Chapter 40: Wish (Caden's POV)

We explained everything to him. I said to my father what I said to Mr. Tanner yesterday and then Venus helped by explaining what would happen if he said no and how nothing good would come out of it. 

Now we're waiting for him to say something. 

In the meantime, while we could do nothing but wait, I started thinking about this morning. About how good it felt to actually wake up to her for once. About how in love I am with her. About how I'd never let go of her, not even if she asked me to. That might be a little messed up, but we all have some things we can work on. 

"So, you're telling me that either way, you'd be leaving the palace and stepping down as prince?" he finally spoke. 

"Yes," I nodded with a sigh. 

"Then, what do I care? If you're leaving anyway, leave with her or without her, it doesn't matter to me, son," he chuckled. 

"Okay, thank you for taking nearly an hour of our time. We spent so long explaining it to you, you took so long to answer. No problem," I scoffed, standing up. Since we've been here a while, I was preparing myself to hear him say no. I just knew he would say it. 

"Sit down," Venus said sternly to me before pulling my hand and forcing me back in my seat. "I understand that it doesn't matter to you since he's leaving anyway, but Mr. Pierce, won't it hurt you even just a little to know that your son hates you? That too just because you wouldn't let him date the girl he wants? Come on," Venus scoffed. 

"You see, Venus, this isn't just about who he's dating," my dad huffed. "He is in love with you! He wants to marry you in a few years, you realize that, yes? You can see that, can't you?" 

She turned to look at me. "Yes, I realize that." 

"And it doesn't bother you to make such important decisions so rashly?" 

She looked at him. "No, it doesn't bother me. Because I would love to marry your son in a few years. And whether you like it or not, we probably will get married in a few years. But you should know, your decision now directly affects whether you'll be getting that invite or not. Now, please, without taking too long, just tell us," she rambled. 

I would propose right now. 

"And for fuck's sake, stop pretending to hate me just because your father asked you to hate every Princeton that comes into this world," she groaned before her eyes widened as she realized what she said. "Sorry, I didn't mean that to sound so..." 

"Disrespectful?" he prompted. 

"Blunt," I corrected. "But that was definitely the right way to say it." I squeezed her hand. "Now hurry, please. We have somewhere to go," I shrugged, leaning back in the chair. 

"Your father really agreed?" he asked her. 

"That shouldn't affect your decision," I said. 

"Fine," he huffed, rolling his eyes. "You can be with her and you can step down as prince. If that's what you really want." 

I blinked in surprise. "What?" 

"What do you mean 'what?' Ultimately, every father just wants his son to be happy, okay? And I know I don't... show much affection to you or to Axel, but that doesn't mean I don't wish you the best. Prince or not, with a Princeton or not, I wish you the best and happiness with it," he shrugged, fixing the pens on his desk. He's a little bit of a perfectionist but clearly, he's just doing it to avoid looking at me right now. 

"You mean that?" I asked. 

"Yes! Do you want me to change my mind?" 

Venus and I exchanged our surprised looks. 

"And to be blunt," he shot her a pointed look. "I would actually like to see the face of my grandchild someday. And if you walk out of here hating me, that will never happen. I know you and I know that you forgive but you never forget. So, yes, I agree and accept your relationship." 

"And Venus?" I questioned. 

He sighed in defeat, nodding at her. "I accept you too." 

Wow. That was easier than I thought it would be. 

"The thought of not seeing your grandchild is that scary to you?" I asked. 

"No," he paused. "The thought of my son hating me more than he already does is that scary to me." 

A small smile slipped. "You might be surprised, but I don't actually hate you," I replied. "Yet." 

Venus elbowed me gently, shaking her head at me when I looked at her. 

"I don't hate you, dad," I admitted. 

"You should. I haven't been a very good father," he cleared his throat, fixing the pens one more time. 

"That's okay. You can still fix that with Axel. And who knows, maybe you can be a good grandpa. That should make up for it," I shrugged. 

"Really?" he asked, lifting a brow at me. 

"Really," I nodded. 

➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵

"Sit still!" she yelled, grabbed my hand, and locked our fingers together, making sure I didn't let go of hers. 

"It hurts!" I cried, closing my eyes. 

"It's a tweezer." 

"You're pulling out one hair at a time!" 

"There aren't that many to pull, it's an eyebrow," she laughed. 

"Then why are you pulling?!" I screamed out in pain when she pulled out another hair and bit down on her hand. 

"Ow," she laughed, pulling her hand away. 

"No more!" I sat up. 

"I still have one eyebrow left," she smiled. 

I groaned into my palms, putting my head back on the pillow that was resting in her lap. 

"Talk to me, you won't focus on the pain," she chuckled. 

"What do you want me to talk about? The pain this is causing me? How painful this is? Oh wait, did I mention, um, pain?!" 

She sighed, pulling the tweezers away. I opened my eyes, looking at her even though I was seeing upside down. She leaned down, kissing me. 

"Oh, spiderman," I smirked. 

"Shut up," she laughed. "Every ten seconds you go without yelling, you'll get a kiss." 

"Ooh, do they last longer as we go?" 

She rolled her eyes, "Fine." 

"Mother Theresa help me, okay," I sighed, closing my eyes and grabbing her hand, clutching it tightly. She plucked while I counted to five. "That was five seconds!" 

She leaned down, kissing me again. And we repeated the process until she was done plucking my eyebrows for me. "Here." She put some moisturizer on my face, running her fingers over my eyebrows. "See, you're done," she sang, kissing my forehead. 

"Venus." 

"Caden," she said mockingly. 

"Will you have my kids someday?" 

"Maybe," she replied. 

"Would you like to?" 

"You know, I think about that and my immediate answer is yes." 

I smiled. 

"But then I think about it some more. And then I think about having to take care of you and a baby. And then-" 

"I take care of you more than you take care of me," I scoffed. 

"And you still want a baby?" she smirked. 

"Not now," I laughed. "Someday. When we've been married for a good three or so years." 

"Is that your wish?" she asked, stroking my cheek with a delicate finger. 

"Can I tell you a secret?" I looked at her. 

She nodded, smiling softly. 

"Children wish on stars, right?" 

"Yeah," she said slowly. 

"I used to do that too. And you know what I would wish for?" 

"What?" she chuckled. 

"A girl as pretty as a fairy. Who loves me more than her magic. And who would leave the land of the fae to marry me," I admitted. 

"That's adorable," she chuckled. "And when was the last time you made that wish?" 

"I don't know," I said after thinking about it for a second. "But I know when it came true." 

She grinned, her cheeks getting a little pink. "You know, this isn't the first time you're calling me or comparing me to a fairy. Where did that come from?" 

I laughed softly, putting her hand over my eyes. 

"What?" she giggled, removing her hand. 

"Before we started being around each other, I still thought you were pretty, I thought you were the most gorgeous girl I ever saw. And when I sneaked over here to warn you about Hummingbird Heartbeat and that stupid fake date," I rolled my eyes. "When I went back home, Axel was in my room. Because he heard me sneaking out and he asked me where I went. So, I told him I went to see this girl who was as pretty as a princess." 

"And then?" she grinned, stroking my cheek. 

"And then he said to me that princesses aren't that relevant anymore," I chuckled. "He said fairies were better. So I said, okay. In that case, I snuck out to meet a fairy that was the prettiest one I'd ever seen. And that night at the party when we made the deal, he asked me about that fairy again. I told him to keep it a secret because she's a fairy. And she's not allowed to be with me because I'm a human." 

"And he believes your story?" 

"I don't know if he believes it or not, but I think when we tell him you're the fairy I always talk about, he'll like you even more." 

"Yeah?" she laughed, raising her eyebrows at me questioningly.

"Yeah," I nodded. 

She shook her head while smiling. 

"Now kiss me, spiderman," I scoffed. 

"Jesus," she chuckled, leaning down and kissing me anyway.

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Chapter 40

next chapter: epilogue