Chapter 92 - Complete Family

The crowd stood by the garden waiting for the birthday boy to come for his party to begin. The queen had gone out of her way to make the party special for the prince.

The people were curious about the announcement that the prince was about to make. They gossiped about him in groups.

"You are to enjoy today. As much as you feel the need to include others in your happiness, don't let it skip your mind that today is all about you," the queen said helping helping him walk to the garden.

The queen mother took him from her and guided him to the stage that had been made for him. She helped him sit on the weighing scale.

"Happy Birthday baby," she said to him putting a hundred gold coins on the scale. The scale lifted up.

One by one the guests took turn to put gold on the scale.With everyone who came to the palace, the scale was cleaned every five minutes. The gold was packed into different sacks and kept aside for him to hand out to the poor in the kingdom when the ceremony was over.

Ander sat on the scale quietly. He hadn't spoken a word since he left his room. He went over everything in his mind, he was filled with thoughts. He looked up in the distance to see Francis and Alexander together. They stood with Avan by their side, the way they acted made a tear form in his eye.

"It should be me," he whispered watching how happy the three if them looked. They seemed like a happy family and it pained him that he wasn't included in their happiness.

He averted his gaze away from them and had his eyes set on his mother. She was with Malcolm, certainly talking about the security of the palace with so many guests in the palace.

They looked so close to each other, had it not been for the fact that she was married to the king. She would be perfect for him.He looked down to the ground, his eyes were teary but he suppressed it. He didn't let it show.When the ceremony was over he stood up before everyone.

"Hello," he greeted tr people in the room and had them reply to him in unison. "I would like to take this time to make a few announcements," he said grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.

" What I would like to say is simple. I would like to announce to all the subjects that there will be three weddings in the palace very soon," he announced causing the whole party to become chaotic.

The people and the royal family were surprised to hear him say three weddings. They were only aware about his decision to unite Alex and Francis. All the two other weddings came as a shock to them.

"You must all be worried and shocked by my news but it's true. My father the king and his beloved Francis will be the first couple to marry," he said.

The crowd clapped for the two happy for them. Alexander and Francis moved up together to the stage and stood before the crowd.Ander hugged them and congratulated them on the good news.

"Who is the second couple?" the king asked him.

"Patience," the prince said calmly. "You will find out in a moment," he added.

The prince reached his hand letting his servant give him a box. He took the box and opened it revealing two rings in it. He handed the rings to his father and Francis.

"Finalise the alliance," he said to them.

The people held their breaths for the beautiful moment for the couple. They were overjoyed by the king and Francis getting back together as it would mean getting their old queen.

"May I?" Alexander asked Francis.

"Yes, you may. Now and Forever," Francis replied.

Alex and Francis exchanged the rings and embraced each other. Francis was happy and full of joy for the happiness that he had been granted.

He looked up to Ander and noticed the sadness and sorrow in his eyes. He broke the hug and gave Alex a weak smile.

Ander looked to the crowd. "The second couple to get married will be queen Sofia of Arimelari and General Malcolm of Arimelari," he announced throwing the whole crowd into shock.

The queen was more shocked than everyone else, she had not expected him to say or suggest such a thing to her. Marrying someone else meant giving up the one thing that meant the world to her. Her son.

"What are you doing?" the queen mother questioned.

"I request the two couple to come to the stage," the prince said.

The queen and the general walked to the stage unwillingly. The queen felt immense fear in her heart of the possibility of losing her child forever.Their was so many inresolved dofferences between her and Ander. Although he spoke to her and smiled at her, she could see that deep down he still had doubts of her love.

"I will ask the king to officially divorce his wife before all of you and permit her to remarry," he ordered.

Alexander was speeches of the request that was made. "May I ask to speak to all the royals in present here in private," the king asked.

The queen mother asked everyone to the family room. She too had a few questions to ask her grandson on his decision to get the queen remarried.

"What in the world are you thinking by doing all this?" the king questioned angrily.

"Can you promise me that Sofia won't have the same fate as my mother Queen Olivia if she continues to stay by your side?" Ander asked.

"What are you talking about?" the queen mother asked confused. She was trying to make sense of everything that was happening and her grandson was not making it easy for her to understand what was happening.

"My mother died all because of him," Ander said calmly.He didn't want to get angry today, it was his birthday and the last thing he needed was his mood being ruined over such silly thing.

"Your mother died because of her evil deeds," Alex said. He was so tired of being blamed for things he wasn't responsible for and it enraged him.

"She died because you let her down.I did a little look on the past and saw everything. She meant the world to you before Francis came along, you pushed into feeling so insecure that she felt that she had to get rid of Framcis to keep what was her's," Ander explained.

"Your mother chose to be bad Ander,"the queen mother.

"Let me ask you something father. If Francis wouldn't have walked into your life, would my mother be dead?" he asked him. "Can you say with certainty that you aren't responsible for what she became?"

His question not just silenced Francis and Alex but all of them. Alex couldn't answer the question because it was true, Olivia only changed for the worsed after he made Francis a part of his life forever.

"Can you promise to do things differently. Love and care for both Francis and Sofia equally. Not make her feel insecure and force her to act on her insecurities out of helplessness?"

"That won't happen between the two of them Ander," the queen mother reassured.

"It hasn't happened until now is only because Francis wasnt a part of the picture and she was too busy raising me to take care of herself. At the end of the day, she is a woman with needs. Emotional and physical needs, can you promise to fulfill both for her?"

Every question he asked remained unanswered. Alex simply could not give him the answers that he needed. They were all negative and had to stay silent.

"Can you promise that Francis won't end up like my mother.He too has a heart and no one can stand seeing the one they love with another. Can you say that he won't lose it and take it out on my mother, because everyone gets jealous?"

Alex wanted to speam and say that Francis was not someone to act on impulse but Avan was proof that he too was emotionally driven at times.He found that he was left speechless with his son.He was not liking the feeling of being wrong and him being write.

"Then do us all a favor and divorce my mother. Give a chance to be with a man who is loyal to a cause, kind and loving. A man who will give her the life you can never give her," he said.

"But shouldn't you leave the choice to Sofia?" Malia asked.

"She will agree. She is my mother and she wants what's best for me," he said and took his mother's hands. He looked deep into her eyes.

"You have always been my mother and father but I need more than just that. You can be happy with this decisions and I can be happy too," he added.

"Why would you be happy with this?" Sofia asked hoping he would say that he didn't want her in his life.

"I will have the father that I have always wanted. I will have a complete family."