Our Little Kingdom (Third book in SA series)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Connor woke up early the next morning and gathered up the things he needed to give to each leader of the groups. They thankfully agreed to meet him two and a half hours before classes started to create what Troy and Alia called their 'battle plan'. He changed into a pair of his older pair of skinny jeans and an old band tee that he had gotten at a secondhand store before slipping a plain black beanie on his messy hair and doing a simple makeup job to hide his acne and dark circles. He was so thankful that Harry's talk with him the night before made him feel much more comfortable about wearing makeup. He tiptoed downstairs and jumped slightly when he saw his little sister sitting at the dining room table.

"Morning!" Adaley said happily as she munched on the cereal that she had prepared for herself and Connor looked between the clock and Adaley in confusion.

"What are you doing up? It's five in the morning." Connor said in confusion as he sat his bag down and dug through their fridge to find something easy and quick for breakfast.

"Classes officially start today for you know what and I want to be there. And I've already come up with what we can tell Daddy and Papa about where we're going so early." Adaley said and Connor started to argue that she couldn't come because it was a serious matter but he realized that this was her idea too.

"What did you come up with?" Connor asked as he sat down across from her with a simple cup of coffee, too nervous to try and eat anything. Adaley smiled innocently and batted her eyes at Connor.

"You, Troy, Aiyana, Alice, Uncle Liam, and I are going to the zoo in New York and spending all day there. Alice said she wants to get to know you better and she wants Daddy and Papa to have a day to themselves." Adaley lied easily and Connor looked at her in shock.

"That was really impressive. You're quite devious, aren't you?" Connor asked her with a raised eyebrow and she nodded with a wide smile.

"I learned it from my mommy. She was good at tricking my uncle Terrance when she was trying to get out of doing something she didn't want to do." Adaley explained as she put her bowl in the dishwasher and Connor nodded slowly, wondering if their parents knew about Adaley's secret talent. The pair heard footsteps on the stairs and they motioned for each other to be quiet. Harry trudged into the kitchen and was surprised to see his two children already sitting there wide awake.

"What are you two doing up so early?" Harry asked as he started to make himself a cup of coffee. When his back was turned, Adaley nodded at Connor to feed their father the story she had wound up.

"Alice and Liam are taking me, Troy, Ada, and Aiyana to the New York Zoo today." Connor said simply and Harry nodded until he looked at the time, giving Connor a curious look.

"It's five in the morning and the zoos don't open until ten so you're up a little too early." Harry commented suspiciously and Connor internally panicked for a mere second before coming up with an excuse.

"Troy is taking Adaley and me to breakfast at Denny's in Carle Place since we've never been to a Denny's. It's a half hour drive so we're making sure we have enough time to eat our food without rushing before we all leave for New York. It's an hour drive to the Central Park Zoo. If you want I can call Liam so you can check with him." Connor insisted as he pulled out his phone. "He might be up." He said as he trailed off, hoping Harry would believe him. He acted like he was looking up Liam's name in his phone as he texted Troy the lie that he and Adaley had gotten his boyfriend wrapped up in.

"It's fine. I believe you." Harry said as he waved off Connor. Connor let out a sigh of relief and gave Adaley a thumbs up when Harry's back was turned. They heard a honk outside and quickly gathered up their stuff.