I don't own The Selection.

have a great day everyone! i love you all!

Kota sat in the interrogation chair, hands tied around the armrests of the chair with ropes. His eyes were darting around the room. I couldn't tell if he wanted to escape or if he wanted to find out why he was being held down here, though I knew that he was already aware of the reason. He wouldn't have been arrested if I had thought there was any chance that he hadn't shot me.

Carte gave me one last look before entering the room and placing a lie detector on the top of the table. He switched it on and sat down in the chair opposite of Kota. Kota banged his fist on the chair and tried to stand, but his legs were also tied to the chair.

"Is your name Kota Singer?"

Kota nodded. "Yes,"

Carter gave a discreet nod and continued. "Is Queen America your sister?"

"Yes." Kota said rudely and Carter nodded again.

"Are you a Southern Rebel?"

With only a second of hesitation, Kota said, "Yes."

"Did you shoot King Maxon?"

A sly smirk crossed Kota's face and he chuckled. "Yes, I did."

Carter nodded and Aspen cursed. Kota wasn't lying. He had actually shot me, and now, I knew that I wasn't delusional like I had hoped. America's brother was a Southern Rebel that wanted me dead and had put me in a coma. Lovely. The year was definitely falling into place.

Kota didn't answer any more questions, instead he stayed completely silent. His expression had no emotion on it and was unreadable. Carter eventually called more guards to escort him to a cell, where he would stay until I decided on what his punishment would be.

"Well," Carter said as he returned to the room we were in. "He didn't lie once, sir."

"Great," I said.

"Do you have a punishment in mind, sir?" Stavros asked.

I shook my head. "I won't execute him, but I need to talk to America before anything."

"She's either going to be torn up or pissed," August smirked.

"She'll probably try to execute him herself," Aspen grinned at the idea.

"Probably," I nodded.

I found America talking to Marlee, Georgia, Lucy, and Mary in the women's room. I knocked on the door and Marlee opened it, holding little Kile in her arms. She grinned at me and turned around to face America.

"It's your husband, Ames." She laughed.

"You can come in, Maxon," America called and I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me. "What's going on?"

"I can't come see my wife without questions?" I raised an eyebrow. "I'm kidding. But I had to arrest your brother."

"Gerad?" She asked. "Don't tell me James did something—"

"No," I said. "Kota."

"Isn't that the guy that abandoned your family, Mer?" Georgia asked and bounced Morgan in her arms.

"He's not my brother," America protested. "I don't want to talk about him. Tell me about it later?"

I nodded. "Okay."

"Oh! You haven't held her yet!" Georgia exclaimed and passed me Morgan, who was dressed in a fuzzy purple onesie.

Morgan had spots of dark brown hair forming on her head and glowing green eyes. She was adorable, just like Kile. She actually resembled Georgia so closely there was a possibility that when she grew up, she'd be confused for her once or twice. I had a feeling August was relieved that all she had inherited from him was his hair color.

I held her for a moment, making sure to be incredibly gentle, before handing her over to Georgia. I didn't want to accidentally drop someone else's baby. That wouldn't be good, especially since no one in this room was afraid to smack me across the face. Or possibly punch me.

"Are you scared of a baby?" Georgia laughed.

"He's had very little exposure to babies," America grinned.

"That's not my fault," I whined.

"I think it's funny he can end a war but not trust himself with a baby," Lucy said and placed a hand on her growing stomach.

"Believe it or not, ending a war isn't that difficult. Babies, on the other hand.. too fragile." I shook my head.

"Very scary little things, aren't they sir?" Mary beamed.

"Indeed," I said and America elbowed me. "What was that for?"

"You did not just say indeed!" She scolded and whacked me on the head.

"America, I think he's had enough brain damage," Georgia said.

"First you said shall and now indeed?" America sighed in defeat. "You're hopeless."

In order to protect myself from my rabid wife, I moved seats to sit next to Marlee and Mary. America crossed her arms and grinned. She had definitely won this competition, if you could even call it that in the first place.

"Blame my education," I decided.

Marlee threw an arm around my shoulder. "You're never safe from a redhead, believe me."

"I figured that out the first time she tried to assault me," I recalled and America pouted.

"Hands off my husband, Mars." America warned.

"Ew!" Marlee said, retracting her arm so quickly that she whacked me. "Don't even go there, Ames."

"You are one of his ex's," America reminded her.

"I think I'll be leaving now," I said and stood. "Ames? Could you get your family to meet me in my office in an hour? I need to explain the Kota situation."

"I'll rally the troops then," She said. "Love you."

I told her that I loved her too before leaving. It had become some sort of a routine thing. We never left the other's side without ensuring that we said "I love you" first. I think that after the last few weeks, we'd realized just how quickly everything could go wrong, and in an attempt to fix it, we settled on saying a few simple words.

Sure enough, an hour later while I was doing simple paperwork, America and our family came to my office just like I had requested. I pushed the work to the side and offered them all chairs. Gerad looked around in amazement, just like I had as a child, before taking a seat. I had forgotten that they had never really been in here.

"What's up?" Kenna asked.

"Basically, Kota is under arrest and the best punishment he can receive at the moment is life imprisonment." I explained and got some weird looks.

"Why'd you put him in jail?" James frowned.

"Kota was the rebel who shot me." I said bluntly.

"What?" America demanded and stood up, knocking her chair over in the process. "He did what?"

Magda let out sort of a strangled sob and covered her face in her hands. Kenna wrapped her arms around her crying mother and May joined in. James and Gerad each looked sad in their own ways, while America cussed under her breath.

"Did.. did he confess?" May asked quietly, tears of her own streaming down her face.

"He did," I said.

"I need to talk to you." America said and dragged me over to the corner of the room, where we couldn't have been heard by the rest of the room.

"I'm sorry, Ames." I sighed and kissed her forehead.

"I can't believe my own brother would try to murder you," She shook her head. "Do I get a say in the punishment?"

"If you'd like to, then sure. Just promise me you won't make any rash decisions. I don't want you to regret it later on."

She gave me a small but meaningful smile. "You're the rational one in this relationship, you know?"

"Sometimes being rational is necessary," I said.

"Did he really admit to it?" She whispered.

"He did."

"Are you sure?"

I placed a hand on her waist and looked her in the eyes. "America, he confessed to it. I was there."

She took my hand and we walked back to the desk, where everyone was sitting. Magda had calmed down for the most part and now just looked truly disappointed. James leaned forward and sat an elbow onto my desk, like he was going to ask me a question or lecture me.

"This is going to be the biggest scandal in the history of this country." He stated truthfully.

I nodded. "You're right. The King's brother-in-law typically doesn't try to murder him."

"Will he be executed?" Magda croaked.

"No." I assured her. "Right now, he's going to be placed in the most secure prison in the country. I'm going to have him assessed by a few different doctors to ensure that he is not suffering from some kind of mental illness and we'll go from there. Now, I'm sure you know that I can't release him. He committed a serious crime. Usually, he would have been shot as soon as we were to bring him into custody."

"He doesn't deserve to be free," Gerad said. "He's a criminal."

"Kota won't be freed." I stated firmly.

"Did he.. is he a rebel?" Kenna asked.

"He is. He told us directly that he is a Southern Rebel. That's all that Carter managed to get out of him." I said.

"I.. I can't believe it," Magda said and stood, collecting her things.

I looked down at my feet. I didn't know how to comfort a mother who had just found out her son was the second most-wanted criminal in the nation. There was nothing good about that. I hoped desperately that she wouldn't blame herself because she was his mother and had raised him. Sometimes, humans just made very, very horrible decisions.

Everyone else filed out behind her, probably going to soak this in on their own. America stayed behind and lowered herself into my lap as she liked to do. I held her gently and kissed her forehead repeatedly. She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her warm face in my neck, hiding it from view. Over time, I felt tears drip down my shoulder.

"Ames?"

"Sorry, sorry," She muttered. "I'm a mess."

"You're a beautiful mess at that," I sighed.

She pulled back and looked me in the eyes with such a loving look that I wanted to hold her forever. "He could have taken you from me, Maxon. I could be widowed because of him."

"But you aren't." I said. "I'm right here and I'm never going anywhere."

"You can't promise that to me,"

"But I can try."

"You," She said. "Maxon Schreave, are the best thing that has ever been in my life. The thought of losing you breaks my heart. My idiot brother can rot in hell for all I care. I just need you."

The week passed and now, we had to come up with a punishment and announce this to the public. There was no way that they were going to react well. Come on, my own brother-in-law had tried to murder me.

America and I sat in a room with Stavros, Aspen, Carter, and Gavril. We had a list of punishments to pick from. Literally. It was a list of twenty-three different choices and none of them were freedom.

"You have to be kidding me," America snorted. "Torture is an option? Let's do that one."

"America," I said. "We aren't going to have him tortured."

"You're right." She said. "We'll have him put in a coma. Better yet, we'll have him put in a coma and you get to shoot him! Revenge!"

"I'm not shooting anyone." I said firmly and she marked a few things off of the list like execution, torture and the electric chair reluctantly. "Thank you."

"I guess life imprisonment," She huffed. "It'll ruin his stupid career and he'll die at the end of it."

"Life imprisonment it is," I decided and handed the list back to Stavros, who nodded.

And that was that. Kota would be in jail for the rest of his life and never have another chance to further his career again. That was probably the worst punishment that we could have given him besides death. I knew America was angry, but she didn't really want him dead. That was too extreme.

"We've received the tests back, sir." Aspen announced. "Kota is completely healthy. Mentally and physically."

"So he did that on purpose?" America demanded.

"It seems so, ma'am." Stavros nodded.

"How do we explain this to the press?" I asked Gavril.

He shrugged. "There are chances that the people will drop approval for both of you for a while. Especially you, ma'am, as Mr. Singer is your brother."

"Biological brother." America corrected. "And barely that."

"Just a warning, sir. The people could demand that you divorce Her Majesty immediately." Gavril said.

"That's happened before." I said, fidgeting with my wedding band. Discreetly, America took my hand under the table.

"It could be more of a demand, sir." He frowned. "The first conclusion they'll jump to is that Queen America was involved."

America laughed. "Of course. I'm so evil I'd have my husband murdered."

"They actually think she'd have me killed?" I gaped.

"Very few royal marriages have actually worked out, sir." Stavros reminded me gently.

"I'm aware," I muttered. I had been the result of one of those marriages.

America got up and left, going God knows where. I didn't try to follow her. Maybe she'd go see Marlee or one of the girls and calm down. This wasn't easy for either of us, but it was definitely harder on my wife. She had trusted Kota and now he had betrayed that trust.

"How's she doing?" Carter asked casually.

I shrugged. "About as well as I expected."

"Sir," Stavros said. "Kota admitted earlier that he, with the gun he was carrying, was going to try murder you a second time."

I actually laughed. This was insane. I could have died yet again. Third times a charm, right? What was up with me and death? Had I really upset the universe so badly that it wanted me in a coffin? That didn't sound too pleasant to me.

"Are you laughing?" Aspen asked.

"I've gotten so many detailed death threats and this is the first time people have actually tried to kill me." I said. "Twice in the same three months."

"Death threats are this normal for you?" Carter asked like he hadn't already known that.

"It comes with the territory." I shrugged. "Did you get anything else out of him?"

"No, sir." Stavros sighed.

Nothing even close to exciting happened over the next two weeks until today, when Lucy went into labor. Now, we were sitting in the hospital waiting room waiting on any news at all. It had been approximately seven hours since we had come down here. It was a waiting game for sure.

After the news of what Kota had seeped out into the press, reporters were all over us. We couldn't even go to the garden without being ordered back inside by struggling guards. It was everywhere, on every newspaper, every TV screen. As expected, I was encouraged to 'drop' America and to do it quickly. Apparently it was for my best interest.

America wasn't dealing with any of it well. I had caught her drinking several times. She would break down and cry for hours and sometimes had nightmares that would keep us both up all night. I felt so bad. I didn't know how to help her. I explained the situation to Marlee, Georgia, Mary, and Lucy, who were all more than happy to help me take care of her. While I was gone to meetings, they'd come over and spend some time with her. They had even gone as far as to spend the night with her, like a sleepover.

I bounced Morgan in my arms as her parents took a break for a minute, finding some food to eat. Her brown hair was beginning to look more like hair and she was slowly getting bigger. There weren't many noticeable changes, though.

America slept on my shoulder, finally getting some sort of rest. Her eyes had dark shadows under them, showing her exhaustion to the world. I draped an arm around her and rubbed her arm lovingly every so often as we sat there.

"She really isn't doing well, is she?" Georgia asked as the couple came to retrieve their daughter.

I shook my head. "It's a lot. We can't even go outside without the threat of reporters attacking us."

"Hey, MJ," August cooed as his daughter reentered his arms happily.

August and Georgia looked so happy, so complete. Morgan had only strengthened their relationship if anything. They both treated her like gold and she treated them like servants. In a way, it was hilarious to watch. I was happy for them. I truly was.

Everyone's attention was grabbed as Dr. Ashlar exited Lucy's hospital room. I nudged America awake and she yawned in protest before spotting the doctor watching everyone.

"It's a healthy baby.. boy!" He announced giddily. "Both Mom and baby are doing fine. We'll have them cleaned up in a moment so you can see him."

America grinned widely and kissed my cheek. "Thanks for waking me,"

"Anytime," I said.

We were escorted into the room first. And there they were. The happy family of three was laying in the hospital bed like they were glued together. I think both Lucy and Aspen were crying. America took my hand and we walked a little closer, getting a good view of the baby boy.

"Oh, Lucy!" America exclaimed. "He's beautiful."

"Looks just like his mother," Aspen said proudly and kissed Lucy softly.

"Congratulations, guys," I grinned and peeked over at the little boy. "Does he have a name yet?"

"Adrien Oliver Leger," Lucy announced.

"That's an amazing name," America said.

Adrien had his father's dark colored hair and blue eyes, which matched Lucy's exactly. The rest of him looked like Lucy. He was a chubby baby, with tiny fat rolls all over him. Aspen was absolutely in awe from what I could tell, as was Lucy. They were parents.

"You're a daddy now, Aspen!" America laughed at his reaction, which was smiling so widely that his mouth was probably going to be damaged.

"I'm a daddy," He repeated, testing it out.

"The three of you really make a nice family," I said honestly. "Aspen? I'm giving you the next few weeks off. Spend them wisely."

"Thank you, sir." He said jokingly and I shook his hand.

We left the three to have some time with our other friends. They deserved it. Immediately, we headed back to our room where America grabbed pajamas, changed, and curled up on our bed. I sat next to her, completely prepared to comfort her if she began crying.

"Ames?" I asked.

"Cuddle?"

And I obeyed. I crawled into bed beside her and held her as close to me as possible. Curled up on my chest, she twisted my wedding band around as she seemed to be deep in thought. I brought my hand up to her face and traced each of her features. As I ran my finger over her lips, her mouth parted slightly and she sighed.

"I know this year has been hard," I whispered. "But you can't blame yourself, okay? Promise me you won't."

"Maxon," She said. "It is my fault. It's my fault I wasn't with you that day. It's my fault that Kota even came after you. I can't.. I can't ignore that."

"But look," I said, taking her hand and placing it on my cheek. "I'm here. I'm perfectly fine. We both are. We have each other if all else fails. You, my love, are not at fault here. Neither of us are."

"I'm sorry," She said, breaking down. "I'm sorry that I've had you so worried you made my friends watch me."

I pulled her against my chest and let her cry. Her body racked with sobs as I rubbed her back and hummed in her ear. She let me tangle my hand in her hair and massage her scalp slightly. Thankfully, I had gotten better with comforting crying women.

"Shh," I murmured and kissed her temple.

"Can we go.. watch a movie?" She whispered. "I want to get my mind off of this."

I nodded and we got up. While wandering down the hallways, each individual guard bowed deeply and we waved in return. We made it to the room with the large flat screen TV and picked out a movie. Jurassic Park.

I slid the DVD into the slot and pressed a couple buttons before grabbing the remote. I powered the TV on and selected the movie. We grabbed a blanket and got settled on the couch, where we'd be watching from.

"Ready?" I asked and she nodded eagerly.

The movie started with an introduction to the world. Basically, it's about a park that breeds dinosaurs. I didn't pay much attention to it but to the beautiful woman in my arms.

America relaxed against my chest with her body facing me entirely instead of the TV. I let her head rest on my shoulder and wrapped the same arm around her back, keeping her secure. My other hand rested lightly on her waist but was hidden by the warm blanket on top of us.

Our lips were an inch away from each other and I could feel her breathing on me, but somehow, it wasn't weird. She touched her nose to mine and closed her eyes, letting her mouth part slightly. I studied her closely.

"You're.. warm," America mumbled as her breathing evened and I determined that she was asleep.

"As are you, my love." I answered.

The movie soon ended and I turned it off completely. What better time to take a nap than the present, am I right? With a sigh, I closed my eyes and let myself doze off.

Two days later, Aspen and Lucy had everyone come to their room to see the little one. No one had actually had much time to see them and besides, we had all tried as a team to give the new family their space.

America and I ventured down the hallways and then the stairs, before making it to the door of their room. She knocked and there was a, "Come in!" Seconds later, we entered the room and were greeted by a crying Adrien Leger.

"Lucy, he's still so cute!" America exclaimed and took Aspen's offer to hold him.

"What did you think would happen, America?" Lucy laughed and pulled the blanket closer to her.

Aspen smiled and sat down. "Mer, I thought you've had experience with babies."

"Oh, come one. I was joking!" America whined and bounced the baby. "Isn't he cute, Max?"

I nodded. "Very cute,"

We spent only thirty minutes visiting with the two before Lucy needed to feed Adrien, which then told us it was our cue to leave. Aspen shook my hand and gave Ames a hug before we closed the door behind us and began to walk down the hallway in the direction of the garden.

"Do you think we'll be able to go outside today?" America asked.

I shrugged. "Possibly. I doubt the reporters have given up though."

She sighed and laced her fingers around mine as we walked down the stairs. The garden was beautiful. The sky was blue and the weather was amazing; warm and sunny. Surprisingly, we were allowed to exit the palace. There weren't any reporters in sight, which made the entire garden seem even more pleasant.

We sat down on the bench and I placed an arm around her waist gently. She looked at me and threw her legs over mine. With a huff, she leaned her head against my shoulder and played with my hair.

"I'm so glad we can come out here again," She sighed.

"Me too," I said. "I missed this a lot."

"Can you believe Aspen has a kid?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Can you?"

"Heck no! It's like just yesterday we were attending his and Lucy's wedding,"

"Are you jealous?" I asked quietly. I didn't want her to miss out on something that she wanted-like kids-just because of me.

"No, I'm not. It's just.. everyone is starting families and we haven't—" She stopped.

"If you want a baby, I'm completely okay with that. It's almost been a year," I smiled.

"Seriously? We can start trying?" She asked, sounding much happier than she had been just seconds ago.

"Yeah, we can."