I do not own The Selection.

reviews:

IvoryAllium:

Aww, I love how Maxon gets to relax and spend time with his family. The amount of details you add is outstanding! I also love how you have so many new ideas like Maxon driving the car and the horses. A lot of authors skip over some of these things and especially the development of the characters but you've really taken this story so much further. Have a great day!

livewithbooks:

thank you! i'm so so glad you liked it. have a wonderful day!

Virtue01:

Thank you for the update fantastic chapter. Love that they all went on vacation together even if it was for their protection. I like the idea of America wearing the red dress Maxon reaction and how compassionate and loving he was when America became insecure about herself. Excellent writing stay safe

livewithbooks:

thank you!

ElendVentureLove:

BEUTIFUL! JUST BEUTIFUL! I LOOOOOOOOOOVED IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING YOU! Although every time i read this i wish more and more i was not single but ya know... oh well. anyway THANK YOU SO MUCH! PLEEEEEEEASE keep going!

livewithbooks:

honestly, same. i feel very single when writing this. :)) i do plan to keep going, so don't worryy! thank you for the review! have a great day

TW: gunshot, injuries

DO NOT READ IF THESE THINGS UPSET YOU!

wow, this chapter is long overdue. i know it's been a week since i last updated, and i swear that was not intentional. school has really been rough and i've had other things like band to do :( but i'm backk! also, this chapter will make more sense soon i promise.

Halloween was the one event I didn't need to look professional for.

America had definitely been in charge of this year's costumes. The twins were dressed as bumblebees because she'd claimed it was just too cute not to do for their first Halloween costume.

My costume was literally just clothes I found comfortable. I wasn't really dressing up this year, mainly due to the fact that I unfortunately had been dealing with more pressing matters lately than choosing what to wear to a ball. So now, I was just going to take the opportunity to dress as casually as I'd like. Worked for me.

America had picked to go as the sea, which meant she was wearing my favorite color: blue. And lots of it.

Her dress was rather layered and each were different shades of blue, some more faded and some more vibrant than the others. Personally, I thought she represented the ocean perfectly. The dress had a modest neckline and her maids had put just the most perfect silver jewels on it, mainly around the waistline.

And as for her face, wow.

Her hair was tied back into a bun, though some strands were hanging out and framing her face. And her makeup was light. Blue eyeshadow, nude lipstick, and just the faintest touch of blush. Breathtaking.

When we finally got to sit down, I took Avery into my lap and let her lean against my chest.

The twins were six months old and absolutely perfect. Both were now a lot longer in size and looking a bit more like toddlers. Their eyes had stopped changing colors at this point, leaving Avery's brown and Roman's blue. And now, the little hair they did have was much, much more visible to the human eye.

"I know we've said it before, but Maxon is definitely related to them." Marlee said.

"Worked out well for me! I don't have to see my own face everyday." America laughed, pulling Roman's fingers out of her food. "No burgers for you, little man."

"Have fun trying to keep them out of everything," Aspen grinned. "One was hard enough. I can only imagine two of them."

I shrugged. "We could always put them on a leash."

America elbowed me. "I'm not putting my children on a leash, Maxon."

"I was joking," I said. "No need to shove your elbow into my side."

Minutes later, I caught Kriss and Natalie looking over at me, and Kriss motioned for me to come talk to them. I wasn't really sure if I should go, but then again, it couldn't hurt, could it? America gave me a slight nod and I took that as her okay to speak with my ex-girlfriends. Now that I think about that, no wonder she ripped my head off last year.

"Your Majesty, and Your Royal Highness," they greeted, dropping into a curtsy.

I held Avery to my side, letting her almost sit on my arm. "It's Maxon. You know that."

"We know!" Kriss laughed. "Silvia made sure to remind us to use everyone's title. You know, she's gotten so big. And she looks just like you!"

"I know. It's scary, really. How are you two doing?"

Natalie shrugged. "We're great. And you?"

"I'm good."

We didn't talk for long before I returned to America, who wasn't mad in the slightest.

It was nice to know that I still had a warm bed to sleep in tonight.

In my office, America peeled open the container of baby food, which was labeled as mashed bananas.

Roman was going first.

Once we'd gotten him to stay somewhat still, I very carefully maneuvered a small amount of the mashed food onto a spoon and raised it to his lips. He opened with no hesitation and swallowed the spoonful of food, a look of pure joy crossing his face.

Beside me, America took a picture, documenting the moment.

His hands clapped together, as if he was trying to tell us that he wanted more.

When he got his wish, he squealed and reached out for more. I shrugged and let him have another small spoonful. Though it was tempting, I wasn't going to let him have too much, mainly due to the fact that now that America was producing less breast milk, we were weaning them onto formulas. It was going quite well. Both of the twins could drink it without any side effects.

"I guess he likes it," America said.

"I'm glad. Hopefully they won't be too picky."

When we let Avery have her turn, she was definitely more hesitant to let the unknown substance enter her mouth. Despite this, when she did taste it, she beamed and we let her have as much as Roman had eaten.

Our little experiment had gone very well.

Dr. Ashlar had advised us to slowly start introducing different solids that required no chewing on their part, and we'd taken his advice. He'd also recommended we introduce foods that were common allergens before they turned one. Apparently it could help prevent the risk of them being allergic to that certain food.

And as nervous as I was that they would have an allergic reaction, I knew it was best to listen to him.

He was the one with the medical training, afterall.

After we'd gotten the area cleaned up and the twins fully fed, we went down to the family room, where we were to be seeing Kenna, James, and Astra for the first time since Halloween, which had been two weeks ago.

They'd gone on a mini-vacation to celebrate Kenna's pregnancy, which she was around four months into.

"I do not miss being pregnant," Kenna sighed.

Astra threw herself into my arms. "Mackin! Guess what?"

I handed Roman off so that I could hold her. "What?"

"We gots to go to the zuh-oo!'' she exclaimed. "I saws a monkey."

"Astra loves monkeys, apparently." James explained.

After she'd told me about all the animals she'd gotten to see, and everything else they'd done on their time away, May gave us all of the details on her and Peyton's wedding.

"It's going to be two weeks before Christmas," she said. "Silvia gave us her permission to use the ballroom for the reception, and the actual ceremony will be in the church down the road."

"A Christmas wedding?" Magda smiled.

May grinned. "Of course. You should've known, Mom."

She eventually told us more about who was going to be involved.

I, of course, was going to be walking her down the aisle and giving her away. Her maids were going to be bridesmaids and best friend—Gwen—as maid of honor. Peyton was picking a few of his friends from the palace guard to be his best man and groomsmen. And as for catering, the kitchen was more than happy to help.

She always lit up when she spoke of her big day, and I was just happy she was happy.

America and I were on the fourth floor, just leaving the library, as the rebel sirens sounded.

I didn't let myself freeze.

Instead, I took her by the hand and we dashed down the stairs, running down the hallways. On the second floor, lots of gunshots could be heard from further down the halls. I was suddenly thankful for memorizing all saferooms.

I pushed America into the nearest safe room I saw.

She was hyperventilating, I realized as I locked the door. I pulled her into my arms. She cried out in pain—

My eyes fell to her side.

"Damnit!"

There was blood pouring from the wound in her side. Her dress was soaked, and the spot was continually getting larger.

I yanked off my suit jacket and held it to her wound.

From what I could tell, she'd been shot with some kind of rifle. I was beginning to panic, though. America went paler than normal and her eyes rolled back into the back of her head.

"America! Ames!" I yelled, shaking her.

She groaned.

"Look, my love, you're going to be okay. Stay awake. Alright? I love you."

My brain was racing.

How the hell did I—a man with a desk job—save my wife from the risks of being shot? Yeah, I didn't know either. I had absolutely no medical training, making me next to useless in this very serious situation. Almost desperately, I wished for us to switch places.

And then, I realized I had my phone on me.

Stavros.

I could call Stavros.

He would most definitely be in the safe room with Dr. Ashlar, who could help me with this. So I pressed the call button.

Within seconds, the man was giving me a lecture.

"Shut up," I shouted, and he silenced. "Is Dr. Ashlar with you?"

"Yes, sir."

"I need to talk to him."

There was a rustling noise.

"Your Majesty?" Dr. Ashlar asked. "You wanted to speak to me?"

"America was shot in the side," I said. "She's still breathing, but I can't get the damned wound to stop bleeding. Is there anything I can do?"

"How much blood has she lost?"

"I don't know.. a liter and a half, maybe? I can't tell."

"Can you tell how deep the wound is?"

"Deep."

"Focus on keeping pressure on the wound." he coached, and I followed his instructions. "If she loses much more blood and does quit breathing, you're going to have to do CPR. For now, keep her awake."

I held my suit jacket as tightly to the wound as I possibly could. America groaned in pain. I could feel my heart jumping around in my chest.

There was nothing I could do.

He'd avoided the question, so obviously, he knew the answer was no. Otherwise he would've told me what I could do to save my wife's life. That sounds more intense when you think about it, honestly.

America went completely limp.

I checked her pulse—

No, no, no.

I looked back up at her.

She was bluish purple.

I fumbled helplessly around trying to move closer to her. The wound was no longer my biggest concern. Getting her breathing was.

"Her—She doesn't have a pulse," I said, the fear freezing me in place.

"One hand on top of the other, sir, and push down over the middle of her chest, just above her heart. You have to push at least two inches deep."

I placed my hands on top of each other and pushed.

As I'd once read, I used my body weight to my advantage and pushed down as hard as I could. After thirty or so compressions, I was getting tired. But there was no way in hell that I was going to let her die.

"Anything?"

"No," I choked.

"Rescue breaths," he ordered. "Tilt her chin up, pinch her nose closed and blow into her mouth twice."

"Okay,"

I did as told and closed her nose off and tilted her chin.

Taking a deep breath of my own, I sealed her mouth off with mine and blew twice. It was nothing like kissing her. Her chest rose with each and when I pulled away, she shot up, gasping for air.

"She's breathing," I said and held the cloth back to her wound.

America leaned against my chest, arm around my neck. I kissed her cheek silently. She was alive.

I washed the blood from my hands, the water turning red at first contact.

America was in surgery. We'd just gotten out of the safe room minutes ago, and our friends had convinced me to come upstairs and clean myself up, seeing as my entire body was coated in blood. I sighed as I washed my hands again. They were still a light pink.

I turned the water to where it was basically boiling me.

I splashed it onto my face, scrubbing off any blood that I'd somehow gotten on it. The water hardly burned. I felt numb, inside and out.

My clothes were clean. They smelled like laundry detergent. And as I braced my head in my hands, I realized that it was the same smell America's dresses sometimes had.

I'd been so close to losing my entire world. My reason for staying. She was my everything.

America had died in my arms, and I'd been partly responsible for it.

Why hadn't I just led us into a safe room on the third floor?

Why had I risked her life like that?

Why?

My own stupidity shocked me.

The door cracked open, and a very concerned looking Marlee Woodwork stuck her head in. I just pulled myself to my feet. I still felt numb, a little dazed, and rather unwilling to face what had just happened. She pulled me into a hug.

"How do you feel?"

"I don't know."

She pulled back and looked me in the eyes.

"Maxon, you saved America's life." she said. "And I know that you being you, you'll feel responsible for her getting hurt, but it's not your fault. How'd you stay calm? Seriously."

"I've had practice," I said bluntly.

I did not feel like joking around right now. She nodded slowly and led me back out into the main bedroom, which was technically the King's suite, but we almost always spent our time in it.

"You look better," Aspen noted.

I simply sat down.

In the hour leading up to Magda coming to tell us that America was out of surgery, I didn't speak once. I wasn't mad. I was just… a little ashamed that I'd let that happen to her.

Down in the hospital wing, I was the only person allowed to see her for the time being.

I couldn't stop the tears as my eyes landed on her.

Her blue eyes were open and my favorite smile sat on her face. Her hair—the most beautiful shade of red—was tied back in a ponytail.

Her waist was completely wrapped in bandages. She'd been given an IV, and had a glass of water next to her bed. The last time I'd seen her, she'd been so hurt. So bloody. But this was the America I'd known hours ago. She was the woman I loved with my entire heart.

"Hey, babe," she grinned and patted the bed beside her. "Get in here with me."

She was alive.

Obeying my queen, I climbed in next to her, making sure to lay on the side opposite of her wound.

"It's usually you connected to all these devices," she teased.

I let out a shaky laugh. I was sobbing into her neck, holding her as closely as I could. She soothingly rubbed the back of my neck.

"Max," she cooed. "I'm okay. You saved me, okay? I love you so much."

We turned to look at each other, and my eyes instinctively fell to her lips. I wiped the tears from my face and she leaned in, pressing her beautiful lips to mine. She held me so closely that I felt like I may have been melting from the heat of her body on mine.

"Next time we just go to the nearest safe room," I decided.

She nodded. "Yeah."

Dr. Ashlar knocked on the door and walked into the room, holding the clipboard I'd always seen him with. He was smiling.

"How do you feel, ma'am?"

"Just sore," she said. "The pain medicine they gave me really works."

He nodded. "Ma'am, as you know, you were shot in the side. We've had to give you a blood transfusion. If you're alright with it, then I'd like to keep you here overnight for a day or two, but then you should be free to leave."

"How much blood did I lose?"

"About a liter and a half." he said. "You're very lucky to have had His Majesty there with you."

He continued.

"You were very lucky to have suffered no brain damage, ma'am. And while blood loss under two liters does not typically cause heart failures, you do have genetic heart problems that run in your family, ma'am." he explained, grimly. "This makes you more susceptible to it. And though, as far as I can tell, you have no conditions that could be fatal, the risks of complications like that are much higher."

Dr. Ashlar went on to explain what medicines she would need and how I could help her do things for a while. She wouldn't be able to work for a few days or be able to do any intense exercise. I was happy to do anything she'd need me to while recovering.

After he left, the Singer-Orders family came into the room, Peyton included.

"So, Maxon, considering changing careers?" James grinned.

America gave me a pat on the head. "Apparently he can do CPR."

"If you ever make me do that again, I will never forgive you, America." I said. "And no. I'll stick to the job I have now."

"What's CRP?" Astra asked innocently.

Kenna picked her up. "CPR? Well, sometimes, your heart doesn't work like it's supposed to and someone else has to get it to beat normally."

She nodded.

I was suddenly hyper aware of how innocent my niece was. She didn't know about all the horrible things and people in the world, just like almost every other child. For a year, she'd thought that Santa was really sick and couldn't bring her presents. But in reality, no one was able to afford presents.

Children really were so much more lucky than they knew.

Avery and Roman were handed to us.

Both were very happy to be reunited with their mother, as they squirmed and gurgled, sometimes making rather intelligible noises.

As the visit went on, I stayed quiet for the most part, letting America talk to her family. They had to have been just as scared as I was of losing her.

America and I laid in the hospital bed, enjoying the peace and quiet of the night. It was not often that the twins stayed asleep this long.

I was careful to not hurt her as I laid on my side beside her, kissing each of her features softly. She'd laughed the first couple of times but now, she was simply looking at me with pure adoration. Her being on her back made it easier for me to be gentle.

"Max?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"How did you stay calm?"

"I don't know," I confessed. "I think the risk of losing you was too high, so I kicked myself into action."

She nodded and continued massaging the back of my neck.

The tranquility of this moment was amazing.

It was her and I; the Queen and her King.

Her eyes fluttered shut as I kissed her nose. When her body slowly went limp, I was a bit panicked, but I realized that she was asleep.

There was the slightest hint of a smile tugging at her lips.

She wiggled a little in my arms and I laughed quietly. It was never like her to stay still, even in her sleep. That was another thing I loved about her. Even the smallest things were the most significant, and I felt they always would be.