Suddenly Royal by Tiffany Shar Edited by Carla Ann
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Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there!
I first have to say this is a work meant to entirely be fun and fluffy. It is meant to be one of those popcorn and pajamas tales, not high level fantasy! This was inspired by many a princess movie I've seen, and I hope you enjoy it as a fun tale! (Special shoutout of thanks to Carla Ann for editing this for me! It's a last minute push here and I appreciate her help!!!)
Suddenly Royal Chapter 1 Edited by Carla Ann
|
Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there!
I first have to say this is a work meant to entirely be fun and fluffy. It is meant to be one of those popcorn and pajamas tales, not high level fantasy! This was inspired by many a princess movie I've seen, and I hope you enjoy it as a fun tale! (Special shoutout of thanks to Carla Ann for editing this for me! It's a last minute push here and I appreciate her help!!!)
Chapter 1:
“ALAN, I’M HEADING to work,” I heard as I turned the shower off. “I’ll be back about six and then I have to go to my big event. I’ll make sure you have something to eat then before I go though, alright?”
“Okay Mom,” I responded with a smile.
“Are you going anywhere today?”
“Just to go hang out with Ellie,” I told her as I began wiping myself down with a soft towel.
“If you go anywhere with her make sure you two stay together!”
“Yes Mom, I’m not a little kid anymore,” I griped as I stepped to the mirror.
“You’re fifteen, you are most definitely still a kid!” she reminded me. “I love you; I’ll see you later.”
“Love you too Mom,” I told her.
I used my blow dryer to begin drying my long hair, carefully styling it with a brush while I was at it. ‘I can’t wait to go to the mall today!’ I smiled at myself in the mirror. I brushed my teeth and listened to make sure Mom was gone. Opening the bathroom door, I triple checked her car was gone from the garage before giddily running back to my room.
Inside my closet all of my ‘normal’ clothes hung at the front. School t-shirts showing my participation in band and track hung at the front, leading back to dress-up clothes and a suit that I hated wearing. Behind the suit there was a black garment bag that my mom had bought for my suit, but since you couldn’t see into it, I long ago figured it was a good way to keep some things out of sight. I opened it up and found a few outfits to choose from that Mom didn’t know about.
I texted Ellie, What are you wearing today?
I saw the dots of her writing for a moment before she said, Shorts/tank – you don’t have to wear a dress every day!
I smiled at that. She always kidded me about my love of dresses and skirts. Thinking I would go ahead and blend in though I wrote back, You’re no fun!
She sent me a smiley face back. I’ll be over in five to help you?
I sent my own smiley face and got to looking again at the outfits. Sadly, I didn’t have much hidden in the closet. I dragged my fingers over the textured feel of a sleeveless, pastel blue dress that had large watercolor flowers spread about. It came to just a couple inches above my knee when I wore it. It was really comfy and I loved the look of the thin yoke that came to my neck and wrapped around in a thin half inch of material. My bare arms would feel great with today’s warm weather. I looked at my other dress that had what looked like a sleeveless denim shirt as a top, and connected to a skirt that was a light peach color with little flower designs printed on it. The skirt was made of several light layers that were reinforced beneath by some tulle. Due to the cuts in the fabric, when I twirled in it, I felt so cute and pretty as it flared out!
I sighed as I thought her comment about shorts… it implied a dress wasn’t to be for today. There was a set of shortalls in the bag that had sequins sewn to the bib pocket, and to some ‘patches’ on the legs of the shorts. I had a light purple colored top that was lacey for a top layer with a built-in cami underneath it to make sure I was covered. Given my options it was the best I was going to do!
Almost all of my clothes were hand-me-downs from Ellie since there was no way I could ever ask my mom to go shopping with me for girl clothes! A few years ago, the week before we started middle school, I had come out to Ellie when we were playing games at her house together. Since then she’d had a massive growth spurt, but her clothes from the beginning of sixth grader fit me pretty well.
I had just pulled on a pair of panties, the top, and shortalls when the doorbell rang. I ran downstairs and let her in.
“You are such a girl!” Ellie told me as she came in. “Not even dressed yet?!?”
“I can’t exactly get ready before my mom leaves Ellie.”
“Well, at least you’re not wearing a dress today.”
“I wanted to…” I told her kind of sadly.
“Don’t give me that look Allie!” she told me and proceeded to pounce on me and begin tickling me.
“Stop…” I cried.
“Come on, let’s get my baby sister ready to go.”
“I’m not a baby…”
“No, but you’re definitely not the big sister either?” She kidded me. We walked back to my room and she directed me to sit down in my computer desk chair. She always did my hair for me on these special days we managed to go out together like this. I had a small hidden box of hair supplies that she dug through while grumbling about the small selection. In the end she tied my light brown hair into a pair of braided pigtails with cute bows tied on the ends.
I looked in the mirror a few moments later, “I look like I’m seven…”
“I was thinking five myself,” she said. She gave me a hug and then said, “So, as far from Alan as we can get!”
I nodded. “There is no way anyone from school would think this is me…”
“Nope, just my baby sister that I’m looking after for our mom. Ready to go?”
“Let me just grab my purse,” I told her.
I went back to my closet and dug out the light purple sequined purse that matched with my shortalls. It had been a gift from Allie for Christmas last year - and I loved it! I quickly put my phone inside, wallet, house key, and triple checked for my bus pass. I pulled out the lip gloss that was in there and put some on really quick before saying, “Ready!”
“Remember Mom won’t let you use more makeup until you’re fifteen Allie!” she laughed.
I stuck my tongue out at her and locked our front door behind us as we left. Occasionally we did dress me up with some makeup and it helped me look closer to being a middle schooler in age. I inherited my thin, short frame, from my mom. It meant I was probably forever doomed to be given kids menus at restaurants!
Last year we had a close call with some of the kids who went to our high school when I was made up and looked closer to our age. One of the biggest jerks at school had hit on me endlessly at the mall where we were eating. He’d done so while several other friends had walked by and I’d been scared to death they would recognize me through it all. It was especially awkward when they wanted to talk to Ellie and then meet the new girl. In the end we’d decided it was safer for me to appear the little sister than being a friend that could be recognized with her at school.
It didn’t hurt that I was ridiculously short! I was at least glad that I was an inch taller than my mom, who only stood four-feet six inches. I’d never known my dad, but mom claimed he was a six-foot tall beast of a guy. I dreamed of the height, but not really the beast part… Ellie herself was closing on six-feet after she had a big growth spurt at the end of sixth grade. She’s mostly stopped growing, but being nearly a foot and a half taller than me meant we easily pulled off the big and little sister look.
The mall was about a half-hour journey from our houses on the bus. “Where to first?” She asked me.
“I don’t know…?” I said.
“Yes, you do,” she kidded with me.
I shrugged, “You’re right, I want to go to Justice… they had those leggings and that romper last week that looked comfy.”
“Not to mention we need to get you that swimsuit so you can come swimming at my house!”
“Don’t you still have…?”
She shook her head, “My mom just went on a rampage through my closet yesterday. She found a few things I’d been saving for you and put them in bags for the Salvation Army this morning.”
I sighed, “Okay, well let’s look for that too then!”
She put her arm around me and we walked around together. Even though we had a destination in mind we began at one end, and continued through most stores. Walking into Claire’s, I found myself going through the racks of earrings, and wishing that I could wear some of the cute ones I found.
“Can I help you?” A teenage girl with a nametag asked.
“I wish… Mom says I can’t get my ears pierced until I’m twelve.”
The girl smiled at me, “It’s only a couple more years though?”
I sighed and nodded, “That’s what my sister keeps telling me.”
Ellie walked back up right then and smiled, “Staring at them every time we come in here isn’t going to get Mom to move any faster.” She knew the story we’d use each time she saw me looking at them.
“I hate that…” I told her.
“Come on, I saw a bracelet over here I think you’d like!”
Fifteen minutes later I was walking out of there with a pack of three new bracelets and a necklace that matched. We stopped for a second by a bench and I pulled out one of the bracelets that had three flowers on a chain. The middle flower was bigger than the other two and they had some fake diamonds scattered as bling. I had bought a matching necklace too that quickly went around my neck before we continued on through the mall. I smiled as I looked at the bracelet every few seconds while we walked.
Eventually we came to the store she wanted to visit most, and spent an hour with her trying on jeans, some tops, and at my prodding, a dress I thought she would look great in. “You have to get that!” I told her.
“Nuh-uh,” she told me. “If I buy a dress my mom will expect me to wear it! I have almost all of them out of the closet now!”
“Spoilsport,” I told her as we walked out a few minutes later with her new jeans and a few blouses.
“I leave the dresses to my girly baby sister,” she told me and squeezed me into a sideways hug.
It wasn’t too much further to Justice where I tended to find a lot of things I liked, but only rarely bought for myself. Hiding things wasn’t easy with a mom like mine who happily came into my room on a regular basis to make sure I was keeping my room clean! Since my birthday this past week though I had a couple hundred dollars that were burning a hole in my pocket. An advertised sale of fifty percent off clearance meant I really couldn’t help but go looking around to buy some of my own clothes.
“Look at this!” I said a few minutes later and showed her a cute romper that I liked.
“As long as you’re being my baby sister, that’s cute,” she told me with a smile.
The meaning was clear… someone my age shouldn’t be wearing it, but when you’re a size eight or ten in girls sizes it was tough to find other things. I shrugged sadly and carried it away from the rack and kept looking. They had a limit in the dressing room, so I only took a few items at a time to try on. As I shrugged my shortalls and shirt off I couldn’t help but smile at how much more comfortable I was with being out as Allie now.
I was much happier when I was out doing stuff than being stuck at home in my Allie mode. Ever since I had smuggled my first outfits home from Ellie’s house, I tended to dress as a girl anytime Mom wasn’t home. Summertime was my favorite, with all day to either hang out with Ellie, or just be myself at home. I ended up thinking the romper was a bit babyish even for me, so I put it back in the end. I did go on a splurge and find four tops, two pairs of shorts, another pair of shortalls, a dress, and a tankini swim suit before deciding I was done.
“Geeze, leave anything in the store?” Ellie kidded me as I rang up my purchases.
It wasn’t until we were walking out that I realized she had her own bag from there. “What did you buy?” I asked.
She pulled out the romper I had put back, “You really looked adorable in this. I think we can convince everyone you’re six for sure!”
I stuck my tongue out at her, “At least I’m not some old lady…”
She poked me and we giggled walking down the mall hand in hand for a bit. She pulled me into Victoria Secret a bit later as I blushed. “I should have them fit you for your first bra,” she joked with me.
“I’ve already got one,” I reminded her. The one and only time I’d really gone out as my age we had found a small bra to give me A Cup size breasts with some stuffing. Apparently, that was enough to get ogled by the jerks and I had felt really uncomfortable! Being the ‘little sister’ meant the attention was always on Ellie anywhere we went. She dragged me around the store for a while before we found her two new bras at Aerie instead. Looking at the time we decided it was time to return home. We had been talking and having such a good time that I thought nothing could ruin our day!
For some weird reason there was a black car parked in the street in front of my house, but I didn’t think anything of it.
As we walked into the house, I heard a voice say, “Ellie, where’s Alan…”
I turned white, “Mom…?”
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I'm hoping to put this up in its entirety before the contest ends. If you enjoyed this please help me keep pushing to do so, kudos and comments really help me keep my focus on getting this done!
Suddenly Royal Chapter 2 Edited by Carla Ann
|
Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there! Since I've procrastinated beginning to post there will be some days I'll throw another chapter up in order to make the deadline there. I have eight chapters written and plan on four more for this part of the tale.
I first have to say this is a work meant to entirely be fun and fluffy. It is meant to be one of those popcorn and pajamas tales, not high level fantasy! This was inspired by many a princess movie I've seen, and I hope you enjoy it as a fun tale! (Special shoutout of thanks to Carla Ann for editing this for me! It's a last minute push here and I appreciate her help!!!)
Chapter 2:
I WAS DEAD! I was sure I would be soon at least as I looked to see Mom and a man dressed in a black suit sitting on the couch.
“Mom…?” I breathed, “What… what are you doing home?”
“We have a guest who needed to talk to us…” she told me. “Why are…?”
Ellie grabbed onto me in a hug and stood behind me. “It was all my idea…” she started to say.
I shook my head, “No Ellie, might as well tell her.” I breathed heavily, “Mom… this is me…”
“What do you mean? Why are you wearing that?”
“Maybe we should go talk upstairs?” Ellie suggested.
Mom nodded grimly and said, “Giuseppe, would you excuse us for just a few minutes?”
“Of course,” the man said with a bewildered look on his face.
When we reached my room, “Alexandros Leonidas Alessi Nelson what the hell is going on?!?” Mom asked.
“Mom… I’m not really a boy…”
“Of course, you are! I changed your diapers, I should know!”
“Mom I’m transgendered,” I told her.
Something clicked in her head, “You’re making this up, right?” She looked at Ellie who shook her head. “How…?”
“Mom, I don’t know… since I was five, I guess I’ve known something was wrong. I didn’t really understand it until I was like eight and Ellie moved in next door.”
“I knew I should have made you have more boys as friends…”
“Mom they didn’t want to be friends with me! They never have! Kids have sensed that I’m not normal…”
“But…” she sighed, “go on…”
“When I was ten Ellie and I played dress-up with me one time as her doll and I had a blast. A few years ago, after Christmas I told her who I was.”
“And who is that?” Mom asked.
“Your daughter Allie,” I told her with tears streaming down my eyes. “Please don’t hate me, I’m sorry…”
This was the worst case of scenarios I had imagined taking place! I collapsed on my bed and bawled my eyes out into my hands. A half-second later I felt comforting hands though, “I don’t hate you… Allie,” she told me. “But I’m afraid this is probably the worst timing you could have had to let me find this out…”
I couldn’t speak for a while as Ellie joined the hug too. Ten minutes later I finally could talk again, “I’m sorry Mom,” I told her for a millionth time. “I’ll get changed…”
“Maybe you should… but I…”
“What?” I asked.
“Why don’t you come downstairs first?”
“Why?”
“I need you to talk to the man that’s down there.”
“Who is he?”
“I’ll let him explain. Good thing you weren’t wearing any makeup… I need to go wash my face and I’ll come join you,” she told me as she got up.
“Well that went better than I thought it would…” Ellie told me.
“What did you expect? A nuclear bomb? It’s still pretty much the end of the world…” I told her as I stood up.
She hugged me again, “She didn’t kill you, and she told you to just go downstairs like you are. She could have screamed for you to change or worse…”
I just nodded and walked to my bathroom first. My hair was tied tightly enough with the braids that it was still okay. My face was red from crying, so I washed it quickly and let Ellie lead me by the hand downstairs.
“Umm… Hi,” I told the man.
“Good afternoon,” he told me with a smile. “I am Giuseppe Russo, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He paused, “I sense this meeting is not going to go quite the way I planned. You are?”
“Oh… umm…”
“Allie,” Ellie prompted as she draped her arm protectively over my shoulders. “And I’m Ellie,” she said.
“Umm… can I get you something to drink?” I asked politely.
‘This is awkward,’ I thought to myself.
“No thank you… Umm… Allie… Is there a chance we can have a private discussion?”
I looked at him nervously, “Umm… no offense sir, but I don’t know you? Ellie is like my big sister and BFF rolled into one. If you’re trying to get me to keep something from her, it’s a waste of time?”
“We really need to privately talk to him,” my mom said as she walked down the stairs behind me. “You can talk to Ellie later… I know I definitely want to have a talk with both of you - but Giuseppe is here on a really important matter.”
I turned and gave Ellie a hug, “Thank you for being there for me…”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way. Call me later!”
“I will,” I said to her as she walked out the door with her couple bags from shopping. My own bags were still on the ground by the staircase where I had dropped them.
“Umm… Why do you need to meet with me?”
“Honey, why don’t we sit down on the couch,” she told me.
The man was sitting in the recliner a moment later and said, “Well… we’re going to have to get into a lot more discussion about this unexpected development… but I guess let me introduce myself properly. As I said before my name is Giuseppe Russo, I’m your grandmother’s chief of security… and I guess general problem solver.”
“My grandmother?” I asked incredulously. “Mom, since when does Grandma need security?”
Mom was next to me and took my hand, “Not my mom… your dad’s mom.”
“Dad?” I scoffed, “The guy who got you pregnant and took off?”
“Alan that’s not exactly the whole truth sweetheart… I guess it’s definitely time to tell you more, but for now Giuseppe is here to…” she sighed, “go ahead.”
I looked at her and over at him, “Umm… Miss Nelson it is my deepest regret to inform you that your father passed away three weeks ago.”
I felt a stab of ice in my chest with that information. It was one thing to hate him for wanting nothing to do with mom and I, but it was always my dream to meet him. “He’s… dead?”
“I’m sorry,” he told me.
“But… I never even met him…”
“Which I can tell you he regretted greatly,” he told me.
“Really?” I scoffed at that, “How hard would it have been to come meet me?”
“More difficult than you might imagine actually…” Mom said.
“What?” I looked at her incredulously.
“Your grandmother has requested that she be the one to tell you the rest of what you need to know. She is hoping you two might join her for dinner tonight?”
“Umm…” Mom said from beside me, “I have something I’m supposed to attend tonight already…”
“Would you be okay if your daughter came by herself?”
“My daughter?” Mom said looking at me. “Giuseppe, to be honest I didn’t even know I had a daughter until she just walked in…”
“I’m aware, I guessed as much. It might actually simplify things a little bit in some ways if this is her future that she come as she is.”
“How…?” Mom asked. “I’m guessing…”
“Please, her grandmother really does want to do the explanations.”
“Mom can’t you cancel and come with me?” I looked at her.
“Sweetie… I can’t unfortunately.”
I felt abandoned again, “So am I going alone to meet this stranger?”
“Can Ellie come with her?” Mom asked him.
“Unfortunately, we need to keep information tight for now,” he told her.
“Giuseppe, I know Alex trusted you, so I’ll say yes.”
“Don’t I have a say in this?” I looked at her annoyed.
“Normally, yes… but this can’t wait sweetheart. She’s flown over here just to see you and I don’t know when she needs to return. It’ll be okay!”
“Right…” I told her. “What time will I need to be ready?” I looked at him.
“Two hours?” he suggested.
“And you’re okay with me coming as Allie?” I asked.
“I… come as you wish… either way your grandmother needs to talk to you,” he told me. “I need to go; I’ll be back to pick her up at six.”
“Okay…” Mom said and showed him out the door.
“Well, you’ve landed us into a real mess here Alan…” she told me a moment later. She shook her head, “You’re serious about you being transgendered?”
“Yes?”
She sighed, “Then I guess it’s probably best if you meet your grandmother as Allie. If she doesn’t flip her gasket completely over it though I’ll be shocked… We can’t have you wear that though. What did you buy today? And what do you have already?”
“I… what?”
The next twenty minutes I showed her what I had bought, and what I had in the closet. “Why is everything here meant for a ten-year-old?” she asked me.
“Umm… Mom, you could probably almost fit in half of it…” I told her.
She glared at me, “That’s the point, why haven’t you bought some things that make you look older?”
I squirmed… “Boys…?”
“Boys?” her eyebrows raised. “What about boys?”
“If I look like I’m Ellie’s little sister they don’t hit on me all the time? Besides… I have no chest, I’m the height of a ten-year-old, and no one would expect a high school freshman boy to be out as a little girl?”
At that I think Mom realized how messed up I really was feeling right then as she hugged me, “Look… Allie, first know that I love you no matter what,” she told me, “and I guess I do get the boys thing. I am going to get ahold of Doctor Haskill to see you tomorrow morning and someone else… We’re going to start getting to the bottom of this. If we’re doing this… I guess this dress is the best of what you have. I’d lend you one, but that would look like you were playing dress-up in mommy’s clothes.”
“Like you do?” I smirked.
“You!” she said and launched a tickle attack on me. She and Ellie seemed to always attack me and take advantage of my ticklishness!
I was rushed into the shower, given instructions to shave my non-existent leg and armpit hair, then began washing my hair so it could be styled. While I was showering Mom went to get ready herself too with instructions to wash my hair, but let her dry it and style it.
Stepping out of the bathroom, I wore a towel around my chest and another around my hair as I walked to my room. I pulled on a pair of panties from my hidden stash, and momentarily smiled with the thought of not having to hide my clothes anymore! I was even more excited to have my mommy actually do my hair!
I was just wondering what else I should do before she came in, “Good, you waited on getting dressed. Sit down in your chair there… What hair stuff do you have?” she asked pointing at the ribbons on the desk that I had taken out. She looked through things before saying, “We’re going to have to get you some more things…” She thought for a moment before adding, “A lot more things! I can do something with this, I guess…”
I looked up at her and saw a fear I had never seen in her face when she was that dressed up. “Why are you so nervous?” I asked her.
“Besides the fact that my son is dressing as a girl and transgendered?”
“Umm… yeah?” I asked nervously.
“Your grandmother…” she told me. “Look I agreed I wouldn’t say more, but just know that your Dad had a pretty wealthy upbringing… His mom is a force of nature…”
“And you won’t come with me?” I asked with my eyes wide.
“Who is always telling me they’re not a little kid anymore?”
“Can I take that back…?”
“Not this time… Sit down, let’s get working on this. I really wish we had a couple more hours here…”
The hairdryer I normally used, a large curling iron of hers, and a lot of tugging on my hair filled the next hour. I had goosebumps up and down my body the whole time she did it though. It was a dream come true for my mom to do my hair like this for me! Even though I had no clue what she was doing with my hair, I could tell it wasn’t just a simple style.
“Okay… I think that’s as good as I’m going to get this right now…” she told me, “You and I are going to have a major talk tomorrow about all of this hair and what we’re doing with it.”
“Please don’t make me cut it off,” I turned and looked at her.
She saw my terrified face and hugged me, “I don’t mean that… you really need to get this styled for real…”
“Oh, yeah… I haven’t had a haircut for a long time.”
“It’s okay right now, but we’ll have to sort that out… before your grandmother beats us to it.”
“Huh?”
She sighed, “Just get dressed quickly…”
I looked at her for more information but she wouldn’t give me any. I walked to the closet and pulled on the dress that we had decided on. It was one of the ones I already had with a thin yoke that looked like the inside of a t-shirt neck had been sliced out almost. The light blue base with the flowers that were brightly placed on it looked pretty. My favorite thing about this dress though was the odd texture that had been added. I loved running my fingers over it when I wore it.
Mom stood there and I began going for zipping it up, “Here, let me get that,” she said timidly.
I turned and let her pull the zip up and smiled as I turned around. “How do I look?”
She stood there silently staring at me before wrapping me up in a hug, “Like the most beautiful daughter that I never knew I had.”
“Do you have a purse?”
I showed her mine and she said, “We’ll need to get you some more formal ones… but I guess that works.” She looked through my sparse jewelry collection and walked out of the room. I took that chance to walk into the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror.
I couldn’t help but smile as I looked at my hair. She had somehow braided the very front of it like a headband almost… or part of a French braid, across from my left side to my right where it disappeared by my ear. My ear was exposed and I wished I had a piercing to put an earring inside it. The rest of my hair cascaded backwards with some light curls, and I couldn’t help but believe it was the prettiest my hair had ever looked! I walked back into my bedroom and Mom put a simple gold chain necklace around my neck. Lastly, I put on some strappy white sandals that had a strap on the back, and small rhinestones along the open leather pattern.
“Those are cute…” Mom told me as the doorbell rang, “Let’s go downstairs and get you off with Giuseppe.”
“I can really trust him?” I asked nervously.
“With your life,” she told me. “Don’t think I would normally let my daughter go anywhere alone. You, young lady, are not going to be wandering as much on your own from now on…” I could tell she still wasn’t really okay. “Have a good time with your grandmother. If you need anything call me. You do have your phone in there, right?”
I looked and noticed there were six missed calls from her, “You called?”
“Yeah… you should check your phone more often. I might not have been surprised with a daughter?”
I grimaced, “Sorry…”
“Now go,” she told me as she opened the door and Giuseppe waited there patiently.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“Yes…” I said as I looked and realized in front of our house was a limo!
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Thank you to everyone who gave the first part a kudos or a comment here! Please help me know what you think by pressing the kudos button, and/or leave a comment below! I'll post at least the next chapter tomorrow, thanks for reading!
Suddenly Royal Chapter 3 Edited by Carla Ann
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Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there! Since I've procrastinated beginning to post there will be some days I'll throw another chapter up in order to make the deadline there. I have eight chapters written and plan on four more for this part of the tale.
I first have to say this is a work meant to entirely be fun and fluffy. It is meant to be one of those popcorn and pajamas tales, not high level fantasy! This was inspired by many a princess movie I've seen, and I hope you enjoy it as a fun tale! (Special shoutout of thanks to Carla Ann for editing this for me! It's a last minute push here and I appreciate her help!!!)
Chapter 3:
I WAVED AT Ellie who was looking out the window in astonishment then. She made a ‘call me’ motion with her hand and I nodded. I waved at Mom too and sat down inside the door that Giuseppe opened for me.
He closed the door and I watched him sit down in the passenger seat up front. “Umm… why…?” was all I could get out.
“Your grandmother insisted,” he told me.
“Okay… where are we going?”
“Your grandmother has a reservation at a restaurant downtown,” he told me.
“Okay…” I said and found my phone with ten text messages from Ellie on it.
A freaking limo? She asked me.
I texted her back and forth and had a massive guessing game of who in the hell my dad had been as we traveled into the city. I took a selfie of myself and sent it to her.
OMG she sent me back.
I nervously chatted with her as we finally pulled up to a restaurant downtown. I recognized it as the best restaurant in the city, one which had recently earned two Michelin stars. I smiled at being able to try it! I had read about the restaurant and wanted to try it, but of course Mom had laughed at me when I suggested it!
I started to open the door, but Giuseppe beat me to it and said, “Right this way Miss.”
I shook my head believing it must be some sort of dream. ‘My mom knows about me, and I’ve just ridden in a limo to meet with some long-lost grandmother who must be loaded!’
Mom did well for herself as a lawyer for a big firm, but I never considered us to be really wealthy since it was only her income coming in. Well… that and I know she got child support payments for me. We never worried for money I guess, but I wasn’t like some of the kids at school that were constantly getting the latest toys and gadgets growing up. I followed Giuseppe inside and stood as he quietly talked to the Maître’D. “Right this way,” he said a moment later and led us back to a private room where an older lady sat at a small table set for two.
She was older, but didn’t seem old enough to really be my grandmother. Maybe early fifties at the most, and something about her radiated… power?
“Mon dieu… c’est une surprise!” she said standing up.
Mom had for some reason insisted I learn French as a kid… It had never made sense to me given all of my friends that spoke Spanish. ‘Grandma and Dad are why?’ I heard the door close behind me and stepped closer, “Umm… Bonjour… Je m’appelle Allie…” I told her nervously.
“Definitely not what I expected,” she told me tersely in more French as she held her hand out and gave me one of those high society limp handshakes that I’d seen Mom endure before. “I’m your grandmother, Maria,” she told me.
“I’m umm… I’m sorry about your son,” I said a moment later awkwardly.
“Thank you dear… I know you didn’t know him, but I imagine the news probably affected you as well since he was your father. Please sit,” she told me.
I carefully did the best I could to sit gracefully in the chair while smoothing my dress.
“You’re not new to dressing as a girl, are you?” she asked me in English, surprising me. ‘Glad she speaks more than French…’
I shook my head and blushed, “No ma’am, I’ve been dressing as myself in secret for a couple years now.”
“Giuseppe said your mother only just found out this afternoon?”
I blushed deeper… “Umm… yeah… that was a fun conversation that will be continued later I’m sure.”
“If I may say so you do look like a convincing young girl.”
“Thank you,” I said as the door opened and a waiter appeared.
I noticed my grandmother already had a small glass of wine in front of her as the waiter asked, “What can I get you to drink?”
“Umm… iced tea?” I asked nervously.
“Certainly,” he told me. “You want to begin the meal now?” he asked my grandmother.
“Give us ten more minutes to talk and then bring out the first course please.”
“Absolutely,” he said and left.
“So… how old are you again?”
I blushed, “Fifteen ma’am.”
“I wanted to be sure. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought you were a lot younger.”
“Everyone always does… I know my dad was supposedly tall, but I seem to have gotten my height genes from Mom’s side.”
“She was always struggling in too high of heels to manage that,” she nodded. “You’re still young though, you might still grow some! Your father hit his big growth spurt at your age.”
I shrugged, “I’ve yet to see it…” I said as I silently hoped I wouldn’t suddenly be getting hairy and bulky.
Food began coming out beginning with a salad course that I didn’t really want to eat. I forced it down though since I didn’t want to make a bad first impression. Six small plates of food came out after that in a slow succession. Each looked to belong on the cover of a magazine, or on a competitive cooking show. We talked awkwardly about me through dinner and finally finished dessert of a small chocolate mousse and ganache concoction that was to die for!
“So… umm… Grandma, what do you do?” I asked my first question of her. “Where do you live? Your accent is sort of British, right?”
She smiled, “I grew up in England actually, but I married your grandfather and moved to a small country called Osané in the Mediterranean where he was from.”
“Umm… is my grandfather still alive?” I asked hesitantly.
“I’m sorry to say that Alexandros passed away not long after you were born.”
“Alexandros?” I said curiously, “That’s my name.”
“It is?” She asked with a twinkle of her eyes, “You were the fourth generation Alexandros Leonidas Alessi,” she told me, “But maybe you’re really the first Alexandria?” she suggested.
I nodded, “That’s what I’ve always thought of my name as… but there’s nothing showing that…” I sighed.
“I think your father would have approved,” she told me.
“So, you never answered me, what do you do?”
“I’m the Queen,” she told me.
I giggled, “You’re joking right? This really is some weird dream I’m having...”
She looked affronted, “My dear I would never joke about such a thing.”
“But that would mean my dad was a… prince?” I asked.
“Yes, he was, the Crowned Prince, to be precise.”
“But… I assume he had a wife and more kids?”
She looked sad and shook her head, “No… I don’t think he ever met anyone that held a candle to whatever it was he saw in your mother.”
“Really? What a way to show it?” I said.
“I would suggest talking with your mother more about that before judging him too harshly.”
I sat there for a moment, “Wait, if my dad was a prince, what does that make me?”
“Right now? I would say a princess?”
I laughed, “You’re kidding, right?”
“Heaven’s no I would never joke about something like that! Though since you’re a boy it would make you a prince right now.”
I made a face, “Do I have to be a prince?”
She sighed, “Well, it definitely is a problem in a way if you are a Princess instead since you wouldn’t be able to father your own children to carry on our line of succession.”
“That’s the only problem?”
“From what I can see you appear to be very pretty as a girl, so that probably is it. But that’s a big one!”
Not knowing what else to say to that I said, “Thank you… I don’t know anything about that though… I’ve always figured someday I can adopt.”
“I suppose that would be one way… An adoption would appeal to some people I suppose.” She paused, “The bigger problem here is that we’re going to have to decide very quickly what you want.”
“What I want?”
“Prince or Princess, before we announce you to the world.”
“Announce… Announce me to the world?” I gasped, “Why would we do that? Why the rush?”
“Because Alexandria, Osané must have a named successor now that your father is dead. If I do not name one within the next six months, then the next family in the line of succession will take power when I pass away. Practicality wise I want to announce you as my successor in the next three…”
“Wait… what?!?”
“But I’m only fifteen! And… I have no idea… how…”
I began hyperventilating and blacked out.
.........
“YOUR MAJESTY I think she’s coming around…” I heard a voice say.
“Huh?” I asked confused as I opened my eyes.
“Where…?” I started to ask but looked into the concerned eyes of the woman I had met mere hours ago. I laid my head back down on the floor where they must have put me. “This can’t be happening…”
It took a good twenty minutes before I was really feeling halfway up to moving. “Let’s go ahead and get you home dear, you’ve had enough shocks for today…” my grandmother told me.
“You think?” I told her, more than a bit embarrassed by the day!
A few minutes later they were by my side as we traveled out to the limo that was waiting. I looked at the front of the vehicle and realized she probably wasn’t having fun at my expense… there were two miniature flags that I assumed were Osané’s standing on the end of the vehicle. ‘Were those there earlier?’
A camera flash surprised me as Giuseppe held the door open and I let Grandma go first into the vehicle and followed her inside. The ride was silent for a bit before a silly question came to mind, “Umm… Grandma?”
“Yes dear?”
“If I’m a princess… like a real one… do I get a tiara?”
She laughed at me, “You’ll have a collection of them actually, but I daresay we would pick out one ‘favorite’ for it to be the main one.”
“But…” I paused, “You said Dad was… Wait, does that mean I would have to be a Queen?”
“Part of the job I’m afraid…”
“But I’m not normal…” I told her.
“You’re most certainly not… and at some point there will be a scandal…”
I looked at her and decided she didn’t look entirely happy with that, “Umm…”
“That being said Osané has adopted a number of laws in the last few years that bar discrimination in the workplace. It would be unwise for the monarchy to be any different.”
I gulped, “What… what should I do when people find out?”
“What your heart tells you to do my dear,” she told me as we glided to a stop in front of my house. “You’re going to have a million questions Alexandria, and that’s just tonight when I leave. Tomorrow I’d like you to spend the day with me and we’ll answer a couple hundred of them?”
“Can my best friend come?” I asked her.
“How about after tomorrow she can?” She told me.
“Can I tell her about this?” Realizing they hadn’t wanted her to know anything earlier.
“How much do you trust her?”
“With my life, she’s never told anyone about me being transgendered!”
“Then yes, but you must swear her to secrecy. Tomorrow we need to discuss some more things with the two of us and your mother at our embassy.”
“You have an embassy here?”
She laughed, “Osané is a small country, but we do have two embassies here in the US. One here, and one in New York City.”
“Wha…”
She actually gave me a thin smile, “Tomorrow… for now give me a hug and go talk to your mom. I guarantee she’s dying to know about everything.”
I nodded and hugged her, feeling a bit odd as she did the European kiss thing too. I crawled out the door that Giuseppe held open and walked up to my house and unlocked the front door. “Mom?” I called out.
Silence greeted me though as I looked at the time and saw it was just nine. Her event probably didn’t end until at least ten from what I remembered, so I kicked off my shoes and walked over to our couch and sat down. I pulled my phone out and pulled up a video chat with Ellie.
“Spill girl!” Ellie told me.
“Umm…” I tried to think of how to even begin.
“Wait, hold on, is this that good of a story?”
“It’s a doozy of a fairytale…”
“Mom, can I go over to Al’s house?”
“It’s nine at night…”
“I’ll be back by eleven?”
“Is his mom there?”
“No, I thought I would go hang out with him so he’s not alone.”
“Going to a boy’s house by yourself is not exactly something I should be saying yes to…”
“Mom! It’s not like that!!!” She said in exasperation loud enough to hurt my ears.
“It better not be Elliana! I guess… But no hanky panky.”
“Mom! Who even says that anymore?” she said embarrassed, but told me, “I’ll be over in a minute.”
Sure enough a few minutes later the doorbell rang and I let her in.
“Your hair looks amazing!” she told me and gave me a quick hug. “You still look like a little kid, but you look really pretty like that!”
I smiled at her, “My grandmother basically said the same thing…”
She laughed at me and we sat down on opposite ends of the couch. “So, what’s the big deal? Your grandmother must be loaded if you went to dinner in a freaking limo?”
“You don’t know the half of it…” I told her.
“You said it was about your dad? He died?”
I felt a tear down my cheek, “Apparently… I never even met him! If it wasn’t for the child support and the gifts for my birthday and Christmas, I would assume he was already dead before this. I always dreamed of actually meeting him…” more tears came down my cheeks and I grieved for a moment.
“I’m so sorry Allie…” she hugged me tightly.
After a bit when I got myself under control, “So apparently my dad wasn’t just some guy…”
“Obviously he was well off, those gifts you got were always expensive!”
“I used to think he was just trying to buy my love…”
“Why didn’t he ever just come and see you?”
“I don’t know that part… but Ellie… I found out tonight that my dad was…”
The front door suddenly opened up and Mom called out, “Alan, I’m home!” Before turning and seeing the two of us. “Oh honey,” she saw me with the red face and came to hug me.
More sobbing, more tears, and eventually Ellie asked, “What were you saying about your dad?”
“Ellie… apparently my dad was a prince.”
“What?” she said, “A prince? Like a future king prince? No freaking way?”
I nodded and found my mom nodding as well. “Mom, you knew?”
“Not at first,” she told me.
“So, if he’s a prince, what does that make you?” Ellie asked.
“Princess or a Prince…” I told her. “I can tell you which one I’d rather be…”
“You’re like being for real? What country?”
“Osané,” I told her, “It’s apparently some small island nation in the Mediterranean not far from France…”
“You’re just making this up, right?”
I laughed, “I wish… today has been weird.” Ellie’s phone rang, “Yeah Mom, I’m sorry, we’ve been talking and the time got away from me. I’ll be home in a minute. Yes, Alan’s mom is home now…”
“Ellie, thanks for coming over… before you go though you have to promise me not to tell anyone about this. It has to be as much of a secret as Allie…”
She hugged me, “Count on it, little sister.”
I walked her to the door and Mom said, “Hot chocolate? I think we have a lot to talk about?”
I nodded and followed her into the kitchen and sat silently while she moved about. Her expensive skirt suit looked good on her, “How was the event?”
“Boring like always, but it’s something I have to do if I ever want to be a full partner…”
I nodded, she had way too many politics at work in my opinion. “I guess…”
She finished making two cups of the chocolatey good stuff that was our tradition for heavy conversations. “So, where do we start?”
“Why the hell didn’t I know my dad was a prince?”
She looked awkward and embarrassed, “We felt it was better to keep you out of the limelight…”
“What?”
She sighed, “I guess let me start at the beginning. Sixteen years ago, I was in my junior year of college, and had this one boy in class that I couldn’t help but stare at all of the time. He was so handsome! I was too much of a chicken to go up and talk to him though, so I just stared from afar. A few weeks into the school year I was riding my bike and he accidentally stepped out in front of me. I went flying and he came like a gallant knight to check on me and helped me up.”
“That’s sweet,” I admitted.
“It was… Well, he insisted on taking me to get lunch then and before I knew it, I was head over heels in love with Alexandros.” She smiled, “Alexandros was such a hot name that my roommate and I would say it all of the time.”
“Mom that’s kind of weird…”
She laughed, “Well, I didn’t have much of a choice on your name. The two of us had been dating for six months before I missed a period.”
“Me?”
“Yep, and he was as excited as I was scared about you!”
“So, what happened, where did he go?”
“His duties happened sweetie. His dad suddenly passed away, and his mom found out about me. She met me at the funeral and decided I was a commoner and not good enough for her son.”
“How could she?!?” I said. “That is such a… a…”
“Bitchy thing to do?” She finished for me. “You’re right, it was. She didn’t feel like they could afford the scandal of a commoner marrying her son. And they certainly couldn’t afford to have it known that there was a child of an unwed relationship out there…”
“So, what? They covered me up?”
She nodded, “Alexandros didn’t want to, but he felt duty bound to his mom, and more importantly to him the people of the country. We agreed you would be given the family name, but unless he failed to marry and have other kids you would not be in the line of succession.”
“Grandma… she said he didn’t marry or have other kids…”
Mom smiled at me, “I don’t think he really wanted to abandon us…” she sighed, “Unfortunately this probably complicates even more things on the bigger issue.”
“Bigger issue?”
“My son is dressed as a girl? I sent him to meet his grandmother as a girl?”
I felt uncomfortable, “I’m sorry…”
She wrapped me up in a big hug, “I am too. I don’t know how we went this long without me ever knowing about you.”
For the next hour we kept talking about me, and moving forward with being me. Eventually she said, “It’s getting late Allie, why don’t you get ready for bed?”
I hugged her and said, “Okay…” as I yawned. I went to the bathroom and looked at my red face from tears, but otherwise smiled at my hair and the fact I had worn a dress in front of Mom and she wasn’t trying to murder me or something. Grandma even seemed okay with it… I began picking through the braid Mom had done and brushed my hair out. I grabbed a scrunchie and put my hair into a loose ponytail before going back to my room. I had one set of pajamas I had hidden away a few years ago that were hand-me-downs from Ellie. She had given them to me not long after I came out to her. She had only worn them one time to make her grandparents happy at Christmas. She thought they were too babyish, but I couldn’t help but smile as I pulled on the pajamas with Belle, Rapunzel, and Cinderella on the top. I’d always been afraid to wear them since Mom came in to wake me up in the mornings each day…
She came in just as I was getting ready to lay down in my bed. “Those are cute, where did you get them?” She asked as she walked over to me.
“Ellie, she thought they were too babyish.”
“She couldn’t have worn these recently?”
“They’re from Christmas sixth grade…” I told her.
“You really are a small munchkin, aren’t you?”
“I’m still taller than you!”
She laughed and grabbed the blanket from me and tucked me in like she did when I was little. “Allie, I don’t know what this is all going to bring in the next couple months. But know that I love you with all of my heart. Tomorrow your grandmother wants to see us both for lunch. I’m planning on getting you into a couple doctors first thing in the morning though.”
“Why?” I asked nervously.
“Because if you’re going to be my little girl, instead of my little boy, you’re going to need to see doctors. I have a few transgender clients I’ve represented, so we’re going to use some of the resources I know of to make sure you are okay.”
I smiled, “So… you’re okay with… me?”
“Does it matter?” She asked me. I nervously shrugged my shoulders. “Yes, I am okay with you. If your grandmother doesn’t beat me to it I plan on beginning to make up for lost time shopping with the little girl you never told me I had!”
She kissed me on the forehead and said, “Good night, Princess.”
Suddenly Royal Chapter 4 Edited by Carla Ann
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Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there! Since I've procrastinated beginning to post there will be some days I'll throw another chapter up in order to make the deadline there. I have ten chapters written and plan on two to three more for this part of the tale.
I first have to say this is a work meant to entirely be fun and fluffy. It is meant to be one of those popcorn and pajamas tales, not high level fantasy! This was inspired by many a princess movie I've seen, and I hope you enjoy it as a fun tale! (Special shoutout of thanks to Carla Ann for editing this for me! It's a last minute push here and I appreciate her help!!!)
Chapter 4:
TO SAY I slept well that night would have been a lie. I couldn’t stop my mind from racing now that my mom knew about me… and to top it off my dad died without me ever meeting him… I have a long-lost grandmother paying me a visit… and I’m a freaking princess?!?
I gave up on sleeping about five in the morning, and decided to get up. I was exhausted and walked down the stairs to the kitchen to get a drink and eat something.
“What are you doing up?” Mom asked me sleepily with a cup of coffee in her hand.
“Umm… same as you…?”
“Couldn’t sleep?”
I shook my head and found myself giving her a hug. “I love you, thank you for not freaking out on me yesterday.”
She laughed, “Who says I wasn’t freaking out?”
“I’ve read so many horror stories,” I told her. “I’ve been scared…”
I felt more tears at my eyes as she squeezed tighter, “No matter what sweetie I will never stop loving you!” I stood there for a moment before she broke the hug and asked, “Coffee?”
“Please!” I told her with a smile.
She poured me a cup and I added in the massive amounts of cream and sugar that usually had other people joking if I liked some coffee with my creamer! I took a sip and smiled. She sat down at the table and I joined her.
“So…” I said.
“So…?”
I sighed, “So what’s going on today?”
“Well you have an appointment at nine with a psychiatrist that my clients have worked with, and a doctor’s appointment afterwards.”
“What doctor?” I asked nervously.
“For now, just Doctor Haskill, your pediatrician.”
“For now?”
“For now, we’ll have to get you into a specialist, but this way you can get some necessary paperwork to get you started.”
“And I can dress like me?”
“Yes, you can. I do want you to know I think you need to decide soon... Is this for certain what you want?”
“Of course! Why are you asking though?” I asked a bit nervously.
“Because once word gets out over in Osané that the Prince had a daughter that no one knew about… well there’s no going back to being a prince if you change your mind.”
“She’s serious about me being a princess? Like really?” I asked again.
She laughed, “I know, it’s ironic, huh?”
“A dream come true on the girl part though,” I told her. “What if… what if people find out?”
“Sweetie, I’m going to be honest… It’s probably not an ‘if’ they find out.”
My eyes widened, “But…”
She sighed, “Your father and I loved each other a lot. One of the things I hated though was the damn media attention he got sometimes. His cousins a bit more so, since they stayed in Osané, but him occasionally too. One time I even had the misfortune of being hounded by the damn paparazzi myself.”
“You…?”
She proceeded to tell me that story and more about my father.
“I wish I knew him…”
“I know honey, I tried to get him to at least be willing to see you a few times, but he didn’t want to burden us with the attention or anything.”
“Kind of failed at that when he didn’t have other kids?”
She nodded.
“So, what was this succession thing you spoke about yesterday?”
She groaned, “If we had been married it would have been no question right now… If his mom had preceded us in death, I would have become the new Queen and he would have been the King. He was the only child of his parents, so it goes to his child. A son has more weight and would have taken over no matter what.”
“So, as Alan…”
“As Alan your right to be the King would be absolute.”
“But I’ve never even been to that country!” I told her.
She laughed, “Luckily it’s really more of a constitutional monarchy, so that would mean you made big crazy decisions all of the time. Mostly just ceremonial at this point, though the Queen does have some limited powers over parliament.”
“As Alan that’s the way… but as a girl it’s not as clear cut?”
“Well if as a first-born girl you had a younger brother, then he would have taken the throne.”
“Wait, really? What a rip-off!” I told her.
She laughed, “I agree. But it’s a throwback to when women were considered second class citizens,” she shrugged, “I’m not sure where you would fall within the laws there. As it is as far as anyone knows you were never born. Your grandmother would need to introduce you there.”
“So… Do I have to become a princess?”
She shook her head, “You have every right to refuse if you want. Your father never wanted you to feel like you were stuck.”
I sat there for a few minutes, “But this… would he want me to…? How would he have felt about me being Allie?”
She came over and hugged me, “I knew your father very well and have no doubts he would have loved you as Alan or Allie.”
I hugged her back and finished my coffee. “So, I guess I should start getting dressed for the day?”
“We both should… Why don’t you wear that other dress you had hanging in your closet today? It’s a bit informal for hanging out with your grandmother, but I doubt she’ll leave you in cheap middle-class mall clothes long.”
“Shopping?” I asked kind of excited.
She shook her head, “Doubtful, she’ll probably have the shop come to you.”
As I got ready for the day, I couldn’t believe how quickly everything in my life had been upended. I couldn’t care less about the princess thing… sort of… I could really be a princess and stick that in some of the bullies faces from the past! ‘What about school…?’ I wondered nervously as I finished putting my hair into a ponytail with a scrunchie I had. It matched the peach part of the skirt of the dress I wore. The sleeveless denim bodice fit me well, and I smiled as I twirled for a moment in the dress. That was my favorite part of it – designed to twirl outwards!
I heard Mom laugh behind me.
I blushed, “No sneaking up on me like that.”
She gave me a hug, “Princess apparently suits you!”
I stuck my tongue out at her, “And don’t forget it!”
“We need to go in about fifteen minutes, are you about ready?”
I nodded, “I think so?” I paused, “Do I look okay?”
She smiled at me, “Definitely… Though I wonder if we can do anything to make you look a bit older?”
I felt my nerves hit, “Do we have to?”
“Not today,” she told me. “But if you are going to become Alexandria full time you’re probably going to want to be seen as an adult?”
I shrugged, “I have less of a boy problem to worry about this way.”
“What is this about boys that has you so nervous?”
I had to tell her a couple more stories and she had the nerve to laugh, “Most girls would kill for that attention sweetie.”
“I’m not most girls?”
“No, you’re certainly a unique one,” she said while giving me a hug. “Finish getting ready, you have three minutes!”
I found a pair of white ballet flats with some rhinestones lining the toe area to wear for shoes. Grabbing my phone from where I’d left it charging, I put into my purse. Seeing the lip gloss, I used some of it, and took a quick peek at myself in the mirror. ‘Not too bad…’ I thought to myself as I came downstairs.
“Those are cute,” Mom told me motioning towards my shoes.
“Thanks… I don’t have a lot of options. Basically these, a pair of tennis shoes, and those sandals from last night.”
“We’ll work on starting a bigger shoe collection later. Come on, let’s get out of here Princess.”
“You don’t have to call me that Mom!” I told her as we went into the garage. “I’m not even sure I have any right to be a princess. I’ve never even stepped foot on their soil? Am I even a citizen?” I asked her as I jumped into the passenger side of the car in back. I was short enough still I could technically be considered needing a booster seat, but so could Mom actually. Age wise I was allowed to sit in a regular seat, and I was also legally allowed in the front seat… but Mom was more than slightly overprotective about it still. I’d been in a booster seat until seventh grade, and anytime we went on long car trips I still had to fight her not to put one back in the car!
Of course, what pissed me off the most about it was she was shorter than I was!
“You’re a dual-citizen actually Allie. You were born here as a US Citizen, and your father made sure you also had a valid passport for Osané too.”
“Huh…” I said in response.
Mom drove us to the more central area of the city and one of the satellite campuses of the University Children’s Hospital system. The front of the separate building said, Pediatric Psychiatry Campus.
I was nervous going in, the last thing I wanted was to be locked up in a mental hospital. “Mom… umm…”
“Relax, it’s okay,” she reassured me. At the receptionist desk she said, “Hi, I’m Karen Nelson, we have an appointment for Alex Nelson.”
I squirmed a bit as the lady looked at her screen, up at me, and then said, “Okay, you’re going to need to fill out this paperwork and we’ll get you back to see Doctor Ramirez.”
“Thanks,” she told her. “Come on, let’s get this paperwork done.”
I followed her to a set of chairs and watched as she filled stuff out without any input from me. Becoming a bit bored with it I pulled out my phone and decided to look up the country of Osané. The main island was only about six-hundred square miles in size, but it also had eight other smaller islands that were inhabited too. A large castle was apparently the main home of the Queen there. ‘Grandma…’ I thought to myself with a bit of a smile. It apparently had been getting built onto since the 1300’s when the monarchy was founded.
‘Cool,’ I thought as I looked at the information about how it had continued to be built and modernized through the eighteen-hundreds. It had recently had a major renovation in the last five years to restore the grand ballrooms, throne room, and dining halls. They were neighbors of France, which explained grandma speaking to me in French yesterday. French was apparently their national language, but most of their citizens were fluent in English too.
“Nelson?” a voice called and broke me out of my phone trance.
“Come on Allie,” Mom told me.
We were led back through the hallways and into a comfortable office where a friendly looking woman greeted us, “Hi Karen, it’s been a while! And you must be…?
“Allie,” I told her.
“It’s nice to meet you. Why don’t you two have a seat on that couch and we’ll find out why you’re here today.”
She closed the door and sat across from us in a matching chair with a tablet in her hand. I looked at her and determined she was probably a bit older than Mom was.
“So how can I help you today Allie?” she asked me. “Your mom was pretty insistent on getting me up here early to talk…?”
I tried to speak but found my throat was suddenly dry. I cleared it and whispered, “I’m transgendered.”
Her eyes went wide and said, “You think you should be a boy?”
That made me giggle, “Other way,” I told her.
“Wait…” she looked down at her tablet and flicked through some info. “You were born male?”
I nodded and Mom said, “Yes… as far as I knew until yesterday, I had a son.”
She looked at me and looked at the tablet some more, “Wait, you’re fifteen?”
I laughed, “I know I look like I’m younger…”
“No doubt, not to be mean Allie, but I thought I saw a nine or ten-year old girl walking in the room a few minutes ago…”
I shrugged, “I’m short, have no chest, and I don’t wear makeup to make me look older.”
“So… what happened yesterday?” She asked me.
I laughed, and then started hiccoughing. “Which…” I hiccoughed, “part?” I breathed “Mom finding out about me, or me,” hiccough, “finding out,” hiccough, “I’m a princess…”
She gave me a bewildered look while Mom rubbed my back, “breathe sweetie,” she told me.
I ended up with hiccoughs when I was extra nervous about something. ‘Like now apparently…’
“Maybe start from the beginning?” she said and handed me a bottle of water from somewhere.
I opened it and nodded. I spent the next twenty minutes telling her about Ellie and I, how long I’d been dressing, our trips out to the mall as her ‘little sister,’ and coming home to find Mom in the living room. I fought my hiccoughs through most of my story about all of that.
“That’s more than enough to be able to talk to you about for today…” she said when I paused, “but you said there’s more?”
I nodded, “So apparently my life is like turning into a Hallmark movie or something… This guy was waiting at home with Mom and told me my father, who I’ve never even met, died a couple weeks ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she told me.
“I am too… I always dreamed of finally meeting him one day… Anyway, that wasn’t the crazy part… Apparently he was the Crown Prince of some tiny country in Europe… and had no other kids.”
“Now, this is just getting silly, right Karen?”
I glanced at Mom who was shaking her head, “I wish she was making this up… In college I met this hunk of a guy and fell in love. Long story short his mom wouldn’t let us get married because I was a ‘commoner.’ I ended up having to raise Allie alone, but he did provide triple the child support anyone would ever expect… and at least sent her gifts during holidays.”
“Nice gifts…” I said quietly.
“So… him dying…?”
“I’m apparently next in the line succession after Grandma,” I told her.
We talked for another twenty minutes after that before she said, “So… Princess or a Prince, huh?”
I nodded.
“Okay…” she looked at a clock, “Look, we need to meet some more. A LOT more, and soon. Allie you really need to be talking through this and we need to evaluate if you truly are transgendered or not.”
“Of course, I am,” I told her testily.
“Allie, I know that you believe that. And it may very well be true… but we have a whole list of procedures and tests that we need to do before I’m going to feel comfortable labeling you officially with Gender Dysphoria.”
I nodded, “I guessed that…”
“Who is her pediatrician?”
“Kenneth Haskill,” Mom told her.
“Oh, well that’s handy. I went to undergrad with Ken. I’m going to write an email to him. Please tell him to check his email before he talks to you if he hasn’t already seen it by then.”
“Got it,” Mom told her.
“I’d like to see Allie next Tuesday if you can arrange it?”
“We’ll figure out a time to get her here.” Mom told her and we stood up, “Come on kiddo, let’s get to your next appointment.”
“Do we have to?” I asked nervously.
“Doctor Haskill has always been nice? Why are you so nervous?” She asked me as we walked out to the car to drive to his offices.
“He’s a guy?”
“So…?”
“So, won’t he think I’m weird?”
Mom laughed at me and hugged me, “You’ll be fine. I chose him as your pediatrician a long time ago because he’s one of the best in the area. I know from my own professional cases you won’t be his first kid with your particular needs.”
“Mom, how do you know so many people that are specialists in this?” I asked as she closed her door a moment later and I buckled my seatbelt.
“I do a lot of civil rights cases Allie. Between those and some of our educational law cases I have had to make sure I am well versed in what little protections you have in this state.”
“Oh…” I said.
“I’ve also had to depose several doctors and psychiatrists in court for different cases. That’s how I knew that both of these will take good care of you, sweetie.”
“Okay,” I told her. I got back on my phone and responded to a couple of messages that Ellie had sent me since she woke up a little bit ago during my appointment.
We pulled into the parking lot of a large pediatric clinic that I had grown up going to. At the receptionist desk the lady greeted us, “Hi Karen!”
“Ala?” she looked at me.
“Allie, please,” I told her quietly. I could barely see over the top of the counter, but recognized the receptionist Mom had gotten to know far too well when I’d been sick as a kid.
“Well then… Allie, if you and your mom will just take a seat, I know Doctor Haskill is just about ready for you. He cleared the slot for you.”
“Thanks,” Mom told her.
We sat there for a few minutes and I watched some sick kids looking miserable while their little siblings ran around and played tag or something. It was pretty obnoxious and I had to deal with my OCD about germs in these places while we waited. Mom leaned over and hugged me, and whispered, “I would have killed you if you did that…”
I giggled, “I know.”
We didn’t wait long before a nurse said, “Alexandros?”
I blushed, but we stood and walked to the nurse. She looked at me in confusion and asked, “Alexandros?”
I nodded feeling like running away was the best option then. She shook her head and said, “Right this way.”
The nurse fortunately didn’t ask any questions about my gender, but did the typical height and weight check. I watched her write down 54.5” and 76 pounds. “Can’t I have the half inch?” I whined to her.
She smiled, “Sorry sweetie, there’s a note in your file from the doctor that he wanted your measurements down to the half inch.”
I grumbled and wondered what that was about. She took my blood pressure, temperature, and pulse before leading us to an exam room. “Doctor Haskill will be right with you.”
“She’s mean…” I whined to Mom.
“So, you’re only half an inch taller than me,” she smiled.
“I’m still taller than you!” I told her as I sat on the exam table and stuck my tongue out at her.
She just shook her head at me. We didn’t wait long because Doctor Haskill came into the room. He looked at me and said, “I’m sorry, I must be in the wrong room…” before noticing Mom. “Alan?”
“Hi Doc.”
“Well this is different. How long have you been presenting as female?”
I smiled, “That my mom has known about? Twenty-four hours? A couple years though?”
“Before we start getting into too much of it, have you seen Doctor Ramirez’s email?” Mom spoke up.
“No… somehow I think I would have been less surprised,” he said and placed a laptop he carried with him down on a standing desk and logged in. “Okay…” he said. “Well, I agree with what she’s asking for. Karen, when we had Al…” Umm… “What’s your name?” he asked me.
“Call me Allie please,” I told him.
“Gotcha… We had Allie in here last… almost three years ago it looks like?”
“Yes, we had a quick physical done for track at another clinic the year before last. She’s been healthy and I’ve been busy,” she told him.
“It happens,” he acknowledged. “At that point we were taking a wait and see approach on his… her height. I’m a little concerned that there hasn’t been much growth in that time.”
“I’m taller than Mom now… I was a couple inches shorter than her back then, wasn’t I?”
“You were two inches shorter,” he said to me. “You should have started hitting at least a bit of a bigger growth spurt between then and now. I want to take a close look at you and have some blood work done. Doctor Ramirez is also asking that I give a recommendation to an Endo specialist for any possible medications down the road for your gender condition.”
“I’d be able to get hormones soon?!?” I asked excitedly.
He shook his head, “Maybe… and a big maybe… you might get some blockers for the moment. My problem with that is you’re already in the first percentile for height right now. When I saw you last you were still above the third percentile…”
“Oh,” I said. “So, something's wrong with me?” I asked nervously.
“Maybe, maybe not?” He told me, “I just want to check and be safe. As you pointed out you’re taller than your mom. Your genes may just not allow you to become a tall basketball player.”
I giggled, “I gave up on that dream in first grade!”
Doctor Haskill put me through the most thorough check-up I’d ever had. I was embarrassed when I had to be completely naked under the gown and he examined my groin. He didn’t say anything was wrong though as he wrapped up his exam, “Let’s get this bloodwork done, I’ll send the nurse in for that. I’ll call you if I see any issues. I’m going to forward your results to Doctor Canales, I think she would be a good endo to send you to.”
Mom nodded, “Thanks. Can she get dressed while she waits for the nurse?”
“Sure,” he said.
He left and I got dressed back into my panties and dress as quickly as I could. “Those gowns suck…” I told Mom.
She smiled, “Yes they do!”
Fifteen minutes later I was whimpering about the needle that had just gone into my arm. “Stop being a baby, it wasn’t even that much blood,” she told me.
I glared at her in response as we got in the car. I looked at the clock, “What time were we supposed to meet Grandma for lunch?”
“Twelve-thirty,” she answered. “Should have just enough time to make it to the embassy…”
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Thank you all who have commented or pressed the Kudos button so far! Please continue to comment and press that button! It helps keep me focused and motivated on finishing this! I may post another chapter tonight, keep an eye out!
Suddenly Royal Chapter 5 Edited by Carla Ann
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Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there! Since I've procrastinated beginning to post there will be some days I'll throw another chapter up in order to make the deadline there. I have ten chapters written and plan on two to three more for this part of the tale. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 5:
MOM PULLED UP to a gated drive that looked like it was from a movie. A guard stood screening people and walked to Mom’s window. “Can I help you?” He asked in a pleasant accent.
“Yes… Karen Nelson and Alexandria Nelson. We’re expected?”
“Right you are!” he said without hesitation. The gate was opened and we drove up to a beautiful modern building that clearly said it was Osané’s Embassy. Signs abounded about rules and regulations… It was kind of intimidating!
Mom was directed to park in a spot and a well-dressed woman in a skirt suit approached us. “Miss Nelson?” She asked Mom.
“Yes?”
“I’m Angelique Lanera, I serve as her Majesty's Ambassador to the United States, it’s a pleasure to meet you two,” she said holding her hand out to Mom and then me.
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
“Come this way,” she said to us, “Her Majesty is waiting for you.”
We followed her inside a beautiful entrance that featured artwork I assumed from Osané artists. Paintings of a sea view of the castle were really pretty. A security checkpoint had us beeping through scanners, but she just kept us walking through without stopping. We were taken through the building and came to a door that led outside to a room with a table covered with a white linen tablecloth that my grandmother sat at an end on. Giuseppe and a woman sat to her left. All except my grandmother rose when we walked in.
“Please come sit down my dear,” Grandma said pointing to a chair next to her.
“Hello your Majesty, Mom said first with a small curtsy making me wonder if I was making a mistake and not doing the same.” She waved her off, “Karen you have no need to be so formal here.”
Giuseppe pulled the chair out for me to sit in and Angelique did the same for my mom.
“Alexandria, you met Giuseppe yesterday, and you met Ambassador Lanera on your way in of course.”
‘Alexandria?’ I thought to myself… ‘I said that’s what it would probably be but I really don’t like that as an everyday name any more than Alexandros…’
“This is Geneva Nero, my secretary,” she said motioning towards the unknown woman. She was pretty, with her auburn hair tied into a neat bun that complimented her perfect navy-blue dress. “She’s my right-hand woman and helps me make sure I’m keeping up with everything!”
“Nice to meet you,” I said pleasantly.
“Now, before we get to business, I would like to have us all enjoy a great meal,” she said.
I smiled at her, not knowing what she wanted here. A soup came out from a kitchen somewhere that was really good. It was very similar to an Italian Wedding soup, but a little bit different in flavor from the ones I’d had in the past. My grandmother asked me, “So what do you do? Activities?” Clearly intending to get more information about me than she had last night.
I sighed, “I’m in band and run track at school.”
“What instrument do you play?”
“Clarinet,” I told her.
“We have an excellent symphony orchestra in Osané, I need to make sure we introduce you to our principal clarinetist.”
“That would be cool,” I told her.
There was some small talk throughout lunch before a final plate of fruit was taken away.
Grandma took that opportunity to speak, “Okay, so first of all you have given me your word that nothing spoken of in this room right now will ever be told to anyone?” She wasn’t looking at Mom and I, but instead the people across the table from us.
The others nodded before she said, “Alexandria here isn’t a random stranger I asked to dinner. She is in fact Alexandros’ daughter - Princess Alexandria Leonidas Alessi.”
“So, you do have an heir?” Angelique asked in surprise.
“Yes, albeit one who is going to need a great deal of help to be ready to take my place someday.” Grandma said to me. “Normally for someone to ascend to the throne they would have a lifetime of lessons on how to be a proper princess, and eventually a queen.”
I looked down nervously at the table.
“But, seeing as how Allie hasn’t had that, we’re going to have to give her a quick crash course. Giuseppe and Geneva I hope you can help me get her ready in the next few weeks. In the meantime we need to work on her appearance, I have Tyler coming in once we’ve discussed a few things.”
“What else do you need to discuss with us?” Ambassador Lanera asked.
“Remember, total secrecy?” She reminded her.
“Of course. Your Majesty!”
“We may have a problem down the road with Alexandria. She was actually born a biological male.”
“Mon dieu!” Ambassador Lanera said staring at me, “I would never know!”
“And no one else ever can!” Grandma said. “At least that’s our goal. It will be hard to keep it from Tyler, but I’d rather not tell him if we can help it. Karen, I need you to insist that he never sees her naked.”
I squirmed, “Why would he do that?”
“Don’t worry, he won’t,” Mom said bluntly. “I take it he wouldn’t be interested in anything normally?”
“No, he definitely prefers the company of men over girls. Do your best to avoid him knowing about you.”
“Yes ma’am,” I said as she directed a look at me.
“I’m having an updated passport and birth certificate couriered over here from Osané. It should be here later this afternoon. I’ve made a request of the US Government to help us expedite a change in records in the US side as well.”
“Wait a second, Allie hasn’t even been fully confirmed by the doctors as gender dysphoric,” Mom said.
“Allie, would you rather be a girl or a boy?” Grandma asked. “Lord knows I would prefer a boy as it would be less of a problem politically. But we’ll take care of the paperwork either way.”
My eyes were as wide as saucers then. “This is really happening…?” I looked at Mom.
She put a hand on my shoulder, “I love you either way. I told you this probably wouldn’t be a decision you’d be able to put off. Prince Alexandros, or Princess Alexandria?”
“There’s no plain old Allie in there?” I asked nervously.
Grandma sighed, “Alexandria, there may be moments with family you can be Allie versus Alexandria. But… I do not believe Osané can afford moments of Alexandria if you choose Alexandros. If they find out you are transgendered and living openly as a girl… well it’s one scandal that I think would blow over quickly. If they discovered as Alexandros you were dressing as Alexandria it would be a lot more of a problem. If you feel that you are a princess rather than a prince… I would rather you choose to be happy.”
I looked at Mom who nodded.
“Princess,” I told her, “I am no prince…”
She sighed, “Very well then, we will make the appropriate calls to get your US documentation straightened out.” She looked at the others in this room, “From now on Princess Alexandria’s gender issues are a state secret, revealing anything about her will be considered treason.”
They all said, “Yes, Your Majesty,” nearly in unison.
“Geneva dear, would you please go invite Tyler to join us now?” Grandma asked.
“Oui, Votre Majesté,” she slipped into French.
I watched the door open as she left the room and soon a man in tight black spandex pants, button down shirt with jeweled buttons, and the most ridiculous bar mustache I had ever seen came in. “Votre Majesté, mon pleasure, mon plaisir de vous revoir!” he said as he took a low bow before her.
“Vous aussi,” she said.
“Tyler, this is my granddaughter, her Royal Highness Princess Alexandria Leonora Alessi.”
‘What happened to Nelson?’ I wondered how I would fix that. Mom seemed to sense my concern because she squeezed my hand gently.
“Your Highness,” he said to me with the same bow.
“Geneva said you have a fashion emergency? I believe Princess Alexandria must be the one in need of my services?”
“Yes Tyler,” she told him. “Before we begin, I need to remind you about the NDA you have signed?”
“Your Majesty I would NEVER betray your confidence,” he said in a pleasant, yet clearly offended voice.
The lilt in his voice almost made everything he said so campy I wanted to laugh. He was what I considered an ‘over the top’ stereotype. ‘I really am in a TV movie…’
“Be sure you don’t,” she said coldly. “How old would you guess the princess is?”
He looked at me and said, “Please stand up?”
I didn’t even think to refuse as I let go of Mom’s hand and stood. He circled around me for a moment. “She’s nine, maybe ten…?”
“Fifteen,” I said.
His eyes widened, “I am never wrong, is this truly so?” He looked at Grandma.
“Yes, it is, and thus our problem.”
“One of your problems!” he said, “The cheap tween mall trash of a dress she’s wearing is a bigger one… The hair… Dreadful!” he grabbed my hand, “I’ve seen worse nails I guess…”
“Can you fix it to where she fits as the fifteen-year-old Crown Princess she is?”
“It will take a miracle,” he said to her. “Her body is shapeless like a child… Breast forms may help with that, but stuffing her bra will inevitably get noticed. I presume surgery is off the table?” He asked her.
“Yes!” Mom answered for her.
“Oh, you must be Mama?” he said to her, “We need to work on you too…”
“Later,” Grandma told him. “What do you need?”
“Time…” He said to her. “You have a room where we can work on her with my staff?”
“You’re all setup in one of our meeting rooms,” Geneva said, “Right this way?” She said motioning to him.
“Well then, come along little princess!” he told me. “Please get my staff back there too?”
I looked at Grandma, “Go along Alexandria, I’ll look forward to seeing you later for dinner. We’re going to have some guests here to meet you.”
I felt myself growing nervous, but Mom grabbed onto my hand and walked with me behind Tyler and Geneva. I looked at her and thought she looked as bewildered as I felt!
The meeting room was a fairly large room, probably two of the classrooms in size from my high school, with a small kitchen setup along one side. A privacy screen for changing was set up in a corner, along with an empty portable clothes rack. Someone had brought in a beauty chair and set it near the sink.
“Princess, I need you to take off all of your clothes so we can get some proper measurements and I can get some outfits here!” he ordered.
I shook from nerves and Mom said, “She’s fifteen, she’s not taking all of her clothes off.”
“I don’t want anything she has, you can tell this, non?”
“Yes, the answer doesn’t change. I can measure her for you behind the screen?” Mom suggested.
He looked like he was ready to pick a fight, but Geneva said, “Her Majesty would prefer that as well.”
He waved his hands in the air, “Fine! Mama I need…” he proceeded to show her what measurements he needed. As far as I could tell everything from normal waist and chest measurements weren’t enough for him. Mom had to measure my neck, biceps, wrist, legs, thighs, ankles, something called a rise… ‘This is nuts,’ I couldn’t help but think as Mom took those measurements behind the screen.
When she was done calling them out to him a satin robe was tossed at me over the screen, “Please put that on Princess, no more of the tween trash outfits. I’ll make sure we throw that dress into the incinerator later.”
“No!” I cried out, “I like that dress!”
He laughed, “You’ll like your new ones, this I promise you!”
Mom whispered to me, “I’ll put it somewhere safe for you…”
I smiled gratefully at her.
“Come Princess,” he said pointing me towards the chair, “Have a seat and we’re going to have Demi here begin working on your hair.”
I sat down and nervously asked, “What are you doing with it?”
“Making you beautiful!” he said.
Mom looked at me sympathetically as Geneva seemed to decide she needed to take her elsewhere now. I felt alone as Tyler whispered with his stylist and she came over to begin her work. Using her makeshift wash sink out of the kitchenette my hair was first washed and conditioned, before I was horrified as hair began flying off of my head. “You’re not cutting it off, are you?” I asked nervously.
Demi’s short multi-colored hair style frightened me then. “No dear, a young princess should almost always have long hair. I’m just getting rid of split ends and layering it to give it more body. I also want to add just a little bit to the color of your hair to make it look richer. When was the last time it was styled and cut?”
“Long enough ago I don’t remember?” I told her.
She tisked me and said, “Well, that means we have a lot of work to do!”
I was so excited to finally be getting my hair styled as a girl’s style! But also terrified that I was going to have my hair ruined by this lady I didn’t know! More than an hour passed and she was still working on it. I nearly went to sleep a few times before she said, “Okay, we have to wait while that sits. Nikki here is going to work on your nails while we wait!”
Another lady, a bit more normal looking, began working on my finger and toenails. “How long are you going with them?” I asked nervously as she began attaching fake fingernails to my nails.
“Not too long, you are only fifteen and not off to Prom this week?” She said with a smile. “A lot of people call this sport length,” she told me.
I sighed in relief, “Okay, those aren’t too long then… I’m just scared of poking my eyes out or something!”
She laughed, “You’ll probably still do that. But you’ll get used to them!”
Of course, Ellie and I had painted my nails before, but I’d always been too chicken to even put on the cheap stick on nails that she used sometimes. I watched as my fingernails grew way longer than I would imagine I’d be comfortable with! She worked quickly, pausing occasionally to put my hand under a blue light. Before long, my nails were painted like a French tip for the base, and then she added a design with some red cherry blossoms that crossed from the natural colored nail onto the white tips. They were really classy and pretty!
About the time she was done with my hands and moved to my feet my hair was back in motion. She had to stop long enough for my hair to be rinsed again, before they both were again working simultaneously. Tyler made multiple appearances in the room griping, complaining, complimenting, and then leaving. Mom still hadn’t reappeared… making me nervous of course!
Finally, Tyler said, “My God what a difference!” to her.
“Can I see?” I asked.
“Not until we’re through with your complete transformation!” he told me.
I sighed, “Please?”
“No, we’re almost there. Demi, if you’ll please do her makeup initially for a normal day look. We’ll change that for an elegant look before the dinner tonight. Did you bring your piercing kit? We must pierce her ears at least once per lobe!” he looked at me, “Would you be up for two?”
I shook my head, “No, I don’t like extra piercings… Just one hole per ear please.”
“You’ll never avoid being the ‘little’ girl with that.”
I laughed, “I will never avoid it with it either. One per ear!” I told him. He looked like he was going to argue with me, “Not up for negotiation. Do I need to get my grandmother in here?”
He gulped and said, “Of course Your Highness…”
I endured my ears being pierced the way I wanted them, before having my eyes covered in cucumbers and my face covered in some mask gunk that Ellie and I used to make fun of. As it dried my face felt weird. I wasn’t a fan of it, but it wasn’t on my face forever. When it was cleaned off of my face Demi went to work with tweezers on my eyebrows.
“Have you ever done them before?” She asked as she pulled out a hair.
“Ouch… no… I’m not a fan of pain,” I said as I winced again.
She laughed, “You’re a young woman now, time to get used to it!”
She plucked half of the hairs off of my face before rubbing some lotion on my face and beginning to work on my makeup. Ellie and I had experimented on my face many times, but I don’t think we had ever used as many different brushes and time on my face. “We’ll teach you how to do this later…” she told me. “Tyler insists you not see the finished product until you're dressed though.”
He was out of the room right then, “He’s kind of a force of nature, isn’t he?”
She laughed, “You have no idea sweetie.”
After a while she said, “I’ll be back to do your face for dinner in a bit. This should hopefully be good enough for now though!”
As if summoned magically he reappeared along with my mom. Her face widened, “Oh my God!”
“Glad everyone else gets to see…” I whined.
She came over to me and hugged me, and then looked at Demi, “I can’t believe how much different she looks!”
“Much more sophisticated!” Tyler agreed. “Now we must gild the lily with clothing!”
“Can I please see yet?”
“I’ll let you see when you have your first outfit on,” he told me. “Come,” he ordered towards racks of clothing that had been gaining more and more outfits throughout the last hour.
I followed him over with my mom and smiled as there were a lot of really beautiful clothes there! He opened up a box with a dozen bras in it. “Mama, we need to make sure these are fitting correctly. Please check each?” He paused, “You do know what you’re looking for?”
Mom glared at him, and said, “A few more years of experience wearing them than you…?”
Tyler laughed, “I see where the Princess’ backbone came from!”
Mom glared but I grabbed her and took her back to the screen. As I shrugged the robe off she whispered to me, “Look, we need to make sure they can’t tell anything down below. Put this on underneath your panties,” she told me while she handed me a nude colored item that I recognized as a gaff.
I turned red, but turned away from her and pulled my panties off, before quickly pulling on the tight garment. I’d read stories online and websites, so I knew the theory behind it at least as I pushed my balls inside me and pulled it over them. It took a moment to go back and forth with them not quite sitting right before I pulled my panties back on over the top of them. I turned and poked Mom, pointing.
She nodded, “Here, try this one first,” she told me, handing me a nude colored bra.
I looked at it and sighed, knowing this whole process was going to make me look old enough that boys were going to be a problem. ‘It’s not that I’m against boys… I’m just not ready to be dating!’ I thought to myself.
I pulled the bra on and worked to get the clasps to meet up in the back. Mom looked to be surprised that I managed to do so. She frowned though, and I knew why, as even after she pulled the straps as tight as they could go, the bra was still too loose. “Give me a second Allie,” she told me and went around the screen.
Tyler must not have been far, “Problem?”
“Are all of these the same brand and size?” She asked him.
“Those two are different brands,” he told her. “Let me guess, the first one was too big?”
“By a lot,” she said.
“Try on those other two. I’ve already contacted someone about having some custom-made brassieres for her. Outside of little girl bralettes, there’s not much that’s her size on the mass market.”
Mom came back around and I’d already removed the first one. The second one was a pretty pink color, but fit even worse than the first one. The third was the best out of them at least, and I couldn’t help but note that it was pretty heavily padded. It was still loose, but it seemed mostly wearable. Mom said, “You feel comfortable letting him see you like this?”
I gulped, “Do I have to?”
She shook her head, “No, but it would probably help before they spend a fortune on custom bras.”
I looked down and was pretty sure I didn’t show anything, so I nodded. “Okay,” I told her.
“Tyler, come around here please,” Mom told him.
“Oh dear… that one is still too big!” he said. I looked at him nervously as he asked, “My I?” with his hands outstretched.
Not trusting myself to respond I nodded and stood still as he pulled at the band, and pulled out the tape measure he’d lent to Mom earlier.
He tutted for a moment, re-measured me, and getting the same measurements Mom had given him he asked, “Do you have anything but training bras at home?”
I shook my head, “A sports bra?”
He visibly shuddered, “Definitely not!” He paused, “Go ahead and remove that one and put the robe back on. I’ll see if we can alter it for today here.”
He left and I pulled it off and quickly put the robe back on. Mom hugged me after we handed it back to him. We walked back out to the room and sat down in some chairs while a sewing machine appeared from somewhere and he and his assistants muttered over the bra for a while.
“Okay, try this now,” he said, handing it back to me.
I blushed as I took it back behind the screen and pulled it on. Mom checked it and I jumped as he came around uninvited this time and said, “Well, that’s not perfect, but it’s the best we’re going to do right now. I’ll call them and tell them to get me a dozen in her specific measurements ASAP!”
He walked away to do so, but barked an order to one of his assistants, “Have her try this one,” and pointed to a blue dress, “I’ll be back in a moment to check the fit.”
The woman brought me the dress and I went behind the screen again to pull it on. It was sleeveless, with a blue thick three-inch strap over the right side of my collarbone, and then a slightly thinner white strap on the left side to hold it up. The main parts of the dress were navy blue, with a white V that started at the waist of my left side, and continued around my waist for one leg, and up to just below my armpit on the right. Other than lacking the right type of skirt it almost reminded me of a cheerleading uniform. It was far classier than that though, and I could tell from the construction and brand that it was expensive. I pulled it on and was pleased to see that it fit me really well.
“Mom?” I asked.
“Oh sweetie that looks adorable on you!”
Tyler came in right then and said, “Finally something goes right! That is perfect!”
“Great, can I see myself now?” I asked.
He smiled, “Yes, Your Highness,” and pulled a sheet off of a tall mirror that had been brought in.
I gasped…
*********************************************************************************************
Thank you to everyone who has been clicking the kudos button and/or leaving a comment. I very much appreciate you helping to keep me focused here!
Suddenly Royal Chapter 6 Edited by Carla Ann
|
Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there! Since I've procrastinated beginning to post there will be some days I'll throw another chapter up in order to make the deadline there. I have eleven chapters written and plan on two to three more for this part of the tale. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 6:
I WAS IN shock over how different I looked. My brown hair was hanging loose, but with the curl at the bottom, and layers added, it looked a lot fuller than it ever had. It framed my face and I could see the sparkle of the two small diamond looking earrings in my ears. My face looked like a seventeen-year old’s should! As you made your way down my body there was only the hint of a chest with the padding from the bra that took my age down to maybe thirteen. Adding in my height I figured twelve would probably be someone’s average guess, but that was up from the nine or ten from earlier!
“I…” I said, “Wow…”
“Wow indeed,” Tyler said. “And this is just the start my dear, come we must try on about fifty other outfits!”
“Mom can you take a picture for me first with my phone?” I asked.
She smiled, “Sure!”
I posed a couple of ways like Ellie and I did with selfies when we hung out together before being shoved to change into another outfit. Over the next two hours I changed clothes more times than I knew was possible! About twenty casual dresses were put into a ‘save pile.’ A dozen skirts, two dozen tops, some slacks, and a couple of pantsuits were all put into that same pile. Every outfit was marked for alterations and a now larger team of four seamstresses were at work on adjusting them.
I was growing concerned there was nothing that could be considered casual for just hanging out with my friends. Before I could even ask about that, I was being dressed so quickly then in gowns appropriate for prom or a wedding. When I had tried on the final dress, Tyler said, “That’s the one for tonight…” he said to me as he handed it over. “The bra you’re wearing has removable straps, we need to take them off so it won’t be seen.”
“She could just go without the bra altogether,” Demi said standing nearby. “That dress is designed that way.”
He looked scandalized and grabbed it back from me, “You’re right… But I want her to have the padding in there, otherwise she’ll look more like the eight-year-old again.”
“You said I looked like I was ten earlier,” I told him. I had been stuck with him for hours now and feeling a bit more up to banter.
“I was being nice…”
“First time for everything?” I suggested.
“I like her,” Demi said.
“Everyone’s a critic of greatness!” He complained. “Go ahead and remove the straps. Mama can help actually so you don’t have to take it off?”
Mom nodded and walked back behind the screen with me for the hundredth time. I was kind of disappointed the dress I was wearing wasn’t the one for dinner. It was a beautiful green with Swarovski crystals sewn onto the bodice and the bottom of the skirt. I liked the way it brought out the green in my hazel eyes. The skirt went down to my ankles and I thought maybe it would be a good prom dress if I was still around for that… ‘Of course, that involves boys…’ I thought darkly. ‘They have cooties!’ I reminded myself.
Mom helped me carefully remove that dress. I stood still while she pulled at the hooks on the bra to release the shoulder straps. The bra might have been designed to be worn without them, but the tops of the cups pushed out a bit from my skin. I shrugged though and pulled on the latest dress. It was a light lavender color, and one of the most simplistic I had tried on. As I pulled it on, I realized it had the thinner neck collar piece similar to my dress from the day before, leaving my arms and shoulders completely bare, and the front sides came gracefully up to that neck. My chest was completely covered by the front of the bodice, while my back to just over my elbows was only covered by two straps that began at the sides and converged at the collar of the back that clasped shut. It left the middle of my back bare, along with my armpits and sides.
“Here, let me zip you up,” Mom said, pulling up on the low zipper that didn’t go far onto my back.
I turned around, “How’s it look?” I asked.
“Beautiful, like everything else,” Mom told me with a smile.
I was given a low set of heeled sandals to go with the dress and Tyler proceeded to have the seamstresses quickly mark it. “Make adjustments quickly while we get her hair put up,” he told her.
“My hair? I thought we already did it?” I told him.
He smiled, “My dear we did it for your normal everyday look! Tonight, your grandmother wants to show off her heir, the Crown Princess. It’s definitely no time for an everyday look!”
I blushed then, “I’m not special…”
He laughed, “And that’s why you may in fact be special.” He made a motion, “Mama, help her get that off, put on the robe you had on earlier, and let’s get back to work.”
I was soon sitting there as my hair was tugged, sprayed, poked, and burned. It was very tightly held up top in a bun of some sort as they started on my makeup. I had to stay absolutely still as these little small hairs of fake eyelashes were applied. Ellie had helped me put on a set of the cheap ones one time, but these were far more involved in applying. When Demi was done, she worked on eyeshadow and lined my eyes. I could tell that I was not going to recognize myself again!
Blocking my view of the mirror Tyler had me pull on the altered dress, put the shoes on, and right then Grandma arrived in an elegant dress. Atop her head was a real crown that I knew had to be worth a fortune. It was made of silver and looked to be covered in large diamonds and sapphires.
She smiled as she approached me with a wooden box. “Alexandria I am astonished at the transformation! Vous êtes très belle!” she slipped back into French for a moment.
“Merci, beaucoup grand-mère,” I replied back in French.
She continued in French to explain the box she held as she opened it, “This comb and necklace set have been in our family for seven generations.”
Inside the box was a beautiful hair comb set in what looked like silver, with pearls and… diamonds? “Is this real?” I asked nervously as I picked it up.
She laughed, “Yes, this is not a piece of cheap costume jewelry. The pearls and diamonds are both real.”
I felt Mom looking at it over my shoulder as well, it was stunning! A long chain necklace with a central area contained a similar design of pearls and diamonds in the middle of it.
“Grandma this must be worth a fortune… I can’t wear this…?” I said nervously.
She laughed, “Of course you can – and you must, I insist! It’s considered improper for a girl your age to wear a royal tiara since you’re not married yet. When you’re eighteen, and come of age, I plan on presenting you with one that you pick from the royal collection. Until then I think it’s fitting though that you wear these.”
I looked into the face of this stranger who was suddenly a family member and said, “Thank you so much,” and hugged her.
“My pleasure dear. I’ve missed out on all of your special days myself! Tonight, we will have some important guests for dinner. Sadly, we haven’t had time to teach you all of the etiquette that you should observe for this meal. Do your best to behave the best you are able. Small bites of food, never talk with your mouth full, and sit-up at the table.”
‘She so didn’t help my nerves!!!!’ I thought to myself.
“I’ll do my best,” I responded.
“Very well, I’ll leave you in Tyler and his staff’s hands to finish getting you ready with your last touches. Karen, you should get dressed too my dear.”
“Oh well…”
“You must be there tonight…” she insisted.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Mom said, deciding not to argue.
“Come Ms. Nelson,” Tyler told her, “We have a gown for you over here and we’ll have Demi work on your hair as soon as she finishes up on your daughter.”
I sat down and Demi placed the comb into my hair and helped me put the necklace on. Only then was I finally allowed to see myself in the dress with my hair and makeup. I looked like a princess… I was still short, and definitely flat in the chest, but the dress hid that pretty well. The makeup made me look like I could be an eighteen or nineteen-year-old senior. Just a really short one!
Mom had some tears in her eyes when she saw me, but Tyler said, “No crying! No ruining makeup!”
Mom smiled, “I’ll cry later then.”
While Demi quickly did something with her hair to accent the beautiful dress green mom wore, I stared at myself some more and couldn’t help but take a selfie. I sent it to Ellie and put my phone back away in my purse.
Mom was another fifteen minutes at the not-so-tender mercies of Demi before Giuseppe appeared. “It’s time for you to be introduced,” he told me. “Ms. Nelson if you would please go with Geneva, she’ll get you seated next to where Alexandria will be.”
“I’m not going with her?” I asked Giuseppe.
“No, Your Highness, tonight you’re being introduced to some important people. Your grandmother wants to do this properly.”
“Properly?”
He smiled.
“Look… There’s probably some rule against it, but I really am just a regular girl… Do you have to call me Your Highness?”
He smiled, “Yes, Your Highness I do.”
“I can’t even order you to call me Allie?”
He laughed, “When you become queen someday, I suppose you may try.”
‘Queen someday…’ I suddenly felt sick. ‘I’ve never even spent a day of my life in some foreign country that I’m expected to rule?’
Fortunately walking soon distracted me from vomiting!
We came to the opening of a very nicely appointed ballroom. I could see fifty or so people sitting about a large ‘U’ shaped table arrangement. A man was standing beside the door, but I wasn’t paying any attention until he made me nearly wet myself. “Presenting Her Royal Highness, Alexandria Leonora Alessi, Princess of Osané!”
All of the guests except Grandma stood then… embarrassingly even my own mother stood! Everyone gave me a bow as I approached. I blushed bright red, ‘What am I supposed to do…?’ I worried. I was guided to the empty seat next to my mom and my grandmother. A server pulled out the chair for me, and pushed it in when I was seated. I was careful to smooth the dress and sat as calmly as I could. I stared about the table and saw a lot of dressed up individuals who all looked very wealthy. Straight across from me I saw a man dressed in a military uniform with a salad of medals across his chest.
He gave me a nod of his head as everyone else took their seats. Over the next few minutes Grandma introduced me to a slew of names of the people present. I had a good memory, but I was hopeless with that many new faces and names all at once! Apparently, the Prime Minister and the top general of their small military force had flown in to meet me. A mixture of minor nobles that I was somehow distantly related to, along with some apparently important local business people were present.
Fortunately for me with Grandma next to me I was able to mimic her actions as she placed her napkin on her lap and dinner began. The Prime Minister was an older gentleman about the same age as Grandma was. He occasionally tried to make conversation with me around Grandma. It made for some awkward moments and I wasn’t sure of the etiquette involved. I tried to mimic her movements though and hoped I didn’t seem like a complete slob by the time we reached the final course of a special dessert that was apparently a chocolate soufflé of some sort. Osané produced a special type of berry that was included as a topping. Sort of like a raspberry to me, but a little bit more tart in taste.
As I pushed away the plate I looked at Grandma and said, “That was amazing…”
She smiled, “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“Today has been an amazing day altogether, thank you for that,” I told her.
“You’re most welcome,” she told me as all of the sudden the staff serving the meal brought out flutes of champagne.
Mom looked at mine skeptically, but before she could say something a woman leaned over and told us both, “hers is just sparkling water.”
“Thank you,” Mom told her.
I wanted to stick my tongue out at her, but somehow figured that would get me into trouble here. Grandma got everyone’s attention, “Ladies and Gentlemen I would like to propose a toast to my granddaughter, Princess Alexandria! May she be a worthy princess and future queen!”
I blushed as everyone said some combination of the same phrase and toasted the glass of the person next to them. I mimicked Grandma and took a sip of my sparkling water and looked on with jealousy at the champagne. A few more toasts were offered and I wondered if I should have responded as well.
Thinking I was better off being silent I just waited patiently until the Grandma stood and said, “We’re going to retreat to another room now. If you wish to briefly meet the princess then, you may. We do have to get her on towards home within the hour!”
Everyone stood as she did. I was unsure of what else to do so I followed their lead and was grateful she grabbed me by the elbow and led me to a large sitting room to greet people as they left. The man dressed in the military uniform was one of the first, he greeted my grandmother and me with a kiss of our hands. “Your Majesty, Your Highness,” he said, making me blush. “I am General Renaldo; I am in command of our nation's military.”
“A pleasure to meet you,” I told him while thinking, ‘It’s just an island, they have a military?’
“The pleasure is mine, Your Highness. When you come to Osané I’ll have to introduce you to my daughter, I have a feeling you would become friends quickly.” He looked back at Grandma, “Your Majesty I will see you when you return. I’m going to fly out with the Minister tonight.”
“Thank you for coming with him,” she told him. “We appreciate your service to Osané.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
The next person in the receiving line was the Prime Minister. “A pleasure to meet you, Your Highness,” he told me. “I believe our country will be in great hands someday.”
I blushed, “Umm… thank you sir.”
Fortunately, none of the conversations were involved any more than those as people filed out. Soon my mom and I stood there with just a few remaining guests. “Allie,” Mom said, “we need to get home. It is waaay past time for us to do so.”
I looked on the wall at an expensive looking grandfather clock and realized it was nearly eleven. “I probably should say goodnight to Grandma?”
She nodded and we walked over to her. Grandma took note of us and asked, “Are you two heading home?”
“Yes Grandma,” I said to her. I looked a bit awkward and said, “Thank you for today, it was a great day.”
“Of course, Alexandria,” she told me with a smile. “Tomorrow morning they’ll bring by your new outfits. I have some state business to take care of, but on Sunday I would like for you to come for tea and we’ll talk about the future?”
I looked at Mom who nodded, “That will work Your Majesty,” Mom said to her. “Come on Princess, time for you to get home!”
We stopped by the room where we had changed to grab our purses. It was only then that I realized that I hadn’t looked at my phone in hours. I’d missed a bunch of texts from Ellie that I began responding to as we drove home.
I saw that she had responded to the picture I had sent earlier, Oh My God!!! The one you sent earlier made you look like you were older and in MS. You look like you’re older than me!
LOL, I replied then.
Almost immediately she replied to m. What are you doing tomorrow?
Waiting for them to bring me all of my new wardrobe before having the rest of the day off I think… Grandma is doing something else.
I watched the dots of her typing for a moment and saw, You should come over and come swim in the morning.
You don’t want to see the bajillion outfits I got today?
I watched the dots of her typing reappear, Right, fashion show at Allie’s house first, THEN swimming!
We got home after midnight and walked into the house. Mom gave me a hug and asked, “Do you know how to take your makeup off?”
I nodded, “I don’t have any remover though?”
“Take your dress and hang it up, then come to my room,” she told me.
I worked at the back clasp that held the thin band at the neck loose before contorting my body to bring down the back zip from the lower back where it was really hard to reach. I got it just before deciding I would need to give up, and then carefully hung the dress on a hanger in my closet. I smiled as I hung it and pulled off the bra that made me look like I had a small chest. My pajamas from last night went back on and I walked to Mom’s room.
She made sure I had all of the makeup off, but my lashes still looked long with the fake lashes still attached. “Do these come off?” I asked her as I pointed to them.
I watched in the mirror as she shook her head, “Not those, they’re a really expensive set. Demi said they should stay on your eyes for six to eight weeks before they fall out on their own.”
Between the lashes and the plucked eyebrows my face still looked different than the one I looked at in the morning. It almost looked like a high school face… then you looked at my pajamas and my flat chest and returned my age back to elementary school.
Mom must have sensed my confused thoughts because she wrapped me in a tight hug, “I love you Allie.”
Suddenly Royal Chapter 7 Edited by Carla Ann
|
Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there! Since I've procrastinated beginning to post there will be some days I'll throw another chapter up in order to make the deadline there. I have eleven chapters written and plan on two to three more for this part of the tale. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 7:
MORNING CAME WITH Mom prodding me out of bed way too early after our late night. My new clothes weren’t there yet, so I picked out one of the shortalls I’d bought the day before last and a top. I initially walked downstairs without a bra, “Alexandria Leonora Alessi Nelson, you are a young woman now,” I looked at her in surprise, “go back upstairs and put your bra on!”
“Bu…” I started to argue and saw Mom meant business… of course the full name thing should have clued me in! When I came back downstairs with it on, I noticed that in the reflection of a picture frame it made me look slightly older again. ‘Probably thirteen at the most…’ I thought. ‘Still old enough to be stuck dealing with boys…’
She had a cup of coffee doctored and waiting for me, along with a plate of fruit and some toast. “Allie you can’t keep dressing younger than your age now…” she told me.
“I don’t have anything else right now?” I told her.
“Not the shortalls, the no bra attempt there.”
“But Mom I don’t even…”
“I don’t care. In fact, because of that it’s even more important.”
She passed over the Chronicle and I gasped… “What the Hell?” I asked. There on the lower part of the page was a picture of me and Grandma coming out from dinner the night I met her, alongside another of me at dinner the night before sitting next to her.
.
Princess Fairytale Come True
Houston (BCN) – Houston today has learned one of its teens is no longer the ordinary little girl she was the day before. Fifteen-year-old Alexandria Leonora Alessi reportedly is now being named as the heiress to the throne of the small island country of Osané in Europe. Reportedly she was unaware that her father was the Crown Prince of the country and next in line for the throne. With his recent passing…
.
I turned white then, “Do they know about…?” I asked Mom.
She shook her head, “Not as far as I can tell. Your grandmother is pissed right now and trying to learn of who leaked the story.”
“I can’t believe someone would just put that out there like that…”
Mom came around and gave me a hug, “At least it’s a nice article. They didn’t pick on you…”
“No, but they keep losing our last name of Nelson,” I complained.
She sighed, “That’s because legally I never had your name listed as Nelson.”
I nearly spit out the bit of grape I had just placed in my mouth, “What?!? I’ve gone by Nelson all the way through school…”
“But your birth certificate doesn’t list Nelson… it was something your father asked for.”
“Can he mess up anything else without me ever having met him?!?” I complained.
The doorbell rang right then and I started to get up, but Mom said, “Stay there and eat sweetie.”
I turned and watched her at the doorway and was relieved when it was Ellie that came through a moment later. “Already in the spotlight, huh Princess?” she teased me while pointing at the paper.
“Not funny…” I complained to her.
“You know this is like that Princess Diaries movie…”
“I am so NOT going out with some jerk that has ignored me and learning he only loves me for being rich…” I told her with a glare. “And you better not start ditching me because of my new hair!”
She laughed at me, “The book version was better… Is your grandmother like a witch, or is she kind of nice like Julia Andrews was in the movie?”
I shrugged, “Honestly I don’t know that much about her yet Ellie. She kind of came off as a witch at first, but then she kind of behaved nicely yesterday.” I frowned and looked at Mom, “Does this mean I have ‘Princess Lessons’ I have to deal with now too?!?”
She smirked at me and didn’t answer. I managed to get a few more bites in before the doorbell rang again. I looked at Ellie, “No one ever visits us normally!”
She laughed and started to say something when I watched Giuseppe come in the door. He looked at me and I waved, “Hi.”
“Good morning Princess,” he said to me before turning to Mom. “No one has come by yet?”
“No, Allie having a different last name than mine may help us for a while.”
He nodded, “We don’t expect that to hold forever though. I’m going to stay here with you all today and take you anywhere you want to go.”
Ellie giggled and I glared at her. “Something funny?” Mom asked.
I groaned, “He’s just like the guy in the movie we were talking about Mom,” I told her.
“My daughter always loved that movie when she was little,” he answered, apparently understanding the reference. He wore a bemused expression on his face for a moment.
I turned my attention back to the one normal thing in the room, my food! When I was done Mom sent Ellie and I upstairs with trash bags, “We need to get all of your boy clothes out of here before they get here with your new clothes.”
My eyes opened a bit at that and nodded. It was more than a bit nerve-wracking to throw out all of my guy clothes. I was convinced I was a girl, but deep down a part of me feared the moment I was fully Allie. Well… I guess fully Princess Alexandria now!
Mom had us go stuff the bags of things in the spare bedroom for the moment. She found some bedding she had for the guest bedroom that looked more feminine to replace mine. I was still lacking any real decorations for a girl’s bedroom, but at least it looked just barren… not like a boy had been living there.
“I don’t know how we’re going to get all of your clothes in here…” Mom said even though the closet was almost completely empty.
“That would be a lot of clothes to fill that…” Ellie said, “She even has the two sides of clothing bars in her closet!”
I smirked, “Sorry my closet is bigger than yours… and Mom’s right, it may not fit it all.”
She stared at me open mouthed as the doorbell rang again. We walked downstairs and it appeared we hadn’t finished a moment too soon! A large white van parked in our driveway and large hanging clothing boxes began being carried into the house and we directed them up the staircase to my room. I was grateful when Giuseppe escorted the delivery guys back out and locked the door again. I noticed he looked carefully around the block before doing so.
“Are we safe?” I asked.
“You should be Your Highness,” he told me.
“Allie, please, you’re in my home?”
He laughed, “Like I said, when you become queen someday you can try that again. For now, it’s Your Highness or Princess.”
“What if we’re out and I’m trying to not be noticed…?”
He gave me an odd look, “In that case I might just go with Miss Alessi?”
I threw my hands up in the air, “I will win this battle someday…”
He just smiled irritatingly and I turned back upstairs and joined Mom and Ellie in unboxing a ridiculous amount of clothes. “You weren’t kidding…” she told me.
.
THE NEXT FEW hours after hanging up everything was a forced fashion show. Ellie lamented several times that I was so much smaller than her, and that meant she couldn’t steal my clothes! Half-an-hour after the first delivery of items another delivery arrived with a box of bras for me. I switched my old one out and tried on each of the new ones. They fit perfectly on my body, and had just a small amount of padding to make it look like I at least had budding breasts. Of course, Ellie had made jokes about my beautiful training bras, so I had flung one of them at her.
Mom had not been pleased! I tried to look contrite as I unloaded a box of makeup onto my counter in the bathroom.
When the show completed, I was wearing the most casual sundress that had been picked out for me with one of my new bras making it appear like there was more than nothing on my chest. Mom’s phone rang and I found out that Grandma called and asked Mom if Giuseppe could stay at our house for a few nights until they could get a security system setup. Of course, all of my old things that had been piled into the guest bedroom had to be removed… For now, we put it all up in the attic. Someday we’d have to go throw it all out somewhere, but Giuseppe didn’t think it was a good idea for Mom or any of us to take it to Goodwill right then.
It was about three when Ellie and I went up to Mom, “Mom, can I go over to Ellie’s house and swim?”
“Try that again?” She asked me.
I groaned, “You’re the only one who cares… and my English teachers…”
“And probably your grandmother…” she told me with a smirk.
“MAY I go over to Ellie’s?”
“Is there somewhere Giuseppe can wait?” Mom asked.
“Can’t he just stay here?” I suggested.
“Where is her house?” Giuseppe asked, “Next door, right?”
I nodded.
“That should be fine, I’m more worried about the press or someone discovering your house than a problem at a friends’ house at this point.”
“Do you even have a swimsuit?”
“I showed you the one I bought the other day?”
She sighed, “We need to get some of those in a more age appropriate range too then… I guess. Make sure you don’t go back and forth between our houses in it though! And don’t forget to put on sunscreen!”
I smiled and ran upstairs really quick to grab my suit, a towel, and one of the new gaffs they’d given me. I pulled that on before I came back downstairs where Ellie was still waiting. “Ready Princess?” She asked me with a smirk.
“Why you…” I ran after her to her house.
Her mom was out grocery shopping and her dad was golfing somewhere, so I didn’t worry about us going up to her room. I used her bathroom to change into the tankini while she changed in her room. “Here, you should put your hair up in a swim cap,” she told me.
“How? I’ve never had to care before.”
She sighed, “What would my little sister do without me?”
I stuck my tongue out at her and she pounced on me and began tickling me. “No fair!” I complained a moment later.
She laughed, “Come on, sit down here and I’ll put your hair up in it. They must have spent a fortune on you yesterday.”
“Definitely…” I said, “I guess being a queen means she has money to spend though?”
“Any idea how much?” she asked.
I shrugged, “I’d assume a lot, but no idea.”
“So, you’re a rich spoiled brat now, huh?”
“I’m not a spoiled brat…”
“You are a brat though,” she told me with a smile as she finished tugging a teal cap over my head. Her own head was covered with a purple one a moment later and we went downstairs and out to their large backyard pool area. Her parents had long ago added in the pool that had a jacuzzi also built into the side of it. We took some time to help each other put on sunscreen before jumping into the pool. It was a hundred degrees outside with high humidity and the water felt so soothing and cool!
We had swam for about an hour when the backdoor opened and Ellie’s other close friend Emily came out with Ellie’s mom.
“I didn’t realize you had someone over already?” her mom asked her.
“Umm… This is my new friend Allie,” she introduced me as I swam to the side.
“Hi, I’m Ellie’s mom Susanne,” she told me. “This is Ellie’s friend Emily.”
“I guess this is why you didn’t respond to my texts?” Emily asked her.
“Umm… yes…” she told her.
“Why don’t you both come inside and get something to drink? You look like you’ve been out here a while?” Her mom said.
“Umm… sure…” I replied.
As I got to my towel and dried myself off, I saw a look on Susanne’s face. ‘Uh-oh…’ I thought to myself.
“Alan?!?”
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Thank you to everyone who's been reading and leaving comments and pressing the Kudos Button! Please continue to do so! I'm up past Chapter 11 and need to get this wrapped up in time for the contest end. Your comments really are like drinking a cup of coffee for me! Thanks for reading! :-)
Suddenly Royal Chapter 8 Edited by Carla Ann
|
Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there! Since I've procrastinated beginning to post there will be some days I'll throw another chapter up in order to make my goal of having it all completed by the deadline for the contest. I have eleven chapters written and plan on two to three more for this part of the tale. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 8:
MY EARS HEARD ‘Alan’ being called from the wrong place. Ellie’s mom Susanne may have recognized me, but she hadn’t said it. Instead Emily somehow recognized me and I turned towards her.
“Umm…”
“Why are you…?” Emily started to ask just as on the other side of the fence I could hear a bunch of screeching of tires in front of our houses.
“What’s going on?” Susanne asked. It sounded like chaos on the front side of the house, “Why don’t we continue this inside?”
I numbly nodded as Ellie grabbed both me and Emily and dragged us inside. “What’s going on?” Emily asked when we were inside.
I sighed and pulled the swim cap off of my head, and then pulled my hair out of the bun that Ellie had placed it in and looked at Emily. “Umm…”
“How about we sit down?” Susanne suggested.
She brought us glasses of ice water and I just kind of stared at Emily trying to figure out what to say. “Okay, so now you want to tell us what’s going on?” Susanne asked gently.
Ellie grabbed my hand tightly and I smiled at her, “I’m transgendered,” I told them both.
“No way?!?” Emily said.
I looked at her nervously, “Please… can you keep this a secret…?”
“Of course, we will,” Susanne said and gave Emily a look.
“Duh!” Emily said. “How long have you…?”
“A long time,” I told her.
“You’ve known this whole time?” She looked at Ellie.
“For a couple years now since she told me,” she told her.
“This is so cool!” Emily said to my surprise.
“It is?” I asked in shock.
“I’ve always wanted to know someone who was trans!”
I gave her a look and said, “You know you really are weird…”
She laughed.
Between Susanne and Emily my hidden life from the last few years was pried from Ellie and my memories.
“So, are you coming to school as Allie next year?” Emily asked me just as Ellie's house phone rang.
I watched her mom stand up to get it and heard her say, “Hi Karen… yes… she’s here…”
I looked up and heard her say, “Yes… I just found out… Yes, I’m okay with that… Sure I can keep her here inside for a few hours…”
She hung up the phone and sat back down at the table. “So… what’s going on with reporters outside your house that your mom wants you kept here for a few hours.”
I looked up and sighed as the towel around my chest slipped. I pulled it back tight and said, “So… yeah, me being trans isn’t the only big thing about me…” I saw the paper from today sitting flipped upside down from the article and just turned it over and pointed. “I’m also apparently a princess.”
“No freaking way?!?” Emily said. “I read this earlier. I’m friends with the coolest person in the world?!?”
Ellie laughed, “Of course you are, you’ve been friends with me since we were in third grade.”
Susanne laughed at that, “So reporters are out there now looking for you?”
“I guess so…”
“You’re not to go looking for them right now,” Susanne told her and Ellie as they tried to stand to go look.
“Yes ma’am,” they both said.
“How long have you known you were a princess?” Emily asked me.
“Two days?” I thought back. “Something like that?”
The doorbell rang then.
“Why don’t you two go get changed into something else and you three can talk up in Elliana’s room?”
I looked up nervously at the door and nodded. It didn’t take too long to get changed. I borrowed ‘my brush’ that Ellie kept for me and was brushing through my hair fully dressed a little while later and sitting in the middle of Ellie’s bed with her and Emily on either side of me. “Oh my God, your nails are gorgeous!” Emily said.
“Aren’t they?” I asked. “The lady who did it yesterday was really good!”
“So, you’re really like a princess? For real?” She asked again.
“Apparently… I’m pissed at my mom for not telling me my dad was a freaking prince!” I actually felt a couple tears in my eyes then. “The worst part is he decided to die without bothering to ever meet me!”
Ellie and Emily both hugged me then and the waterworks got worse. It took a while before I got myself back under control.
“So, what happens now?” Emily asked me.
I shrugged, “I’m sure my grandmother has some sort of plan. With the cat out of the bag I’m sure at some point she’s probably going to want me to move ‘home’ to Osané.”
“Have you ever been there before?” Emily asked.
I looked at her like she was crazy, “Umm… what part of not even knowing my dad was a prince did you miss?”
She blushed, “I guess you’re right, I didn’t think.”
I hugged her, “Don’t worry about it… that’s my normal line.”
The three of us talked for the better part of an hour without interruptions. Everything from jokes about living in a movie, to pretending with a tiara that Ellie had sitting on her desk. “You get one of those for real, right?” Ellie asked me, having put it on her head.
I sighed, “Apparently I do get my pick of the crown jewels. I guess Hollywood has lied to us though, because I don’t get to wear one until I’m eighteen!”
“That sucks,” Emily said.
“Definitely unfair,” Ellie commiserated. “If you have to deal with everything else you would think you’d at least get to wear the tiara!”
“Why is that?”
I shrugged, “Some sort of custom? I don’t know, maybe we should Google it?”
I laughed as Emily pulled out her phone and began doing so. I suddenly realized I probably should have checked my own phone. I felt a little bit of guilt as I saw Mom had tried to get ahold of me. I decided I should probably call her.
“Hi, Mom…”
“You’re still inside Ellie’s house, right?”
“Yes… what’s going on out there?”
“The press figured out you’re my daughter… From there they found our house. Your grandmother and Giuseppe are working to get them moved away from the house, but it’s taking a judge and some work with the police.”
I felt my face flush with embarrassment, “Is there anything I can do?”
“Stay at Ellie’s… They think it’ll be a couple more hours. Hopefully you can come home tonight – if not do you think Ellie’s mom would let you spend the night?”
“Probably?” I said, “She seems like she’s okay with me… she figured out who I was in about five seconds.”
“That quick?”
“And Emily too…”
She sighed and I could almost imagine her headache beginning on that side. “Make sure they know not to tell…”
“They won’t…”
“I have another call coming in. Stay over there and stay safe!”
“Okay, Love you Mom,” I told her.
“Love you too,” she replied.
“Better?” Ellie asked me.
I shook my head, “Apparently they figured out who my mom was… then figured out where we live. What if they figure out the other part too?”
I was wrapped into a hug again then before Ellie said it was time for a movie to get my mind off of this. Of course, it had to be a princess movie according to Ellie. The Princess Bride was one of our favorite movies to sit and watch ever since the first time we watched it together.
“I wish a boy would tell me ‘as you wish!’” Emily said.
I squirmed a bit on that part because I didn’t really have an inkling of liking either at that point. ‘As a princess I’m pretty much locked in…’ I admitted to myself. ‘So much of this is going to suck!’
At the end of the movie Giuseppe came into the room and said, “Miss Nelson… it should be safe for you to come to your house now.”
“Miss Nelson?” Ellis asked.
“That’s the closest I could get him to not calling me Princess or Your Highness all of the time,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “I guess I need to go home. I’ll text you later,” I told them both. I gave Emily a hug, “Thanks for not freaking out on me!”
She smiled, “You’re the coolest girl I know!”
I blushed, “Thanks, so are you.”
I grabbed my swimsuit and towel really quickly before joining Giuseppe at the door. I was nervous as he opened it, but grateful that no news vans seemed to be present at all. We had just about made it inside when a camera flash went off and I heard, “Prin…” before he got me inside and locked the door behind us.
“Is it always going to be like that?” I asked him nervously.
“Sometimes it’ll be worse…” he pulled his phone out and called someone.
“Shit…”
“Alexandria Nelson!” Mom said from nearby.
“Sorry Mom,” I told her and ran up to get the hug I desperately needed from my mom.
She squeezed me back and said, “It’s okay, but you really can’t swear now sweetie.”
I nodded, “I thought they went away?” I asked Giuseppe who had gotten off the phone.
He shrugged, “Unfortunately you have become an A list celebrity overnight… sleezy tabloid journalists aren’t usually as good about following the rules as the big ones who were everywhere earlier.”
“Is there anything we can do about them?” Mom asked.
He sighed, “The only thing that would work for a day-to-day fix would be getting her back to the palace in Osané. Then we can manage when she’s out and has to deal with them. This is why I’m here though,” he said while peeking out the front window.
I started to move towards it but he said, “Your Highness I need you to stay away from the windows. It makes it too easy to get a random picture of you, or something else could happen.”
With that I ran to the bathroom and promptly found myself vomiting.
.
MOM AND I cuddled on the sofa later once she made some homemade soup for dinner. We watched my favorite Disney movie of all time, Beauty and the Beast, and I enjoyed her lightly running her fingers through my hair as I leaned onto her.
“You’re too big for this,” she told me at the end.
“Only you can say that,” I whined.
She laughed, “You’ve at least got a few years to grow yet. I’ve been done growing for over twenty years!” She gave me a hug, “Even if you don’t grow any more, I promise you there’s nothing wrong with being short!”
“Riiiiight,” I told her.
She began tickling me in response and I had no way to fight back the way I was laying. “Stooop!” I told her. She hugged me, “I love you Allie, and no matter what things will be okay.”
“Will they be here though?” I asked her. “Giuseppe is having to trade off with a security team? Are we safe?”
“That’s why they’re here… is to make sure we are.” She sighed, “What would you think about going back with your grandmother to Osané next week after you have a couple follow up doctor’s appointments?”
“You’d come, right?”
She looked at me and said, “Not right away…”
“You’d have to come though!” I told her.
“Allie, even if I do think it’s best to move over there with you… it’ll take me awhile to hand over my cases… and I guess I’d end up losing my chances at being a partner…”
With that I’m not the one crying, she is. I know how hard she has worked to get to be close to that goal.
I hugged her as tightly as I can, “I’ll stay here then! Forget my grandmother and Osané…”
She hugged me back, “I think that would be a mistake Allie.”
“But you’re the only one I have…” I told her.
Mom was in tears then and hugged me, “Look… I’m not saying that you go and stay forever… just maybe the rest of the summer? Give it a try?”
My own tears streamed down my face, “If I don’t like it, I can come back home?”
“Of course, sweetie! You can always come home!” she told me and squeezed me. “I’ll talk with the firm too about getting some time off and I’ll join you for the last couple weeks of the summer?”
I didn’t say anything but just put my head on her shoulder.
We stayed like that for a few moments before she squeezed me again, and then pushed me to stand up off of her. “Come on sweetie, you’re hot and I think it’s time for you to get some sleep.”
I nodded and walked upstairs and began washing my face, brushed my teeth, and put my pajamas on. I was finishing up when she came in, “Can I tuck you in?” She asked with a smile.
“Mommy I’m not four years old anymore,” I told her while sticking my tongue out. She kind of looked hurt, so I said, “But I guess…”
I laid down and she tightly tucked me in like when I had been little. “Allie, I love you so very much, please don’t ever forget that!”
She kissed my forehead and walked out, turning the light off on her way out. I hugged my pillow tightly and wished I had a stuffed animal right then to hug.
‘I don’t want to leave Mom…’ I couldn’t help but think as I quietly cried myself to sleep that night.
*************************************************************************************
I'll be posting another chapter tonight or tomorrow. Thank you to all of you who have pressed the Kudos button or posted a comment! I very much appreciate it! Though I don't have to have the story finished for the contest entry, I'm still trying to get it completely up by the deadline for my own internal goal. Please consider leaving me a comment to help motivate my brain and fingers! Thanks for reading!
Suddenly Royal Chapter 9 Edited by Carla Ann
|
Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there! Since I've procrastinated beginning to post there will be some days I'll throw another chapter up in order to make my goal of having it all completed by the deadline for the contest. I have eleven chapters written and plan on two to three more for this part of the tale. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 9:
MOM WOKE ME the next morning with the smell of bacon in the air. I ran my hands through my hair quickly and went down in my pajamas.
“Power of bacon, it wakes zombies,” Mom said as I came up behind her and gave her a hug.
“Baaaacon,” I said in my best zombie impression.
She laughed, “You want to grab plates?”
Mom traditionally made breakfast on Sundays and I enjoyed the bacon, eggs, sausage, and pancakes that she had made. I was amused as I watched her force Giuseppe to join us for breakfast. He eventually gave in after a lot of cajoling and seemed happy with her offerings there.
Half-way through breakfast Mom started talking about the day, “Allie your grandmother wants the two of us to meet her for dinner at the embassy, but until then I thought maybe we could go shopping?”
“Shopping?” I asked, “Didn’t I just get the giant princess wardrobe to end all wardrobes?” I smiled, “Would any more clothes even fit?”
She laughed, “I’m thinking you have enough ‘princess’ clothes…” she shook her head, “No, I’m sure you don’t have even enough of those yet… but I’m thinking you could probably use some everyday things like pajamas still. Maybe some things to put up around your room?”
I smiled, “So I get a shopping trip with my mommy?”
She smiled, “You want to then?”
I nodded, “It would be a dream come true,” I said. I felt a tear in my eye as I really meant it. My mom loved to shop and I hated that she never knew I wanted to go shopping with her… just not for what she thought she needed to buy.
“Mrs. Nelson?” Giuseppe spoke up.
“Yes Giuseppe?”
“If I may suggest that you give me an hour, and I’ll have a car and a couple more security team members to accompany us?”
“Us?” Mom asked.
He pointed at yesterday’s paper still sitting on the table. I felt my shoulders deflate at the thought of dealing with the press. I’d never been allowed to look at the spread on my lawn, but I’d seen a few pictures of it online…
“Are we going to have to run around with security guards on all sides of us?” Mom asked wearily.
“Just me if you don’t mind?” he suggested, “But I’ll have a couple other people discreetly following us just in case?”
Mom nodded, “We can do that. We’re taking a limo though?”
“I’ll get them to bring an SUV instead?” he suggested.
“Much more discreet, we can do that.” She replied. “And I thought my only exciting thing this week was going to court tomorrow…”
“Court tomorrow?” I asked. Mom rarely talked about work with me.
She grimaced - her philosophy was to not bring work home. “I can’t talk about specifics Allie, but I have a client like you who’s due in court for a civil case tomorrow. It’s a big case with national attention.”
“So, I could look it up and learn about it?” I asked, “Tell me a little?”
“You know I don’t like to talk about cases Allie…”
“This one is big though?”
She nodded, “This woman, who’s like you, was outed at work and fired. She was also physically attacked by some of her coworkers, so she’s suing the company for discrimination.”
“That’s terrible…” I told her, “Is she okay now?”
She shook her head, “She’s had a really rough time since then. The firm took on the case pro bono, but some other groups have been helping finance it. The attack was especially bad… Anyway, that’s more than I should have said. Keep that to yourself,” she told me.
I nodded, “Yes, Ma’am.”
“Now, finish up that last bit of bacon and get dressed. Find one of those skirt and blouse outfits so you can try things on easily.”
I smiled and remembered one I liked that wasn’t too frumpy. About an hour and a half later Giuseppe led us cautiously out to a black SUV that had backed into the driveway. I had put on a white skirt that had little floral patterns in blue all over the two-layer design. A button up blue blouse that matched it had short sleeves that extended just past my shoulders. The skirt came to a few inches above my knees, and I had to be careful not to flash people as I sat down in the middle back of the SUV. Mom sat on my right side and Giuseppe joined us on my left once she was in. Another man dressed casually sat in the shotgun seat up front. He and Giuseppe both seemed like they were on high alert as the driver pulled away.
“Your Highness?” Giuseppe spoke to me.
I sighed and looked over at him, “Yes?”
“Please take this and keep it on your wrist or in your hair,” he told me. He handed me a white scrunchie.
“Why do you have one of these?” I asked as I grabbed it and examined it.
“It’s a tracker in case we need to find you,” he told me honestly.
“Uh…”
“Put it on Allie,” Mom told me, quelling any thoughts I might have of arguing.
“What do I do if the color doesn’t work with my outfit?” I asked him.
“We have other colors,” he said reassuringly.
I sighed and complied. It was a silent car ride until we pulled up to the large mall and they dropped us at an entrance. I looked over at a red store I wanted to go in so badly for years, but other than one-time Ellie and her mom ‘dragged me in’ I’d rarely been inside.
Mom must have caught my glance, “You never had any dolls, did you?”
I shook my head, “No…”
She put her arm around my shoulder, “Well, I think we can fix that before we go find clothes.”
“Really?”
“One… We probably should get some stuffed animals for your room too.” She said quietly.
I smiled and we walked together to the American Girl store and looked around for a half-hour picking out a doll that matched my eyes and hair color. We picked out a couple of outfits before Mom dragged me to the checkout before we bought the store out. I wasn’t sure about carrying the big bag everywhere around the mall, and wondered what to do about it. Just then Giuseppe nodded towards me and a man that was approaching, “Go ahead and give him your packages, we’ll get them to the car,” he said quietly.
I was kind of sad to see it go, but we hadn’t even entered the mall proper yet!
The next few hours with my mom were some of the happiest I had ever spent with her! Shopping mostly involved the girl’s department for me, but once in a while there was an XXS, or Size 0 outfit in juniors that didn’t dwarf me completely. Mom had years of shopping experience for smaller clothes that helped out. All of my pajamas though were certain to reinforce me being younger than my age, but I didn’t care because they were all soft - and who would see them?
We’d just sent a Build-a-Bear out to the car and were headed towards the food court when a camera flash went off to my right. I turned to try and look at it, but instead Giuseppe was right there, along with two other guys and quickly led Mom and I down the hallway. More cameras began to go off as we got closer to an exit and Giuseppe was muttering under his breath.
“It’s her! It’s the princess!” I heard someone say.
“Try and hurry,” he said to us, “But don’t run unless I say to.”
There was quite the crowd of people following us and more camera flashes as we came to an outer door and saw the SUV. Another man pulled the door open as Giuseppe pretty much pushed me inside, and closed the door after Mom got in.
As the tires squealed away from the SUV I asked, “What just happened?”
“You were recognized,” Giuseppe said, “And it seems that the press decided to get some more photos…”
“Is this going to keep happening?” I asked nervously.
He sighed, “At times Your Highness. It’ll be worse at the start if I had to guess…”
“And why is it that any girl dreams of being a princess?” I griped a bit.
Not far from home my phone dinged with a message and Ellie asking, ‘How come you didn’t invite me?’ with a picture of the escape from the mall that had been posted on Twitter. ‘JK that’s nuts!’
We traded messages before getting home and being sent inside while the security guys brought our bags in. Mom helped me go through and cut tags, peel stickers, and finally I got to the doll bag. I smiled as I pulled the cover off of the box and began undoing the straps and rubber bands holding her into the box. “What’s her name?” Mom asked a few minutes later as I hugged her.
“Umm…” I thought for a long time, “Emily?”
She smiled, “Well later I am getting pictures of you and Emily!”
I blushed then, “You never took pictures of me before?”
She wrapped me in a hug then, “By the time you were eight you complained anytime you knew I was taking one…”
I nodded, “I don’t know if it’s why, but I really didn’t like pictures that showed me as a boy.”
She squeezed me again, “Good thing you don’t have to worry that anymore, huh?”
We had enough time to wash everything and squeeze the new purchases into my drawers and closet. I’d named my new bear Sarah and placed her on my pillow. A few other accents around the room made it seem like a girl might live there now, and I was all smiles as I dressed for dinner with Grandma.
Mom wore a nice skirt suit, while I wore the navy-blue dress with the white ‘V’ design I’d first tried on yesterday. I cuddled up to her some as we were driven to the embassy a while later. At the gate there were more camera flashes as a bunch of press with cameras ambushed the SUV. Fortunately, security kept them outside the gate and Giuseppe opened Mom’s door right next to the entrance.
“Keep moving forward, Your Highness, don’t turn around,” he told me as I stepped out.
I nearly fell though as my shoe slipped off. Luckily, he grabbed me gently and I was able to slip my toe in enough to make it inside. I stopped just inside the door before the metal detectors and fixed it.
Geneva was standing on the other side of the detectors and motioned for Mom and I to follow her. “How are you doing this evening?” she asked us.
“Getting our excitement in,” Mom said with a shake of her head. “I didn’t miss dealing with those people.”
Geneva nodded, “I prefer back home where we have some laws in place to help out.”
“They can’t swarm me there?” I asked hopefully.
“Oh, they can still do that! But generally, it’ll be a bit more controlled. You wouldn’t have had to worry about it at home or the mall like you just did. Since you’re only fifteen… we have some laws that Parliament passed that keeps you from being hounded by them until your eighteenth birthday.”
“Those are new?” Mom asked.
She nodded, “Alexandros pushed for the changes with Parliament seven years ago. He remembered the way he’d been treated, as well as we have had some other royal family members mistreated recently. The big push though happened after a young actress from the country was photographed making out with another girl… her parents didn’t know about her and she committed suicide six months later.”
“That’s awful,” I said.
“Yes, it was,” she agreed. “Your father really wanted to ensure no one had to deal with that again, at least within the borders of our country.”
“It sounds like he did a good thing…” I said sadly. ‘I wish I would have met him.’
“It was, your grandmother is right through here,” she said and opened the door to a smaller dining room.
My grandmother smiled, “Already an attention magnet?”
“Sorry,” I told her.
She shook her head, “I’m not surprised by it since they learned about you. Come and join me, we’ll eat and talk about where we go from here.”
A man dressed in a suit directed me to sit to my grandmothers’ right side and my mom on her left around a smaller round table. You could fit a few more people around it if you wanted to, but its size was more appropriate to the intimate meeting.
For the next hour we enjoyed a pretty simple meal of soup, a fish course, a salad, then dessert. It was weird to me as an American to have salad so late in the meal, but I remembered learning one time that it was pretty standard in France. “Why is there so much of a French influence in Osané?” I asked Grandma then.
She smiled, “Well from what historians can tell us the island was originally settled by people long before France was thought of, back in Greek and later Roman times. There was a lot of trade that started around 600 AD, and the country’s history mirrored and aligned with France a great deal through to the early part of the 1200’s. Around then the island was invaded by the Spanish for around twenty years. Eventually the island became independent and your many many times Great Grandfather King Phillip began to rule our country as a separate nation around the year 1310”
“Wow… That’s kind of cool,” I said. “So, is there a Spanish influence too?”
“Not much of one, they were detested and most signs of their brief occupation were removed. The brief Greek and longer Roman influences are far more obvious with some ruins on the island.”
I was given a brief history lesson then and learned that the island had also been an unfortunate stepping stone in many conflicts. In World War II they managed to mostly stay out of the fray, but had been occupied by both Italian and German forces for a time before Allied troops invaded with the help of resistance soldiers. The royal family had hidden during the time amongst the people, refusing to flee the country altogether.
“That’s incredible,” I said.
“There are many incredible stories of your ancestors,” she told me, “I’ll make sure that you are taught all about them.”
“I’d like that,” I told her during the dessert course.
As those plates were pulled away, she led us to a small sitting area with a few comfortable couches and chairs. I found myself sitting next to Mom on a small couch while she sat adjacent to us in a cushioned chair.
“So… after this weekend we really need to formally introduce you – at least with a press conference,” Grandma said to me.
I gulped, “A press conference? Like I’d have to speak?!?” I asked nervously
She smiled, “I’d do most of the speaking and then let them ask you a few softball questions. We’ll ensure that the press we invite will exhibit their best behavior.”
“When would you do that?” Mom asked.
“I was thinking at ten in the morning tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?” I asked, and heard Mom in stereo with me.
“I think you can handle this,” she told me.
“Mom can you be there?”
She looked at me and shook her head, “I have that case I was telling you about in court at ten too, and there’s no way to get the judge who’s presiding to put that off…” She looked at me for a second, then a Grandma, “You’ve already scheduled it I’m guessing?”
She looked a bit taken aback but nodded, “Yes we have. The politics of the situation demand that we get something out there no later than then.”
Mom squeezed me, “You’ll be okay here… I’m sure of it.”
“I agree, you have a good head on your shoulders Alexandria.”
“What do I wear?” I asked.
“I’ll have Tyler send you which outfit he thinks you should wear tomorrow morning. I made sure we could consult with him on your wardrobe from here on out while in the States.”
I nodded, “Okay.”
“Now, the next thing though, we need to get you over to Osané.”
I looked at her with concern but nodded, “I guess that makes sense… but I’ve never been that far from home,” I said sadly.
“I know that is the case,” Grandma told me. “Because of that, how about we take this one step at a time? Say you’re coming for the summer to begin with?”
Mom and I had talked about this before, but it was so much more final when she talked about it. Summer break had just started a couple weeks ago, “The whole summer?” I asked. I thought of Ellie and knew I would miss her.
“We would figure out school and everything else before the end of it,” she assured me.
“What do you mean?” I asked nervously.
“Well, I’d prefer you be in a proper school somewhere.”
“Somewhere? Not in Osané?”
“The way I see it is there are some options that I think could be accepted by others,” she told me. “You could come back here and finish, but I don’t know that your school has the rigorous curriculum you need. We need to especially make sure you know how to behave and present yourself in society… for that it might be best to send you to a private school.”
“But what about Mom?” I asked.
“We would still see each other,” Mom sighed. “Look, we don’t have to decide on your entire school future right now. You have to consider the fact you’d probably have more privacy in a private school than if you stayed here. I’d worry about you at school a lot – even if you were going to be a prince instead of a princess.”
I felt tears go down my face then, “This is going to ruin everything,” I said.
Mom hugged me, “No it won’t, I promise you that. And, I’ll make sure I get some time off after this case and I’ll fly over to Osané for at least a few weeks too to help.”
Grandma spoke up when I was a bit calmer, “Alexandria I promise you will have a say in every decision for your education. I won’t just pick and say go there,” she smiled, “I understand how you feel though. My parents sent me away to my first boarding school when I was eight.”
I looked up at her in shock, “You stopped living with your parents when you were eight?!?”
She shrugged, “I at least knew it was coming… Didn’t make the first year any easier. For you just maybe think of it as preparing to go to college earlier.”
I nodded, “I’ll think about it.”
“For now, you two should probably be getting home.” She stood as she spoke.
I received a hug from her, Mom a feminine handshake, and we were soon in the car being driven home. Mom tucked me in wearing some of my new pajamas that night. I was hugging my bear Sarah tightly as she did so. “You keep tucking me in like I’m little,” I told her sadly. “Where’s the bedtime story?”
She laughed at my joke, “Seems like it would be kind of weird to tell you a fairytale with your life becoming one?”
“What am I going to do? Mom I never wanted to be a princess… I mean more than wearing a pretty dress and a tiara?!?”
She kissed me on the forehead, “You remember when you were little and I put something new on your plate to eat for dinner?”
I nodded.
“What did I always tell you?”
I sighed, “Try it all, if you hate it, I’ll never make you eat it again.”
“Just try this sweetheart. Give it a good attempt, and if you really hate it, we’ll let you renounce the throne.”
I nodded, “I guess…” I told her.
I cried as she closed the door and turned off the light. Sarah was my first bear since I was a kid, and I was glad to have her to hold tightly against me as I again quietly cried myself to sleep.
.
*************************************************************************************
I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow. Thank you to all of you who have pressed the Kudos button or posted a comment! I very much appreciate it! Though I don't have to have the story finished for the contest entry, I'm still trying to get it completely up by the deadline for my own internal goal. Please consider leaving me a comment to help motivate my brain and fingers! Thanks for reading!
Suddenly Royal Chapter 10 Edited by Carla Ann
|
Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there! Since I've procrastinated beginning to post there will be some days I'll throw another chapter up in order to make my goal of having it all completed by the deadline for the contest. I have twelve chapters written and plan on two more for this part of the tale. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 10:
THE NEXT MORNING, I woke up to Mom nudging me awake, “Come on Allie, time to wake up.”
I tried to roll over and she began tickling me, “Nuh-uh, no going back to sleep!”
“It’s summer!” I whined as she let up.
“Yes, but you have to get going Princess,” she reminded me.
I sighed and spat out some hair that had landed in my mouth. I managed to get moving to the shower and was soon back in my room getting dressed in the dress Tyler had chosen and sent Mom the picture of. Luckily it was a pretty distinctive black dress that wasn’t common in the wardrobe he’d provided. It was a conservative dress that had a high neckline, a slight poof at the top of the sleeve that extended about halfway to my elbow, and a skirt that brushed my knees. My padded bra showed just the hint of a chest beneath it. A thin belt with an odd gold buckle connection was placed at my natural waistline.
Mom had pointed out a pair of two-inch black heeled sandals that she thought went well with it. “They’ll do your hair and makeup there,” she told me, “just put your hair up in a ponytail for now.”
“Okay…” I said nervously as the doorbell rang.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“I’ll go see,” she told me with a smile.
I brushed my hair quickly and put it up in a ponytail that I held in place with a black scrunchie.
I was just walking out my bedroom door when I saw Ellie, “Oh my God!” She said to me with a smile, “I love that dress!”
I smiled, “Thanks,” and couldn’t help but turn around in a circle and enjoyed the skirt flaring out some.
“You won’t catch me in it, but you look pretty!”
“Thanks, I’m about to leave though…”
“I know, your mom asked if I wanted to go hang out with you today!”
I looked at Mom, “Grandma is okay with it?”
She laughed, “She’s the one who came up with the idea. She saw how down you were last night… she thought maybe a friendly face today would help?”
I hugged her and Ellie, “Yes!”
“Well, you two need to get going if that’s the case!” She told me.
“Food?” I asked.
“Giuseppe is going to have the driver stop by Whataburger on the way to the embassy.” Mom nodded to where he stood waiting.
“BOBS!” Ellie said with a smile.
Standing there he looked curious, “Bobs?” He paused, “Is there some boy that works there?”
I couldn’t help but join Ellie in giggling before explaining, “Breakfast On a Bun… It’s normal here, don’t mind my crazy friend.”
She tickled me then and then started toward the limo that had arrived with Giuseppe leading the way. I hugged Mom goodbye, “I love you, good luck with your case,” I told her.
“I love you too,” she told me and squeezed me tightly. “You’ll be fine!”
We stopped briefly in the parking lot of a nearby Whataburger and Giuseppe ran in with our orders to grab them. A few minutes later we were on our way and Giuseppe wore a bemused look on his face at the sausage BOB he had ordered. “This is surprisingly good,” he said.
Ellie giggled at him, “See, told you!”
While he’d been inside getting them, she’d whispered to me that she thought he was kind of hot in an old guy sort of way. I’d just shook my head!
Before too long we were walking into the embassy. They made Ellie go through the metal detector and searched her purse before we’d been able to continue on to the room we’d used before the dinner the other night. Inside Tyler and Demi were standing around and quickly came over to me.
“Your Highness! It’s so good to see you again!” he said to me and insisted on kissing my hand.
Demi did the air kiss thing with me before asking, “Who’s this?”
“This is my best friend in the whole world Ellie,” I introduced her, “Ellie this is Tyler and Demi.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ellie said timidly.
“That dress is perfect for today,” Tyler said with a smile, “But we need to get you some accessories. Let Demi do your hair and makeup, then we’ll worry about your jewelry. In the meantime, I think your friend needs some attention too…”
Ellie had actually worn a skirt and blouse, but it wasn’t ‘appropriate’ to be around ‘Her Highness’ I heard Tyler insist while I sat down in the chair that was back out. He must have been warned she was coming because he got her quickly changing into another outfit. Meanwhile Demi worked on putting my hair, leaving it down, but adding some curl to the bottom of it and teasing it to just the right look.
A couple of combs decorated in pearls were added to either side of my head. When she showed it to me it was a cute look for me as a teenage girl, with some sophistication too… I sort of looked like I imagined a princess would.
Tyler had me put a thin silver necklace and charm bracelet on to ‘accessorize my look.’ Ellie had been given a cute sleeveless navy-blue dress that was a bit shorter with just some inch-wide straps that held it at the top. Demi had done a great job on her makeup and we both looked like we were eighteen. Well, my face at least looked eighteen. I was convinced that it would be a stretch to guess I was fifteen no matter what due to my height!
Grandma came in then and I introduced Ellie to her. She managed to not trip over herself completely, and I managed not to laugh at her trying not to do so!
“Well ladies, it’s about that time for us to go do this?” She said to me.
I felt butterflies in my stomach and just kind of wanted to throw up then. Geneva must have sensed that because a glass of ginger ale was suddenly in my hand. “Thanks…” I told her as I sipped some of it.
“It’s absolutely okay to be nervous,” Grandma told me. “Ellie if you will go with this young woman, she’ll get you a spot you can stand along the back wall to watch?”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Ellie told her and leaned down to give me a quick hug before disappearing.”
As we walked down the hallway Grandma asked, “You’re just friends, right? We can’t afford any extra surprises to deal with…”
“More like sisters. She’s the big sister I never had who always watches out for me,” I told her.
“Maybe she can come out with your mother later this summer?” she suggested.
“Really?!?” I said, feeling a little bit better with that idea.
“The last thing I want to do is keep you from having friends dear, I know how tough this is going to be for you.”
I nodded, “Thank you Grandma,” I told her.
“I’ve been called a queen for decades, but I’m still getting used to hearing that title,” she told me with a smile.
Geneva held me off to the side as Grandma stepped to a small podium in a well-appointed room with the Osané seal and the Alessi coat of arms in the background. It looked like about fifteen photographers were present, ten video cameras, and about twenty other individuals sitting in chairs. I recognized network names like CNN, NBC, FOX, BBC, but others were unknown to me, like OSN and BCN.
They all began snapping photos with flashes and standing up as she walked to the podium. “Her Majesty, Queen Maria Eirene Margarita Andino Alessi,” a man said loudly.
“Thank you all for coming today, please be seated,” she told them in French. “A few weeks ago, a tragic accident took the life of my son Prince Alexandros Alessi, III, and only named heir to the throne of Osané. Per the laws of Osané I must name an eligible heir to the throne within six months, or the law of succession would mean the crown would pass to the Montalvo family next. Today I come before you to introduce you to that heir. Before I do so I would like to put to bed the rumors that have been flying in the past weeks.”
“Prince Alexandros was never married, mainly because he met the love of his life in college here in the United States. He literally ran into his love when he stepped in front of her riding a bicycle, and the two began a relationship. The young woman unfortunately was of common birth though, so at the time we foolishly decided it was wiser for him to wait for someone of more noble stature. At the time it seemed right, but before they broke off their relationship the young woman became pregnant with his daughter. We were aware, but Alexandros and her mother decided it best that unless he had no other heir that she be left alone here in the United States – though well supported.”
She took a breath, “When he passed away, per the agreement, she became the next heir to the throne of Osané. It has been my pleasure to finally meet this young lady this last week, and it is my honor now to present the Crown Princess of Osané, Her Royal Highness, Princess Alexandria Leonidas Alessi.”
Geneva pushed me forward and my nerves once again flew as I walked to her side and she gave me a gentle hug. I had trouble focusing and seeing with all of the camera flashes going off. I was seeing spots when they finally stopped a few moments later.
“I know you all have many questions, so I will let my granddaughter answer some of them. Please remember this is new for her, so please keep your questions short and polite,” she told them.
All of the sudden I heard “Princess Alexandria” loudly from all of the corners of the room. Remembering conferences, I’d watched on TV before I tried not to cringe and pointed to one of the women, “Yes, I’m sorry I don’t know your names?”
The woman smiled at me, and in English said, “Elizabeth Connor, OSN do you speak French?”
“Oui, Madame Connor,” I tried to smile.
She switched to rapid French then, “Our viewers back in Osané will want to know all about you! How old are you? What do you like to do for fun? Any favorite fashion designers?”
I laughed and replied in slower French, “I’m fifteen years old – I just had my birthday two weeks ago. I like to go shopping, swim, and hang out with my best friend… I also like music and playing the clarinet.” I paused, “Favorite fashion designers? I was a regular girl who had no idea she was a princess until a few days ago. I like some of the outfits that have been given to me in the past few days, but if you ask me for names I’d be lying if I could remember them.” I said with a smile that I hoped worked for them.
I pointed at another woman nearby, “You had a question?”
“How do you feel about suddenly being royal? It sounds like you didn’t even know you were a princess?”
I giggled, “Honestly I’m still processing that one… No, I didn’t know I was anything but a regular kid until a few days ago. I guess my mom and dad decided to try and let me have a normal childhood and keep me from being a spoiled brat?” I shrugged, “I’ve grown up being treated normally and I guess I would say I’m grateful for that. I’ve never received special treatment for anything and my mom had no problem saying ‘no’ to me. I don’t think that will change anytime soon either!” They had the decency to laugh out there.
I answered a number of questions from the reporters and felt like I was doing pretty well. Seventeen Magazine had a print reporter there who asked a few questions about makeup and how my friendships were doing.
“How do you feel about walking into a true fairytale story here?” a reporter from BCN network asked.
I smiled, “Well I guess I somehow ended up in one of those Princess Fairytale stories I’ve always heard about… but I’m still in shock over it all. I’m still living at home right now, so other than some really pretty outfits, it’s not like I’ve seen a lot change. Maybe it’ll be different when I see the castle?” I smiled, “Or get to wear a tiara?”
“You don’t have one yet?” she asked.
“Apparently I can’t wear one until I’m eighteen! Talk about a letdown after all of those fairytale stories as a kid!”
The reporters laughed politely at that.
I was distracted a moment later when every phone in the room lit up and Geneva came up to Grandma next to me to whisper in her ear.
“One last question!” Grandma said beside me curtly.
One of the reporters looked at his phone and then back up at me, “Is your mother a Ms. Karen Nelson?”
“Umm… yes?” I said. “That’s my mom.”
“Did you know she’s just been shot…?”
“What?!?!” I looked over at Grandma while the room erupted and I was suddenly dragged clear of the room.
“Mom’s been shot? What are they talking about?!?!” I looked at Grandma a moment later in a side room we’d been pushed into.
“Geneva just told me.”
“What…?” I found myself sinking down into a chair next to me. Ellie had her arms around me in a hug. “Is she okay…?”
“We don’t know yet Allie,” Grandma told me, “they’re enroute to the hospital. As soon as we know which one, we’ll go there too.”
“Mom can’t die!!!!!!” I said and began crying heavily while being hugged by Ellie and Grandma.
.
FORTY MINUTES LATER we were walking into the hospital Mom had been taken to. Grandma led me to the reception desk, “We’re here for Karen Nelson, this is her daughter Alexandria… she was shot?”
The lady looked up at me and then typed some information into the screen. “She’s in surgery right now. If you want, I can take you to a waiting room?”
“Please,” Grandma said.
“Do you have some ID to prove you’re family?” she was looking at me funny. “Wait… you’re that girl… that princess?”
I blushed a little, but my worry for Mom was more than my embarrassment. “Yes, and that’s my mom… please?”
She picked up the phone and a few moments later a nurse came out. “Ms. Nelson?” She asked of me.
I nodded, “She said my mom is in surgery?”
“Yes, she is, you can wait for her in a more private waiting room if you come with me.”
“Can you give us any more information on her status?” Grandma asked when she had us out of the main emergency room reception area.
“I can’t, but I can get someone who can?”
“Please do so,” Grandma said to her.
We walked inside and I saw one of the partners at the firm my mom worked at. “Ala…Allie?” He asked me.
I nodded and walked over to where he sat with a woman, I thought I recognized from somewhere. “What happened to Mom?” I asked him while crying.
He stood and gave me a hug, “I’m so sorry Allie, someone shot our client and her on the steps going into the courthouse.”
“Why?” I asked, tears streaming from my eyes.
“The police think it’s because of our client being transgendered, or somehow related to the case…”
He gave me a meaningful look at that, “What happened to your client?” I asked.
“She died immediately,” he told me. “Your mom wasn’t hit as badly. She’s in good hands and hopefully the doctors can get us some good news soon.”
I just nodded and returned back to Ellie and sat down together on a bench seat. Grandma sat to my right and she and Ellie kept hold of my hands, my shoulders, while I continued to cry and hoped my mom wasn’t going to die.
We waited there for a couple of hours before my mom’s parents walked through the door. They looked for me for a moment before Grandma Becky recognized me and seemed shocked!
.
*************************************************************************************
I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow. Thank you to all of you who have pressed the Kudos button or posted a comment! I very much appreciate it! Though I don't have to have the story finished for the contest entry, I'm still trying to get it completely up by the deadline for my own internal goal. Please consider leaving me a comment to help motivate my brain and fingers! Thanks for reading!
Suddenly Royal Chapter 11 Edited by Carla Ann
|
Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there! Since I've procrastinated beginning to post there will be some days I'll throw another chapter up in order to make my goal of having it all completed by the deadline for the contest. I have twelve chapters written and plan on two more for this part of the tale. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 11:
I WAS SO scared of what they would say that I stood there trembling. Grandma Becky wasted no time though in wrapping me in the biggest hug she could. “Oh Allie, I’m so sorry…” she told me.
I cried for a long while in her arms before looking up at Grandpa fearfully of what he would say. I needn’t worry though, because he just wrapped me in a big hug too and picked me up off of the floor. Unlike my mom, Grandma Becky, and me he wasn’t a short guy. He was nearly six and a half feet tall, and picked me up like a little kid.
When everyone had kind of settled down Grandma Becky asked, “What do you know?”
“She was shot twice, they’ve got both bullets out, but they’re still working on some internal bleeding,” my other grandmother said.
“Oh my God...” Grandma Becky dissolved into her own tears then.
At some point Ellie had dragged me to the bathroom and helped me clean off my face and go to the bathroom, before I came back and rejoined everyone. I had a grandmother on either side of me and alternated between tears and shaking for what seemed forever before a doctor came in.
“Nelson family?”
“This is her daughter, we’re her parents,” My grandfather said. “How is she?”
“I’m glad to say she is doing okay. We’ve got her stitched up at this point and stabilized. The wounds were about as bad as they could be without killing her, so she’s going to have a long road to heal – but the good news is she should make a full recovery.”
“Can I see her?” I asked him.
“I’m sorry, but you have to be at least thirteen to go into the ICU?”
“I’m fifteen,” I told him. “Can I see her now?”
He looked startled, “You can’t be fifteen…?”
“She is,” both grandmothers said in stereo behind me.
“Well then, give us about an hour and we’ll have her setup in the ICU. You can have thirty minutes, but we need to let her rest more than anything. She probably won’t wake up until at least tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you,” I told him.
I was exhausted then, and so glad to hear that Mom would make it, that I ended up curling up on Grandpa’s large lap and falling asleep.
.
“ALLIE? THEY’RE READY for you to see your mom,” I heard.
I sat up and realized I wasn’t just having a nightmare before – I was living one.
My three grandparents and Ellie walked up to the ICU together. When we entered the ICU wing a nurse stopped us. “Who are you here to see?”
“My mom, Karen Nelson,” I told her.
“Oh sweetie, I’m sorry, but we can’t let anyone under thirteen in with her…”
“Again?!? I am fifteen,” I told her with a sigh. I looked at Ellie, “The one time I want to have people actually believe my age?”
“She’s really fifteen?” she looked at my grandparents.
“Yes, she is,” Grandpa said.
“In that case I’ll let her see her for up to thirty minutes. You all can have ten minutes each afterwards, then we’re going to close down visitors until tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” I told her.
She walked me to a room and I looked at Mom through a glass window and felt the tears begin streaming again. Mom was hooked up to a ton of IVs and a ventilator. As she led me inside, she told me, “The ventilator is just a precaution at this point. The doctor expects to take her off of it tomorrow morning.”
I nodded and walked to where she had one hand that wasn’t plugged into IVs and squeezed it. “Mommy it’s me…” I told her. “I… I… You have to get better,” I told her. “I love you so much, you have to get better!”
I stayed in the room with her until my time was up, “Mommy I love you; I’ll be back tomorrow…” I followed the nurse out the door and collapsed in Grandpa’s arms crying.
.
THE NEXT THING I knew was the feeling I was being carried. I saw we had already made it back to our house. Grandpa had me over his shoulder like a little kid. “Huh, wha…” I said.
“So, you decided to wake up,” he said to me while Grandma unlocked the door. I looked over his shoulder at Giuseppe who seemed to be taking a close look around the house.
“What time is it?” was about all I could get out then.
“It’s about eleven, time for you to get some sleep.”
“What about Mom?” I asked as he passed through the doorway without showing any signs of putting me down. Instead he placed me on his hip like I was a toddler or something. Grandpa was so much taller than me I guess that wasn’t a big deal though… “You can put me down you know…”
“I could, but we’re just going straight up to bed with you,” he told me. “Your mom won’t wake up until the morning anyway. You need to get some sleep!”
I tried a few other arguments as he carried me to my room and finally sat me down. I looked around and grabbed my new bear and hugged it as he left. Grandma walked in and looked around, “Well it looks like you have gotten quite the start here…”
I just nodded.
“Your mom told us already about this,” she told me as she sat down next to me and hugged me. “We don’t care who you are, boy, girl, Prince, Princess… you’re still our grandbaby.”
I flung my arms around her and just began crying again. “What if she doesn’t get better?”
“Oh, honey she will get better! It’s going to take a while, but I promise you she’s going to get better! The doctors did a great job today and when she wakes up tomorrow, you’ll see she’s okay,” she hugged me tightly.
We sat there for a long while before she squeezed me tight again and said, “Come on, time to get dressed for bed Princess.”
I numbly nodded and stood up. The dress I was wearing was completely wrinkled and a mess by that point. I was sad because it was a nice dress! Grandma left the room and let me change into one of the other sets of pajamas we had bought yesterday. It was a simple short shorts and t-shirt set that featured ice cream cones. Once I was dressed, I went to the bathroom to make sure my face was as clean as it could be. We’d washed the makeup off my face hours ago – I’d had some serious raccoon eyes before that. Brushing my teeth was quickly followed by running a brush through my hair and putting it into a loose ponytail to sleep in.
Walking back into my room Grandma was setting a glass of water on my desk, “Thought you probably needed something to drink,” she told me.
“Thanks Grandma,” I told her and drank about half of the glass in one go.
“Going to have to be daintier than that now,” she told me with a strained smile.
I cringed, “You know everything?” I asked.
“I always have,” she told me. “I even guessed you might have wanted to be a girl before all of this.”
“Wait, what?!?” I asked.
She smiled, “when you were little, you stayed with us for a week one summer while your mom had something to do. I’d guess you were four or so then… I watched you only play with little girls anytime I took you to the playground. When boys asked you to play you just said ‘no thanks’ and went back to the girls. One of my friends had her granddaughter for a week too and we got you two together. You played with dolls and dressed up in her clothes every time we turned around.”
“I did?” I asked, not remembering this at all.
“You did,” she told me. “I had a feeling you were more of a princess than a prince even then.”
“Why didn’t anyone ever say anything?” I asked.
“Not our place,” she told me.
“What am I going to do now?”
“Well, first thing is you’re going to get some sleep. Then we’re going to take it one day at a time.”
I nodded and climbed into bed. Like with Mom the last couple nights she insisted on tucking me in. A kiss on my forehead and I grabbed my bear and rolled over and let more tears stream from my face until I fell asleep.
.
I WAS WOKEN up by shouting and the smell of smoke. I coughed badly and jumped quickly out of bed. I was feeling the door to see if it was hot when it suddenly banged open and Giuseppe barged in. “Princess we have to get you out of here,” he effectively picked me up like my grandfather had coming home from the hospital. The smoke became thicker as he carried me downstairs and out the back door.
“Grandma and Grandpa!” I said frantically.
“They’re fine, they got out already,” he told me.
“What’s going on?” I asked as he sat me down and I turned around to see our house going up in flames.
“I think someone really hates what your mother does?” He said kindly. “I’m not sure.”
He helped me hop the back fence into Ellie’s yard and I found her mom waiting for us. “Oh my God!!! Allie, are you okay?” She asked me.
I shook my head and ran into her arms for a massive hug. She squeezed me tight, “We need to go out front. Hopefully it won’t jump to our house, but just in case,” she told me. On our way through their house she grabbed a fleece blanket that she wrapped around me. Grandpa was on the ground having trouble breathing when we got out front.
I ran to him, “Grandpa!”
I was hugged though by Grandma who stopped me, “He’ll be okay, just let him have some room to breathe. Are you okay?”
I nodded but coughed then. Several minutes passed as the firetrucks and ambulances showed up. Neighbors came out of their houses and stared as my house seemed to go up in flames quicker than I would have imagined possible.
A paramedic came and checked on Grandpa first, insisting that he go to the hospital. Grandma rode with him while another checked me out and had me breathe oxygen for a little while as they checked me out. “Since she’s a minor I think she needs to get checked out at the hospital too. Where’s her mother?” the EMT asked Giuseppe and Ellie’s mom who had hovered over me.
“She’s in the hospital…” Giuseppe said.
“Umm…”
“Look, I’m head of security for her, I can ride with her until her other grandmother can meet us at the hospital.”
“Head of security?” the EMT asked.
My eyes just stared at my house then though as the roof was punched through by a fireman on a ladder truck as the others sprayed water and foam everywhere to put out the flames. I cried what tears were left inside of me as the doors were slammed shut and they took off. “I’m right here with you,” Giuseppe said a moment later from the passenger seat of the ambulance.
I laid on the gurney and cried! My mom had been shot, and now we had no place to live even when she got better!!!
.
THE RIDE TO the hospital seemed like it took forever! My sobs became hiccoughs, and I just wanted to wake up from this horrible nightmare! At the hospital, they unloaded me and had me settled in an ER exam room pretty quickly. Giuseppe came in with me and waited, “How are you holding up?” He asked me.
I shrugged, still breathing with the oxygen mask on.
A doctor came in then and began looking at me. He listened to my lungs and soon had the mask off of my face at least. “I think you’re a really lucky young lady,” he told me. I want to keep you here for another hour just to make sure your oxygen levels stay stable and you don’t have more issues I’m not seeing right now.”
I nodded, having no energy to do anything else. When he was gone, I looked at Giuseppe, “What happened? Why was my house on fire?”
He sighed, “The FBI will be investigating that. My guys had done a walk around the perimeter while we were gone, but I think someone must have snuck in your house and planted some sort of explosive device.”
“A bomb?!?” I choked a few times and took the water he offered.
“Nothing that crude from what I can tell. More of something meant to just catch on fire and spread. The smoke detectors didn’t go off either, so I think they probably disabled them too.”
I looked at him in shock as my dad’s mom came through the door. “I came as soon as I could. Are you okay?!?” she asked.
I felt she was surprisingly concerned given I’d only known her a few days. I shrugged, “I think they’re going to let me out after another hour.”
“What happened? You said you had this in hand?!?” She asked Giuseppe in terse Italian.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, while we were away today, they snuck past the one person I had left to watch their house. I warned you it would be very difficult to watch her here with the limited detail I have.”
“Is this because of her, or her mom?”
“I don’t know… Could be either. Her mom definitely kicked over an anthill with the case she was working on. It could be someone from the other family that wants her out of the way too…”
“What are we going to do?” she asked him.
“Finish getting her checked out, let her see that her grandparents are okay, and then we need to start looking at getting her somewhere safer. She doesn’t have a place to stay here at this point anyway,” he told her.
I thought about interrupting them and letting them know I knew enough Italian to understand them too, but chose to keep silent. ‘Sometimes it’s good to hold a card no one else knows about,’ I thought to myself.
“Care to share what you’re talking about?” I asked. “I’m not a big fan of being treated like a child?”
My grandmother looked at me and said, “I was asking about what happened… We were talking about taking you home with me at the end of the week to Osané. I’m thinking we should take you sooner than that to get you someplace safer.”
I nodded at that, “What about Mom? And my grandparents? Our house?” Tears fell down my face at the reality slamming into me.
“We’ll go see your Mom and your grandparents after a while here. Is there anything else you were supposed to do this week before we left?”
I shrugged, “I was supposed to see my doctors.”
“Which doctors?” She asked
“Doctor Ramirez and Doctor Haskill,” I replied without much enthusiasm.
“Giuseppe, Geneva is outside, see if she can’t set up meetings with them?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” he said.
He left and she came over and held my hand, “I am so glad that you’re okay Allie,” she said. I looked up at her use of my informal name and smiled slightly. “I’ll have some people go through and see what they can salvage from your house when the fire department says it’s safe to do so.”
I nodded, “Thanks… I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
“Insurance will take care of most of the physical things I’m sure,” she told me. “And what it doesn’t I’ll make sure we do everything we can. For now, I’m quite frankly nervous that this happened last night. We don’t know if it was related to your mom’s attack yesterday, or perhaps because of your new position.”
“People would kill me just because I’m a princess now?” I asked. “I never even wanted this?”
She shrugged, “There is a fair amount of fortune and prestige with the throne. I don’t hold a significant amount of power, but there is enough that perhaps someone wants it…”
“Who’s in line after me?”
“Your second cousin Mikael Montalvo,” she answered.
“Would he do this?”
Her blank answer was not even slightly reassuring. “I just wanted to be a normal girl…” I complained and drew my knees up to my chest to hug them.
She put her arms around me and said, “You’ve never been a simple girl, you just didn’t know it. Nothing about this changes who you are!”
I sniffled and nodded as a knock happened on the door. “Up for a visitor?” Giuseppe asked.
I nodded and was practically tackled by Ellie and her mother. “You’re okay, right?” Ellie asked me.
I nodded, “They wanted to keep me for another hour just to make sure…”
“Oh my God, I can’t believe everything that’s happened!” Susanne told me. “If there’s anything we can do Allie…”
“Thanks,” I told her. “For now, I think my grandmother has most of it in hand…”
“I’m, I’m Alexandria’s grandmother Maria,” she told her.
“You’re the Queen, right?” Susanne stuttered.
“Right now, I’m just Alexandria’s grandmother…” she told her.
“Well it’s nice to meet you…” Susanne said. “What are you doing with her now?”
“Good question…” she told her.
Giuseppe came in and said, “We’ve arranged that she can see both of them here before she’s discharged in about an hour.”
“What?” I asked.
“Your doctors,” Grandma said. “After that we’ll go check on your grandparents and your mom.”
“Are they at this hospital?” I asked. “I don’t even know where I’m at.”
“No, this is the Children’s Hospital sweetie,” Susanne told me. “They took your grandparents to the same hospital as you mom.”
“Okay,” I said. I could feel adrenaline draining, but I couldn’t see myself going to sleep anytime soon. Another knock came on the door and a man in a suit entered along with a uniformed police officer.
“Maybe we should make some room here Ellie,” Susanne said to her. She kissed me on my forehead, “If you need anything call me!”
“Umm… what’s your number? My phone is most likely gone forever?”
“Let me write it down… Ellie, we should give her yours obviously too!” she told me.
The two men waited patiently as they left, “Hi, I’m Agent Matthews, and this is Detective Perez,” he said pointing to the man next to him. “Because of everything with your mom and your house we’re going to be working together with this investigation to determine what happened.”
I nodded, “Thank you,” Grandma said next to me.
“Before we begin, you are?”
“Maria Eirene Margarita Andino Alessi, Queen of Osané”
“Ma’am, I’m serious, we need your real name?” The agent said.
“That is her name sir,” I told him. “She’s my grandmother.”
The man looked lost and shocked as he glanced at the detective. “Umm… Okay, give me just a second, I need to make a call.”
The FBI agent left while the detective stayed in, “He’s a little out of his depth I’m afraid,” the detective said with a smile.
We sat there for a few moments before he came back in and looked at the detective, “This case is now an FBI investigation. You’re not needed anymore detective,” he told him.
“Yes, he is,” I said.
“What?”
“He stays, ask your questions,” I told him.
“And who do you think you are, little girl?” he asked.
I sat up taller in bed, pissed off by the jerks few moments in the room. It was clear he was a chauvinistic jerk, in addition to an ass, “I am Princess Alexandria Leonora Alessi.”
“And you can come back when you learn some manners,” Grandma told him.
“You can’t impede in an ongoing investigation; we’ll have you arrested on obstruction of justice charges!”
Giuseppe laughed next to Grandma, “You can try… but they both have diplomatic immunity. Perhaps if you leave the detective here, he can ask questions and he’ll let you know what they say. For now, you are getting out of this room.”
He looked like he was going to argue but the detective said, “Matthews I’ll tell you everything they tell me. Get out of here before you do something you’ll regret. A diplomatic incident doesn’t seem like something the Bureau wants? This girl is a victim not the suspect.”
He huffed like some oversized child and left us alone with the detective. “Sorry about him…” he said. “Look it sounds like there have been way too many things happening in the last twenty-four hours to be coincidences, so I want to ask a few questions. First, Princess?” He looked at me.
“Call me Allie,” I told him.
“Allie, your mom was shot yesterday?”
“Yes,” I felt some more tears in my eyes, “I was at a press conference and some reporter shouted out a question if I knew about it… Her boss said it was because of the transgender client she was representing? He said she died on the steps of the courthouse?”
The detective nodded, “She did.”
“Why?”
“We’re not sure… it’s definitely a hate crime. Whoever shot them used a small caliber rifle at a distance. They got off seven shots before stopping and fleeing.”
“And two of those hit my mom?” I gasped.
“Unfortunately… We’re going to speak with her later when she’s awake to see what she might know, but did she say anything about the case to you?”
I shrugged, “The other day she mentioned it was something about a woman who was fired because she was transgendered? It sounded like Mom was on the right side fighting for the woman’s rights. She wouldn’t say anymore though… Mom wouldn’t talk about cases to me.”
“Have you had any suspicious phone calls or anything?” He asked.
I shook my head, “Not that I know of? Mom and I had a quiet life until a few days ago…”
“That’s when you found out you’re a princess?” He asked with a smile, “My daughter was so jealous.”
“Right now, she can take it… I just want to get out of here and see my mom and my grandparents.”
“Just a few more questions, you were asleep when the fire started?”
I nodded, “I woke up to the smell of smoke. I was just about to try and use my door when Giuseppe barged in. He picked me up and carried me out of the house to safety. Luckily my grandparents were already out by then too…”
“No idea how it started?”
I shook my head, “Sounds like it was intentional though…?”
“It looks that way. Do you have somewhere safe to stay right now?”
I looked towards Grandma who responded, “She’s going to be staying with me at the embassy tonight. We had plans for her to come to Osané for the summer at least. Depending on how things are with her mother we may try to get her there sooner so she can be better protected.”
I looked up at her in fear, realizing she still wanted me to leave Mom behind. “I can’t…”
.
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I'll be posting another chapter or two tomorrow. Thank you to all of you who have pressed the Kudos button or posted a comment! I very much appreciate it! Though I don't have to have the story finished for the contest entry, I'm still trying to get it completely up by the deadline for my own internal goal. Please consider leaving me a comment to help motivate my brain and fingers for my marathon to the finish here! Thanks for reading!
Suddenly Royal Chapter 12 Edited by Carla Ann
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Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Preface
I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there! Since I've procrastinated beginning to post there will be some days I'll throw another chapter up in order to make my goal of having it all completed by the deadline for the contest. I have twelve chapters written and plan on two more for this part of the tale. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 12:
“LET’S TALK TO your mother Allie and see what she thinks before we even think about it,” she told me soothingly.
The detective looked a bit awkward standing there. When I looked up, he told Grandma, “If she is leaving the country you might just let us know. For now, I’m guessing your embassy has enough security. My chief has a couple of officers stationed outside her mom’s room right now. If she’s going to stay somewhere else it’d probably be a good idea to add some more protection there.”
“Do you know who attacked my mom yet? Or who tried to kill me last night?”
The detective shook his head, “The FBI are looking over surveillance from near the courthouse, but so far they haven’t managed to find a picture of the shooter. The FBI is assuming it was the same person last night…”
“They’re assuming? You think it was someone else?” I asked.
He shrugged, “There’s no evidence saying it was the same person, and there’s no evidence saying it wasn’t. Until we know I would never assume anything.”
I nodded, “You’ll find them though, right?”
He smiled, “With as angry as everyone is right now? Yes we’ll find them!” He looked over at Giuseppe, “May I speak with you outside Mr. Russo?”
“Certainly,” he told him.
“I hope you feel better soon Princess,” the detective told me.
I blushed, “Thanks…”
When they were both gone Grandma and I just looked at each other. “Do I have to come with you?” I asked her.
She shook her head, “No, and I think everyone would understand if you decided you wanted to stay to help your mother.”
“But…?” I could always tell when adults were going to add that.
“But, if they are after you it’d be safest for you and everyone else if you came to Osané.”
“I’m still learning how to be a girl; how can I ever be a princess…” I looked at her, “Or a queen! I’ll make a total fool out of myself!”
I started crying more and she hugged me tightly. A knock on the door came and Giuseppe peeked his head in, “Doctor Ramirez is here?”
I wiped my eyes, “Send her in…” I said shakily.
Doctor Ramirez had a concerned look as she entered and saw me. She noticed Grandma beside me, “Hi, I’m Jillian Ramirez,” she told Grandma. “I saw Allie with her mother last week,” she told her.
“Nice to meet you,” she told her, “I’m Maria Alessi.”
‘I can tell when Grandma likes a first impression or not of someone just by her introductions,’ I thought to myself.
“The pleasure is mine, Your Majesty,” she told her. She looked at me and said, “Well I should have known that anyone connected to your mother would be trouble…” she shook her head with a smile. “How is she doing?”
I shrugged, “I’m supposed to go see her after I get out of here? She’s going to make it, but she was still asleep when I was there last night.”
“I’m glad to hear she’s going to recover. What’s going on with you now?”
“Someone set our house on fire last night and tried to kill us,” I said with yet more tears coming out of my eyes.
“I saw something about a house fire on the news, but didn’t watch it closely. That was your house?”
I nodded, “I think we lost everything…”
“Not everything,” Doctor Ramirez said and moved a chair next to my bed. “Everyone is still alive, right?”
I nodded.
“So, you only lost things… trust me those can be replaced.” She squeezed my hand gently, “Tell you what, I don’t think you could possibly have more on your plate than you do right now. How about we talk about everything that’s happened since I saw you before?”
I nodded, looking nervously at Grandma for a moment.
She noticed the look and said, “Why don’t I leave you two to talk, I’ll wait just outside?”
“Thank you, Grandma,” I told her.
When she was gone, Doctor Ramirez asked, “How are you two getting along?”
I shrugged, “Good for her being a complete stranger?”
She nodded, “So tell me what’s happened…”
I spent the next thirty minutes talking with her about everything that had happened. The pressures off of me for my Mom knowing about me, but the crazy amount of stress from finding out I was a princess expected to be a queen someday… For her part Doctor Ramirez was a really good listener for everything.
“Allie I honestly believe you’re holding up better than I would expect you to at this point. It sounds like you are going to be moving over to Osané for the summer at least?”
I shrugged, “Mom wanted me to go before… and it’s not like I have a house to stay in now anyway?”
“I’m sure your other grandparents would take you in?”
I nodded, “Probably, but as much as I love them I don’t think I could take a full summer living with them…”
“Maybe stay with Ellie and her parents?”
I shook my head, “No, as much as I love Ellie dearly, if we were constantly together for an entire summer, we might not be friends anymore…”
She laughed at that, “I had a friend like that growing up. She was my best friend, but if we didn’t have at least a day apart every couple of days we’d start sniping at each other.”
I nodded, “We’d be way too much like the big sister and little sister relationship we have…”
She smiled, “It sounds like you’ve already made a choice about what you need to do?”
“But what about Mom?!?” I whined.
“Well, if I had to guess she’ll be in the hospital at least another week. Probably some therapy afterwards too. If she moves in with your grandparents I’m sure they can help her?”
I shrugged, “I guess…”
“Only you can make that decision though Allie.” She told me.
I nodded as she looked at her watch, “I’m over time and need to get going to my office. Let me pass on my information to your grandmother so we can talk with another therapist that can see you wherever you end up for the summer.”
“I can’t just see you from a distance or something?” I asked.
“I think it’s best that you be seen in person unless it’s a really exceptional circumstance like we had a few years ago,” she told me.
I nodded and sat up, “Thank you,” I told her.
“You’re very welcome. Tell your mom to give me a call when she gets out of the hospital!”
With that she was gone and Grandma came in with Doctor Haskill along with a Hispanic woman in a doctor’s coat.
“Hi Doctor Haskill,” I said to him.
“How are you doing Allie?” He asked.
I shrugged, “Can we just not ask that question? My shrink just asked all of that?”
He laughed, “I bet she did. Doctor Ramirez always liked to talk!”
I nodded.
“Allie this is Doctor Canales, she’s the endocrinologist that I suggested to your mom you should work with.”
“Hi, nice to meet you,” I told her as the two of them found seats on one side of my bed with some chairs they’d brought in. Grandma sat back down in the one she’d been sitting in.
“So Doctor Haskill was just informing me of everything going on with you,” Doctor Canales said, “I’m so sorry you’ve had a rough couple days here!”
“Umm… thanks,” I said.
“How are you doing with your breathing now?” Doctor Haskill asked. “The physician who saw you thought you were doing okay?”
I shrugged, “I’m not coughing as much now?”
“If you keep coughing over the next couple of days please get back in for a check-up!” he told me.
I nodded. “I will…”
“Gentlemen I appreciate you coming out here to see Alexandria. It’s imperative that we keep this discreet, but I think we need to get her treatments at least started before considering taking her overseas?”
My stomach knotted a bit at that. “Normally I wouldn’t want to even discuss this without her mom here,” Doctor Haskill said, “But given her condition and everything going on I can understand that she can’t be here. I’ll be doing my best to confirm with her before we order any treatment officially. If she’s still incapacitated in a couple days we can look at deferring the big decisions to you or her other grandparents?”
Grandma looked like she was a bit annoyed with that, but nodded. “Very well, I understand and agree that Karen should be able to make the decisions for her there. In the meantime, what can you get set up for the prescription, and she can just approve?”
Doctor Canales pulled a small laptop out and logged in. “Well I’ve looked over the data that Doctor Haskill’s lab sent over. Allie you have a very low testosterone level that seems to indicate just the beginnings of a male puberty. For a fifteen-year-old it is low, but it’s not unheard of. It seems likely that you should be starting to see that ramp up in production very soon if left to time.”
I blanched, “I don’t want to be a boy…”
She smiled at me, “That’s what Doctor Haskill said. I also checked with Doctor Ramirez and he thinks that his initial diagnosis of gender dysphoria will probably be confirmed over time. Per their suggestions I’m willing to put you on spironolactone for the next six to twelve months while we determine a firm diagnosis.”
“What does that do?” Grandma asked.
“It blocks testosterone,” I said with a smile.
“Not surprised you’ve done your homework here,” she smiled at me. “Allie is essentially correct here. Spironolactone will essentially put a stop to puberty for her and block testosterone production. It’ll give us the time we need to determine if the best course is to put her on an estrogen-based therapy or not.”
“With that therapy she would develop as a natural looking young woman?” Grandma asked.
“Yes, she would. Especially since she is so early in puberty I believe she’d develop normally as a young woman.” She looked at me, “Spironolactone does have some minor side-effects you need to know about. One is that you’re probably going to have to urinate a lot more. You definitely will need to drink more to stay hydrated, at least initially as you start it. Your body will most likely adjust and you won’t notice it with time.”
I nodded, “If that’s all, I’m happy to take it!” I had tears in my eyes thinking of avoiding puberty as a boy.
“You also need to know it’ll at least temporarily keep you from growing more… Looking at your chart you’re not exactly a tall kid… this may keep you from growing to whatever your natural height would be?”
I shrugged, “I’m taller than my mom already, that’s all I care about. When can I start?”
She laughed, “Well like Doctor Haskill said, we want your mom to sign off on this. I’m guessing she’ll be fine with it, but you are a minor and from what I understand the emergency paperwork only lists your other grandparents as backups. I believe they have their own health concerns right now?”
I nodded and noticed that Grandma looked a bit hurt by that. “Don’t worry, Mom will probably get that fixed I would think soon?”
She nodded, “How do we get you her mother's authorization?”
“I’ll try and stop by this afternoon,” Doctor Canales said. “If she’s alert and lucid I’ll ask her then. If not, it may be a day or two? It sounded like her injury was pretty serious…”
“Okay, thank you,” Grandma told them. “Please remember the NDAs that we are asking for you to sign.”
“You realize everything is already covered by the patient's privacy laws here, correct?” Doctor Haskill asked.
“I do, but you also have to understand the enormous risk we are running if someone discovers her secret here.”
He nodded, “Don’t worry, you won’t hear about it from our offices. Allie, I hope you get some rest. Your mom will be fine! Tell her I said ‘hi’ please.”
I nodded, “Thanks for coming to see me.”
“You’re welcome, stay out of this hospital though!” he smiled.
“Okay, let’s see about getting you out here now,” Grandma said once they were gone.
“Please!” I replied.
.
IT TOOK ANOTHER hour for the paperwork to be signed and I was released to get out of there. I was still wearing the patient wristband as I was pushed in a wheelchair out to Grandma’s limo. Fortunately Geneva was like the most awesome person ever, having managed to at least get me a pair of yoga pants, a sports bra, and a comfy shirt to wear out of there. I was especially grateful as Giuseppe helped me into Grandma’s limo and camera flashes and shutters were going nuts!
When the door closed and the driver started pushing his way through photographers, I looked at Grandma, “Those are going to be everywhere, huh?”
She nodded, “I thought about having her bring a nicer set of clothes, but honestly right now it was expected you wouldn’t look like you were dressed up.”
I looked down at my clothes and squirmed, “Those are going to be terrible pictures.”
She grabbed my hand and squeezed, “It’s going to take a little while to get to the hospital your mom is in, why don’t you close your eyes and see if you can take a nap?”
I squirmed in the seat for a moment and then took her advice to take a nap!
.
IT WAS SOMETIME later that I was roused by Grandma, “Allie we’re here,” she told me.
“Huh?” I thought and groggily opened my eyes up. I was so tired that I really just wanted to go to bed!
Needing to see that Grandma Becky and Grandpa were okay was more important though and I felt myself waking up a little bit. Grandma and Giuseppe led me out of the limo and past the gawkers into the hospital. At the reception desk directions were given to Grandpa’s room and Mom’s current room.
“Let’s check in on your grandparents first,” she told me, “I’m sure you won’t want to leave your mom as quickly…”
I nodded and walked alongside her as we navigated the hallways and elevator. We found ourselves at the door of a room that I knocked on. The TV was on and Grandpa was sitting up on the bed, while Grandma sat in the chair. I couldn’t help but run over and hug Grandpa, “Grandpa!!!” I began crying again.
“Shh… it’s okay Allie,” he told me as he hugged me. He began coughing a moment later and I hugged Grandma too.
Just as I was about to say something, I realized they were watching the news and I watched footage of our house on fire. I choked back another sob and listened to the news anchor.
“We lead this morning’s news with a bizarre story surrounding the newly announced princess and named successor to the throne of Osané, a small island nation in the Mediterranean. Just yesterday young Princess Alexandria was being formally introduced at a news conference. Apparently she has been raised in the United States unaware of her royal status. Reports of a shooting at the Federal Courthouse had made it to reporters at the end of the conference, and in a tragic twist the princesses’ mother was one of two victims. While the other victim tragically died, her mother was rushed to a hospital, but fortunately after surgery is expected to survive.”
I felt my tears streaming faster then as my gut felt like it had been stabbed with a knife.
“Princess Alexandria had returned to her home with her grandparents, and unfortunately there a fire broke out in her house early this morning. She was treated and released not long ago, while her grandfather remains hospitalized in stable condition. Police have not named a cause for the fire, but an anonymous source within the fire department said the preliminary evidence suggest the cause to be arson.”
I took a deep breath and tried not to collapse while hearing about everything.
“Our prayers go out to the princess and her family! The police are currently seeking this man,” they showed a picture, “for questioning in connection to the courthouse shooting yesterday. If you have any information please call…”
Grandma Maria turned off the TV and said, “I’m sorry you saw that Allie.”
I shrugged, “It sounds like they at least might know who shot Mom?”
Grandpa got my attention, “How are you doing? The paramedics said they took you to get evaluated for smoke inhalation too?”
I nodded, “I’m okay, I’m coughing every now and then, but not too bad. You?”
“Smoke and I burned my leg,” he told me. “Not too bad though they say,” he added when I gasped.
“Grandma, you’re okay?” I asked.
She nodded, “Giuseppe walked by our room on the way to you and alerted us. Your grandfather got me out while Giuseppe went for you.”
“No smoke problems?” I was kind of surprised.
She shook her head, “I coughed a bit, but I somehow didn’t get as much as you two must have.”
“I’m glad…”
“So, have you been up to see your mom yet?” Grandma asked.
“Not yet, has she woken up?”
“They were getting ready to try and wake her up last time I was up there. Go see her, don’t worry about us!” she told me.
I hugged her tightly, then Grandpa, and said, “I love you both.”
With that I turned and walked out of the room. “How do we get there?” I asked Giuseppe who had stayed outside the room.
“This way, Your Highness,” he told me.
A passing nurse stopped in her tracks and turned to look at me. I blushed but tried to ignore the stare I could feel on my backside. I recognized the hallways as we approached the ICU and a nurse stopped us.
“I’m sorry, you have to be fifteen or older to visit patients here.”
I sighed and looked at my wrist, “I am fifteen, if you don’t believe me look at the band I got this morning at the children’s hospital.”
She stared at me but grabbed my wrist. “Oh… You’re here to see who?”
“My mom, Karen Nelson,” I tried to stay polite. I was so tired though and stressed I really just felt like lashing out.
“Oh, in that case you came at a good time. She woke up not long ago!”
“So I can see her?”
“Come on,” she said, “It’ll only be one at a time right now though,” she told Grandma.
“That’s fine,” Grandma said, “We’ll wait for you Allie.”
We walked further in, “What were you in the hospital for this morning?”
“Our house caught fire last night,” I told her. “I breathed some smoke so they had to check my lungs.”
“Oh my…” she said in shock as she held open the door for me.
Mom was sitting up on her bed covered in bandages on her shoulder and down. She’d been shot once in her arm, and once in her shoulder on that side. Her hair was pulled back, and she looked terribly pale compared to normal. IVs ran into her arms, but at least the ventilator was gone.
“Mommy!” I found myself saying and rushed to gently hug her. “I love you!”
“Allie, I love you too!” she said quietly.
I found my eyes were filled with tears for a long time before I stood up and looked at her. She caught sight of my wristband.
“What were you in the hospital for?” She asked. Her voice was raspy, and made me nervous.
I looked at her and knew lying wasn’t worth it. “I’m guessing you haven’t turned on the TV?”
“I just woke up a little bit ago,” she told me. “What should I have seen on TV?”
I felt more tears, “Someone burned down our house last night…”
“What?!?” A lot of devices began beeping quickly right then as her heart rate went racing and I grabbed her hand.
*******************************************************************************
Thank you to all of you have clicked the kudos button and/or left a comment! I'm hoping to have the next chapter or two done by tomorrow. I got distracted for much of this day so I'm not where I planned to be! Really want the full thing up by the end of the contest time, but I know the entry is valid without that. Thanks for reading and joining me!
Suddenly Royal Chapter 13 and Epilogue Edited by Carla Ann
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Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!
Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Chapter 13:
“MOM YOU HAVE to calm down…” I told her instinctively.
“What happened?” she asked me.
Her breathing and heart rate started to come down a little, and I decided it was better just to tell her what happened. “We got home from the hospital last night and we all went to bed. The next thing I knew someone was shouting and I could smell smoke. I was just trying to figure out if the hallway was safe to open the door to when Giuseppe opened it and carried me out.”
“Are Grandma and Grandpa okay?”
“Grandpa is here so they can keep an eye on him through this afternoon from smoke, and a small burn he got, Grandma was fine…”
“And you?”
“I breathed in enough of the smoke they wanted to check me out.”
Mom was crying, “But you’re okay though?”
“I’m fine… I’m more worried about you right now.”
“I’m not going to lie to you and say I’m feeling great right now,” she told me.
“You’re going to be okay though, right?”
“The doctors got everything sewn up. My shoulder has enough damage that I’m going to have to have physical therapy for a few months. They figure that’ll help me get as much back to normal as I can.”
I started crying again then, “Mom I was so scared I would lose you!!!”
.
I MUST HAVE cried myself to sleep leaning against her bed, because the next thing I
knew was someone was shaking my shoulder, “Sweetie, you need to wake up.”
I sat up and realized a nurse was getting my attention.
“Huh?”
“You’ve had a long night it sounds like; we need to let your mom rest for a bit. You can come back and see her again before we close tonight. I think you should go get some rest though,” she said kindly.
I shook my head, “I can’t leave her…”
The nurse was a little younger than my mom and sighed, “She’ll be okay sweetie, she’s out of the woods at this point now that she’s awake. Go get some rest – you both need it.”
I frowned but stood up and whispered, “I’ll see you later,” to my mom who was sleeping too, “I love you!”
I followed the nurse out to where I found Grandma and Giuseppe talking with a doctor.
“Oh, here she is,” Grandma said, “Allie this is your mother's doctor, Doctor Trinidad.”
“Hi, nice to meet you,” I said. “She is going to be alright, right?”
“Nice to meet you too. Yes, barring anything unexpected like an infection, she’s out of the woods right now. We’re going to keep an eye on her here in the ICU for another day and we’ll get her moved to a regular room.”
“When will she be able to go home?” I asked.
“It’s going to be at least a few days after we move her to a regular room. Your mom was fortunate that nothing vital was hit, but there was still a lot of damage to her shoulder and muscles in her arm. It’s unfortunately not a quick road to being back to normal. I would guess that in about six months she should be as recovered as she can be with good physical therapy.”
“Good as can be?” I asked.
He sighed, “She’s going to be able to lift and move her arm, but she most likely won’t have the full range of motion she did before. She may not be able to lift as much with that arm as before because of the connection to her shoulder. But the important thing is she’s alive and will get better,” he told me.
“Thank you,” I told him.
The nurse who had kicked me out walked up to us then and said to Grandma, “You should get this little girl somewhere she can get a nap in. She’s so tired she fell asleep leaning on her mom’s bed.”
“I…”
“No, she’s right, we should get you somewhere you can get some sleep. We’ll come back here before visiting hours end Alexandria,” Grandma decreed.
I sighed, but nodded, “Yes ma’am…”
Giuseppe led us outside to where the limo had pulled up. Reporters were swarming about the car and came up to me. “Are you okay Princess?” followed by, “How’s your mom?” and a billion other questions just seemed to be shouted left and right before we got into the limo.
We had made it just a block when Grandma said, “Perhaps we should think about a statement?”
I shrugged, “Would that get them to go away?” I asked.
“Probably not, but it might help a little?”
“Okay…” I said. “I don’t know what you do though…”
She had her phone on speaker and we were soon talking to Geneva together. A quick update that my mom was okay, my grandpa was okay, I was okay, and the authorities were investigating everything basically summed it all up for the statement. We finished giving her the guidelines as the limo pulled into the embassy drive. I stumbled a bit as I stood up with the fatigue of everything hitting me. I was led through the embassy to a set of rooms that were apparently considered the ‘Queen’s Suite.’ Others used the rooms when she wasn’t here, but on the rare visits she made there was a large bedroom for her, a couple of smaller guest bedrooms, a sitting area, and a small dining area. A staff member had laid out some pajamas for me on one of the guest beds.
“Allie, get some sleep and then we’ll go back and check on your mom again, okay?” Grandma told me.
I nodded meekly and closed the door behind me. The pajamas were a set made of red satin and quite soft when I put them on. I had barely pulled the covers up to my face when I was out like a light.
.
SOMETIME LATER I was woken up by a knock on the door. “Your Highness, it’s time to get up,” someone called from the other side.
It took me a few moments to collect myself and roll off of the comfortable bed. I was still so tired! I felt groggy and had a massive headache too. I stumbled over to the door and discovered Geneva.
“I’m up…” I said, “What time is it?”
“It’s about four,” she told me. “I have an outfit here, and there’s shower supplies in the bathroom off of your room. If you’ll get showered we’ll get you fed and back to your mom for a bit?”
I nodded, “Do you have any Advil?” I felt the wrist band still on my wrist, “and something to cut this?”
“I’ll have some for you when you’re done with your shower?”
“Thanks,” I told her. I took the outfit that hung on the hangar and stumbled my way to the bathroom. I hung it up without even taking a look at it. I pulled off the comfortable pajamas and set them neatly on the counter of the bathroom. It was a bit nicer than a hotel room, but nothing really that special. I assumed Grandma’s was probably nicer, but didn’t really care much. As I eased under the water, it felt amazing! I hadn’t even thought to shower in the hospital earlier before changing, and because of that my hair and skin still smelled like smoke.
Some shampoo and conditioner that were from a more upscale brand were sitting on the shelf. I took the time to lather both into my hair and hoped it would help with the smoke smell. With my hair dripping around my face, I grabbed the bodywash provided, though I didn’t recognize the container. It looked to be berry scented and a quick smell told me I liked it. I used it on my body and slowly but surely felt like I was waking up a bit.
I dried myself and walked to the sink. On top someone had thoughtfully left me a brush, a comb, and some other toiletries. They’d even thoughtfully set out a blow dryer there too! I didn’t want to miss anytime with Mom if I could help it, so I hurried to get ready as quickly as I could. Digging through the outfit I hoped they’d provided me with something comfortable like jeans, or leggings, and a casual shirt… No such luck unfortunately!
Instead I found a ruffled and tiered navy-blue skirt with little flowers all over it that fell a bit above my knee. It was admittedly cute, but still would have preferred comfort right then! I found a short sleeved white blouse that had been paired with it. Panties, a gaff, and a bra were also included and I soon had myself dressed. As I walked to the door, I thought about all of the things that had to have been lost in the fire and was depressed by it. I had really liked my new bear and doll… Yes, they were childish, but I’d never been allowed to really be a little girl and liked the idea of having them at least in my room. Past school projects and… “Oh my God my clarinet!!!!” I thought with tears truly coming down then. Mom had just bought the new one for me for nearly making the state band last year!
I stopped at the door for a moment and turned around to find some tissues. When I just about had myself together there was a knock on the door. “Your Highness, are you dressed?”
“Just a second!” I sniffled out. I took a deep breath and exited the room to find Geneva and Grandma waiting.
“You okay sweetie?” Grandma asked.
I shook my head, “Not really, everything’s just starting to really hit me about what we lost in the fire…”
“Anything in particular?” Grandma asked, taking my hand and leading me to the small dining area.
I sighed, “Little things like a bear and a doll mom bought for me the other day are kind of sad to lose… but bigger things like my clarinet mom just bought for me – it was a really nice one… My phone and computer are obvious things… All of the clothes you had just bought me are gone… Pictures, keepsakes, and memories Mom and I had… I doubt I can even list it all?”
She nodded, “I understand that sweetie. Actually, since you mention it, I had someone go pick up some things for you earlier. We’ll need to wait on more outfits – to be quite honest Tyler thinks it as a personal insult that someone just destroyed the beautiful wardrobe he created!”
I giggled at that, “That sounds like him. This outfit is nice though?”
“It was the best he could do on the spur of the moment he said. He’ll be working on replacing everything tomorrow since he has your measurements.”
“Can you ask him to include some casual clothes?” I asked.
She gave me a look, “I’ll see what he can do, but as a princess you really aren’t going to be able to do casual much now.”
That sent my spirits tumbling further for a moment before Geneva sat three wrapped packages on the table. She placed a small cup with two Advil down too and cut my wristband for me. I swallowed the pills with a glass of water in front of me before asking, “What’s this?” Pointing to the packages.
“Open them and find out,” she told me with a smile.
The first was a smaller box and I squealed when I saw it was the latest iPhone that was two years newer than the phone I’d just lost! “Thank you!” I told her. I noticed the box was opened already, “Is this already setup or something?”
“Yes it is, our security personnel set everything up for you with that.”
“Security?”
“Allie you are probably rarely going to have a reason to be making any decisions with classified information in our government – parliament controls most of it – but you’re still someone that would be worth eavesdropping on.”
“So, this is like modified?”
“Only slightly,” she told me.
I nodded and said, “Thanks,” again. ‘I wonder if that means they can look at it though…’
I opened the second box that was a bit bigger and found a cute purse. Inside was a wallet with… “Grandma I can’t keep taking…”
She laughed, “You’re not taking anything. You’re the only legitimate heir to the Alessi fortune. Keep in mind that the family would be considered quite wealthy even without the crown involved.”
I sighed, “Thanks…” I counted about five-hundred dollars inside that wallet and felt wrong to have it. I saw some makeup and other typical purse fillers like tampons and pads were inside already too. I felt more insecure knowing I would never need those. I shook it off though and turned my focus back to the last package.
I opened the paper up to reveal white rectangular box that contained a new MacBook Pro. “Wow, thanks Grandma!” I told her.
“You’re welcome sweetheart. Now you won’t be able to do anything with the computer right now, but the phone should be charged and will work. It has an Osané number attached to it, but it’ll also forward calls and texts from your old phone number too.”
“Wow… that’s great!” I said. I used FaceTime with Ellie all the time, so having a new iPhone and Mac would save a lot of international phone minutes!
“Now, let’s go ahead and eat something, and we’ll get going,” she told me.
We had a quick, but tasty, dinner of roast chicken and some asparagus. “I wish my mom could have some of this…” I said.
“Probably not for at least another day or so if I had to guess,” Geneva told me. “They probably will keep her on a clear diet for a day or so.”
That made me frown, but I nodded. I ran to my bedroom and left the computer and turned on my iPhone and placed it inside my purse. I used the restroom and checked my appearance before Grandma, Giuseppe, and I hopped into one of their black SUVs to go to the hospital. Annoyingly it still had flags on the front, but at least it wasn’t as conspicuous as the limo!
I used the time on the way to the hospital to get into my new phone. I programmed my own password on it and put in my Apple ID info to get everything pretty much pulled back up. All of my contacts were showing up and I sent Ellie a quick message that I had a phone again. Right about then though a hundred messages flew into my phone from people I barely knew asking about Mom and this girl… I decided to ignore most of those and put my phone back into my purse when we arrived at the hospital.
We made it up to the ICU where mom was about an hour before the end of visiting hours. I discovered Grandma and Grandpa were in the room and a nurse wouldn’t allow more people in there. The nurse was standing fast on that, so I decided to see if we could work around her.
I saw one of the doctors I recognized sitting down behind a desk, “Doctor?”
He looked up, “Can I help you?”
“Hi, I’m Alexandria, my mom is in that room over there?”
“Listen if they’re not letting you in because you’re too young…”
I laughed, “They’ve tried that twice now. I’m actually fifteen, I know I don’t look it… No, I was wondering if there was any way my grandmother here and I could go ahead into my mom’s room. I know she’s got my other grandparents in there but it’s really important that all of us be able to talk? She was shot yesterday and our house burned down with me and my grandparents in it last night…”
“Oh… I remember hearing that… The nurses might take my head off?”
“I know they run things… but can you help out?”
“Well your mom seems to be stable. I’ll allow it, but if anything goes wrong you are out of there immediately.”
“Thank you, sir!” I told him with a smile.
He escorted Grandma and I into the room and a nurse glared at him. “She can’t have this many visitors Doctor, I already told her she had to get out.”
“I’m overriding you right now. Finish up and get out of here,” he told her. “Sometimes rules are meant to be bent a little bit. They’ve had a rough twenty-four hours and need to discuss some things.”
As they both left, I gave Grandma, Grandpa, and mom hugs. She was sitting up in bed drinking from a cup with a straw on it.
“Masterfully played,” Grandma told me as she got to the side of everyone.
I blushed.
“How’d you manage that?” Mom asked. “They didn’t even want to let both of your grandparents in here at once?”
“I’m a Princess, that’s all I need?”
“Sweetie you can’t play that card…” Mom tried to say.
“Don’t worry Karen, she didn’t. I would say more the normal little girl princess type card is the one she played. The ‘sometimes you catch more flies with honey,’ type approach.”
Mom nodded, “So I think we’ve all had a busy day. Did you get some rest too?”
I nodded and grabbed her hand to hold, “I was out for a few hours at the embassy and then got a chance to shower and eat.”
“Maria, thank you for taking care of her,” Mom told her.
“It’s my pleasure Karen,” she told her. “Did Allie’s doctor happen to come by today to talk to you?”
“Yes he did… I’m not sure I should be making decisions for her with as many medications I’m on, but I gave the okay. He said there would be a prescription available at our normal pharmacy. Not sure how you’ll pick that up though since she doesn’t have an ID and I’m not with you…”
“I’m sure my staff can figure that out for us…” she told her. “How are you two doing?” she asked Grandma Becky and Grandpa.
“He’s got a small burn on his leg, but they determined nothing bad enough to need grafts. We both seem to be fine from the smoke now. We figured we’ll head back to our house soon.”
“Well before you all leave, I think we need to talk about what to do with Allie right now,” Mom said. She sounded tired as she spoke and I could tell she was in pain.
“Mom I know I’ll need to stay and help you,” I told her.
She shook her head, “Allie, my parents can help me out as much as you can. Without a house to live in right now, and with me out of action, you’re going to need to go somewhere. We’d already planned on you going to Osané for the summer. Considering all that’s happened, I think it’s bes that you go sooner than later,” she told me.
“But…”
She held her hand up in a way I’d grown up knowing meant ‘zip it.’ “Allie you can’t do much for me right now, and in all honesty I’m not sure that whoever set that fire isn’t going to want to make another attempt at you.”
“Wait, you think that was an attempt against me?” I asked.
Grandma nodded, “It’s looking that way, according to the investigators talking to our staff.”
“But…” I stuttered, “I’m just…”
Mom squeezed my hand, “You’re just the Princess of a country now, who is set to be a future Queen. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that someone would try something. They can protect you a lot better over there than we can here,” she told me.
I felt tears stinging my eyes and looked at Grandma Becky and Grandpa who were both nodding, “Allie we love you, and we would take you home with us if you really feel like you don’t want to go – but I think they’re right. You need to go.”
“But I don’t want to leave you…” I cried and leaned onto Mom’s bed.
“I know sweetie,” Mom said. “But I promise you I’ll be over as soon as they let me travel. The firm is paying for all of my medical care and going to give me some time off to heal. In four to six weeks I’ll come over and stay with you there.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” Mom told me.
“Excuse me, but visiting hours are over,” a different nurse said.
“I love you Mom,” I told her and gave her a gentle hug.
“Love you too Princess,” she told me and kissed my head.
“We’ll come by and see her in the morning before we fly out Allie,” Grandma told me on the way down the elevator. We walked with Grandma and Grandpa to our car and ended up giving them a lift to our house to get their car, which was still parked in the driveway. I tried not to look at the charred walls and the caution tape that now surrounded it. From what I could see the second floor and the roof had collapsed. The fading light of the evening revealed a crumbling front brick section and a destroyed home.
I hugged my grandparents and watched as they made sure their car still ran. When they pulled out from the driveway we took off for the embassy.
As we drove away from my house, I couldn’t help but cry more. I felt like my life had erupted in flames and burned down just like our house.
.
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Epilogue
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THE NEXT MORNING everyone moved at a frenetic pace as Tyler showed up with two suitcases worth of outfits, and a couple wardrobe boxes, that were to be placed in the cargo area of the jet we were flying in. His displeasure at having to ‘recreate greatness’ was a bit grating to me! One of the many shocking conversations I had that morning was learning that the queen had her own private Gulfstream jet to fly in. The plane had a range of 7,500 miles so we would take off and have a straight flight of about nine hours to get to Osané.
While I was getting dressed in the new outfit, I had the TV turned on and caught the local news talking about Mom.
‘Two days ago, attorney Karen Nelson was appearing at the Federal Courthouse with her client, Jenny Sanson, to appear in a discrimination lawsuit against her former company. On their way inside the courthouse, a sniper opened fire instantly killing Jenny, and injuring Nelson. We are happy to say that the FBI have apprehended a suspect, fifty-eight-year-old Jim Anderson.’
They cut to a screen of Agent Matthews in front of an FBI Background, ‘Working hard with local law enforcement we were able to obtain video evidence that Anderson entered the building we know the shooting occurred from, with a box concealing a compact rifle. We discovered that rifle at his house last night and preliminary ballistics from our lab show that the rifling patterns match the bullets shot. Anderson has refused questioning, but a search of his background indicates he used to work at Sanson’s former workplace. There is believed to be some bad blood between the two, but we are still investigating if there are other accomplices. We encourage anyone…’
Knowing that they had caught Mom’s attacker made me feel better for a moment, before I figured out that they didn’t mention our house fire – and he didn’t seem to be the kind of person who could pull that attack off.
‘Were they really after me?’ I thought nervously on the way to the hospital to say goodbye to Mom. ‘That doesn’t sound like someone who would come after our house…’
It was just before noon when I worriedly walked up to her room with Grandma and found my other grandparents waiting outside. Grandma Becky gave me a hug, “We just came to drop off some stuff to your mom. We’ll be back to check on her again later.”
“So, this is goodbye?” I asked sadly.
Grandpa wrapped me in a big hug, “Not a goodbye kiddo, it’s a ‘see you later.’”
I felt tears on my face and hugged him and Grandma Becky tightly, “I love you two,” I told them.
“We love you too sweetie,” Grandma Becky told me. “Your mom’s awake and waiting for you. We’ll see you when you get back after the summer.”
They left and I couldn’t help but ask ‘but what if I can’t come back…?’ in my head.
I tried to wipe tears from my eyes before I walked inside Mom’s room, to be strong for her. They were still damp though as I found her sitting up in bed with her iPad in hand. “Good timing, did you see your grandparents?” She asked me as I came over and hugged her tightly.
“Yes, we said goodbye before they left,” I told her.
I asked about how she was feeling, and talked with her about mostly nothing for an hour before Grandma said, “Allie, we need to get going to the airport?”
“Just a minute,” I told her.
As she left Mom said, “Come to the other side of the bed here.”
I looked where she pointed at a large gift bag, “What’s that?”
“Something from your grandparents and me to take with you,” she told me.
I opened the bag and was greeted first with a cute brown teddy bear. I squeezed it tightly, “Thanks,” I told her.
“Keep going, it’s not the only thing in there.”
Looking inside I asked, “How…?”
There was a doll identical to what we had bought the other day inside. I pulled it out and smiled at her face through the box. “I had an e-receipt and sent a copy to your grandmother. They were waiting at the doors when they opened this morning.”
I hugged Mom tightly, “Thank you…”
“I know you’re too old for such toys, but I hated to think that the day after you finally had your first doll it was burned up in a fire. And…” she stopped to breathe, clearly as emotional as I was, “I wanted you to have a teddy bear to hug since I can’t be there.”
With that said, tears streamed down my face for several minutes as I hugged her. She eventually gave me a tight squeeze and pushed me to arm’s length. “Now, behave for your Grandma, like she said you’ve got to go see Osané. I’ll come over as soon as the doctors allow it, okay?”
I nodded and hugged her again, “I love you Mom.”
Finally, in the limo, we rode to the airport. I ignored my phone and chose to pull my doll out of the packaging and found myself cuddling her in one arm and my bear in the other. It was a good hour to get to the airport through traffic, but as we closed in Grandma said, “There may be some cameras at the airport, maybe put those back in the bag?”
I sighed, but nodded. I chose to leave the doll out of the box though and figured I’d probably hold onto her during the long flight ahead of us. As the limo pulled to a stop right outside of a hangar, I had to admit this was a better way to not have to deal with all of the security and everything! I carried the bag out of the limo and was nearly knocked over as Ellie came from nowhere and hugged me.
“Ellie!!!” I said and hugged her back.
“You didn’t think I’d let you go without saying goodbye, right?” She asked me a moment later.
“I figured it was more I wouldn’t be able to,” I told her.
“So, you’re off for the summer, right?”
I shrugged, “That’s supposed to be the plan,” I told her.
“Well I’ll see you soon,” she told me, “I promise!”
I hugged her, “Thanks sis,” I told her.
She smiled, “I got you something.”
She held her hand out to her mom who brought a small gift bag. Inside was a stuffed tiger – our high school’s mascot. “Thank you!” I told her with a smile.
“Well you never had a good stuffed animal collection like you should have, but also I figured once a tiger, always a tiger?” She told me with a smile.
I hugged her again, “I’m going to miss you, thanks Ellie!”
Her mom Susanne insisted on a hug too and said, “I’ll make sure to check on your mom a few times a week for you.”
I smiled at her, “Thanks!”
I put the tiger in the bag to be safe for any cameras, like Grandma asked, and stepped up the steps sticking out of the door of the aircraft. I remembered watching some show once about really rich people’s private jets… I couldn’t believe I was actually on one! The plane was a small jet with only about twelve large seats spread about the four compartments. I was directed to a seat across from my grandmother and could see the expensive light-colored leather had the Alessi family crest imprinted on it.
A crew member told me to put my bag against the bulkhead out of the way before going over safety information in French. A pamphlet was available that I looked at out of curiosity and learned this was a Gulfstream G700ER. Once we were in the air, I was surprised to see we were cruising at 49,000 feet. It was a wider view of the world than I had seen from my other plane flights in the past, and you could see the curvature of the earth a bit!
I explored the plane and learned there was an actual bedroom with a bed and a couch inside, a couple office-like areas, a full kitchen for a galley, and the bathroom was pretty nice too! It was a little odd that at the back of the bathroom was the cargo area where I could see our bags and the wardrobe boxes from Tyler.
Grandma and I enjoyed a really great dinner with Giuseppe and Geneva, before I found myself cuddling my new doll. “What’s her name?” Geneva asked me.
I'd been trying to decide about that for a while during the flight. Suddenly I knew and said, “Jenny… in honor of my mom’s client that was killed…”
I thought I saw a tear in her eye then when she smiled, “That’s a good name!”
At some point I fell asleep on the couch, because the next thing I knew I was being nudged awake by Grandma, “We’re coming into Osané now, I thought you might want to see your country from the air?”
‘My country…?’ I thought to myself.
The pilot made a big circle of the island that wasn’t huge, but I knew nearly a million people lived there. I couldn’t help but note I was terrified of this trip and hugged Jenny tightly as I thought about all that was to come here. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a princess, but it looked like I was going to be one here no matter what. ‘Maybe I can do some cool things here?’ I thought to myself, ‘Grandma mentioned there’s a symphony?’ I looked at the beaches and thought, 'Ellie would love to be here on the beaches...' I could just hear her talking about some boy she spotted that she would crush on.
As the runway drew closer, I took a deep breath and wondered what the future would hold for me now as Princess Alexandria Leonora Alessi.
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Fin Livre 1
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************************************************************************************* Thank you all for joining me on this journey! This is one of the quickest writing projects I've ever worked on, and it's been fun to put out a novel length work in less than a month since May 9th when I started this! (43k words!) I want to make sure I thank Carla Ann for being willing to help me out with editing on this! She did this last section today so we could get through to the finish! Thanks also to Erin for the contest that inspired this quick project, I haven't been able to get myself motivated to write here in a while - it was nice to have some inspiration!
So please let me know what you think! Leave a comment/a kudo and I hope you will please consider voting for this when Erin opens that up! I think it's obvious I've left an opening to continue this, and I hope to start working on a sequel in short order. This started off being something I intended on closing off, but I think there's more of Allie's story to tell! I hope you'll join me when I can continue it!