The Alpha King's Series novel Chapter 44

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CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

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BRINLEY.

"What will I be doing on the days you cook?" Carol asks, folding her arms over her chest.

By the time the girl's day out ended, it was dark, and everyone went to bed early to get rest for the gala tomorrow evening. But I couldn't sleep and wandered into the kitchen for some hot honey tea, and it always helped me sleep.

To my surprise, Carol was making tea. I guess she could sleep either.

"You can do whatever you want,"

"I guess I could help cook at the orphanage," She sighs.

"Okay. You can have the kitchen two days and week while I help the sisters,"

"Thanks, Carol,"

She nods and pours us a cup of hot tea, adding honey and lemon.

"This should help you sleep," Carol says, placing the cup in front of me. I mutter a "Thank you" And take a sip.

The taste of the honey lemon soothes my throat as it goes down, and I hum at the exquisite taste.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" I ask carol.

She shakes her head.

"I often have trouble sleeping. Tea always helps,"

I nod my head.

"Why can't you sleep?"

I heave a sigh.

"The girls kept bugging me today about Xander and me's wedding. Telling me, I need to pick a date."

Carol mouths an '0'.

"I see. Mija, this is your life. Pick the date that makes you happy," Carol says, rubbing my hand for comfort.

"Carol, can I be frank with you?"

She nods.

"Of course,"

"What if Xander and I marry, and he decides he wants more kids? I'm not putting myself through that again,"

"You're afraid of the baby having the same condition as Dominic?"

I nod my head.

"Have you talked with Xander about it?" She asks.

"Yes, he says he doesn't want me to go through that again. But what if he changes his mind?"

Carol shakes her head.

"He won't,"

"How can you be so sure?"

She sighs.

"Brinley, he loves you, right?"

"Yes,"

"Then he wouldn't make you go through that again. If he changes his mind and wants another child down the road, you could always adopt,"

She's right. If Xander decides he wants more kids, we could always adopt a child and give them home.

"Thanks, Carol," I say, placing my empty cup on the table.

"I'm going to try and sleep; good night Carol," I tell her.

"Good night Mija,"

************

"Hold still," Katie warns me.

Katie is curling my hair for the gala that starts in an hour. After this, she does my make-up.

Katie placed the curling iron down and grabbed some pins.

She Pin's some of the hair up on the side and then lets my brown curls fall free.

"Perfect,"

She says, turning me to face her as she grabs her color palates.

"Not too much, okay,"

She rolls her eyes.

"Let me work in peace,"

****

"Done," Katie says in a sing-along.

I turn toward the mirror, and my jaw drops.

"Wow,"

"Mhm," Katie hums.

"I look.... not like myself,"

"That's the point," Katie says, rolling her hazel eyes.

My cheekbones were blushed lightly pink, and my eyes were a mix of colors with a dash of red on the corners. Black lines crossed my lids, and the bottom and my lashes looked more black and a few inches longer. My lips were also painted red.

"Why so much red?"

"You're wearing a red dress; why not?"

I nod my head.

I'm not supposed to be wearing red at all. It was a last-minute decision when I saw how beautiful the dress was. I even found heels to match, which Amanda says wasn't hard to do since red is a popular color.

"I'm going to get ready now. I'll meet you downstairs,"

Katie says, waving at me as she leaves my room.

I walked to Dominic's room, where all the kids were playing.

I opened it slowly and saw they were running around with toys, smiling and laughing. Eric is five, but he loves to play with the young ones.

Delores thought it would be a good idea if Gabriela joined us tonight since she was ten. So I helped Delores pick her dress. It's a long-length white at the top that slowly circles into black, and the back of the dress has a half-black, half-white flower.

Since she was ten, Delores wasn't sure about heels, but we found black ones with a small heels.

I closed the door to Dominic's room and headed for the staircase.

The foyer was empty, so I made my way down and stopped at the bottom to catch my breath when I almost tripped over my dress.

Still clumsy, nothing has changed.

I stand against the wall waiting for Katie to come down. I didn't want to enter the gala alone.

All she had to do was put on her dress, and she had done her own hair and make-up before doing mine.

"I'm ready," Katie says, coming down the stairs.

"You look beautiful," I tell her.

Katie's white mermaid dress hugs her curvy body, and her hazel eyes are more green than brown. Her hair was up in a neat bun with two strands of hair curled to each side of her face.

"Thanks." She murmurs.

I wrap my arm in hers, and we walk towards the ballroom.

When the doors opened, all eyes were on me.

I knew this would happen because of my color choice, but I needed to stand out since I would be queen.

"Everyone is staring," Katie mutters.

"I've noticed,"

Before untangling her arm from mine, she narrowed her eyes and walked to Kyle's side.

Great, now I'm alone.

"Champaign?" One of the serves asks.

I shake my head.

"No, thank you,"

I spot Kevin and Delores talking with Gabby right by their side. So I make my way over to them.

"Hi,"

Delores smiles.

"You look gorgeous,"

"So do you," I say and hug her back.

"My my Gabby, you look stunning,"