113. The Proposal.

[Luke]
"What!?" I couldn't believe my ears as I raced over to Claire and carried her in my arms.
"What did you say?" I asked her again, to prove to myself that I wasn't dreaming.
"Jean, Luke, I remember, all of it." She replied with tears in her eyes.
"Am I dreaming?, please someone pinch me, this feels too good to be real."
"Okay." She said and instead of pinching me, she wrapped her arms around my neck, pulled my head down and kissed me.
I froze for a second because I knew what it meant if she had remembered everything and was still kissing me.
"You forgive me?" I pulled away from her, looked into her eyes and asked.
"Yes." She looked me in the eyes. "I forgive you, Lucas Jean Christensen, I love you so much."
"I love you so much, Claire Hamilton, thank you for forgiving me." I smiled as I wiped the tears away from her cheeks. "Don't cry honey, please don't cry."
"I don't know." She sniffed. "It's probably pregnancy hormones." She said and I chuckled.
"Hello son." I knelt down to the level of her stomach and placed a kiss on her protruded belly. "I can't wait to meet you, me and you mother have reconciled and we love you so much, we're so eager to meet you." I said and placed my ear on her stomach for a response.
I didn't hear much but my son kicked the spot my ear was twice and the both of us giggled.
"He says he's just as eager to meet us both and he loves us very much." She laughed as she told me.
"You and my son mean everything to me, Claire, you're both my world." I stood up and covered her lips with mine.
She moaned and grabbed a fistful of my hair as I shoved my tongue in her mouth and deepened the kiss.
I kissed her deeply and hard, with all the pent up emotions I had stored up in me, I kissed her till she could feel it in her toes, it was like I was trying to make up for all the kisses we'd lost.
"Claire, your father is he—" Her mother stopped and cleared her throat when she saw us kissing.
"Mother." Claire smiled and walked over to her.
"Mrs Hamilton." I greeted and she frowned slightly at me.
"Why do you always call me that? I'm not married to her father." She said and I laughed.
"It's a matter of time, Ma'am, the way he looks at you, it's a matter of time." I said and she blushed and looked away from me.
"I see you both are back together." She cleared her throat and spoke.
"Yes mom, I love him and—" I interrupted Claire before she could finish.
"I love your daughter and your unborn grandchild and I swear to you that I'd spend the rest of my life living for them and making them happy." I said and I must have said something right because she smiled and hugged me.
"You better hold on to your promises." She hugged me. "Welcome to the family, son."
"Thank you, mother." I smiled as I hugged her back, never in my life did I think I would call another mother after my mother passed away.
"What'd I miss?" Her father walked in a few seconds later and we all laughed.
"Father." Claire hugged him and he held her in his arms.
"My daughter, how do you feel?" He asked and kissed the top of her head.
"I feel great, Dad, I finally got my memories back and I also got back with Luke."
"Wow, that's great, I'm so happy." He said and motioned for me and Claire's mother to come closer and we all had a group hug.
"This calls for a massive celebration." He said then turned to Claire. "When do you get out of here?"
"I should be leaving anytime from…"
"I need someone to sign the discharge form, she's good to go." The doctor walked in and Claire smiled, talk about perfect timing.
"Now." She added and grinned.
"Doctor Han." I shook his hand in greeting.
"Your highness." He curtsied before shaking my hand though I don't know why he bothered.
"I heard you're becoming me King sooner than expected." Claire's father said as her mother signed the form.
"Yes, the King abdicated the throne early." I told him.
"Oh congratulations, that's amazing, how should I address you now, King Luke." He joked and tried to curtsey but he made a mess of it.
"Dad, please don't." Claire laughed.
"Oh my God, such an old man trying to bend, please don't hurt yourself." Claire's mother laughed.
"Old man?" Her father scoffed. "That's not what you were saying last time."
"Oh my God, Dad, TMI." Claire yelled as her mother hid her face and blushed furiously.
I burst out laughing with the Doctor and her father.
"Seriously, you don't have to curtsey when we are in intimate settings, in formal settings then yes." I said and the laughing stopped.
"I guess I'm going to have to avoid seeing you in formal settings." He joked again and I laughed.
"Not possible." Claire shook her head. "You have to be there for his coronation and the royal wedding." She said excitedly and then cut off, staring at me nervously.
"Of course, I would want my father in law to accompany me at different occasions, charity balls and others." I said and Claire calmed down.
"Of course there will be a royal wedding." I moved closer to her and whispered in her ear.
"Okay, I'm all done here, congratulations to the Prince and the Princess, soon to be King and Queen." The doctor curtsied and then left the room.
"Oooh, I did not think about that." Claire's eyes grew round and she looked white.
Then she turned to her mother who had a similar expression on her face.
"I'm going to be queen."
"You're going to be queen."
They said together and hugged, laughing loudly.
"Of course, you'll always be my queen." I said and pecked her on the forehead, hiding my worried eyes from her.
I knew for a fact that the ministry's silence wasn't an affirmation, I still did not know the fate of my family as royal family members.
"You've never been to the palace, right?" I asked Claire's parents and they shook their heads.
"No."
"Why don't we head to the palace then and you can be introduced to the King, my father." I said and they nodded.
"I heard your mother died, I'm sorry about that." Claire's mother held my hand and I nodded.
"It was a long time ago."
***
I didn't wait to be announced before I walked inside my father's study with Claire and her parents.
Everyone was staring at me in shock as soon as a pregnant Claire got down the car and I held her hand, I could almost already hear the maids and servants gossiping, I knew that it wouldn't be long before the news would reach the press and would be all over the country.
I couldn't care less at this time though, I'd been given a second chance, many of which are not given and I wasn't going to mess it up.
"Father." The King stood up from his seat as I curtsied and they all followed my lead.
"Luke." The King smiled and then turned to the rest of them. "You must be Claire's father, Mr Hamilton." He said and stretched out his hand to him.
Claire's father looked shocked but he quickly gained his composure and returned the handshake.
"Yes, your highness, nice to meet you, I'm Claire's father."
"You must be Mrs Hamilton." He said and she did not correct him as she shook his hand.
"And this must be my grandson." He said and bent to the level of Claire's belly. "Hi, son, it's me, grand father." He said and I laughed, he didn't touch her, just spoke to her belly.
Claire stood stiffly in front of him, no doubt from nervousness.
"And you must be the woman of the hour, Claire." He rose up and smiled at her.
"Nice to meet you, y-your highness." Her voice shook as she shook his hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you, please take a seat." He said and returned back to his seat. "Pardon my son for not scheduling this meeting sooner, as you know, a lot of things have happened." He said.
"No, it's alright, we're jusr glad this is happening now." Claire's father spoke.
"So, Luke." He turned to me. "I suppose you've done the needful and that's why they're here?"
I shook my head and he glared at me before turning back to them and continuing.
"Forgive my son for his childish behaviours." He started. "I just realized that he hasn't popped the question yet, if you'll follow me to my chambers, let's give the young ones space to do the right thing." He said and her parents chuckled as they stood up with him.