Chapter 1014

"All right," dad says, coming back in with mom and settling the tray of drinks on the coffee table. Mom hands me my tea before going to perch on the arm of the big lounge chair that dad sits in. "Tell me about this plan to adopt Marigold."

My eyebrows go up. "Sorry?" I ask, looking between him and mom, realizing that mom must have told him about it. Which is not a surprise - mom and dad talk about everything and rarely, if ever, keep secrets. "Is it...a problem?"

Jackson tenses a little, likewise looking between my parents.

Goldie gives a little squeak, reaching for some coloring supplies on the floor, and I lower her on to down. She dashes over to the coloring book and picks up a fistful of crayons as I turn back to my mom and dad, giving them my full attention.

"It's not a problem," dad says, shaking his head slowly, his sharp green eyes on me. "Your family is your own, Ariel, and if you're kind enough to welcome a child into it as your own then I certainly won't stop you. But there are certain complications."

My eyebrows go up and I glance up at Jacks, who sends a pulse of confusion to me down the bond, moving a little closer to my side.

"What complications?" I ask, a bit soft.

"Have you considered," dad continues, looking between both of us now, "that your adopting Marigold as your daughter places her third in line to the throne?"

My eyes go wide because...nope. I hadn't considered that at all. I sit back against the couch cushions, dazed at the realization that my dad is right. I mean, I'd always assumed that Rafe would pass the throne along to his own children -

But if his mate is Maryam, and she's human, then they probably won't be able to have kids. So, unless they adopt...

My eyes turn towards the little girl on the floor, happily scribbling over a picture of a cat with vivid pink crayon.

"Oh my god," Jackson murmurs next to me. "I didn't...I didn't even think of that..."

"That in itself is not a problem," dad continues, his own gaze moving to Marigold on the floor. “Except that...this is a child with ties to the Community, just like your mate. And the Community likely understands themselves as having a claim on her."

"Which means..." I whisper, "that some could understand Marigold's reign as the Community having a claim on the throne."

"Precisely correct," dad intones, sitting back in his chair and putting a hand on mom's back, letting me and Jackson put together the pieces and consider it.

Jackson growls softly at the idea of the Community having any claim, at all, to Marigold or the throne. But I shake my head at him, denying it.

"She's ours, Jacks," I whisper, willing him to believe it. "She won't even remember the Community - in fact, she wasn't even ever there, right? They have no true claim on her. And we'll raise her to be a patriot - to understand her responsibilities and be a good Queen -"

"Whether or not we claim her and she understands herself as Princess of Moon Valley doesn't mean the

Community will too," Jackson says t

shaking his head. "Or that Moon Valley will accept it. A child not of the Sinclair line..." he sighs, moving his eyes back to Goldie, who is blissfully unaware of how complicated this discussion is.

"She is of the Sinclair line," I growl, hating the idea that anyone would see her as outside of it.

"Not by blood," dad says. I whip my eyes to him, my growl growing. He tilts his head to the side, holding my gaze, giving me a little warning to watch myself. "It's the reality, Ariel. And whether or not we understand Marigold as entirely a member of our family which we do, and will - it won't stop others from protesting her right to the throne."

"That is my daughter," I say, willing and determined, leaning forward and pointing

at my little girl. “I claim her as such. Everyone else will just have to...deal with it."

"Maybe she...shouldn't be..." Jackson says with a frown, still looking at our little girl on the floor.

My eyes dart up to him, flashing wide. "What!?"noveldrama

"I mean," he murmurs, looking down at me and putting an arm around my back, trying his best to be warm and comforting, "She'll be ours, Ariel. But should she really be a Princess of Moon Valley? Or does it cause more trouble than its worth? You know titles don't mean much to me. Maybe she's just our daughter and the next two are the Princesses."

I bare my teeth at my mate, hating that thought.