Yes! Happy Ending
Yes! Happy Ending
PROLOGUE
Ivy’s POV
Until… it turned chaotic again.
But for once, it wasn't a tragedy…it was life. Loud, messy, beautiful life.
Our little getaway was over and we were finally home. Today was Dad’s and Rosa’s wedding. The grand hall Rosa picked looked like something out of a dream…flowers, lanterns, laughter…and for the first time in a long time, joy didn’t feel like a trap.
Everyone was here. My biological father, the royal court, and a few pack members from every region. Even Daniel promised he’d show up…though as usual, he was nowhere to be seen.
I still find myself thinking about him frequently…whether he’s safe, whether he’s surviving out there. And every time, the same question haunts me; who did Leo send to watch him from the shadows?
He wouldn’t say and I’ve learnt to let it be.
Uncle Marcus was already being a menace, throwing petty little jabs at Dad. He’s next. I swear I’m finding him a woman at this wedding if it kills me. Preferably one that can handle chaos…or handle him.
I was heavier now, the twins sitting low like they were plotting their dramatic entrance. Leo begged me not to overdo it, but I ignored him because I’m Ivy, and pregnancy does not stop the king’s woman from fixing centrepieces and bossing decorators around.
Dad said after the wedding he planned to move somewhere quiet with Rosa. Good. Perfect, actually. Because I fully intend to dump the twins on them anytime royal life becomes too much. Babysitting is a wedding gift. They’ll survive.
The hall buzzed with joy and movement. People were already seated. And guess who was walking Rosa down the aisle?
Me!
The music began…Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis…and suddenly I wasn’t the warrior, or the Alpha’s mate, or the girl destiny wouldn’t leave alone. I was just Ivy, Richard and Rosa Blackwood’s daughter.
Rosa looked breathtaking. She took my arm and squeezed once…silent, warm, grateful. I smiled back at her, memories of how she rescued me came flooding.
Speaking of which, Connor told me what my father did to the Rylands, how he made them pay. It turns out their perfect family image was a lie. They were buying immigrants, working them like slaves, and paying them almost nothing.
As for Dorothy, their spoiled princess,
she lost her mind when she didn’t get to marry Connor like she planned. Last I heard, she’s locked in some private psychiatric facility, still screaming his name.
Pathetic.
The doors opened then, pulling me out of my thoughts, and together we began to walk down the aisle.
At the end of the aisle, Leo and Uncle Marcus flanked my father like two badly behaved bodyguards.
Leo was mouthing something to Dad…probably another stupid argument about who loved me more…while Uncle Marcus laughed like the devil watching chaos unfold.
Minutes later, the vows were spoken. Rings exchanged. Cheers erupted. Dad kissed his bride and my heart squeezed in a way I didn’t know it still could.
My hard work to get them together finally paid off. Next stop, uncle Marcus.
Later, Dad and I danced under fairy lights. My head on his shoulder. His arms around me like a shield I didn’t know I still needed. We laughed. Talked. We reminisced on how I would crawl into his bed whenever I had nightmares. He still smelled like safety. The music played. Life…finally…felt steady.
I can finally breathe properly in the palace because now, he has a companion.
Then a contraction hit so hard my spine snapped straight.
“Oh hell no,” I muttered.
My eyes shot across the hall…and of course Leo was already sprinting toward me like a rescue mission was underway.
“It’s happening,” he barked unnecessarily, as the entire hall exploded in another wave of chaos.
There’s no way I would give birth in the normal human hospital without raising serious scientific and biological concerns.
So we had to drive up to the palace. And it looked longer than it should.
Apparently I went into labor at the exact level of drama expected from me…loud.
“WHY ARE YOU BREATHING SO LOUD, LEO?!” I screamed from the stretcher as I was being rolled away.
“I…I’m just…breathing?” he squeaked, looking terrified and also somehow amused at the outburst.
“WELL STOP IT. YOU’RE ANNOYING ME.”
He grabbed my hand. “Baby, you’re doing amazing…”
“DON’T BABY ME. YOU DID THIS TO ME. YOU DID IT ON PURPOSE!”
“I SWEAR I DIDN’T!”
“You’re enjoying this right now, aren’t you?”
“What?! NO!”
“You’re smiling!”
“It’s nerves!” he cried…and then his eyes actually got teary. Tears. Real ones.
Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.
“Are you crying?”
“I’m just…I’m so happy,” he choked out. “We’re having our babies…”
“Aww,” the pack nurse purred.
“SHUT UP,” I snarled, and she stiffened.
Leo wiped his face, panicking. “I’m not going anywhere. I insisted on being here for every second. I’m going in with her,” he told the royal doctor when they tried to kick him out for pacing too much. “If she’s going to suffer, I’m going down with her.”
The doctor blinked. “Your majesty…this is childbirth, not battle. You should leave so we can work better.”
“You don’t know my wife. The moment I step away from her, I’m dead.”
And he was right. We did it together. We should be here together!
We rolled into the delivery room while my entire family waited outside. I could hear Uncle Marcus yelling bets through the door like the menace he is. “I SAY THE FIRST BABY LOOKS LIKE ME!”
“SHUT UP, UNCLE MARCUS!” I roared and he slammed a hand over his mouth while the rest laughed at him.
“You’re doing so good, Ivy,” Leo whispered, brushing sweaty hair from my forehead.
I grabbed him by the collar. “If you ever touch me again after this, I swear…”
“I KNOW!”
“I’ll still do it. But I’ll threaten you first.”
“I KNOW!”
“Okay, your highness,” the doctor said. “It’s time. Push!”
I screamed. I pushed. I threatened Leo’s existence so many times that I lost count. He brushed it off like a champ.
Until…
“We have a head! One more push!”
I squeezed Leo’s hand so hard he made a sound like a dying bat.
“It’s…IT’S A BOY!” the doctor announced.
A boy. Our son. My heart exploded.
I barely had time to breathe when another contraction slammed through me.
“Oh my God, the other one is coming!” I heard the pack doctor yell.
And just like that…
“It’s a girl!”
One boy. One girl. Twins. Ours.
I slumped back, exhausted and emotional and half certain I had died and returned.
Leo stared at the babies…eyes wide, breath gone, voice shaky and sweat covering his forehead like he had been the one pushing.
“We… we made it,” he whispered.
Then the Alpha king fainted.
Face first. On the hospital floor.
I stared down at him. Sweat-soaked, worn out, and unconscious.
“Oh boy… now I officially have three babies,” I muttered, collapsing into the pillow as a wave of exhausted happiness washed over me.
But I wouldn’t trade a single moment of this moment…because it’s ours.
Our perfectly imperfect happy ending.
THE END.