Kiss Me Not

Months passed by so quickly and the time for Gavin to finally turn over the throne to Cedric would be tomorrow. He felt grateful for how good things were going on smoothly in his life and with the people he cared about so he thought of arranging a simple gathering for his ever-growing family.

It would be a special day, one where they'd be together without the pains of thinking about anything except enjoying spending their time with family and their closest friends that might as well be considered as family. He even went so far as to declare it an official Royal Family Holiday.

"This is quite exciting," his wife smiled at him, still busy preparing everything in the main royal garden. "We haven't had any time to ourselves since we, ourselves, got married."

"That's precisely why I arranged for it," Gavin chuckled to her. He himself was busy with his own arrangements as he commented. "We might not have another chance at this, so we should get everything we can get before, well, everything starts moving again."

It wasn't just a haphazardly planned affair, of course. He had been thinking about doing such a thing for a while now, and he was happy that everything seemed to be going according to plan so far.

"I'm sure it'll all work out just fine," Brione reassured him. "Look, everyone else is clearly having fun."

Looking out across the garden, Gavin couldn't help but smile as he heeded his wife's words. Sure enough, everyone who was everyone had a smile on their faces as they spent their time with one another.

Kimmy was with Berry, the latter of which had even flown her husband Harry with her to attend. He heard that they recently settled down in country B after their own wedding. Well, that was what Brione told him so far. His wife's closest friends, Mitch and Berry, decided to work with Brione here in country B after he moved his company's headquarters here.

Meanwhile, Cedric, Cain and Will were by the sidelines along with the rest of the men. Obviously, Gavin knew that his place in this gathering was with the rest of them, but there were still some things that needed to be addressed. Namely, the rest of the food had yet to be brought out. Of course, he could've always just asked for a few servants to do it for him, but where would be the fun in that?

"You do know that you can just leave this all to me, right?" Brione sweetly spoke to him. "I can handle the rest on my own, maybe even ask one of our family for help."

Gavin turned to his wife. Giving her a smile, he spoke. "If you insist then. Be sure not to strain yourself. You still have our little one to care for."

"Oh, I know," she chuckled. "I'm not even showing yet. I can still do a bit more work than usual."

Giving his wife a kiss, Gavin gathered some of the meat he had prepared and made his way to his fellow men. They were currently at the barbeque, and the smell of steaks cooking by the charcoal only added to the delicious scent filling the air.

"About time you got here, Brother," Cedric playfully scoffed at him. "We're running out of stuff to grill."

"And here I am now," Gavin rolled his eyes, raising the platter of raw meat and vegetables in his hand. "You have to at least give me some time to get things sorted out."

"Fair enough," Cedric chuckled. "Now hand those over so we can get them cooking."

Flashing a smile, Gavin handed over the foodstuffs to his impatient brother, inwardly praising his good acting on that appetite for normal human food. From there, he simply watched as Cain grabbed a few of them and plopped them over the grill, Cedric grabbing those that were already cooked and placing them onto a serving tray.

"Hey, no nibbling on the merchandise," Cain teasingly chided at the vampire when Harry left upon Berry's call. "We're not even sure if you can spread your stuff like that."

"Hey, why not?" Cedric shrugged, his mouth full with what looked to be some of the raw meat. "I already have a lot of dietary restrictions in my life. At least let me have this one."

Gavin sighed, "If you wanted meat, I could've gotten you a few better cuts than that."

"Eh, it's fine," his brother waved him off. "Besides, I only just discovered I can chew on raw meat like this."

Sharing a knowing look, Gavin shook his head in mirthful exasperation.

"Say, not to sound strange, but don't you think Kimmy looks a bit brighter these days?" Gavin asked.

"She just married the man of his life," Cedric knowingly replied. "Of course she'll look happy."

"Also, this batch is done," Cain chimed up, still wielding the steel tongs on his hand as he gave them the serving platter. "Give these to our radiant women. I'm sure they're starving."

Raising an eyebrow, Gavin rolled his eyes as Cedric blatantly passed on his responsibility to him. Letting off a resigned sigh, he took the plate from the current cook's hands as he shrugged. "Fine then. I'll be your server for this day."

"Come now, this is some good practice for you once you're no longer king," Cedric teased.

"What? You'll have me serve as your busboy?" Gavin scoffed.

"No? But it's a humbling experience, no?" Cedric pointed out with a smile. "Besides, it looks like your wife's eagerly waiting for your return."

Hearing his words, Gavin gave his wife a quick look. And sure enough, Brione was obviously looking at the food in his hands with a bit of an eager smile on her face.

"You win this time," Gavin chuckled. "I'll get this back to you soon enough."

Giving his brother a playfully pointed look, Gavin made his way back to the center of the gathering, distributing the barbeque to those that waited patiently for them. He didn't mind. It was a fun thing to do anyway.

Meanwhile, Cain shared a knowing look with Cedric, the sizzling meats giving them a distinct air of manly knowing.

"She's pregnant, right?"

"Gavin can be sharp if he wants to," Cedric nodded. "Either way, I'll be waiting for the baby shower."

Cain had a wide smile, excitement filling his heart just from the confirmation that Cedric gave. He had felt it, their baby's heartbeat coming from Kimmy's body. It was just like how he felt with Brione's case before.

"What's your plan now?" Cedric curiously asked.

Cain had a wide smile on his face as he replied, "Why, I'll pamper my wife to no end, of course. I won't tell her a thing and let things flow naturally… I'll just let the changes in her body run its course. In the meantime, I'll be by her side and make sure that she's well protected till she finds out on her own. I'm excited to see her surprise when she tells me the good news."

On the other hand, Gavin was on his way back to the grilling area when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. Looking around, he couldn't help but form a contented smile on his face. He looked at his father laughing with the rest of the elders, like uncle Sean, and his aunt Leila. His eyes then darted towards his wife, Brione, who was currently immersed in a good conversation with Kimmy, Mitch, and her husband, Kevin, together with Berry and her husband, Harry. Then, his eyes dated to Will, who was now walking towards Cedric and Cain.

'Ah, this is definitely home… It's not found in any place, but with the people around us who we care and love… They are our home…'

-THE END-

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Author's Note: (May 19, 2022)

You can mark this as the ending of our book. I'm so grateful for all my lovely and generous readers who stayed with me till the end. I hope this book didn't disappoint you at all. Ah, it would be nice if you won't delete this though in your library since I may end up adding Cedric's story here if ever I won't create a new book for him. There may be an epilogue too to read a short summary of what happens next… Again,  thank you so much guys for the continuous love and support. Please follow me on my other book that I will now upload regularly… The Untamed: Game of Hearts and also The Crown's Entrapment. I hope you also support it like how you supported Kiss Me Not.

God bless and keep safe everyone… *wink*

Author Eutoma_Reyna