Chapter One-hundred and Fourteen

Izabella placed Bram’s computer in front of him as the kids all gathered around the table. She was dolling out pie, whipped cream on top as she tried to talk to Bram about the birthday party she was still trying to plan for Devon. “So, I contacted them again. Apologized. Told them we had a family emergency. They were fine with keeping the deposit for the first day and have agreed to let us do it this weekend.” Izabella stood behind him, her arms wrapped around his shoulders as she half leaned on him.

“Okay. Have you contacted the orphanage?” Bram asked.

“I have. They didn’t mind the date change. They understood that things happen. I was vague, so no one knows exactly what that emergency was.” Her fingers played at his collarbone as her lips gently kissed at his neck and ear. “Is it wrong that I want this to be the best birthday ever for him?”

“No. I want it to be too. Not only because this was to celebrate our first year together, but because he is our son, and I want to make sure we encompass that in our gift to him this year.” Bram smiled, rubbing her arms as he looked over the plan. “Uncle Ronnie’s for lunch, huh?”

“They need the business, and they were the only ones who let me buy out the restaurant at such late notice.” Izabella kissed him shyly.

“You didn’t ask anyone else, did you?” He asked her skeptically.

“He likes it there. So do you. And they’re really my only friends. I would appreciate you letting them cater. It will do them some good.” The more she kissed him, the less he argued. “Besides, it was the first restaurant we went to as a family.”

“You mean the one where I found out you were stalking me?” Bram laughed. Pulling Iz into his lap.

“I never meant to stalk you.” Her hands cupped the side of his face.

All the children at the table groaned as Bram kissed Iz deeply. “Mooom.” Devon argued. He was always the first to speak up. “Dad. You guys are gross.”

Bram laughed, letting her go into the details of the party. He paid enough attention to agree with what she wanted, but this was her thing. She was having fun, and Bram had plenty of other worries on his plate. He’d decided to let Gabe think about everything they’d talked about, and had no plans on forcing him to make a decision. Of course, he could change his mind at any point in time too. It wasn’t like Tyler and Gavin were going to disappear from their lives completely. But they all agreed that it was a better idea for them to put some space between them. Especially for Tyler and Gavin’s sakes.

Refilling his coffee mug, he kissed Iz on the cheek. “I’m going to go look over the office upstairs. Move myself into it. I have some important calls to make. I want to make sure that the world doesn’t turn itself inside out without the elders taking command. So, I need to reach out and make sure everyone knows who’s in charge.”

Izabella grabbed his arm as he was starting to walk away. “Who is in charge?” Worry seemed to lace her words. Bram pulled her against his chest. “We never really came to an agreement last we talked about this.”

“For now? I’m going to take over. It sounds a bit ostentatious, but I think I’ll announce that I will be the king. No more counsel. No more joint decisions. They’ll do as I say or be removed from power. If they try to stand against my word, I’ll simply kill them.”

“Do you need to be so… harsh? I don’t think the vampire world will take kindly to you just usurping their power.” As her green eyes sparkled up at him, he tangled his fingers in her hair. “What if they decided to try to stop you like before? What if they all turn on us?”

“That’s why I’m going to announce you as my queen. It’ll be like playing bad cop/good cop. I’ll look like a complete ass, which, if we’re honest, I am. And by the time you come into the picture, you’ll be such a breath of fresh air, no one will question having you as their leader.”

This plan didn’t excite Izabella at all as she pouted up at him. “I don’t want to be the queen. I’m a human, Bram. They’ll never accept me. And I can’t have you turn me… what would you do with the children?”

“They’ll understand that you will be. The moment they learn you’re my mate, and that this shift is happening because the elders thought they could bully me into doing as they wanted. Don’t worry, we’ll make it work. I’ll probably call out my parents on this too. They’re my first call. I need to find out if they’re really going to back us. I can’t imagine they won’t, this has been their end game for so damn long.” Pressing her hair out of her face, he leaned down, kissing the end of her nose. “I’m sure the big ones can watch the little ones for a bit if you want to come up and be present for the call.”

“No, I’ll leave it to you. Just remember, you haven’t even technically asked me to marry you.” Squirming from his arms, he stared after her a moment.

Bram turned on his heals, going to the table where the kids were finishing up their food. Leaning over Devon, he whispered in the boy’s ear. “When you’re done, come up stairs.”

“’Kay.” Devon nodded.

Upstairs, his plans all went by the wayside. He had everything written out, and names listed on those he needed to call, but instead, he’d turned on his computer, setting it up on the desk in front of him, a web browser open as he perused through a particularly expensive website. Reaching for his phone, he opened his contacts and called one of the few people he had in there.

“Darling!” The phone was answered on the first ring. “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so quickly.”

“Scarlet, I have a bit of an issue. Unfortunately, you’re the only real female I know well enough to ask for advice, just so I can make sure to ignore it later.”

He could hear the exasperation in her voice, “You must be the rudest child in the world.”

“Fair. I do like to ruffle your feathers.” He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Seriously though, I need help. Izabella called me out, and I just realized I need to fix this. Like, now.”

“OH?” He could hear his mother’s excitement. “What has the all mighty and powerful Bram been called out for?”

“First things first. I need to know that you and Vlad will support the idea of there being a vampire king, and that it won’t be Vlad.” Bram scrolled through Tiffany’s catalog. Most of the men who bought from them blindfolded their lover and brought them in to pick out her own ring. But his mind flittered back to her absolute embarrassment in the store when they went last. If he brought her to Tiffany’s, she’d probably kill him. Or pick out the smallest possible ring.

“It’ll be you though, right? Our family will still be the ruling family?”

“Yes. I plan on taking over the vampire world. Though, Izabella will be the one who will ultimately sit the throne. Between her, when she becomes a vampire, and her advisor will be Eudom. Me and the children, and you and Vlad, will ultimately help her, but I plan on us being more the brawn to enforce her decisions. Devon will learn from us, while he’s still young. We’ll find a place for him and the other children as they get older.” Bram sighed. He wasn’t even finding a ring that he was particularly fond of. “Where’s the best place to buy an engagement ring?”

Scarlet sucked in a deep breath. “Excuse me?”

“Tiffany’s doesn’t really have anything I’m interested in. Where else can I buy a ring?” Bram grumbled. She was clearly taken aback by the change of conversation.

“I mean… I prefer Leibish. They have a better catalog, and each ring is its own design. So, you don’t end up finding someone who has the same ring. You can even request personalized rings, not that you can’t ask for an original from Tiffany’s, of course. They do an amazing job. I have quite a collection from them. You could come visit and go shopping in my jewelry box. I’ll give you which ever one you want.”

Bram chewed his lower lip. “Hm. She actually might like the idea of having something from you. She gets pretty sentimental about things like that. I was planning a visit soon anyway. Maybe that would work.” He said, pulling up the site his mother suggested. “Oh, I like this one.” Pulling his phone from his ear, he took a picture of a very large ring with a blood-red stone in the center. He texted the photo to his mother. “Take a look at that one and tell me what you think?”

“Did you just pick the most expensive one? I mean, it’s beautiful, but it doesn’t really look like Izabella. You like it because it’s red, right? The thing is huge.” His mother laughed on the other end of the phone.

“I do like it because it’s red. You know, since I told her about my color-blindness, she won’t wear anything that doesn’t have some red in it. I didn’t pick it because I like it, I think she’ll like it. Knowing that I can see in color when she’s wearing red.” Just the idea of her doing that, just for him, made him feel warm inside. “Admittedly, she would faint if she found out I spent two million on a ring, then she would refuse to wear it.”

“Awe,” his mother cooed, “she is too adorable. So, she wears a lot of red then. I mean, this makes sense, but not this ring. Start looking for rubies. I’m sure she won’t care if it’s a diamond or not. Maybe something heart shaped. She might like that. Then you might be able to get them to make matching jewelry for her.”

A moment later, he was sending a picture of another ring. “I think she’ll really like this one.”

“You know, it’s quite common these days just to bring your woman to the store and let her pick out her own. You could—”

“Yeah, no. That’s not an option.” A knock on the door had Bram closing the laptop, “Come in.”

It was Devon. “Hey dad. You wanted to talk to me?”

“Yeah, close the door.” He opened his computer up again, waving Devon in. A text came through on his phone. It was a very simple, white gold with one little heart stone, and a small diamond on each side. He clicked the phone to speaker. “Where did you find that one?” Bram asked. Looking at Devon, he smiled. “I’m on the phone with grandma. I’m looking for a ring so that I can ask mom to marry me, and I want to figure out the best way to propose.”

His son beamed at him with excitement. “REALLY!?”

“Yeah, we’ll have the girls help us too, but I wanted to talk to you first. And remember, it’s a secret. I’m not going to tell the youngest kids, because I don’t want it to slip. I’m sure she’ll figure us out before it happens, but we’ll avoid what we can.” Bram pointed to the ones he’d been looking at and then to the one Scarlet sent. “Which is your favorite so far?”

“Mom would like this one. It’s simple. She doesn’t like big jewelry.” Bram nodded, “He likes yours the best, Scarlet.”

“Great. That’s one of mine. I have an eternity ring, with alternating diamonds and rubies, plus matching earrings, necklace, and bracelet. They’re really old, so considered an antique.” Bram and Devon exchanged looks about the way she squeaked in excitement.

“OH! If we go back to the castle…” Devon started jumping up and down as he relayed the best possible proposal option out from Bram. As they listened, Scarlet was all but fawning over the idea, and working out things she could do ahead of time to prepare. Bram felt his own excitement rise. If they could pull this off… Izabella would be moved to tears. All he had to do was get her back in that cute little red, black and polka-dotted dress again.

“This is going to be fucking epic.” Bram gloated.

“Daaad.”