Mi Princesa

Part Two - Chapter Eight: First Royal Christmas

Fernando took a deep breath as he helped his wife from the car, he was surprised how quickly Christmas had come around this year; the Christmas festival had been a hit and would definitely be repeated next year.

Vanessa looked beautiful in her white and brown sheath V-neck 3/4-length sleeves knee-length dress paired with black heels, Fernando knew that they all had a part to play and this was his first royal Christmas; he wasn’t sure what to make of the occasion.

“Relax,” Vanessa teased softly kissing Fernando’s cheek, they walked towards the chapel where the royal Christmas service that they were attending.

Fernando had been a little nervous about the idea of not having Nora or Bojan with them but he knew that it was for the best; they were still a little young to be attending a church service.

“You look beautiful,” Fernando whispered sticking close to his wife, he spotted several royals that he had only seen at their wedding and he knew it was going to take some getting used to.

Fernando felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck, he was used to people watching them but this felt different; he peeked back spotting a woman staring right at him and Vanessa and it made him nervous.

Vanessa didn’t seem to notice the woman stood a bit away from them staring, she was clearly a royal and Fernando couldn’t place how he knew her; he was sure she hadn’t been at their wedding and yet she looked familiar.

“Are you okay?” Vanessa asked looking at Fernando as they walked into the church, she was going to keep an eye on him since she didn’t want him over doing it today with everything that was going on.

Fernando nodded his head and smiled at Vanessa, he wasn’t going to cause any problems right now and he hoped that they were going to be okay.

***

The service was over before the royal couple knew it and Fernando felt a little relieved that he could relax a little before dinner that night; they had decided to cancel the usual main dinner in favor of spending the rest of the day with the children.

Vanessa would still have to travel to the palace to do the Queen’s speech but that would be her last engagement for the day before she spent the rest with her family.

Fernando watched his wife from a distance, she seemed calm as she spoke with her sister; he smiled knowing that this was going to be a peaceful Christmas for them.

“You must be Fernando… it’s about time we met,” said a voice making Fernando turn to find the woman that had been watching them all day, he frowned at her wondering why she had only approached now and not earlier.

Fernando knew that she had waited until Vanessa wasn’t with him for a reason and he recalled his wife saying that she was getting a lot of minor royals suddenly wanting to know her now that she was Queen.

“And you are?” Fernando asked annoyed, he had never seen her before and he knew that the woman was trying to get some sort of information form him; he just didn’t know why she had approached him if things weren’t working out for her with Vanessa.

“I’m not surprised Vanessa didn’t tell you, I’m her mother,” the woman said introducing herself, she had waited a long time for this moment and wasn’t going to let it slip away now.

Maria Delmore smiled at the man that her eldest daughter had married, she was tired of Vanessa ignoring her and she knew that if she wanted back into the main royal family then she had to do something.

Fernando felt himself stiffen as he stared at Maria, he knew that Vanessa hadn’t spoken to her mother for a long time; he only knew a little about her situation but he knew not to push on the subject.

Maria was a painful subject for Vanessa especially since her mother had all but abandoned her when she had remarried; she hadn’t wanted to know until a few years ago before Vanessa had met Fernando.

“I need your help… Vanessa refuses to speak with me,” Maria pleaded peeking over at her children, she wanted to be acknowledged as the Queen’s mother and that could only happen if she was on good terms with her eldest daughter.

Fernando shook his head, he wasn’t going to betray his wife and he had no idea what had happened but he wasn’t about to upset Vanessa when he didn’t know the full story; however he could tell that Maria was going to be nothing but trouble.

“Please,” Maria begged hoping that Fernando would fall for it, she knew that he didn’t know what had happened and she was going to use that against him; her children were all that was left and she was their last remaining parent.

Fernando took a deep breath and looked over at his wife, he knew that she had a lot on her plate right now and he hoped that she would confided in him soon about what happened.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Fernando murmured, he had no intentions of keeping his word to Maria; he didn’t think that she truly cared about his wife or anyone else.

Vanessa had every right to turn her back on her mother if half of what the papers said where true, she had been hurt and Fernando didn’t want that to happen again.

***

Vanessa took a deep breath as she sat down in the chair that her father used to do the speech in, she was so nervous and she hoped that it would get used to it eventually; she peeked down at the paper in front of her.

“This year has been one filled with happy moments as well as sad ones,” Vanessa began looking to the camera before her, it felt weird doing her first speech and she could still remember her father’s first one only eighteen years ago.

Fernando was at home with the children and Vanessa had noticed how quiet he had been after the service, she would talk to him later about it once their children were in bed.

“There are moments that we will never forget and those that we wish that we could forget, however we must now look to the future to those times that we have no idea what might be waiting for us,” Vanessa continued trying to stay calm, she going to mess this up during her first reading, she just hoped that she was doing so well right now.

George had always done his speeches alone and Vanessa had never really watched them since she got fed up of listening to her father rehearing them during the weeks and days before.

“In these troubled and worrying times where we face the unknown it is easy to bury our heads and ignore what is happening around us,” Vanessa stated wanting to get through what she had written, she didn’t want to drag this out and the shorter the speech was the better.

Vanessa was going live out on television and she knew that there were people watching her right now that would love to see her family as the Queen of Andorra; she didn’t want to prove them right.

“We must stand together in these troubled times and work together,” Vanessa said trying not to fidget, she knew her Grandmother would be watching and she hoped this would change her mind about leaving the country.

“I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a good new year,” Vanessa concluded finishing her speech, she felt the tension leave her shoulders as she smiled at the camera; she felt better now that it was over with.