Chapter 31

Justin and Molly indeed managed to stay in contact. They would text and talk regularly and whenever they could organize it, Molly would come to Pittsburgh to visit her brother and his family and friends there.

The first time she had come to Pittsburgh, she had immediately fallen in love with Britin, especially the peace and quiet there and had enjoyed meeting Justin's new family and friends.

Everyone had been so nice to her and had just treated her like Justin's little sister, not like a princess that would one day become queen.

For the first time in her life she had really felt normal and it hadn't been hard at all for her to understand why Justin loved his new life so much.

Of course, they would also meet when Justin had to go to New York, but whenever Molly could, she tried to make it to Pittsburgh. Trips to Britin felt like a break from her new life of crown princess and allowed her to just relax and recharge her batteries for a bit.

Daphne had loved having another woman at Britin, Lizzie had loved her aunt and loved having another adult around her that spoiled her and spent time with her and Justin and Molly had just loved exploring and building their new relationship, a relationship they had never really had like that before.

After Molly had finished her studies at NYU, her mother and the advisors at court had agreed that it would be a good experience for her to represent Darumor at the UN and to take over Justin's previous duties. Everyone was convinced that it would help Molly to prepare for her role as queen, while Molly had just been glad to be able to stay in New York, away from the court, her mother and all those traditions she didn't really care about. Also staying in New York made it easier for her to continue to stay in touch with Justin which was a plus as well.

Her mother had agreed to let her get experience at the UN for the next five years, before she was expected to return to court and to take over more duties there. Molly was already required to attend events at the embassy or the UN, but for the most part was able to continue living her New York life the way she had before.

Unlike with Justin, there wasn't really anything special about her and she was just a princess of a tiny European country that most people in the US didn't even know anyway, so the media mostly left her alone and she had a decent amount of privacy which she liked.

It was before her fourth visit to Britin that she asked Justin if it was okay if she brought a friend with her.

“A friend?” Brian asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I think he's more than a friend, but she wasn't really admitting to anything,” Justin shrugged. “Though she said they would be fine sharing a room.”

“Oooooh, Molly found herself a nice little boyfriend?”

“You're talking about my sister here,” Justin said, raising an eyebrow in warning.

“Ah, come on, Sunshine. You must admit that she deserves to have someone in her life as well,” Brian said reasonably.

“Yeah, she does,” Justin agreed, then sighed. “I just can't help but feel like something is off...”

“Off?” Brian now frowned, looking at Justin closely. “In what way?”

“I don't know...,” Justin shrugged. “Just off.”

Brian nodded, none the wiser. “Well, we can ask her once she gets here tomorrow.”

When she arrived a day later, they didn't really have to ask her though as it quickly became obvious why Molly might have been nervous about her friend. When she arrived, she was holding hands with a young, good-looking Asian man.

Not that it mattered to Brian or Justin that he was Asian or what part of the world he came from, but Justin's thoughts immediately jumped to his mother and he knew how she would insist that Molly marry someone of royal descent, but at least someone with connections to Europe's royalty.

She introduced the man at her side as her boyfriend, Li Wei Wang.

Brian and Justin greeted the young man, who was clearly nervous about meeting someone from Molly's family, then watched as the young couple went inside the house to store the luggage in their room.

“Stop grinning like that,” Justin said, hitting Brian's arm playfully.

“Come on, you have to admit that it's great,” Brian chuckled, grinning from ear to ear.

“My mother will have a stroke when she finds out about this...,” Justin sighed.

“So I was right? She isn't only a homophobe, but also racist?” Brian couldn't help but say, biting his lower lip as Justin looked at him in exasperation.

“Well, she's not really racist per se, but she won't like this. With Molly becoming queen one day, she will be expecting her to marry someone of royal descent, maybe even someone from the other European royal families.”

“You didn't marry someone royal,” Brian pointed out.

“And my parents weren't all too happy about it,” Justin muttered darkly. “But they finally accepted because Daphne's family had connections to our royal family and... I guess that made her acceptable.”

“You never told me that,” Brian said quietly, then pulled Justin closer. “I didn't know.”

Justin shrugged while Brian held him close. “It doesn't really matter, does it? They complained for a while, but when they realized I wasn't budging... they didn't really have much choice but to accept her.”

“Maybe your mother will do the same with Molly... if this is serious. I mean we don't know anything about him yet. Maybe it's just a fling?”

“Maybe... I guess we'll find out, but... I know that after the disappointment I turned out to be, my mother will only have higher expectations of Molly.”

“Hey, don't say that. You're not a disappointment,” Brian said sternly, kissing Justin's forehead.

“Try telling that to my mother,” Justin gave back, then pulled back and smiled at Brian. “Okay, let's try to find out more about this guy and how serious things are between them.”

As it turned out, things between Molly and Li Wei were very serious. Justin and Brian were told that they had been together for more than a year and a half already, that they had met at NYU where they had both been in some of the same classes and that they intended to stay together. They loved each other and wanted to start a family together.

Li Wei knew all about Molly's family, her role and loved her despite all that. He was even willing to give up his life in China, his current life in the US and to move to Darumor with her when the time came.

They had apparently talked a lot about what Molly's future would mean for them and Li Wei loved her so much, he had assured her that he loved her, wanted to be with her and would be by her side, no matter what.

Now they only had to break the news to the queen. Which they hadn't done yet. They had decided to start with Brian and Justin, assuming that they would find less resistance to their relationship there.

And they had been right. Of course Justin had gone into full big brother mode and had given Li Wei the talk, threatening bodily harm to him should he ever hurt Molly, but they had quickly seen how happy and in love he and Molly were and what a good couple they made.

Over time he became a part of their extended family and every time Molly came by to visit Brian and Justin, so would Li Wei.

Time went by like that and Justin focused on his art, his campaigning and his charity work while Brian focused on making Kinnetik the best advertising company in the east.

Molly continued her work for the UN and stayed in her relationship with Li Wei, not telling their mother about him yet.

After two years, she couldn't avoid it any longer though. Li Wei had asked her to marry him and she had accepted.

Justin and Brian had been overjoyed for the young couple and Justin had promised Molly to support her in whatever way he could.

“If she doesn't like it, she can give the crown to Uncle Bernard... not that I care,” Molly had said full of defiance when Justin had asked her what she would do if her mother opposed her marriage with Li Wei. “If she wants me to take over as queen, she will have to accept that things will change. Yes, I will marry someone that's not a royal, that's not from Darumor, that's not even European. Yes, I will be a more open and tolerant queen than she has been and will bring Darumor into the 21st century. If she can't accept that, she can give the crown to Uncle Bertrand and I will stay in New York.”

Justin eyed her and knew that Molly was dead serious. She loved Li Wei and she would not allow her mother to come between her and her fiance. She wouldn't make the same mistake Justin had made and wouldn't give in to her mother's whims just for the sake of the crown.

He couldn't help but be proud of his little sister when she had been full of determination, before she had left for Darumor to inform her mother of her choice in a future husband.

Justin couldn't help but feel bad for Li Wei, for having to meet his mother for the first time under such circumstances. He knew it wouldn't be a happy meeting.

And he had been right.

There had been a huge fight between Molly and their mother and their mother had insisted for Molly to break off things with Li Wei, so she could start looking for a “proper” husband that would be “suited to her role and station in life”.

Molly had refused and had returned to New York with Li Wei, informing her mother that she would not accept the crown if her mother didn't accept her boyfriend.

For about six months there had been silence between the two women and Justin had heard from Molly that she had been contacted by her mother's secretary, asking her to reconsider her choice in a husband. Molly had stayed her course though and had announced during the last call to him that she would marry Li Wei, whether her mother approved or not and if she didn't, they would get married in New York surrounded by her friends and the family that supported them.

The palace had realized the danger of the situation, had realized how badly it would make the royal family look if both children ended up being cast out by their mother, so the advisors had started to change their tune and had urged the queen to give in to Molly's demands.

After Justin had been kicked out of the royal family, they couldn't afford to lose the second child as well. It just wouldn't look good and there would be no way to spin this to make the queen look good in this.

So in the end, the queen gave in and said that Molly and Li Wei could go ahead and get married, but she insisted that they would get married in Darumor, in a ceremony that would be fitting for a future queen.

Molly and Li Wei agreed, knowing that this was pretty much the best outcome they could have hoped for.

***

“Justin, please!” Molly looked at him with pleading eyes. “You can't say no to a bride-to-be.”

“Molly,” Justin sighed, looking at his sister with exasperated eyes. “Mother will never allow that. You know that.”

“I don't care. It's my wedding and I want you to walk me down the aisle,” Molly said seriously. “You're my big brother and with Dad no longer around... It's your job to walk me down the aisle.”

“Mother won't even want me at the wedding, much less take an active part in it,” Justin said reasonably, knowing that it was most likely true. “She will expect Uncle Bernard to walk you down the aisle.”

“Yeah, that's so not going to happen!” Molly shook her head immediately. “You will walk me down the aisle.”

Justin shook his head. “Molly, I would love to... I am honored that you're even thinking of me, but... it will only antagonize mother further. She agreed to you marrying Li Wei. Maybe we shouldn't push her any further. I will be here and will be watching on TV and will be with you in spirit,” he said sadly.

He would love to be at his sister's wedding, but he was a realist and knew that his mother would never allow him to be present at the wedding. Not even talking about him having a part in the wedding, a part that would show him on TV, in press pictures, etc. He was not a part of the royal family anymore and his mother wouldn't allow for him to come back. Not with how pissed she already was about the wedding anyway.

“Jus, this is my wedding. My big day! I will marry the man of my dreams and I want my big brother there to walk me down the aisle. You can't say no to that.”

In the end Justin had said that he would think about it, but that was all he had promised.

“Sunshine, why not? It seems really important to Molly. Hell, she even called me and asked me to and I quote 'use your power over him to change his mind'.”

“My mother will never allow it,” Justin just said, then turned off the light on his side of the bed. “And I don't want to talk about it any longer. It won't happen.”

“But you would like to walk her down the aisle, wouldn't you?” Brian asked, looking at Justin with sad and concerned eyes. He hated how Justin's mother was once again about to hurt his partner, even though she didn't know that she was doing it.

“Of course, I would. She's my sister. Who wouldn't love to walk their sister down the aisle and be a part of her taking on this new chapter of her life?” Justin sighed.

“Then why not agree to it and not disappoint her?”

“Because it won't happen. No matter how much she or I might want it to. My mother won't allow it. It's best she realizes it right away and accepts that I won't be at her wedding.”

“She managed to get your mother to agree to this wedding, don't underestimate her powers of persuasion,” Brian said seriously. “If she wants this, I doubt that your mother will be able to stop her.”

“It won't happen, there's no point hanging on to this pipe dream,” Justin said once more, then pulled up his blanket and closed his eyes.

It was obvious to Brian that their conversation was over.

Over the next couple of days both Daphne and Molly tried again and again to get Justin to agree to walk her down the aisle, but Justin insisted that no matter how much they all might want him to do it, his mother would never agree.

So in the end, Molly talked to her mother directly, only to find out that Justin had been right. Her mother was adamant that Justin would not be at the wedding. He was no longer a part of the royal family and his presence would only cause the media to focus on his former scandal and his gay lifestyle which wasn't anything she wanted to be talked about on this important day for Darumor.

Her opinion led to Molly once again threatening to get married in New York in a small, private ceremony which led to another impasse between the two headstrong women.

The queen didn't think that Molly would dare to go through with this when the wedding had already been publicly announced, but when Molly didn't respond to any of her attempts to get in contact concerning the wedding celebrations, she slowly learned better. Molly would go through with this and wouldn't care about the damage this would do to the reputation of the royal family of Darumor. Much like Justin, her daughter had no understanding of the importance of good PR and how important it was to a royal family.

Finally, three weeks before the scheduled wedding date, the queen gave in, knowing that it was the only way to avoid a much bigger PR disaster than having Justin show up at Molly's wedding. Yes, the media would most likely focus on his presence at the royal wedding, but at least it wouldn't be the PR disaster a canceled wedding would be.

All in all, the relationship between the two women couldn't have been more strained, but they both pretended that everything was fine and went ahead with the wedding preparations as planned.

Justin would attend the wedding and would walk Molly down the aisle, whether their mother liked it or not. He wasn't really all too happy about how it had all come to happen, but in the end knew that all that mattered was that Molly would have a great day, the day she had always dreamed of.

His relationship with his mother was non-existent anyway, so it wasn't like it could get any worse because of this. He just felt bad for Molly and how much fight she had to put up to get the wedding she wanted and deserved.

At the same time, he also couldn't help but feel awfully proud of her. She had stood up for what she had wanted, had fought for it and had not allowed their mother and her bigotry to ruin the most important day of her life.