It's Time

**Devon POV**

A good damn thing this was a long walk. I could blame my sweat on the miles of grass I had to walk on while on crutches. While recovering, I had hoped that I would be fully healed and able to walk for this day. But there was no way I could wait any longer. Lena and Tom had made it to Kuzon and King Ulrich had hinted today was an important day for Aileen and Kalum. I could see no better time to do this.
At last, I made it near the top of the hill where the good knight took his eternal rest. A shame I never got to know the man. From the way Aileen and her Father talk about him, he was kind, loyal, and strong. They hold this man very highly. His death had shaken up both of them. Anything that touches the 'Dark King' was impressive. He had almost no friends and outwardly only seemed to care about his daughter.
*Okay, stop delaying the inevitable. Just go up there. This will all work out. And for the love of God, stop sweating!* I thought to myself. *She'll probably cry. I hate it when she cries. Hell she might be right now*.
In front of Kalum's grave was Princess Aileen Lutz. She was whispering to him lovingly. Her hair was longer than I had ever seen it. She was absolutely beautiful with the sun shining down on her and Kalum's grave. It took my breath away momentarily. She wore a simple loose long sleeve shirt and maternity pants. I could see her bulge making it hard for her to reach over and kiss the smooth stone above his name. Wind blew around her, as if holding her. The scene reminded me of an angel. My angel, the light to my dark.
Aileen hadn't noticed me watching her. I glanced down and saw a few scattered dandelions. There weren't too many yet, but all I needed was one. I plucked the little weed, made my wish, and blew. The small white seeds danced in random directions.
Making my wish was not helping the hammering in my heart. How was I supposed to do this, if just seeing her was causing me to lose my mind? I smacked my face lightly and dragged my hand down to my chin. I needed to get my shit together before she spotted me. One more gulp of air.
In measured steps, with my heart racing; I walked up and tapped on her shoulder. Her face tilted towards me, shock evident in the widening of her features. God did I miss looking down at those gorgeous eyes and kissable lips. I never want to go a month without her again.
Her mouth started to form words, so I cut her off. "I need to speak with Kalum first. Then we can talk."
Annoyance flickered across her face. Damn, did she have to be so adorable?
Wincing at the pain in my spine, I brought myself down to my knees. One of my hands grazed Kalum's tombstone. My other hand rolled up my sleeve and yanked on the banner Aileen had gifted me months ago. It was a little different now. On a visit Sekai made to apologize to me, I had asked her to lengthen the banner without reducing the quality. With as much respect as possible, I tied the banner around the bottom of his tombstone. I adjusted the fabric a few times, ensuring the raven and tree were visible.
"Dev?" Aileen questioned.
I kept my eyes on the banner. "Thank you for the gift Aileen, but this is where it belongs. Your Father told me Kalum lost the banner upon entering this dimension. He gave his life for the royal family. Lutz should be proudly displayed. Your country should be very proud of him." I scooted closer to the tombstone. "I am still very grateful to you for giving me that. If not for the banner, I may not have had the will to live during my fight with Demon Lord Darren. My body begged for me to just let go and die. To just end the pain. A quick glimpse of the banner and I knew I had to survive."
"So why are you giving it up?" She asked.
"It belongs to him. He should have a piece of Lutz."
Now for the hard part.
I bowed my head deeply. "Kalum, I am here for an ulterior motive. I'm not just here to gift you something that already belonged to you. I have something selfish I must talk to you about."
*God, just get the point!* Suddenly my mouth felt very dry. My tongue darted out to try and moisten my lips.
Aileen grabbed her glass and lifted it to my parched lips. I took a long sip in a pathetic attempt to regain control of myself. Why was talking to a dead man just as hard as a ruthless king? Maybe because Aileen was here?
Quieting all other questions in my head, I spoke to the good knight. "Your Princess is the most amazing woman I have ever met. Even walking over here, I had to catch my breath when I saw her. She is my angel, my love, and my future. I know that I do not deserve such a wonderful woman, after all I have done. I was stupid, heartbroken, foolish, guillible, and caused all of you so much pain. I am truly sorry, but I swear to step up and be the man she and that child deserves."
*Don't look at Aileen yet. Don't do it. Focus on Kalum.*
"I hope to be the kind of Father figure you were to Aileen for little Shion. I want to be her family...so that brings me to why I'm here."
*More sweat?! Get a damn grip man!*
"Kalum, from wherever you are on the other side, I would like your blessing. I wish to marry the Princess of Lutz. I wish to take Aileen as my wife and be her loyal husband."
Diagonal from me, I could hear Aileen stand up. I turned my body back to face her, still on my knees. I pulled out a little box from my back pocket. I hoped she liked it. "Princess Aileen Lutz, will you marry me?"
She took two steps back, eyes wide as basketballs. My own were fighting back tears.
"Yo...you think...th that you ca can take the easy way...and jus just ask Kalum for my hand? M..my Father st..still has to agree."
"I completely agree, daughter." A loud voice called out from behind her. Right on time the King of Lutz made his appearance. Beside him was the Hemmer family. To his left was Sekai, and Sam. All of them were grinning wide.
Aileen did start crying this time. Her little bit of makeup she'd worn here was starting to run. Her entire body trembled as she faced all those she considered family.
"I don't...understand." Her stuttering was cuter than I ever could have imagined. Her reaction was priceless. Hopefully, Rena was capturing every expression from behind her hiding spot. I should have texted her right before approaching Aileen.
Mr. Hemmer chuckled, almost crying himself, "he asked your brother and I about a month ago if he could have our blessing. We agreed so long as he never hurts you again."
Her brother couldn't help but chime in, "you ain't in a wheelchair now fucker. I'll beat you til you're begging me for death. You get no more chances." His hard eyes softened when he looked at my love. "He has my blessing as well, so long as you're happy."
Taking two large strides, the King himself came face to face with his daughter. He caressed her wet cheeks. "And with him getting Mr. Hemmer's approval and asking Kalum for your hand as well, he has my blessing and permission to marry you...Should you desire a future with him."
Aileen flung her arms around her Father, sniffling and sobbing.
If only she knew that she was killing me with anticipation. She hadn't given me her answer yet. I tried to ignore the pain starting to shoot up my spine and stayed on my knees. Whatever pain came at me, I could bear, so long as she said yes.
Aileen crotched down as much as her bump would allow. "I never thought I would be fortunate enough to fall in love. I was destined to fulfill my duty as a princess and marry a man I despised. And yet here you are wi...with not just one... but all m my entire family's blessing. Dev... I love you so damn much."
"So..." Sekai urged her to finally answer my question.
"Of course I'll marry you. I love you!"
I took the ring out and slid it on her fourth finger. Fuck, I was about to start crying too. This wonderful woman was going to be mine. She said yes!
Her Father added,"don't expect another dowry. I gave you that when I made you the Lord of Vernen."
I hadn't even known her dimension did the dowry thing. *Wait, so then did I already have his blessing back on my birthday?! And he played it off like he was actually going to say no! Heartless King indeed.*
"Woohoo! Guess you officially gave up on my wife Devon?!" Both our heads snapped to the sound of Tom's voice.
Rena came out from her hiding spot, holding her phone up. On the screen was a video call from Tom, Lena, and Kaibec. "Congrats to both of you. It's about time you asked her." Lena laughed.
As usual, Kaibec was snacking on something. Food was much more important than the girl he used to help Shiuku stalk and the man who unwillingly took his job getting engaged. Most likely, he would only attend the wedding for the free food.
Trevor frowned coming towards me. Still scowling down at me, he picked up my crutches and held a hand out. "Don't get used to me helping you."
Her brother tried to hate me, but the truth was on his face. I had grown on him. Lately, I seemed to be having that effect. Even Tom and I were on good terms now!
Back on my feet, I wrapped my arms around my woman. I had to kiss her now.
As my lips inched closer to hers, her legs started trembling. I nudged her head up with my fingers. Her face was beet red in embarrassment. "Cute." I murmured eager to kiss her.
"N...no... I think I just...peed myself." She whispered, backing away from me.
I hadn't felt the baby kick her; certainly not hard enough for her to lose control of her bladder.
Mrs. Hemmer ran up to us. "Oh dear, Aileen we need to get you to a hospital."
"What happened?! Is she going to be okay." I was starting to freak out. There must have been something seriously wrong. She had to go to a hospital immediately. Was she dehydrated?
Aileen clawed at her belly. Her face that had just been filled with so much joy was now scrunched up in immense agony. "It hurts. It really hurts!"
"Hang on Aileen. We'll figure it out!" I encouraged her.
Her Father shook his head. "She's in labor you fecking idiot."
.
.
.
"Get this thing out of me! How much longer?!" Aileen screamed at the doctor.
I made the mistake of trying to comfort her. "Love, you are doing great. Don't yell at the doctor. She is only doing her best."
Aileen had insisted on a natural birth and had come to regret it in the last hour. She was cursing and making threats to anyone that talked to her, or didn't. There was no telling what would set her off.
"Devon I swear to fucking God if you don't shut the hell up! Jesus! This hurts so much!" She glared at me as if I was the devil. "Get over here and hold my hand! You said you loved me. Why are you so far away?!"
She had just yelled at me five minutes ago for being too close to her. Aileen had pointed at my crutches and told me to limp my ass away from her. She complained that I was suffocating her with my clinginess. Now she was upset I wasn't near her. What was I supposed to do?
The doctor smiled at Aileen. "Dear, it is time to start pushing. The baby is coming. Who do you want to be here with you?"
Up to this point, all of us from Kalum's grave stayed in her hospital room. Her Father, Mrs. Hemmer, and I were the only ones to get close to her bed after the first hour. The others kept a distance on the other side of the room. Every so often Trevor would wake up from his nap and call over asking how she was doing. Each time she would threaten to rip his dick off; a mercy to any woman he may impregnate in the future. I did not blame him for keeping to his little chair in the corner. At least my manhood hadn't been threatened yet.
"Devon. Just Devon." She screamed as another contraction hit her. "Fuck, just him!"
King Ulrich gave a fake look of hurt and left. Trevor gave a breath of relief as he damn near toppled over some medical equipment racing out the door. Everyone else calmly walked out.
The doctor went between her legs and told her to push every contraction. Aileen did as instructed, red faced, and sweating as bad as I had before proposing eighteen hours ago.
"You are doing so well. I'm so proud of you love."
The baby's head was starting to crown. "You're doing great Ms. Aileen. Just one more big push and he'll be out!"
Aileen crushed my hand while giving one last push. As soon as she gave that push, Aileen collapsed back on the pillows panting. And with that, Shion, our son, was born. Weakly, she reached an arm out for her baby. The baby cried loudly proving his lungs were in great working condition. Very gently, the doctor placed the baby at Aileen's chest. The doctor told her to try breastfeeding the little man.
"He's a beautiful baby. Look at those chubby cheeks." I was emotional all of a sudden. Hadn't I been close to tears enough for one day?
Aileen looked up at me with her tired eyes. "You still sure you want to be a step dad?"
He had a couple thin black hairs on his head, pouty lips like his Mother's, and a wrinkly old man forehead. Even covered in all that blood and goo looking stuff, I wanted nothing more than to hold him. I knew already, this was my son. I loved him more than life itself.
Shiuku will not ruin or harm this child in five years. That I fucking swear.
Possessively I told them, "you're both mine. All mine." I finally had a family.