This chapter skips ahead to December-ish.

"Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. Dreams are forever." - Walt Disney

"Your Majesty we need you to make the final approval on the menu for the Christmas dinner," Paige said to me, setting the paper in front of me. "And the orchestra also sent a thank-you note for your generous donation."

"The Hope Cellers Association also wants your RSVP for the benefit football game," Marlee added, breezing in as if she wasn't halfway through a pregnancy.

I heard a chuckle from the other side of the room and saw my husband shaking his head over the bill he was writing. "What?" I asked, wondering what he was finding so comical. He just kept laughing and shaking his head though so I smiled and looked at my best friend as she sat down in one of the chairs across from me, shifting to make herself comfortable. "How's the baby?"

Marlee sighed heavily and put a hand on her stomach. "Too big if you ask me," she snapped. "Here's the number to the Hope Cellers Association or I could call them for you since your mother said that she would want to talk to you about your plans for Christmas."

I put my pen down. "What's there to talk about? She's already agreed that they are all coming here for Christmas. I am just too busy to take the time to go there. Plus with this new bill we're trying to pass for the Eights we can't afford for anything to happen to us."

"Good thing one of us knows what's going on," Maxon joked. "When's Aspen coming back? He keeps me up-to-date on all of this."

Carter walked in, nearly knocking over Paige as she passed him. "There's a guy downstairs that wants to talk to you. His name is Kota, I think," he announced nonchalantly. He leaned down to give Marlee a kiss on her forehead.

My mouth fell open. "You let him in here?" I demanded.

He took a couple steps away from me. Maxon was also staring at him. "Yes. Yes, I did. His name is Singer. I figured being a relative he was allowed in here."

I sighed and put my head in my hands as Maxon asked, "Carter, have you ever seen Kota around?"

I raised a hand to stop whatever Carter was about to say. "It doesn't matter. Did he say what he wanted to talk to me about?"

"No," Carter said, drawing the word out as if he was unsure. "He seemed a little disgruntled."

"That's just how he is all of the time," I muttered, rubbing my face in frustration. I looked at Maxon through the cracks in my fingers. "Can you come with me?"

"Mm-hm," he nodded, writing one last thing down and rising from his seat. He and I held hands as we walked down to where Kota as waiting. "So this is my first time meeting your brother," Maxon announced nonchalantly.

"No way!" I refused but when I thought about it I realized he was right; he had never met Kota. "Well, trust me, he's just as much of a jerk as I've made him out to be." He just nodded and smiled slightly. We rounded the corner to the top of the steps in the foyer and there he was.

He was looking up at one of the portraits hanging on the wall and I could see him admiring the technique. I slowly descended the steps, holding my breath the whole way and concentrating on the feeling of Maxon's hand on mine. "Kota," I called, getting my brother's attention.

When he turned and looked at me I noticed how tired and weathered he looked. "Sister." He nodded curtly to me. "Your Majesty." He bowed to Maxon. Maxon nodded to him coolly. I was relieved to see my brother show at least a little respect. "Maybe we could go somewhere else and speak?"

"No," I quickly refused before Maxon could agree to anything. "You can say whatever you have to say here."

"You're not being very hospitable," Kota pointed out.

"After the way you treated me the last time I saw you, you haven't given me much of a reason to be hospitable. At least to you," I answered coldly. "You gave me an ultimatum to either ruin my life myself or you would do it for me, remember?"

He smiled devilishly. "I was looking out for you."

I shook my head. "You were looking out for yourself, as always. Honestly, did you even care that our father had died? Or were you just basking in the fact that you were now the patriarch of our family? Do I even want to know what you've done with our family home?" I could feel Maxon tense at my side.

"That's why I'm here. Please, sister, I wouldn't have come here if I didn't have to."

That piqued my interest. "What do you want?"

"It seems that due to the nasty rumors floating about concerning my apparent isolation from my family that no one wants to do business with me," he said witheringly.

"And what…you want a billboard with your name on it? Done."

He shrugged. "I need money. Just to get by so I can get some more pieces out to sell," he explained. "I…I have done some things to get money but it went too quickly."

"What did you do?" I asked quietly, scared to hear the answer.

"I sold the house. To the rebels."

"What?" I exclaimed and if Maxon wasn't angry before, he was now. "To the rebels? Why would you do that?"

"They were looking for a base in Carolina and were offering a good sum. They agreed to let me live there still as long as I stayed out of their way."

I frowned. "How did you talk to them?"

"You didn't think you were the only one who knew that dear old Dad was a rebel, did you?"

Maxon turned to me. "Excuse me?"

Kota smiled. "Oh, you didn't know about that? Look at that, another secret I get to spill for you. Yes, our father was a Northern rebel. He seemed to be pretty important too with the way the rebels have talked about him. I've started to wonder how many deliveries he really made and how many times he actually went to secret rebel meetings? But of course, none of this is new news to you, is it sister?"

"Get out," I spat. He started to say something else but I cut him off by screaming, "Get out! Leave! I don't ever want to see your face again!" Maxon's hands on my arms held me back so that I didn't claw out Kota's eyes, something I very much wanted to do. "You've disgraced this family and betrayed us all. You will never have a place among us."

Kota retreated a few steps, disappointment covering his face. "I was hoping to reconcile our relationship by coming here."

I shook my head. "You've only destroyed it beyond repair."

He nodded, seeming to accept my words. "Well, then I am sorry."

The words took me by surprise. I was so in shock that all I could do was watch his back retreat out the doors, the confused eyes of our guards following him out. I could tell Maxon was upset about the slip that my father was a rebel. Without another word I turned and marched up the steps to my secret music room. Fitz followed me in and curled up on his bed.

I sat at my piano without any intention of playing but there was a song open on the stand. It was a song that my dad would always hum around his studio while he painted. I played the first few chords and just those nine notes made me feel at home.

Kota's visit reopened old wounds. For such a long time I had kept Dad's chapter in my life tightly shut but my brother just had to talk about him. All of the emotions I had felt when I first heard that he had passed away came crushing down on me and I let my head fall to the white keys with an unceremonious clash of notes as grief overwhelmed me. Tears dripped down onto my feet as Fitz watched me from his bed.

I don't know how long I sat there until I felt heat next to me. I tilted my head just the slightest degree to see who it was which only made me cry more.

"Come here," Maxon whispered, opening his arms to me. I didn't need to be told twice. I lifted my body just enough to fall back against his, my face awkwardly pressed into his shoulder as he rocked me. I curled my hands into the fabric of his shirt at his waist, breathing in the smell of his cologne. "I'm here, it's okay. I love you. I'm here," he whispered into my hair.

"Can you ever forgive…" I choked out.

He sighed. "Already forgiven, darling. You can never do anything that I can't forgive. You know that."

"But I should have told you."

"I understand why you didn't tell me. You're still grieving. We both are. I can't fault you for wanting to keep some things about your father to yourself," he explained. I raised my head to look up at him, my watery gray eyes meeting his clear brown eyes. The warm chocolate color seemed to swallow me. "You know what we need?" he asked, squeezing my shoulder.

I raised my eyebrows and sniffed. "What?"

"A night out. How about…a football game?"

"I was going to RSVP for that later."

He shook his head. "Uh, no. I mean, a football game just as Max and Mer."

I narrowed my eyes and considered. "Security won't like this."

"Security won't know about it until we're gone," he whispered, leaning down to kiss me softly. "C'mon, the game starts in just a few hours." He pulled me up and I laughed at him.

"You've already gotten tickets?" I asked exasperatedly.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "There are perks to this job, you know." He led me up to our bedroom where we parted ways to get dressed. I pulled out a pair of jeans and a hoodie that was stuck in the back of my closet. I put on my most comfortable and casual pair of flats and then faced my hair. I pulled a ball cap out of my closet and slid it on, deciding to straighten my hair and put it into a ponytail.

I met Maxon in our room where he was also wearing a pair of jeans with a t-shirt and a beanie pulled down over his ears. "Ooh, so Max is a hipster," I laughed, taking his sunglasses and playfully putting them on my face.

He laughed and took them back, sliding the sunglasses back into the V of his shirt. "And Mer is what, exactly?"

"A Five," I joked, following him downstairs to the kitchens where we snuck out the backdoor. We ran through the gardens laughing and holding hands, looking back up at the palace to make sure no one had followed us.

We made it to the stadium just in time. Our seats were on the thirty-yard line about twenty rows up. "These are amazing seats…Max," I winked.

"I aim to please!"

A young girl came out to sing the national anthem. Maxon sang it outrageously out of tune and loud. At first I was nervous because people were looking at us but then I just laughed and sang along with him (a lot quieter, of course). Then came the opening kickoff.

Maxon held my hand as he patiently explained the rules to me, football never being something that I really paid attention to. I was confused and probably beyond hope but I let him keep explaining it because I knew that he was enjoying it. We sat down during halftime and watched the circus performers hired for the day do their act. With the extra few minutes after that act there were some fun little games played, including the Kiss Cam. I froze when I saw my face on the giant screen at the end of the field but Maxon was unfazed as he leaned over to kiss me.

The rest of the game flew by. The Angeles team lost which was really no surprise because our team had always been bad. Maxon kept his arm slung around my shoulders as we exited the stadium. "How was that, Mer?" he asked.

"It was perfect Max." I kissed his cheek quickly.

"You know you can call me Max any time you want. I don't mind."

I smiled. "I like Maxon. Unless that's your way of saying that you want a nickname."

"No, I…" he was cut off by the girl walking on the other side of him.

"Maxon? As in King Maxon?" she asked, staring at him. Then her gaze moved over to me. "And Queen America! You two are amazing!"

He looked over at me. "Look what you've done."

"Not my fault!" I exclaimed, holding my hands up in defense. But then there were more people recognizing and soon people started shouting out that we were here. "We have to run!" I took his hand and we both took off into the city, cutting through the heart of downtown to get to the front gate of the palace. We could still hear people running to catch up with us so Maxon punched on the button to open the gate.

"Harry, it's us, King Maxon and Queen America," Maxon panted into the speaker.

"Nice of you to show up, Your Highness." We rolled our eyes at the response but then we were inside the gates and walking down the driveway to the palace.

I sighed. "I've never took the time to appreciate home from this view," I said quietly. Maxon stopped walking abruptly. I turned back to him, confused. "Why'd you stop?"

"You called the palace home," he said, awestruck.

"Well, yeah. It is home." I thought that I had been clear with Maxon that I was happy here. After all, the palace had been my home for over a year now. Did I not seem happy here?

He was still looking at me with wide eyes. "I seem to remember you telling me that it was a cage."

I blushed, remembering that night well. After all, it was the night I met my husband. I would probably remember it vividly for the rest of my life. "Well, that was before I fell in love with you."

"So it's not the palace, it's me?"

I laughed and rolled my eyes playfully. "Max, we could live in a box for all I care. As long as I'm with you, I'd be happy." He smiled and bowed his head, thinking something funny to himself. Finally he stepped in front of me and knelt down on one knee. "What're you doing?"

"I just realized that I never got to do this and seeing as this is an important day in our history, I thought I could do it now."

"What's today?" I asked, unable to figure out what the significance of the day was. It wasn't our anniversary. It wasn't my birthday, his birthday, or anyone else's birthday. It wasn't the anniversary of us meeting. It wasn't the anniversary of us getting engaged; that was in a few more weeks. So what was today?

"Today is the day that I realized just how wholly in love with you I was," he explained. "I believe I was in the Great Room for dinner and you had yet to arrive. I was really looking forward to seeing you because it had been a few days since we'd had alone time and I was already planning on tugging my ear that night. But then you swept in wearing that dress and I was honestly a little appalled and awed. I had just enough in me to tug my ear but other than that I could barely move.

"I knew exactly what you were doing and I had no intention of following through. Although it was a pleasure to see you dressed like that. I do feel bad for leading you on and laughing but as I kissed you that night I realized that it was actually really hard to turn you down because I didn't want to turn you down. I wanted to keep going. That's part of the reason I laughed. It was so anticlimactic, the way I figured out that I was in love with you. I expected much more fanfare but it was just in a quiet, candlelit room.

"But…with all that said and with as strange as those circumstances were, that is just the nature of our relationship. I accepted that that night. Nothing would ever be normal or conventional about us, even without being king and queen. That was the first moment that I really, truly accepted you for all of your faults and flaws. That was the first moment that I accepted you just as you were because I wouldn't have you any other way. You're perfect for me, America Schreave and I am in love with you and I am so honored to be your husband."

I smiled, holding his hands tight and swallowing past the lump forming in my throat. "I love you, Maxon Schreave. Do you know where I realized that? On the roof, in the pouring down rain, both of us a mess. It had never felt so good to be held by you because there were hardly any secrets between us. Our relationship was at a whole new level. Not only had I realized that I loved Angeles, but I realized that I truly felt something for you. Hearing about you kissing Kriss…I don't know. I just really didn't like it."

He stood up and wiped off his knee. "Well, jee, I should have kissed Kriss sooner!" he joked. But then he looked at me seriously. "But you already knew we kissed, didn't you?"

I bowed my head and nodded. "Yes, I did."

"How?"

"I saw it happen," I whispered.

He was quiet before he whispered, "Oh." He paused and swept a thumb across my cheekbone. "I thought you knew already when I told you because I expected you to be a lot more upset than you were."

"You didn't see me at all the day it happened," I stated.

He shrugged. "That's true. Were you jealous?"

"Insanely."

"Well, you're the only one I'm kissing now so you don't need to worry about it anymore," he said, kissing my forehead for emphasis. "Until we have kids, of course."

I laughed against his lips. "Let's go upstairs."

"Good idea."

Hey hey hey! I updated! I have been insanely busy this week! I can't believe that i've already been at college for a whole week. at the same time it feels like i've been here for months. anyway, hope you liked this little fluffy chapter (minus the whole Kota thing, i think someone just needed to clear that up). the next chapter is gonna be a good one so look out!

OH MAN! I ALMOST FORGOT TO ANSWER REVIEWS!

booksforbreakfast: good to hear!

gabbana403: haha i guess that's cool. i will keep posting as much as i can. in the mean time, i recommend some other Selection fanfics to make sure that you don't get bored. Laws of Inheritance, Finding the Happy Ending, Remembering the One, Royal Issues, Assurance, and I know there are some others that I like but I just can't remember. those are the first ones that come to mind.

winterprincess: yes, i really want to know what it's about and i really hope it isn't another story about a selection. and i did try to keep it somewhat classy and clean.

WeatherBug02: i thank!

Theoneforever: despite being king and queen, America and Maxon are still technically teenagers. i expect them to be quite horny at times.

luv2read4reading: that's really funny. i was listening to some hard-core R&B to set the mood haha.

Someone the World Forgot: such a roller coaster of emotions! i completely forgot i put that in there until after i read your review! haha.

PEETAMELLARKLOVER123: yes, America was quite original with that present, wasn't she?

emma 3: i had a hard time deciding where America would have a tattoo. i knew that she should have it somewhere that wouldn't be noticeable no matter what she wore. I did consider her wrist like Kiera has but that's pretty obvious then. i think as queen, she can have a tattoo but she needs to keep it hidden.

awesome reviews guys! keep sending them in!