A Royal Mess

7. The journey

I think the most devastating news I received in my childhood wasn't the fact that Santa Claus is not real but that penguins can't be my favorite animal because they are actually considered birds.

They are my favorite animal though, I don't care what anyone says.

I find mom and dad sitting on my bed in my room, looking at my wall of memories. My mom is holding my stuffed penguin in her hands.

I walk around the room to stand in front of them, then I get on my knees before my mom. I free one of her hand from her tight grip on my penguin and hold it in my own. She looks down at me with moisture filled brown eyes, the eyes that I thought had undergone a little variation and given me my hazel ones.

I think they already know but I still manage to say, "Dad once said to me, life is made up of changes- some happy, some devastating." I look at my father as I say the next part, "He said, don't resist them, that only creates sorrow. Let things flow forward in whatever way they like." He gives me a tight lipped smile, his usual cheerful manner absent completely. "I want to go with Alexius to his kingdom." My mom shuts her eyes and my dad rubs soothing circles on her back, "I want an explanation. Why did they abandon me and then suddenly, after 16 years, think they can have me back?" I glance towards the door and notice Alexius standing in the hallway just outside. I had asked Jenna to send him up. I address him when I say, "I don't promise that I'll stay. I just decided to seek some answers from my biological family and maybe get to know them better, so that I can make the right decision later." He gives me a small nod. I look at my parents again and tell them, "Mom and dad I promise no matter what, there is no way that I will ever forget you guys. No one and nothing in this world can separate me from you. There is no chance my love for you will ever decrease. You are and always will be my parents. I just want permission to go and meet the people who gave birth to me, please?"

My dad is the one who answers, "Sweetheart, I'm always with you no matter where you go, what you do or what decision you ultimately make. Just promise me you'll remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think." He gives me a look that conveys just how much he loves me and just how much he will continue to love me no matter what.

"I promise dad." I manage to say in between hiccups.

I hug my mom with all my might and try to tell her that she'll always be precious to me. We cry into each others shoulder.

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I am once again standing in the living room, giving Jenna a long hug while she tells me that she is going to move to Celia too. She says even if she has to disown her parents and change her name to Alexandria Park (because she thinks you have to have Alex in your name to be able to live in Celia) she'll do it. I manage to breathe out a feeble laugh. I don't think her parents will let her move to another country on any condition but I still feel better just to hear her say it.

That's when my 'brother' enters the room and this time when Jenna sees him she looks at him with so much anger that I think she is finally going to combust.

Apparently he notices this too because he asks, "I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything wrong. Right, beautiful?"

"Well, seeing as you are the reason as to why my best friend is going away from me, I don't have to have another cause to hate you, your highness." She throws this at him vehemently. He looks at her like he is seeing her for the first time just now, scanning her from head to toe and then back, like she is an interesting piece to poetry he doesn't quite understand.

I am shocked to hear her tone filled with so much anger. She is the one that convinced me to go, for God's sake. As though she has just read my mind she turns to me and says, "Doesn't mean I can't be angry at him for coming to Paris in the first place." I raise my eyebrows at her and give her a huge smile. Her possessiveness makes me unnecessarily happy.