.”
“Well it wasn’t exactly up there next to skydiving and driving a Lamborghini on the Autobahn but I guess I’ll take it.”
Greyson followed Drake’s gaze over to his sister and Jess sitting in the dining room. He looked towards his new brother and elbowed him.
“What do you suppose those ladies are talking about?” He asked as he took a swig of his beer.
“I’m almost afraid to know.”
“I don’t blame you. I’ve known Jess since I was 6, and let me tell you, if you think Ri is crazy, Jess makes her look like a saint.”
“Yikes.”
“BIG yikes.”
“So are you enjoying your time here in Texas?” Drake leaned back into the couch and rested his whiskey between his legs.
“Yeah! I’ve never been this far west. It’s nice out here. Pretty much as I imagined Texas would be, just less tumbleweeds and cows.”
“It’s mostly horses here, but there’s a lot of cow pastures farther out from town.”
“I have to say, man, it’s cool Riley found a good dude. When she called us from Europe we all kind of freaked a little. We imagined she got, like, kidnapped and was being sold into some sort of weird royal slavery.”
“Heh. Nah, we’re a pretty safe bunch. Except Maxwell. Watch out for that one.”
“I caught on to that pretty quick. Who was that girl he was with?”
“Hana?”
“She was gorgeous, man.”
“Hana is definitely a beautiful woman.”
“So how did you and my sister happen anyway? Something about some pictures and some pervert?”
“Long story or short?” Drake took a long drink from his glass.
“Well I’m here with nowhere to go. Hit me with the long story.”
“Alright,” Drake cleared his throat, “we went into Walker… Riley’s… work to grab a bite between bar hoping. It was Liam’s bachelor party. It was kind of awkward, if I’m being honest. I noticed her right away, before she even came to our table. She came over and took our orders and in the middle of it Liam walked in and it was the most ostentatious display of fireworks I’ve ever seen between two people. She ended up coming out with us afterwards to show us around New York and they snuck off at some point. Maxwell had the bright idea to bring her on a suitor since they didn’t have anyone for their house, which honestly I was kind of pissed about. I knew it was going to be a wild ride for her, and I thought it was kind of shitty they were just thrusting her into this royal dog-and-pony show and weren’t really being upfront about how terrible nobility can be. Anyways, Liam found out she was there and made me keep an eye on her. Babysitting your sister was like babysitting an actual toddler. She wouldn’t listen to jack shit and she kept getting herself in trouble. My room was right next to hers in the palace and I heard her scream one night and one of the nobles was putting the moves on her in her room and she just wasn’t having it. I went in a told him to get the hell out but not before some asshole paparazzi got a shot of them and smeared her name all over the tabloids about her being unfaithful to the king. Naturally they forced her to withdraw and we spent the better part of three months tracking down where the guy who was in her room went. Turns out he was in LA. He made a statement to the press and cleared her name.” Drake glanced over at Greyson, who had a look of shock on his face. “Yeah, dude. I know. But I had feelings for her before she was framed that I ignored, or at least tried to. Once she was kicked out of the running we started spending a lot of time together and her heart just wasn’t in it anymore to be a queen. Eventually she admitted that she felt the same as I did and when we relieved her from all the drama, Liam broke off his engagement to his then-fiancé and asked Riley to marry him. She said no because she had feelings for me and here we are.”
Silence hung in the air for a few moments while Greyson processed all the information.
“Damn,” he let out a heavy sigh.
“I know. It almost doesn’t even sound real when I say it out loud. Unfortunately, it was real and a very stressful experience for everyone. At least she wasn’t the one that got shot. I couldn’t have lived with myself if she had been.”
“Who got shot?!” Greyson leaned forward in his seat.
“Oh, well… I did. She didn’t tell you much about her time over there did she?”
“No, not really. We texted and all but… why did you get shot?!”
“There was an attack on the palace. Someone was trying to threaten her and I kind of jumped in front of the gun to stop her from taking the hit. Took one right in the shoulder.”
“That’s insane! Did they catch who did it?”
“No, not yet. But we’re assuming it was the same people that ended up killing Liam’s father.”
Suddenly Greyson threw his arms around Drake’s shoulders and Drake patted him awkwardly on the arm.
“Thanks for saving my sister, man,” Greyson said as he pulled away.
“I didn’t even think about it but I’d do it again, though now she has a security detail so I’m not sure I’ll have to. At least I hope I won’t. Getting shot fucking sucks.”
The family stood on the front porch and said their goodbyes. James pulled his daughter close and hugged her for the last time.
“Take care of yourself, baby girl.”
“I will, daddy.” Riley attempted, and failed, to hold back tears.
“And you,” he turned to Drake, “keep her safe, son. I know she can be a bit of a pain in the ass but she’s your pain in the ass. Just remember to take her down a few pegs when she starts gettin’ high and mighty. Usually her brothers do that, but it’s your job now.” His New York accent carried thick through the words as he extended his hand to Drake.
“You have my word, sir.” He gave James’ hand a firm shake and nodded confidently.
The Johnson’s got into their cars and left, leaning out the windows and waving. Riley and Drake did the same and he wrapped an arm around her waist. They stood outside for a few minutes watching the wheat field across the street sway in the evening breeze. She wrapped her arms around his torso and laid her head on his shoulder.
“They really like you, you know.”
“Glad to hear it. I like them, too.” He kissed the top of her head.
“I know.” She grinned.
“I told your dad next time we met up here that I’d take him out riding on the horses and show him the rest of the place. He also wants to go out shooting.”
“Do you even know how to shoot, Drake?” She asked, temporarily forgetting his past work history. Sometimes she forgot the people they used to be altogether.
“Oh sweetheart, I could ping a golf ball off that cute little nose of yours.”
“Yeah?”
“Mmhmm. I was trained extensively in firearms. Had I had my gun on me that night I got shot, that guy would have been dead before he even had the chance to draw his weapon.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Drake stood silent, replaying the night over in his head. He reflectively rolled his left shoulder. It felt good, almost like he’d never been shot. He was lucky and he knew it. The doctors were afraid there would be nerve damage but it was functioning at 95 percent, only hurting when he moved it too quick and strained the muscle, ailments they told him would probably wane over time with a little therapy.
“You know, I’m not really sure. Part of me was hoping Liam had a change of heart and was going to pick someone else, I guess. Madeline had been a clear front runner and was Regina’s and Constantine’s favorite and they had a lot of pull. Maybe I was making sure that if you didn’t get offered the crown that I’d be able to just pick you up and take off with you. Couldn’t let a little gun get in the way.”
“Well could you teach me to shoot?”
“Is it bad that the thought of you holding a weapon is giving me a chubby?”
Riley threw her head back and laughed. She playfully ran a hand down his stomach and landed over his zipper only to find that he wasn’t kidding.
“You’re an unbalanced individual, Drake.”
“Yeah well you just married me so what does that say about you?”
He kneeled down and threw her over his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her legs as he stood and she laughed and squealed, kicking her feet out behind her.
“Put me down!”
“Nah. You’re coming upstairs with me.”