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They’d met Stan at his bar before it opened. While there were reporters in town, they hadn’t caught on to Stan and Bexley’s friendship, so they’d had the place to themselves for a bit before they’d gone to visit Bexley’s grandma. They’d tried one more time to convince her to move with Bexley, but the old woman had stuck to her guns. She had backgammon to play and the possibility of a new boyfriend on the horizon after she’d defeated him in the championship match. Alex had decided to throw down her own backgammon skills, and they’d played together while Bexley made them dinner in the woman’s apartment.
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The next morning, when they woke up in the comfort of their warm hotel bed, Bexley started them a shower. They stayed there until the water went cold and laughed about how their fingers had turned into raisins.
By the time they emerged, though, it was done – the official statement had been released by the palace.
“Wow,” Bexley said softly after they read it together on Alex’s phone. “That’s a nice picture of us.”
Alex smiled at it. She’d chosen it herself. They’d only taken a few pictures together, and most were informal, but on Bexley’s previous visit to London, Alex’s mother had insisted they take formal photos for the announcement. It was about the best way Alex could think of that her mother could demonstrate that she truly approved of Bexley.
“You look beautiful,” Alex told her.
“And you look hot in that suit.”
“My mother would disagree,” Alex replied, laughing.
“Yeah, she’s wrong. Also, I don’t care.” Bexley straddled Alex’s hips. “I’m the one who gets to decide how hot you look now.”
Alex laughed still and dropped her phone, gripping Bexley’s hips.
“And how hot do I looknow, love?”
“Well, you’re always hot when you’renaked,” Bexley said, leaning down to kiss her on the lips. “I love you.”
“I love you,” Alex replied. “And there’s still technically a chance you could back out of this. We can always tell the world someone made a huge mistake and misprinted–”
“Nope,” Bexley interrupted. “You’re stuck with me now, Princess.”
EPILOGUE
“How many medals can one wear on their chest?” Alex whispered.
“A lot, apparently,” Bexley whispered back. “You don’t have that many medals onyouruniform.”
“I wasn’t a colonel,” she said, entwining her fingers through Bexley’s as they sat in the audience.
Nora was being promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel largely because of the work she’d done for Kleinland in recent months. In doing so, she became the fastest person in the country to go from lieutenant colonel to colonel. Alex looked over at her friend, Alice, who was beaming up at her wife. Their now two-year-old twins would have been a distraction, so they’d been left with the nanny for the day.
“I can’t believe how they’ve managed to make it all work,” Bexley whispered as the four-star general changed Nora’s silver oak leaves to the eagle.
“She could retire a general one day,” Alex pointed out. “She’s amazing. She’s a Queen and a colonel in the Kleinland Royal Guard Service.I’mbarely hanging on as a Princess now that my father is trying to give me more and more to do.”
“You are doing great,” Bexley told her.
But Bexley was the one who was really doing great. Since moving in with Alex, she’d met with Dr.Trask again and managed to create a job for herself in London. She was able to conduct research, see patients, and make the difference she’d always wanted to make on a grander scale. Alex was so proud of her and wasn’t sure how she’d managed to deserve a woman as amazing as her girlfriend.
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“So, we were thinking of heading to the springs,” Elizabeth said at the party later. “Would any of you care to join us there in a couple weeks?”
“We might,” Elin, the Queen of Norway, replied, turning to her wife, Ingrid. “What do you think?”
“We’d have to check our calendars, but we should be able to make it work.”
“You should bring your sister and her husband,” Palmer, Elizabeth’s wife, suggested. “I remember she loves the hot springs.”
