Page 35 of Falling for the Queen Mother

"Nate?" Alaina's sleepy voice caught his attention before he realized she'd used his nickname, something he didn't think she'd ever done before.

"Go back to sleep," he told her, keeping his voice soft.

Instead, she pushed herself into a sitting position with her back to the headboard. "Did you look at the reactions online?"

"No. Did you?"

She nodded as she yawned. "Briefly. I also spoke with Victoria. She gave me a bit of a hard time, in good fun. The reactions were mostly somewhere between shocked with no real opinion yet to shocked with a generally positive reaction. There were a few negative ones, but I only saw a couple."

"That's good." He thought about walking over to sit with her, but decided to stay where he was.

"There were a number of comments about how distinguished the new stepfather of the king is." She yawned again. "Also saw several that mentioned I'm now a grandmum. It's a good thing I wasn't asked in person. I don't even know how many grandchildren you have. I know we've talked about them some, but I don't remember."

Nate laughed. "Several. We'll go through the family tree another time."

"There were also those who hoped it would encourage Frederick and Elise to give me a biological grandchild. I happen to know it's something they're planning on, but I have no idea what timing they're hoping for."

"I'm sure the 'burrito or baby bump' comments have been ongoing since they were married."

"They definitely have. It's nothing new for her. She came from the entertainment industry and had run into that several times before. Doesn't make it any nicer, but at least it wasn't something she had to adjust to from nothing like many women do when they join the fishbowl of a royal family's world." Alaina pulled the blankets up further around her waist. "She's lovely and will make a wonderful mum when the time comes. In some ways, it's harder now than it was for me. Twenty-four hour news was definitely a thing when I married into the family, but social media wasn't. The Internet wasn't really in its infancy, but it wasn't anything like it is now either."

He hadn't thought about the added pressure that would come from the media when you're the one solely responsible for producing the next heir to the throne. That wasn't completely accurate, of course, but since when did accuracy matter to tabloid media?

"Is she able to ignore it for the most part? Is that the best way to deal with that kind of thing?" He really had no idea, but that would make sense. To put a fire out, you starve it of oxygen. Tabloids would be the same way, wouldn't they?

"For the most part. I know it gets to her sometimes. It's bound to, but overall, she lets it roll off her back."

In the dim lighting coming through the windows, Nate found himself struck by Alaina's natural beauty. She'd clearly removed any makeup that she might have been wearing, and she looked fantastic for her age, but definitely had laugh lines around her eyes and other tiny wrinkles that came with years of life.

"What?" She glanced down. "Do I have something on face?"

Nate shook his head and walked back toward the bed, sitting on it with one leg bent so he could watch her as he spoke. "No. I just realized that I'm one of few people who get to see you like this and what a privilege it is."

She raised one eyebrow his direction. "Privilege? I'm a mess. It's the middle of the night. I'm sure I have a wonderful case of bedhead. I have no make up on. All of my imperfections are on full display."

He reached out and smoothed down some of that bedhead. "Perhaps, but I think you look beautiful."

This time she rolled her eyes as she shook her head. "I think you've got sleep in your eyes."

"Maybe. Or maybe my night vision is just fine." He moved to join her sitting against the headboard and looking out the windows on the other side of the cabin.

"Or maybe you're just being kind."

Once again, he reached out to brush her hair back. "I always do my best to be kind, but that's not the case here. I genuinely mean it. You're lovely."

The blush rising in her cheeks made her even more so. He found himself wanting to lean over and kiss her, but wasn't sure that would be the best idea.

Maybe he should change the subject.

"What's on our agenda in the morning? Anything?"

Another yawn stopped her from replying right away. "I got a message about a video meeting with Frederick and a couple of other people, likely talking about the interview and the reactions to it, but beyond that, nothing that I know of."

"The nothing part of that sounds just about perfect." Rather than wait for her, he decided it was time to go back to sleep. To that end, he slid down on the mattress and pulled the covers up under his arms. "But I think I need more energy if I'm going to spend most of the day doing nothing." He closed his eyes. "You should probably get some more rest, too. Doing very little will take a lot out of you."

She gave a light laugh then he felt the mattress move as she also laid back down. "Good night, Nathaniel. Sleep well."

"You too, Alaina." He closed his eyes, but had a sneaking suspicion that it would take longer to fall asleep this time than it had earlier in the night.