I'd Give Up The World For You

Daisy was horrified beyond words. That was so much worse than whatever she had been imagining! How had her husband managed to be as composed as he had been when they met after going through something so awful?!

She sobbed even harder. She knew it was probably making things worse but she couldn't help it. What he had been through was so traumatizing and he had been so afraid of losing her that it got tangled up in his memories in the form of nightmares.

She couldn't be angry at him for keeping secrets anymore. His revenge was perfectly justified after hearing what happened. 

"Daisy, you don't need to cry," Rukelion whispered. 

"Yes I do!" Daisy insisted through her tears. "You went through something terrible and I love you so how am I not supposed to cry? You won't so I have to do it for you."

He hugged her closer and she felt small drops of water hit her neck. Oh. He WAS crying. She had never once seen him cry before. All of this must have taken a much greater toll on him than she realized. 

She reached up to stroke his hair and murmured, "I'm here. I'm here and I'm never going anywhere again. Okay? Not unless you're with me. You won't have to wake up alone. I've got you, Rukelion. You're mine and I'm yours."

Daisy wasn't sure how long they sat there like that but eventually he pulled away to wipe his eyes and looked at her so tenderly it hurt while caressing her cheek. "So how was your trip?"

It seemed he was done talking about traumatic things for the day and she couldn't blame him. She could let him act like things were normal if that would help. The problem was that she wasn't sure whether or not to drop the baby bomb on him right now. 

She had been intending to tell him as soon as she saw him but then she found out that he had become the king of this country while she was gone and got very much sidetracked even though the baby had largely occupied her thoughts ever since she found out she was pregnant. It was good news…it might cheer him up. But it also might overwhelm him. 

"I had fun. It was good to see Ira. We did a lot of sightseeing," Daisy told him before biting her lip, torn. "Um…if I had some good news would you want to hear it now or later?"

Rukelion regarded her curiously. "Well, my curiosity is piqued so I'd rather hear it now."

"Okay then. While I was out there I wasn't feeling very well so I went to the doctor—it was kind of cute actually, Ira totally freaked out on me and carried me there despite my protests—and it turns out I'm pregnant. Our family isn't going to be just you and me anymore."

She held her breath as she waited for his reaction. It took a moment for what she said to register but as soon as it did his expression went from blank to his widest grin. He picked her up and spun her around in delight. 

"Daisy, that's wonderful! How long has it been?"

Daisy had known this would cheer him up! He had been looking forward to being a father and knowing more of his past now she could understand why. He wanted to pass on the traditions of his homeland that had been lost in addition to having the sort of family he grew up with. 

She beamed at him. "The doctor thinks it's been about three months."

"So how long will it be before the baby is born?" Rukelion asked eagerly. 

"About another six. We'll need to think of names. I don't even know where to start unless it's a girl. Then maybe we could use a flower name like mine." 

"That's a great idea! I can't think of anything more fitting. You know, I was sort of given a mashup of my parents' names since they had already used the two boy names they liked on my brothers." 

Daisy was surprised he was willing to talk about his family so casually after breaking down earlier but he seemed to be perfectly fine. "Really? What was your mom's name?"

"Rakella. If it had truly been a perfect mashup it would have been ruh-KEH-lay-ahn but she played around with it a bit before settling on what I got. They didn't have that creativity problem a second time since my sister Kessia was the only girl. My mother always liked that name."

That sounded a lot like a singer from her world who made party music. The names here sure were interesting. She wasn't sure what sort of boy names he would potentially want to use. Probably something from his homeland. 

"What was your other brother's name?" Daisy asked curiously. She had heard three male Katalyan names so far and doubted they represented the full variety of name options used there. 

"Llyris. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I would have wanted to know more about your family anyway but I'm curious about names in Katalya."

Surprise flickered across Rukelion's face for only a moment before he smiled warmly at her. "They often end with 'n', 's', or 'a' and 'k' and 'l' are used a lot but I can't think of any other particular patterns off the top of my head."

Hmm. Daisy could probably think of something that fit those general rules that came from her world if she thought hard enough. There had to be something that could work!

"Do you want to know more about Katalya?" he asked. 

She could tell that asking about his home had meant a lot to him so he hadn't asked that question lightly. She would have wanted to know anyway because she wanted to know everything about the man she loved but she definitely did even more now that he was so happy about it. 

Daisy lightly kissed him before returning his smile. "I would love to."

Rukelion sat her back down on the throne with him and began telling her about anything and everything he could think of. He seemed lighter than she had ever seen him. Talking about all of this for the first time since losing everything must be freeing.

She wasn't sure how long it was before Ermes poked his head back in. "Your Majesties, the head maid heard the queen had arrived and wanted to speak to her regarding assigning personal maids."

Daisy's eyes widened. She didn't need personal maids!

"I'm really fine—"

Rukelion rode right over her. "She will be there in a moment."

"Understood, sire," Ermes said before shutting the door behind him. 

"I really don't need any maids, Rukelion!" she protested. "What would I even do with them?"

"You're going to need help especially since you're with child. They don't have to do everything for you but at the very least it will be helpful to have someone on standby if you need something," he said seriously. 

Daisy could sense there was no arguing with him. This had been perfectly normal for him as a child. He had probably missed it. She could be accommodating this once. 

"Alright, if you insist."

"I do."

Rukelion kissed her sweetly before waving her off. She felt oddly swindled but went to meet with the head maid anyway. She probably looked like a total wreck from crying earlier but unfortunately there wasn't anything she could do about that now.

Daisy went to meet with the head maid in a side parlor. "Your Majesty, my name is Alaia Mitchell and I am the head maid here. It is my duty to ensure that you are well taken care of so I would like to assign you several personal maids. I think five will be sufficient."

Five?! She didn't even need one!

"…I honestly don't need that many. I'm used to doing things on my own."

"Oh no, Your Majesty! Forgive my impertinence but at minimum you need one for hair, one for makeup, one for wardrobe, one for cleaning, and one for errands. I understand that may not be what you are used to but you are the mother of this nation. As such you need to be properly taken care of!" Alaia insisted. 

Daisy let out a heavy sigh. Hair, makeup, and wardrobe? She needed to talk to Rukelion about this. She didn't want to be some fancy noblewoman. She was a gardener! A GARDENER.

Trying to turn her into something she wasn't wouldn't work. She loved her husband but she wasn't going to give up her lifestyle for the sake of something he sprung on her out of the blue. She would support him but she wouldn't change herself for anything or anyone after a lifetime of trying and failing to please others. 

She was about to firmly say she could only take one before she paused. If she didn't use personal maids people would lose their jobs, wouldn't they? She didn't want that.. She supposed she could accept them and simply let him laze about during their shifts. That would work, wouldn't it?