“It’s Prince Konstantin or Your Highness,” Mikhail said, showing he was not so sanguine about the issue. “My dad is a prince.”
The pride in Mikhail’s voice touched Konstantin deeply. Unlike with Emma, apparently Konstantin’s royal status was a check in the plus column for their son.
“Is that right?” Jerome Leeds asked indulgently.
“It is,” Konstantin affirmed. “Now, if you will excuse us.”
He put his hand out for his son to take and then led Mikhail out of the school without looking back to see how the news was received.
“Dad, how come Mr. Leeds didn’t know you are a prince?”
“Perhaps because your mother did not think it was important to tell him.”
“Oh. Because she doesn’t want to be a princess?”
“I think because my role as Prince is less important to her than my role as your father. She told them about that, right?”
Mikhail brightened. “Yep. Where are we going?”
“Where would you like to go?”
“The park!”
Because he had accompanied Mikhail and Emma to the park twice now, Konstantin knew exactly where Mikhail wanted to go. Konstantin gave instructions to the driver and then called Emma to tell her where they were going.
The bodyguard riding with them engaged Mikhail in conversation while Konstantin was on the phone.
“I should have guessed that would be where you ended up. Given a choice, it’s almost always the park.” There was a smile in her voice.
“It would seem so.”
“Mickey is really excited you picked him up today. He told me other kids had more than one person who picked them up and now he did too.” She sounded a little sad and maybe wistful.
“You and Mishka will never be alone again,” Konstantin vowed. “Not only will I always be there, but my father, brothers and sister-in-law are all very eager to meet my son and his mother.”
“I don’t know how I feel about meeting them. Queen Tiana told me that she had her husband’s full support to take Mickey, and that of her father-in-law as well.”
Konstantin didn’t like the worry in Emma’s tone.
He assured her, “She told you she had my support too, but we both know she lied about that.”
Silence met that statement.
Konstantin waited, wondering if Emma would agree, ignore or deny his words.
“She did,” Emma finally said with a sigh. “About a lot of things.”
“Yes, about many things. My father and brothers learned about Mishka only after I met our son.”
He couldn’t wait for Mickey to meet Dima, his youngest brother. Both his brothers would be wonderful uncles, he was sure, but Dima was the youngest and had a special place in Konstantin’s heart.
He looked to make sure Mikhail was otherwise engaged. His son was now playing a game on the bodyguard’s phone with a set of headphones so he could hear his music without interrupting Konstantin. Konstantin nodded his thanks to the other man.
“I have not yet told you how grateful I am that you chose to continue your pregnancy and when you did that you did not choose to give Mishka up for adoption. Your strength inspires me.”
“That’s a nice thing to say, but my parents would have burned my name in effigy if I’d terminated my pregnancy,” Emma said with dark humor. “Not that I ever considered doing so. I don’t know. I just loved Mickey from the moment I knew I carried him. If I’d been able to give him up for adoption, Mom and Dad would not have disowned me. They thought I was being selfish toward them and him by keeping him.”
Konstantin hated that this amazing, generous woman had lost her family just when she’d needed them most. “I never realized they were so unbending. I knew they were angry you’d moved in with me because you told me, but not that they would reject you for having a child without the benefit of marriage.”