Family

The Mermaid and The Queen

Emily's pov

"The Mermaid and The Queen, by Emily Fields"

"Once Upon a Time, there was a Queen who ruled over the town of Rosewood. The Queen was mean and could do anything she wanted. She had four loyal subjects, three humans and one mermaid. The Queen made the Mermaid feel special and loved, she was always there to protect the Mermaid until one day someone decided they would dethrone the Queen" I read my daughters their favourite fairytale until they falls asleep

"Can you read the bit when the Queen saves the Mermaid in the barn? When they kiss" Lily asks

I look over to see Grace sound asleep. Wrapped up in her small blanket

"Of course"

" 'help' the Mermaid shouts banging on the barn door. The Mermaid faints due to the dangerous fumes from the car she is trapped with. When the Mermaid awakes she is outside the barn, the Mermaid hallucinates and sees the Queen. After a long conversation the Queen asks the Mermaid to choose; giving her two options, either stay or run away with the Queen. Before the Mermaid can answer she falls back asleep. The Queen pushes the Mermaid's hair out of her face, whispering "sweet Mermaid". The Queen then leans over and delicately kisses the Mermaid. When the Mermaid re-opens her eyes the Queen is gone and her friends are hovering over her. The Mermaid traces her fingers over her lips feeling the tingle of their kiss. Did she just make it up? Or was the Queen really there?" I look up and see that Lily has fallen asleep, she has Mr. Teddy wrapped in her arms

I close the book holding it with my armpit.
I wrote it when Ali was pregnant. I always wanted us to read it to our kids together but if Ali found out I wrote our love story as a fairytale and read it to our daughters every night till they fall asleep I would be unbelievably embarrassed. I'm frightened she'll find it obsessive and weird however, I have decided that it's time I face my fears and tell Alison about the book.

Ali's pov

"Are they asleep?" I ask Emily as she lies in our bed next to me

"Yes. I read them a fairytale"

"Oh, which one?"

"Snow White" Emily says after a blank stare

I feel my lips curl into a smile and a small laugh escapes my lips

"What?" She laughs

"Nothing. I'm just excited"

"Excited? About what?" Emily asks,
lowering her eyebrows with confusion

"The DiLaurentis-Fields are going to Paris" I squeal

"What? Why? How?"

"For our fifth wedding anniversary, I was going to surprise you with a family holiday to Paris. Lily, Grace and your mom are coming too"

"We're going to Paris?" she smiles. Her eyes fill with tears of joy

"How long are we going away for?" She giggles with a smirk

"How...about...." I say, running my hand up her arm

"Forever" I sexily whisper caressing her cheek