Hi everyone! I'm so, so, so sorry for the extremely long break I've taken. My family and I are totally healthy and well, and I hope you and yours are too. I feel so guilty for not updating for so long, but it's made me realize how nice having less stress and more free time is. I'm ready to wrap up this fanfiction, but I'm going to knock out 10 or 15 more chapters (we'll see) before I bring this to a close. I may move through their timeline a bit faster in order to get to some special moments and milestones in Maxon and America's lives. Though I originally thought I'd be able to, I will not be writing up to the point where Maxon and America have their entire family (four children), because that is simply too much for me. I'm really sorry if you were looking forward to those chapters.
I hope you can empathize with me and understand my decision; I'm going into ninth grade soon and want to have less on my hands at that time.
Also...congratulations on well over 100,000 views! That is a crazy number, and I'm so infinitely grateful to all of you for sticking with me and supporting this fanfiction.
There have been so many reviews since my last update, so I won't be responding to each of you individually this time. Please know that I appreciated your comment and smiled when I read it! I'll be back to review responses in my next chapter.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Y'all make me so happy; I can't believe what a wonderful, intelligent, loving community I've found here. Enjoy!
My eyes flickered open, and I slowly adjusted to the faint sunlight seeping through our silk curtains. I grinned, suddenly remembering that it was my birthday. Maxon, lying beside me in bed, was still sleeping. I kissed him on the cheek and slipped out of bed, feeling like an eager child. Maxon had planned a special day with my family, and I couldn't wait to see them. With all the work Maxon and I were handling, the citizen gatherings I was hosting, and parenting, I was missing out on time with May, Mom, and Gerad.
Before I could exit Maxon's bedroom and start getting ready, he stirred and opened his eyes. My husband, seeing me out of the corner of his eye, shot up at the sight of me by the door.
"Oh, America...no, no, no," he groaned, rubbing his face.
I frowned and jumped back in bed with him. "What?"
Maxon burst out laughing. "I'm so sorry, my love. I thought I set a timer so that I could wake up before you and give you a proper good morning. Clearly that didn't happen."
I giggled with him. "Good morning."
Maxon cupped my face and kissed me gently, sweetly, on the lips. "Happy birthday, America."
I smiled and kissed him again. "That's all I needed."
We spent a beautiful half hour joking, kissing, and teasing before a maid knocked on the door. "Come in," Maxon called, and three servers entered holding beautiful breakfast platters.
"Wow," I breathed, squealing with excitement. Lena, Iomy, and Hadassa brought beautiful tart assortments, omelettes, pastries, fruits, pudding, pretzel buns, and more. "This is amazing! Thank you so much, girls!"
"Of course, Your Majesties," Hadassa nodded, and the other two echoed her. They set the food down on foldable stands beside our bed. "Please enjoy."
The next knock on the door was Rosette bringing Eadlyn and Ahren in. We settled the babies between us in bed, and Maxon and I shared a kiss over their heads.
"Time to eat breakfast in bed," Maxon announced brightly. He pulled a gold-rimmed plate of burnt chocolate chip cookies onto his lap.
"Looks amazing," I said, feigning enthusiasm about the sad-looking cookies.
Maxon chuckled, and a blush rose to his cheeks. "You don't actually have to eat these, but I made them last night for you. They didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned..."
I grinned and grabbed one off of the plate. It was totally hard, and almost every surface of the cookie was charred. I tried to stifle my laughter but couldn't help a little giggle as Maxon bit into his and had the same experience. "Cooking is not my forte, okay?" he protested indignantly.
"Don't worry; I still love you," I teased him. Eadlyn squealed, making Ahren smile. I kissed the tops of my twins' heads. "Thank you for putting this together, Maxon," I said, sitting back up in bed. "And for those award-winning cookies."
He smirked. "It was my pleasure."
May, Mom, and Gerad arrived around noon for lunch, while the twins were napping. Maxon had arranged a picnic by our special bench. Happy birthday wishes were shared, and we all got together on a classic checkered blanket to eat.
Another feast was laid out; bite-size sandwiches, tea cakes, tarts, spring salads, and berries were plentiful. May had a wistful smile on her face as she gazed at the assortment of food.
"What's wrong, May?" I asked, touching her hand lightly.
"Oh, nothing," she laughed, shaking her head. "I'm just mourning this beautiful lunch that'll be gone once we eat it all!"
"Ah, I can relate," I replied. "But don't worry, there's more where it came from."
"Perfect," my younger sister said, popping a blueberry in her mouth.
We all dug in, enjoying the savory sandwiches and sweet desserts. However, the sweet tart crumbling in my mouth turned sour as I glanced up and saw a figure ambling toward us. A familiar figure, walking in the grass.
It was Kota.
"Maxon," I hissed at my husband, who nodded absentmindedly.
"Yeah, America? Are you enjoying lunch?"
"Lunch is amazing," I muttered. "But what's Kota doing here?" My older, disloyal brother had almost reached our little picnic spot. The rest of my family was also mumbling about him, shooting dirty glares Kota's way.
"Ames, I know what he did to you and your family. He left you all in pursuit of money and popularity, and I can understand why you don't want to forgive him. But I think it's time to settle this rift. I...invited him," Maxon said apologetically, looking down.
I bit my lip, a swirl of emotions pounding in my chest. "On my birthday, Maxon? Really?"
"Sorry," he said guiltily. "I shouldn't have meddled with your family's business."
"You really, really shouldn't have," I snapped. "You just don't get it." Maxon nodded, disheartened.
Kota finally approached us and plopped himself down on the blanket. "Hey." I couldn't believe that he was still arrogant enough not to address Maxon, the king, formally.
No one said anything until Gerad, who had been too young to understand the implications when Kota left, piped up. "I really like these mango ice cream bowls. Want one?"
I sighed inwardly as my younger brother handed a bowl to Kota. "Thanks, G." Kota's grin almost looked believable, but I couldn't bring myself to fall for it.
Not wanting to be impolite toward Maxon, my mother and May made small talk with our estranged family member. Their eyes remained icy and challenging.
"America, do you want to go split off and open your gift?" Maxon offered, trying to cut through the palpable tension in the group.
"A gift? Maxon, you didn't have to," I laughed, a true smile lighting up my face. I hadn't completely forgiven Maxon for inviting Kota to the palace on my birthday, but I knew he only meant well.
"Of course I did," he said, looking relieved to see me smiling. "Let's go." He helped me up off the picnic blanket and dipped his head to the rest of my family.
Maxon led me to the ornate royal instrument room. "Before I show you what I got, I just want to say I'm really sorry for inviting Kota. I thought you would like to get back in touch again and feel closer to your family, but I made a mistake not running that by you." Maxon made eye contact with me, his soft brown eyes endearingly hopeful.
"It's okay," I said simply. "This has been such a lovely day; I couldn't ask for more."
"I'm so glad." Maxon pulled out a beautiful, maroon-colored, velvet case.
"Oh my gosh," I whispered reverently, taking the case in my hands. "It's a violin, isn't it?"
"Open it up and see," Maxon chuckled. I clicked the gold latch open to find a beautiful rosewood violin with gold detailing. 'America' was etched into the front plate with gorgeous cursive writing. I couldn't believe the amazingly smooth strings, which sang out the sweetest notes when plucked. A remarkably lightweight bow accompanied the violin.
If I wasn't mistaken, this violin was among the most expensive in the world, a thousand times more valuable than anything I had ever personally owned. The instrument room already had a collection of violins, but nothing so priceless. Tears pricked at my eyes. "Maxon...this is magnificent. I can't believe you got this for me. It's unbelievably special."
I set the instrument down and let Maxon wrap his arms around me gently. "You're welcome, my darling. Kota actually helped me pick it out, because I had to make sure I was getting a top quality violin."
"Really?" I asked, pulling away. "That's weird, because he's a sculpturist, not a violinist."
Maxon shrugged. "Anyway, he had good advice."
I nodded, trying to stifle my unsettling feeling of suspicion. "Thank you so, so, so, much. This is incredible." I kissed Maxon on the lips, and he returned the kiss with full passion.
"Should we get your family in here so you can give the violin a trial run?" Maxon offered.
"Sounds good. I can't wait to play it!" Maxon grinned, took my hand, and walked back to the gardens with me.
Only Mom, May, and Gerad were sitting at the picnic spot when Maxon and I came back. "Where's Kota?" I questioned, confused.
"He just went to the bathroom," Gerad explained.
I nodded. "Who wants to go see the gorgeous violin Maxon just gave me?" I squeezed my husband's hand gratefully.
"Me!" May exclaimed, and Gerad chimed in. I led my family back to the instrument room and opened up the beautiful violin case.
My violin was gone.