Page 20 of Twins for the Secret Prince (Even More Babies #8)

EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER: EVA

“ T his is it,” Pieter said, as he and Eva swayed to the music playing quietly in the background. “Our big day is finally here.”

“I can’t believe it’s happening so soon,” Eva said, burying her face in his neck.

“Although I guess you could say that getting married two years after we first met is not really so soon,” Pieter replied, kissing the top of her head.

“You’re right, wrong choice of words. What I meant was that I’ve been thinking about this day for so long, and now that it’s here, it feels like it snuck up on me.”

“Well, you have been kind of busy with other things,” Pieter said, rubbing his hand up and down her back.

“We’ve both been busy,” Eva said, tipping her head back so that he could kiss her.

And they had been. Babies were tiring, Eva had discovered. Having two babies was doubly tiring. Having two babies with the stamina and stubbornness they’d inherited from both of their parents meant that Eva could no longer remember what it was like to not be tired.

They were fortunate, though, in that the senior officers at their base had been very accommodating, both throughout Eva’s pregnancy and once the babies arrived.

She and Pieter had been allowed to take generous parental leave, and their working hours had been adjusted so that one or the other parent was home with the children at all times.

It was an ideal arrangement, which meant that Eva and Pieter were able to share parenting duties while still maintaining the career focus and drive they were both known for.

However, Eva knew that Pieter was the one who’d made the real sacrifices in order that they could live the way they were living. He’d given up his career in the Laagestein military and had moved away from his family there, all so that Eva did not have to make those choices.

His family, too — his parents, brother and young nephews — had made sacrifices, and Eva knew that they must miss Pieter each and every day. But, to their great credit, they only ever acted happy for Pieter and Eva, and took obvious delight in watching the babies grow up, albeit from a distance.

“What time do your parents arrive again?” Eva asked.

“Early. Around six.” The helicopter that was transporting Pieter’s family members was due to land on the military base where Pieter, Eva and their children would meet them.

“I’ll bet you can’t wait to see them.”

“It’s going to be great. My mother’s no doubt going to carry one if not two babies around with her every minute of the day.”

Eva laughed at the mental picture he’d created. “Little does she know that these two are gold medal contenders in squirming and resisting being held.”

They both laughed out loud and then Pieter said quickly, “Shh. Don’t wake them. We’ll never get them back to sleep again.”

It was true. The twins had been so excited at the rehearsal that it had been nigh on impossible to get them to sleep just a couple of hours earlier.

Neither had wanted to take off their good clothes after the rehearsal ended, and they’d looked so adorable — Mila in her long dress, Max in his tiny suit — that Eva and Pieter decided just to let them run around in their formal wear until they were tired out.

Finally, at bedtime, Eva had taken off Mila’s dress.

Eyes closed, her face creased with a huge smile, Mila had reached out her chubby little arms and wrapped them around her mother’s neck.

Eva’s heart had melted to see her daughter so happy.

And, Eva knew, Mila’s energy and happiness levels would be off the charts when her grandparents, aunt and uncle, and nephews arrived.

She was sure the same went for little Max — and for Pieter too.

Eva still felt shy around Pieter’s family because she barely knew them and felt guilty about taking Pieter away from Laagestein.

This precious time with Pieter’s family would enable Eva to show them some of the best that Alaska had to offer, and to make sure that they got unlimited access to Pieter and the twins. It was the least she could do.

Throughout the wedding day, Pieter’s mother lived up to her son’s expectations, carrying one or both of the twins around at all times.

Mila and Max, for their part, squirmed as much as Eva had predicted, but in a way that suggested they didn’t really want their grandmother to put them down.

At one point, Eva spotted Pieter’s father on the ground behind the dining gazebo, rolling around in the grass with both of the twins.

She didn’t hear Pieter approach until he was standing right beside her. “I’m telling you, he never did anything like that with Jan and me. And he’d have barked at us not to get our suits dirty.”

“The magic spell of grandchildren, I guess,” Eva said proudly.

Pieter pulled her close, and kissed her tenderly. “Are you sure you’re not upset that your parents aren’t here?”

“You know what, I’m okay,” Eva said truthfully. Though she and her parents were on speaking terms, they were not an active part of each other’s lives, which Eva found to be for the best.

The people she wanted at her wedding consisted of Pieter and the twins, her close and trusted colleagues in the military, and Pieter’s family.

She was delighted to be spending time with Pieter’s family members, who’d proven themselves to be warm and kind to her and the twins, not to mention completely charming and full of life.

The wedding ceremony itself was small and intimate, with fewer than twenty people in attendance. Pieter’s mother had sobbed quietly into her handkerchief throughout its entirety. As soon as the ceremony was over, she pulled Eva to one side.

“Eva, my darling daughter-in-law, I’m so sorry. I hope you know that my crying was not from sadness.”

“Please don’t apologize,” Eva said sincerely. “Weddings are very emotional affairs.”

“They are indeed, but that wasn’t why I was crying.”

“Oh?”

“It’s just that I was so worried that my dear sweet Pieter was never going to find love. And then you came along, and now he has everything he ever wanted.”

“Oh, well, thank you for saying so. I’m very happy too.”

“I can see that, my darling girl,” Madeleine said, pulling Eva into a tight hug. “Now, why don’t we go and pose for some photographs and then get the party started.”

An hour later, Eva discovered that the queen of Laagestein liked a party.

More to the point, she loved dancing. Although the band wasn’t scheduled to start playing until after the wedding dinner, as soon as they arrived to set up, Pieter’s mother marched right over and insisted that they play a few numbers right there and then.

Apparently, seventies disco was the queen’s favorite music to dance to, and Eva had to smile as the royal family of Laagestein cut a rug on the makeshift dance floor.

Although she’d never have guessed it from his line dancing the night at the roadhouse, Pieter was a great dancer — to disco music, at least — and her heart flooded with joy to see him teaching some moves to their highly energetic twins and their cousins.

But Pieter’s parents saved their biggest surprise for the after-dinner speeches. Pieter’s father, the king consort of Laagestein, gave a moving speech about his love for his youngest son and how happy he was to see Pieter settling into his new life in Alaska with such ease.

“Although I wish we all lived under the same roof, all I have to do is look up at the stars and know that we’re not really separated by such a great distance after all.

Your mother and I are very impressed that you’ve chosen this beautiful part of the world as your home, the place where you are raising your own family. ”

Pieter’s mother stood up quickly and grabbed the microphone from her husband. “Eva, Pieter, we were going to keep this a secret until after your wedding was over, but you know me — I can’t keep secrets.”

“So true,” Pieter’s father said, causing a ripple of laughter among the guests.

“We’re sorry we didn’t arrive until the morning of your wedding, but there was a good reason for that. We wanted to make it all official before telling you the news.”

Eva looked at Pieter, who shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he had no idea what the big news was.

“We’ve fallen in love with this part of the world, too. But more than that, we don’t want to have to wait so long in between visits to see all of you. We’ve bought a house just a few miles up the road. We’re going to be your neighbors!”

“Which might actually be the opposite of a wedding gift,” Pieter’s brother said, loudly enough that everyone overheard him. But he was smiling, and he joined in with all of the other guests, cheering and clapping at the happy news.

“Does that mean you’ll be spending more time here, too?” Pieter asked Jan.

Jan nodded. “Yes, although the deal is that I’ll keep my eye on things when they’re over here, and then I’ll get my chance to come and stay for a while. Are you sure this is okay with you?” he asked the newlyweds.

“Absolutely!” they said in unison.

“I can’t wait to spend more time getting to know you all,” Eva said truthfully.

“Be careful what you wish for,” Jan replied, laughing.

A few minutes later, it was time for Pieter’s speech. He gave Eva a lingering kiss before standing up and addressing the guests. “I’ve never told anyone this before, but my wife is the most powerful woman I know.”

Eva looked around at their smiling guests, anxious about what was coming next.

“She actually engineered a landslide to get me alone. Yes, you heard that right — a landslide !”

He paused as their guests laughed and cheered, and Eva put her head in her hands.

“Now, you might be wondering how she managed it, and I have to be honest with you — I have no idea. All I know is that it must have been part of her cunning plan to get me alone with her.”

Cheers and whistles erupted, and Eva shot Pieter a what are you doing look, which was greeted by more laughter.

“I know that there is a tradition in wedding speeches to say things about the bride and groom that they’d rather keep secret. So I’m going to tell you what my wife does not want you to hear.”

As the guests erupted in laughter again, Eva said under her breath, “Pieter, what are you doing? Think of the children!”

Pieter winked at Eva and smiled. “So here it is — my wife’s secret. She can move mountains for the people she cares about. As you’ve already guessed, I mean this literally as well as metaphorically. She has a heart of gold, but her core is made of molten steel.”

He paused and gave Eva a huge smile. She felt her shoulders relax as she realized that Pieter wasn’t going to tell their guests about what happened between them that night.

“When we got caught in the landslide that day, we were carried to a very dangerous spot. The only way we could get to safety was by throwing ourselves in the river, which I realize might sound more dangerous to you than just waiting, exposed on the rocks, to be rescued.”

“How exposed were you, Pieter?” a voice Eva couldn’t identify called out.

Pieter smiled and shook his head. “I didn’t want to do it, let me tell you, but when Eva told me it was the only way, I believed her. I trusted her because she’s smart and experienced.”

He picked up his champagne glass and held it in the air. “And I was right to trust her, because Eva rescued me from the river that day. I jumped in too soon, and she barely had time to get to safety herself before she hauled me out of the water. She saved my life.”

Eva reached up and grabbed Pieter’s free hand, smiling back at him through her tears.

“She saved my life, and then she gave me this life. This most wonderful life. I get to spend every day of the rest of my life with her. I can’t believe how fortunate we are to have these two wonderful, smart and funny little rascals right here.”

As if on cue, Mila and Max popped their heads up from their hiding place under the table, grinning at the laughter and applause their sudden appearance generated.

“Let’s raise a toast to my wife, Eva, the most amazing woman in the world!”

“To Eva!”

Eva cried tears of pure happiness as her husband’s words sunk in. She’d never felt more loved in her entire life. She stood up and hugged Pieter tightly, and then he kissed her, his kiss conveying all of the feelings — tender and strong — that he’d just communicated in his speech.

“You are my best gift,” Eva whispered through her tears.

“Your best wedding gift?” Pieter asked playfully.

“My best ever gift,” she said, hoping that, with those few words, she was able to make him feel as thoroughly loved as she knew she was. “Along with those wonderful, smart and funny little rascals.”

After dinner, there was plenty more dancing, and then Pieter and Eva — hand in hand with the twins — led the guests down to the shore of the lake, where they watched as an extended fireworks display lit up the night sky, reflected in the crystal-clear, still water.

As the twins squealed with delight, Eva kissed her husband and said, “Thank you for choosing us, Pieter. Thank you for all of the sacrifices you’ve made and are still making, each and every day, to be with us.”

“Eva, my sweetheart, look at all of this,” he said gently, gesturing at the lake with the mountains stretching out in the background, at the stars that twinkled in the indigo-blue sky. “I’m not exactly being a martyr here. This is pretty spectacular. You’re spectacular,” he said, kissing her again.

“I love you, whether you’re Pete Billings or Pieter de Winter,” Eva said, leaning in for another kiss.

“And I love you, Sergeant Major Eva Bailey de Winter. Even if I’ll never know just how you caused the landslide that day.”

Eva smiled and kissed him again as the cascade of fireworks framed their perfect joy.

The End

I hope you’ve enjoyed Eva and Pieter’s story!