I don't own The Selection.

TW: threats, birth

okay, so thank you for the reviews!

just want to share that i've decided what the future of this fanfic is

and

it will be a trilogy!

don't get too excited. nothing is outlined or plotted, but i really would love to do a trilogy.

one book (this one) will be about them starting their family and will go up until they have all planned children, the second will be of those said children's lives as children, and the next will be them as teenagers/maxon's retirement! (and all will be from max's pov)

now, onto today's chapter

i hate to admit it but this chapter has brought me much pain :D

i've been driving myself insane with trying to make sure it's 'decent'.. gotta love self-doubt, don't we? after three or four total rewrites, here we are! i hope you guys enjoy

i love you all

remember, any feedback or comments or suggestions or anything is so very very welcomed and appreciated

and now, p.2 of the christmas chapter!

"Sir, we've gotten word from the troops in Allens," Stavros said, walking through my office door.

"Anything?"

He nodded, and I set down my third cup of coffee of the night. Stavros handed me an entire report. The first thing that I did was frown; how had they had enough time to type this while chasing the most wanted criminals in the country? How effective was this 'mission' going to be at this rate? I didn't hire reporters. I hired soldiers.

"I was told the general had someone with them just for the purpose of writing reports."

Thankful that he'd immediately recognized my silent question, I began reading it. It got boring around the two page mark, but I managed to read and understand it in less than thirty minutes.

Our troops had the two criminals captured, but they managed to escape, killing three people while running. And then they'd gotten out of Allens. Now, we had no clue where the two were, but General Azak—the man in charge—assumed they were on their way to the palace.

"Why would they come back to Angeles?"

Stavros looked as clueless as I did. "I'm not sure, sir."

"This is hopeless."

"Perhaps."

After he'd left me alone, I looked at the clock. Nine o'clock. According to my schedule, I didn't have any meetings until eleven. That gave me two hours to spend with my family.

I downed another cup of coffee and jogged down to the family room.

The room was absolutely beautiful. There was a Christmas tree in the corner, covered in lights and ornaments. It even smelled like Christmas. I saw wreaths, stuffed animals—probably for the kids of the group, and candles.

America threw her arms around me, catching me off guard.

"You escaped?"

"Only for a few hours. I told you I would."

"I'd be lying if I said I believed you."

"Put some faith in your dear king, my love."

"I had your children," she said, letting go of me. "That requires some faith."

"True,"

Roman started clapping in stiff motions, and said, "Daddy!"

America's jaw dropped, and I started laughing. Of course he'd said Daddy before he said Mommy. She was most definitely going to punish me for this.

As if he'd ordered me to, I sat down beside him on the blanket and pulled him into my arms.

"Daddy," he repeated. "Wee-woo!"

When he said Daddy, it sounded more like Waddy, but it was still something. I looked back up to see America standing with her arms crossed, and heard most of the room laughing. She sat down looking defeated.

The whole family gathering lasted for about an hour, and during that hour, I'd realized how difficult it was getting to stay awake.

America and I headed back up to our bedroom for some time to ourselves.

We set the twins on the bed between us and Avery crawled up onto my chest. I kissed her forehead and accidentally closed my eyes, and then I was attacked by a yawn that I couldn't fight off.

"Maxon?"

America's voice sounded like it was a thousand miles away.

"Get some sleep, Your Majesty," she whispered. "I love you."

All I could do was sigh in response.

"Daddy!"

As I was slowly waking up, Roman's greeting put the biggest smile on my face. I opened my eyes and saw that my little family was still exactly where we had been when I'd gone to sleep.

America was grinning at me.

"What?" I asked, kissing Avery's head. "How long was I asleep?"

She propped herself up on her elbow. "Just a couple of hours. I bought you some time by convincing them that you couldn't govern on such little sleep."

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"Could you tell me again?"

"Well, America Schreave, I love you more than I ever thought possible."

"Good."

I smiled and buried my face back into Avery's hair. She wiggled and squirmed, little giggles escaping her mouth. How could someone be this cute?

When I looked up at the clock, I saw the time. Two o'clock. So I had gotten more sleep! At least three hours of it, which was probably enough to keep me afloat for a little while. Thank the Lord for America.

"I think Roman's speech is going to be pretty accelerated." she said, and I looked up from Avery. "He already knows three words and he's not even nine months old."

"Smart like his mother,"

She rolled her eyes. "We both know you're smarter than me."

I frowned and kissed Avery's cheek. She was toying around with the little tassel on her onesie. It truly seemed to be interesting to her. When I whispered in her ear, she wiggled her feet in the air.

"Mommy's smart, isn't she?"

Avery beamed.

Everyone was tense.

We'd just gotten word from one of the largest troops I'd deployed that they had eyes on both Jamie and Kota, yet they couldn't get close to them. Kota had threatened to murder a five year old girl.

Magda walked into the room. "He won't do it."

"How can you be so sure, Your Highness?" Stavros asked. "He's murdered before."

I was shocked that my mother-in-law had come, but she could definitely be a resource. Magda was Kota's mother and I had no doubt in my mind that she knew him better than anyone.

"He wouldn't kill someone he sees as innocent. That little girl is not a threat to anyone."

Greggs frowned. "So it was a threat? An empty threat?"

"I believe so."

The room was taken over by a dozen different arguments, conversations, and theories. I was conflicted. I could have the soldiers take action, and possibly save the little girl's life, but then what if it was a game? An empty threat? And what if it wasn't?

"Quiet," I said, and as if I'd yelled, the room went completely silent. "Do we have any other options as to how we bring them into custody?"

Greggs stood. "Shoot him! And the other rebel!"

Several people nodded.

"We need him alive, may I remind you." I said, shaking my head.

"He killed your parents, sir, and you think he should still be alive?" Hughes asked.

It sounded like she was mocking me.

"Do they have a clear target on him?" I asked Stavros.

Beside me, I saw Magda frowning. Did she think I was going to have him killed? That was the opposite of my plan.

"I want to talk to him."

In ten minutes, I was speaking to Kota Singer, who had a gun to a girl's head. I could hear Jamie beside him giving him directions. Perhaps he wasn't as prepared as we thought.

"Kota?"

"Maxon! Oh, goody, have you seen the news?"

"I have."

"And what are you calling me for, brother?"

"I want you to put your gun down. Let the girl go."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you don't want to do it. She never did anything to you."

"You don't know that."

It only took me a couple minutes before I had worked a deal with him: he'd get a million dollars and a royal title, but he would have to let the girl go. He sounded convinced too. That was what I needed.

"Put the gun down, Kota."

This was easily one of the most risky things I had ever done.

There was no way to know if Kota would actually stick to his side of the deal or botch it, and he wasn't exactly known for his honesty. The panic rose inside of me but I had to keep a calm head.

We had cameras on him, giving us an advantage.

He put the gun down on the ground.

I signaled with my hand for Stavros to send the order to the soldiers. Like it would make it better, I held my breath and watched with my hands clasped.

The soldiers pulled the girl away from them and got her to safety.

And then Kota and Jamie were both shot with a tranquilizer gun, and they sank to their knees, allowing the men to get them in custody.

It worked, I repeated, it worked.

I wasn't the only person with a bright smile on my face. Most of us did—especially Magda. I dismissed everyone for the day and she pulled me into a tight hug.

"You saved that girl's life, Maxon,"

"That's my job,"

When I got back up to the bedroom, I immediately pulled off my suit jacket, shoes, and tie. And then I was on the floor with the twins.

They squealed and squirmed as I attacked them with dozens of kisses.

I saw America approach us with my video camera in one hand and a normal camera in the other. Rolling onto my back, I pulled both twins onto my chest and began to tell them about my day. Of course, it was all probably gibberish to them, but it was nice.

I felt America lay down beside me.

"That good, huh?"

"The best! I've never been a fan of manipulation, but it worked Ames!"

She smiled and laughed quietly, drawing patterns on my arm. I leaned in to kiss her, but a tiny hand was put over my mouth, and I scowled at my daughter, who was just beaming like an absolute ray of sunshine.

"Well, looks like we've got a little party pooper on our hands."

Avery grasped my nose in her tiny hand.

Beside her, Roman gobbled and stuck his tongue out, basically tumbling onto America. She steadied him.

"Not the most coordinated, I'll say," she teased.

"Just like his mother," I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

"Did you call me clumsy?"

"... Maybe."

One Week Later

"C'mon!"

America had rushed into my office half a minute ago, panting from wherever she'd run from. I frowned and stood, grabbing my jacket.

"What—"

"Kenna's having the baby," she huffed, like it was obvious.

And then we ran together.

We made it in the nick of time.

According to one of the nurses, she'd secretly been in labor for over six hours, and had waited until she was pushing to alert us all. The waiting room was extremely tense.

America and I were invited in first.

Kenna and James both laid in the big hospital bed, cuddling a tiny baby wrapped in blue. A boy, I realized. Astra had a little brother. She had to be excited.

"Mackin!" Astra squealed, jumping into my arms. "Guess what? I haves a brother!"

"Congratulations, kiddo," I grinned.

James waved us over.

"Oh my God, he's beautiful," America gasped. "Does he have a name yet?"

Kenna and James shared a look, and Kenna said, "He does, actually. It was.. We named him after a very special person, who has helped us more than we deserved."

"Who?" America asked. "This is a lucky person."

They paused for a moment.

"Maxon, we'd like you to meet Maddox," James said. "Maddox Orders."

"You didn't."

Kenna grinned. "But we did. You've given us so much, Maxon. Not to mention that you're obviously the best king ever."

"And the best uncle!" Astra added. "Now we gots Mackin and Maddie."

I was.. I was touched.

Never once in my life had I considered the possibility of someone naming a child after me, yet here I was. I couldn't decide if I was just touched, stunned, or in complete disbelief. They'd seen me worthy enough to name their child after me. Damn.

"Oh." I laughed, still shocked. "I'm… honored?"

Astra turned to me with a serious expression. "You can nots love Maddie more than me."

"Never."

I set Astra down so that I could hold Maddox, who was wide awake. When America handed him to me, he reached up with his tiny fists balled up, and looked up at me with his beautiful gray eyes.

How he'd gotten gray eyes of all things, I didn't know. There was always a chance that they'd change colors in the future. His hair—a faint red fuzz—matched Kenna's perfectly. James was lucky to have three redheads. I could only imagine.

"Maxon and Maddox," Kenna said. "Obviously the best duo ever."

"Ken, he's perfect. And his name is really beautiful." America said, leaning over to look at the baby in my arms.

James grinned. "Don't forget that you're required to babysit."

"Oh, we won't." I said.

I handed Maddox back to Kenna and we left, smiling and holding hands.

The hallways were buzzing. Whether it was the new addition to the Singer-Orders-Schreave family that was causing the excitement or something else entirely, I truly didn't care. Maids went between rooms, guards bowed and curtsied at our passing, and other staff just smiled and greeted us with our titles.

Randomly and out of the blue, America stopped and turned to me.

"Maxon, let's go up to the library."

"I like the way you think."

And off we went.

The library greeted us with the smell of old books. Each and every wall was lined with bookcases, filled to the brim with books. Most of them looked as if they were falling apart. The majority of the covers were torn, the spines cracked and broken, and the pages ripped and stained.

America pulled me into her arms, resting her cheek against my chest. I slowly ran fingers through her hair and placed light kisses on her forehead.

"I love it up here," she whispered. "When you're at work, and the twins are spending time with everyone, and when I'm not busy.. it's like my secret hideaway."

"It does have a certain magic about it, doesn't it?"

"And the books.. wow."

I smiled. "I used to come here when I was little and read. I'd read for hours, and hours, and hours. Stavros once found me asleep in the beanbag chair."

"I didn't know you liked to read."

"I liked it because it was a form of escapism, my love," I said, tilting her chin up with one finger. "It helped me escape the reality of my.. situation."

Tears welled in her eyes.

"But I don't need to escape anymore."

And the tears fell. They fell so quickly that it was hard to wipe them away before the next one appeared. With one hand, she pulled me down and crashed her lips against mine. Before I could register it, her hands were in my hair and she was pushing me back down onto the nearest armchair.

She was almost hovering above me, hands running over my bare chest, which was exposed by my unbuttoned shirt, and pushing my suit jacket off. I swore I was in heaven.

And when she moved off of me, I was horrified to see Stavros standing in the doorway, wide-eyed and frozen with his hand on the doorknob.

"I—Your Majesties," he stammered, quickly bowing and closing the door.

America's blush was as red as her hair.

I let my head fall back and closed my eyes, bringing my hand up to cover my face with it. There was definitely a visible blush on my face. My most valued advisor had just seen my wife and I make out. Not to mention that it had been rather.. heated.

"God, I'm never going downstairs again."

"He's seen us kiss before," I sighed. "But not like that."

"I was undressing you, Maxon! How long was he standing there?"

"Probably long enough to notice."

She slumped down in the chair next to me and groaned. "I will never be able to face him again. I may as well die up here."

"As will I, darling."

While facing our humiliation, we skipped lunch and dinner, and I debated on skipping a mandatory meeting. But I ended up going. Stavros avoided my gaze, and I avoided his. I wondered how long it would take for the awkwardness to subside.