Hello, wonderful people! As much as I wanted to, I couldn't bring myself to skip a month into the future, which would put Ivy at 4 months and almost ready to find out the gender, because I couldn't go on without having some interaction with Ivy's family. Enjoy!


Kyle moved a piece on the chessboard. "Your turn," he said, scratching Chester's ears.

"If you keep showering attention on him, he won't leave me alone after you leave," I replied, moving my knight.

Kyle moved a pawn up and upgraded it to a queen. "At least someone will be able to nag you," he answered.

I moved my bishop. "Chester nagging is never good. Besides, I do need other humans, and Kendall barely cuts it."

Kyle moved his queen and captured my rook. "So you're lonely."

"Not lonely. Bored. This is why I'm playing chess with you."

"Oh," Kyle replied, moving his knight.

"Thank you for keeping me company," I said, moving my rook forward. "Checkmate."

"How did King Kendall feel about putting me up for a week?"

"No need to be so formal, Kyle. He's your brother in law. Anyway, he didn't mind. He said he wanted to get to know you better," I answered.

"He hasn't done a very good job," Kyle murmured.

I exhaled. "Kendall's going through a tough time right now. He's unpopular among older nobles, who see him as weak and inexperienced, and his administration is full of people who have skeletons in their mansions."

"Don't you mean in their closets?" Kyle asked.

"I mean in their mansions. So please cut him some slack. He doesn't get the help he needs, and that's because he won't ask. I'd rather not talk about this with you."

"Have you decided on a name?" Kyle asked, changing the subject.

"If it's a girl, then we'll choose between Jennifer, Lynn, and Julia. If I'm having a boy, then it's between William, Andrew, and Philip."

"Philip or Jennifer," Kyle said.

"Okay," I answered. "How is everything on your end?"

"Dad and Eileen are a really annoying couple," he stated.

"Has she moved in yet?" I asked as I put the chessboard away.

"She will when we get back," Kyle replied.

"Make sure you send me Mom's dresses. Including the maternity ones she said she would throw away," I told him.

Chester sniffed my fingers, trotted to the door, and ran back to me.

"Yes Jett, you're interrupting. No, Kendall isn't here. I'm not working right now, so go away," I called.

I'll find King Kendall," Jett said.

"Before you ask, I trained him. And no, there is no emergency or else our press secretary would have come."

Kyle laughed and scratched Chester's ears before resetting the chess pieces. I smiled. It felt good for me to spend time with just Kyle, something I hadn't done in years. Working for Dad had made me spend a lot of time away from home, and because of that, I couldn't spend a lot of time with Kyle, which was unfortunate because of the timing. When I began working, he was at an age where he needed a lot of support, and we weren't there.

"Got a question for you," Kyle said once he finished.

"Oh?"

"How does Kendall manage without you?"

"His assistant. She's like a less business version of me."

"So he's spending time with this assistant?"

I rolled my eyes. "We haven't been married for a year yet. There's no way someone else is that interesting, and a divorce would make me lose my title."

Chester barked.

"It's open," I called.

"I'm really sorry Ivy, but this is an emergency," Jo said.

"I'll be there," I replied, before looking at Kyle. "I'm sorry. Do you think you can manage by yourself?"

He rolled his eyes at me as I left the room. I quickly went to the Royal Council Room, where emergencies were discussed. Kendall and Jett sat at one side of the table, while Mr. Fujisaki sat at the other.

"What is going on?" I asked as I sat.

"President Brooks has decided to send American battleships into the Pacific Ocean. I don't know what kind of message he's trying to send, but it looks aggressive."

"What have we done?" I asked. "I know Hawaii offended them, but has anything been done recently?"

Mr. Fujisaki sighed. "At a recent meeting, one of our ambassadors said that the United States was making a mistake by overlooking California's power."

"I told you Hawaii was a reach and that we should have asked for Guam, and now one of your people has caused a signal of aggression. Americans already view us as desperate and power-hungry."

We both looked at Kendall, as he was the leader of California's military.

"Keep everything the way it is. Do not move a single military rowboat from its course without me authorizing it."

Mr. Fujisaki nodded as Jett stood up.

"I'll relay the message," he said as he and Mr. Fujisaki left.

Kendall looked at me, but I looked away. I was beyond annoyed with him because of his refusal to tell me what was going on. A completely avoidable situation that could have ended a lot worse had been caused by an irresponsible member of his administration, and I didn't know that the problem existed until it was almost too late, simply because of his insistence on not telling me anything.

I understood that he didn't want to stress me out, but the truth was that I had signed up for the stress when I became his assistant and later agreed to marry him and become his queen. Yes, being pregnant was tough sometimes, and I knew he wanted to make sure the baby and I were healthy, but I knew how to handle stress.

My job within his administration was to help in tough situations. Kendall not telling me anything was not helping me do my job. To be honest, some of his critics were right. Kendall was hesitant to use his power, and the nobles exploited him because of it. He didn't have a reliable voice advising him other than Jett, who he rarely listened to. If I were there, I would have been able to help him.

"Ivy," Kendall began as we started walking to our room. "Why are you so mad at me?"

I snorted. "I'm not mad. I'm annoyed. Do you realize how close your people came to making a costly mistake?"

"I do, but I know they can do better," he replied.

"A mistake that could have been avoided if you had regularly checked on what your commission was doing and if you weren't so averse to saying no," I told him.

Kendall sighed. "What can I do to make it up to you?" he asked me.

"Fire Mr. Fujisaki. He has made costly mistake after another. I realize he is one of California's best political mines, but he hasn't brought that to your meetings. Let me choose its next head. He needs to be replaced, and soon," I said.

I had a plan.


I am so sorry for the wait. Review please!