The Royal Love Triangle

20: Moving On

Callie's POV

It’s been about six months since Tessa left. I try my best not to think of her. The thought of her still made me upset, but I needed to do what she said and move on. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I thought that if I kept myself busy, then I wouldn’t have time to think about her. I kept up with public appearances, galas, balls, celebrations, and I even helped open an orphanage. I was wrong.

I stopped calling her. I don’t text her as often. Gabe couldn’t contain his excitement when I told him what had happened. It’s been a while since I told him, and he doesn’t bring it up. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Gabe. He makes me feel like I have a purpose. I’d be lying if I said my feelings for him weren’t growing. Tonight, our families are throwing a charity ball to raise money for the orphanage. Gabe didn’t seem very thrilled with the whole thing. Mother went on and on about how good this was going to make me look. I could care less about what other people thought of me.

The ball started before dinner. I wanted to have it early so that the kids from the orphanage could come. I took all the girls shopping the day before and Marcus and Connor took the boys. It was so much fun and watching their faces light up when they tried on dresses was priceless! They all looked like little princesses. The kids were running all over the place, having a ball! I made sure to have the chefs make a bunch of kid friendly food, the bartenders had a special ‘cocktail’, safe for kids of course! There were tons of toys, all of which would be donated to the orphanage after the ball.

There was one little girl, Ariel, that followed me around all night. She was the cutest little thing. She was 6 years old, had curly blonde hair and green eyes. She was dressed in a frilly, light pink dress, she had black shoes and her hair was in the cutest pig tails ever. She called me ‘Miss Princess” when she was talking to me. It melted my heart. I held Ariel’s hand as I walked around the ball. She was shy but kept a smile on her face all night.

After dinner, I decided that I wanted to make a toast. I made my way to the front of the room, Ariel following closely behind me. Clara tried to get to stay in the crowd while I made my speech, but I shot her a dirty look. Clara let Ariel go immediately and she came skipping up towards me. I wanted to wait until Gabe was standing with me, since it was supposed to be our thing, but he was nowhere to be seen. Someone handed me a microphone so everyone could hear me. I started without him.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I please have your attention? I just wanted to thank you all for joining us today to help raise funding for the New Biblica Orphanage. All the proceeds from today’s ball will be going towards getting these kids everything they need! It will be providing new clothes, toys, books, school funding, food and so much more.” I caught glimpse of Gabe standing in the front of the crowd. He made his way on the stage and took the microphone from me. He looked kind of nervous.

“I wanted to surprise you, Princess. The funding will also help build a second Orphanage in Newait. Also, both of our parents decided to sponsor 2 children a week. Those kids will get to come and live with us in the castle for a week and get the whole experience. Princess, this is why I’ve seemed so distant and not interested. So, surprise!”

The crowd broke out into a loud applause, and some people were cheering. Gabe looked down at me, and his eyes were full of hope. I squealed and jumped into his arms. There were tears of joy streaming down face. I didn’t think this is something that he would want to do! Gabe went above and beyond my expectations. I looked up at him and mouthed thank you. Gabe leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. There were a lot of people saying awe, which made me blush.

The room got quiet and Gabe was fidgeting with his hands. He took a deep breath in before he held the microphone up to speak again.

“Princess Callie, getting to know you over these past few months has been an absolute joy. I love every single thing about you. The way you blush or bite your lip when you’re nervous. The way you hold yourself so confidently. It seems that every day, I find another reason to love you. You’re everything that I’ve ever wanted in someone. Callie Marie Bohon, will you marry me?”

The crowd gasped when Gabe dropped down to one knee, holding out a small black ring box. I covered my mouth with my hands. There were tears streaming down my face. Gabe looked up at me, his green eyes were filled with joy as he opened the ring box. The ring was beautiful. It wasn’t extremely flashy, and it matched my tiara. The room went silent as everyone was watching me, waiting for my answer. The only thing I could muster was a nod. Gabe stood up, slipped the ring on my finger and pulled me close to him for a kiss. Our lips touched and the crowd broke out into applause.

Gabe pulled away from me, laced our fingers together and held our hands up in victory. Just then, my mother came up on stage and took the microphone.

“To the newly engaged couple! Don’t they look amazing together?!” She held her glass up high with a huge smile on her face. The crowd followed her lead. “Now, we have some money to raise and a reason to celebrate! Please, give what you can. Its going to a very good cause.” She handed the microphone back to someone and waltzed off stage.

I felt a light tug on my dress and turned around to see Ariel staring at me with wide eyes. “Miss Princess,” she moved her finger to tell me to move closer to her. “He’s really handsome.” I stood back up and we both giggled.

Gabe turned to Ariel and me. Her cheeks flushed a bright red when his eyes landed on her. “Excuse me, Ariel, may I please steal the Princess for a while?” She nodded without hesitation and smiled. “I think that little boy over there wants to dance with you.” Her eyes got big as she followed Gabe’s finger to a small brown haired boy. He had a grin on his face. She blushed and walked over to him. He then led her onto the dace floor. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen.

“Princess.” Gabe said getting my attention. “May I please have this dance?” Gabe bowed in front of me, with a huge smile on his face. He offered me his arm and I curtsied before wrapping my hand around his forearm.

Gabe lead me to the middle of the dance floor. For the rest of the night, we were lost in each other’s eyes. It felt like we were in a world of our own.