It was another week before Maxon was well enough to move back upstairs. Dr. Macky begrudgingly gave him approval under the condition that he would visit every two days for checkups. America saw it as only right that she give Dr. Freud a position at the palace as a thank you for all he had done but he politely declined, insisting that he preferred researching more than anything else in the medical field.

Everything seemed to be settling into place. The only thing that brought grief was America's pregnancy. She had been pregnant twice before this time since having Michael, both of them leading to miscarriages. She had no idea how or why because she had three healthy children and her siblings all had multiple children.

The other dark spot in their lives was May. America had yet to fully address May's presence in the palace but Maxon was more than disgruntled over her ambivalence. "She is your sister Ames," he reminded her late one night as they were getting dressed for bed. "The least you could do is hear her out."

"You're the tenth person to tell me that and quite frankly, I'm tired of hearing it," she growled, throwing her dress at her maid to hang. "I don't want to dwell on it too much because I can't be stressed."

Maxon nodded understandingly, knowing not to argue with that logic. He simply took her by the shoulders to deliver a tender kiss to her forehead, leaving her in their closet then. He still worried that she was more upset by the matter than she would let on.

So, he took matters into his own hands and visited May himself. She seemed surprised when he was the one to enter the room and not her older sister. "May, I was hoping I could talk to you," he told her, standing close to the door. In truth he was not scared of May but he was there against his better judgment.

May set the book she had been reading aside and looked at him curiously. "Does your wife know you're here?"

He shook his head. "And I'd like to keep it that way. I want to help you May but only if I have your absolute discretion. America doesn't need the stress of your life with the baby but I'm not pregnant so I can help you."

"Who says I need help?" she stood up, crossing her arms.

"Do you want to see your children again?" Maxon asked her enticingly.

She narrowed her eyes but then laughed it off. "I ran away for a reason."

"And what reason is that?" he asked.

She sighed and sat down on her bed again, shaking her head. "I'm not talking to you about this. You wouldn't understand."

He frowned. "Why not?"

"Because you can't understand. You've spent what…thirty-two years living in this palace in this perfect little life you have. You've never been out there. When I first ran away I was an Eight. Luckily I had extra money with me that I was able to use to keep me from being completely impoverished and once I got a job I was able to work my way up to being a Six but still, you would have no idea what it's like if you've never been there." She held up a hand to stop his response. "I know that you've heard everything from America but it's still not the same and believe me, she's forgotten about it by now."

Maxon sighed and sat down on the chest at the end of the bed, looking at the floor with his elbows resting on his legs. "I don't think she has. I think she's just been keeping it in the back of her mind because it's painful for her to think about now. Are you going to tell me how you ended up here though?"

"What, just so you can go and tell America? No," she snapped.

"I'm not going to tell America," he promised.

May rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I doubt it. But hey, good job for trying."

He nodded and rubbed his hands together, looking over to her. "I asked you to keep my visit a secret. That will work both ways you know."

"Well, forgive me for not being able to believe you."

He threw his hands up in surrender and stood. "You know what bothers me about you May? The fact that you and America are just so similar and I know that if you really try, you could change the world, just like America. You don't see yourself the way everyone else sees you. You are just as strong-willed as America; we've seen that. You could have all of this too but instead you see yourself as a victim and you're always on the defense when we really just want you to be part of the family again. And I know you want that too." He shook his head and walked to the door. "I'm coming back tomorrow, and the day after that, and the next day…I'm going to keep coming because while you think and even hope that everyone has given up on you, I'm not. I'm king and it's my duty to look out for my people but first I'm a husband, father, uncle, and to you I'm a brother. So I'm not giving up, no matter what."

He walked out, nodding to the guards on his way up to his office. America was sitting in his desk chair waiting when he arrived. "Where've you been?" she asked, eyeing him curiously. She was suspicious already.

He shrugged and leaned against the desk next to her. "Attending to some important matters of state," he said dramatically, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

She smiled and shook her head. "I don't believe you."

"Imagine that," he said sarcastically. Honestly, she and May were the exact same person. "Where have you been?"

"At a meeting with Silvia and the kitchen staff, setting a menu for a party we're having in a couple weeks," she informed him. "We are both attending."

He frowned. "Since when were we having a party?"

"Since I decided to make a very generous donation to the Orders Foundation of Rare Diseases and Cures in our name. I wanted to repay Graham so, you know, party," she explained.

"Graham," he said slowly, dragging the word out. "Why do I get the feeling there's something more to this?"

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it." There was no way she could tell him about her old feelings for Graham. It was just an infatuation but if he knew he would be crushed.

He nodded slowly, not buying a word. "Just give me the date and I'll be there in my monkey suit."

"You mean the same monkey suit you wear every day?" she joked.

"Hey, I do vary with my wardrobe a bit. I can no longer keep track of the amount of times I wear jeans. I'd say that's a big step for me."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Tell me where you were."

"Tell me about Graham."

"No."

"Then I'm not telling where I was."

"That's not fair."

"I never said it was." He stood and put his hands on the back of the chair. "Now, up, I have work to do."

She groaned and sank down further into the large leather chair. "No. This chair is too comfortable. And my back is killing me…please, can I stay here? You can go work in my office."

"If your back is hurting, than you should go rest. Seriously, I want you relaxing, not planning huge galas."

"No one said anything about a huge gala."

He shook his head. "You have that huge gala look in your eyes. Just leave it all to Marlee and Silvia; I'm sure it'll be great." He extended a hand to her, offering to pull her up.

She sighed and stood without taking his hand. He smiled, thinking that's my girl. But he wouldn't let her just completely brush him off like that. He suddenly bent down and scooped her up into his arms, taking her breath away. "Maxon…" she sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with her free hand. He leaned his head down to kiss her and then carried her down the hall to their bedroom.

"I'm still not talking," May said from her spot by the balcony doors. They were locked to prevent her from escaping or pitching herself over the edge.

"Well I'm still not giving up," Maxon answered, the picture of ease as he reclined by her table with a tray of food nearby. "You really should have some strawberry tarts."

She chose not to answer that, instead saying, "Does America ever get tired of you constantly nagging her?"

"Just another reason she loves me." He propped his feet up on the table. "The kids probably do though."

"Josiah would never let me nag him like that."

Maxon smiled behind the cookie he was nibbling on, knowing that she had taken the bait. "Is Josiah your husband?" She was quiet and he knew that was a yes. "Well there's something. Were you two happy?"

"Yeah until he found out who I really am."

His smile disappeared. "You keep saying that you left because he found out who you really are. Why is that a bad thing? I'm confused by that whole thing. I feel like as your husband, he should understand."

She shook her head. "We never talked about it. I just saw a note on the kitchen counter talking about me and I knew he had put the pieces together. Besides, I look too much like America; it's hard to disprove the relation. I left before he could say anything."

"How do you know he'd be upset?"

"Because it meant that I lied to him through our whole marriage. Eight years of matrimony, two kids…I feel like at some point I should have told him."

"Why didn't you?"

She shrugged. "I guess I was just so scared he would see me as the May Singer who had tried to kill the royal family. By creating a new name for myself, I was able to let him fall in love with me for me, not my name. He wasn't in it to be a One or for the money or to know you…he genuinely liked me."

Maxon smiled. He knew May was a likable person and the way she spoke about Josiah…it was reverent. She had truly loved the guy. "You're not doing much to refute my theory that yes, he may be a little peeved that you weren't honest but if what you say is true, he'd still love you at the end of the day."

Shaking her head, she said, "No. I can't forgive myself. I don't expect him to ever forgive me."

Poor May. :( Hope y'all liked this chapter! I'm almost done the next chapter for my other one-shots fanfic so that'll probably be up tonight or tomorrow. thanks for the awesome reviews! just a few chapters left!