The Contest

Chapter 25

All of us girls were lined up waiting for our families.
"Now remember ladies. Proper. Like a Queen." Queen Fawna said, smiling at all of us. We all nodded and smiled. I could tell everyone was excited. The doors opened and a family of three walked in. The idea of proper fell apart at the sight of them. Shaeleigh ran to her older brother, and he scooped her up in a large hug. Her parents joined in immediately. Many other families came in and their daughters ran to them, squealing and hugging. I looked around for my parents or any of my siblings. That's when I saw her. My mom. I ran and hugged her tightly.
"Amberlyn! Baby girl, how are you?" She asked.
"I'm amazing now that you guys are here!" I said. I saw Ana, Abby, Addie and my Dad.
"Where is Ashton?" I asked.
"Ashton didn't really want to come. Not because he didn't want to see you, but because he didn't want to be around a bunch of girls all week." Dad explained. I giggled and hugged him.
"Amberlyn, you look beautiful!" Addie exclaimed.
"Thank you!" I said, scooping her into a hug. "You know, Princess Isabel is about your age. I'm sure you would love her!" I said. Addie smiled. Ana and Abby attacked me at the same time, knocking me to the floor. I laughed as we went down wrapping my arms around the two girls.
"Amberlyn!" The Queen exclaimed, coming over exasperated.
"Oh come now, Your Majesty. If I do recall, your sister tackled you to the ground when families came to visit 20 years ago." My mother said. Queen Fawna's jaw dropped.
"Allison!" She exclaimed. My mom smiled giving a small laugh, as Queen Fawna ran to her, and hugged her.
"It's been so long!" She said.
"Twenty years is far too long!" My mom said.
"I do wish I could have seen you sooner, but it's always work here. You know how it is." She said.
"I understand completely Fawna." My mom said. Queen Fawna smiled.
"It's so nice to see you again. This must be the family!" She said.
"Minus two. One is married, and just found out she's expecting, and the other is at home being...well...a boy." My mom said. What she had said hit me.
"Amethyst is pregnant?!" I exclaimed.
"Yes! A baby boy!" My mom said.
"Oh my gosh! You're kidding?" I asked.
"Not a bit! She found out last week."
"That's amazing!" I said.
"That truly is! I'm sure she will be beautiful, just like her mother." Queen Fawna said. My mother smiled.
"I did send you a picture of Amethyst when she was born, didn't I?" My mom asked.
"I believe you did. I remember her being such a cute baby. The last I had heard, before I met Amberlyn, was that you had four kids. The two girls, and then the twins. I wasn't aware you had two more!" Fawna said, beaming at Ana and Addie.
"If I ever wanted more before Addie, I don't after having her." My mom said.
"Hey!" Addie exclaimed, showing mock hurt on her face.
"Little Isabel is a handful too, but I can see what you mean." Queen Fawna said. "Well, I would love to catch up more after I meet the other families. Maybe I could have you for tea later today while the girls are preparing the late Halloween party. We always end up doing Halloween late, seeing as its Archer and Jaxon's birthday." The Queen said. Someone walked in, a woman with Harmonia's hair and a man with her smile.
"Mrs. Nuonce?" I asked.
"Amberlyn, dear!" She said, coming over to me. "Do you know where Harmonia is?" She asked.
"You can come with me and I'll show you." I said. She nodded.
"Excuse me. Mom I'll stop by your room and talk to you guys when I'm done?" I asked.
"Absolutely!" She said, and I smiled, turning back to Mrs. and Mr. Nuonce.
"Follow me!" I said, gesturing for them to come. We walked through the hallways, Mrs. Nuonce nervously wringing her hands the whole way. We walked in and I saw Harmonia and Jacob sitting on a couch. Jaxon had his arms around her, and they both read a book together. Harmonia looked up as she heard our footsteps.
"M-mom?" She asked.
"Hi baby girl." Her mom said, smiling. Harmonia placed the book down, and stood up. Jaxon sat up. She walked to her mom. Mrs. Nuonce placed her hand on Harmonia's cheek, both women welling up with tears. Harmonia fell into her mothers arms, beginning to cry.
People say you never really know how upset you are until you see your mom. I say that this was the first time I had really see Harmonia cry since she got here.
"You've been so strong honey, I'm so proud of you." Mrs. Nuonce said. I began to tear up.
"I missed you so much. There have been so many times I needed you and you weren't there." Harmonia said through her sobs.
"But you've done amazing baby! I couldn't be any happier!" Her mom said, cradling Harmonia's  head in palm. "I will never be as brave as you, I've never stood up for something like that before." She said. Harmonia smiled a teary smile. She sniffed, wiping her face.
"Mama I want you to meet Jaxon, my boyfriend." Harmonia said. Jaxon perked up, smiling.
"Pleased to meet you ma'am!" Jaxon said, bowing.
"Jaxon you don't have to be formal. It's just my mom." Harmonia said.
"JUST your mom! That's a bit of an understatement, darling." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Her mother giggled. I felt like this was a good time to excuse myself. I left the hospital wing and went to the room where my parents were staying. As I approached I heard faint shouts. Addie was sitting outside the door, crying. I ran to her, scooping her into my arms.
"Addie, what's going on?" I asked.
"Mommy and Daddy are fighting again." She said.
"Again?" I asked.
"They keep fighting. They do all the time at home. When you and Amethyst left, everything changed." Abby said, coming from around the corner with Ana.
"What do you guys mean? Mom and Dad never fight." I said. The two girls sat down on either side of me.
"Have they hurt any of you?" I asked.
"No. They haven't ever come close, but I've never wanted to be in the room while they were fighting." Ana said. I nodded.
"Just stay with me. Do you girls want to go back to my room? I can ask my maids to help me with costumes for all of you." I said. Addie nodded enthusiastically. I giggled.
"Then let's go." I said, standing up. The other three got up and followed me happily. My mom and dad had never fought before. One of them must have done something awful to begin this much arguing. Of course my parents had the usual quick argument, but it was never any more than that. The fact that they were arguing this much and this frequently meant something. I shook my head to get rid of the thought, and opened my door. My maids turned and gasped.
"My lady are these your sisters?" Amy asked, a huge smiled appearing on her face along with the other two.
"Yes! This is Ana, this is Abby, and this is Addie." I said, pointing to each girl as I said their names.
"How old are all of you girls?" Teony asked.
"I'm 15." Ana said.
"Twelve." Abby said shyly.
"I'm seven!" Addie said excitedly.
"Well I think we need to find you girls costumes for tonight, what do you think?" Teony asked, smiling at Addie's excitement.
"I wanna be a fairy princess!" Addie squealed.
"I can make that happen!" Amy said, holding out a hand for Addie. "Mind if I take her to the sewing room?" She asked me.
"No, of course!" I said. Amy smiled and the two walked out, Addie chattering the whole way out.
"Who's next?" Teony asked.
"Could I be a rag doll?" Abby asked excitedly.
"I've never seen you so excited!" I said, giggling.
"I've never been to a Halloween party before!" Abby scowled at me."
"I can do rag doll. Like the one with the red curls?" She asked. Abby nodded, smiling.
"Let's get started." Teony said, and the two left, leaving Emma and Ana.
"Lady Amberlyn, I put your costume in the bathroom." Emma said.
"But I never said what I wanted." I said.
"You mentioned it in passing. I thought that your sisters would be a bit of a handful for the other two so I had them make it yesterday." She said, smiling sweetly. "Now Miss Ana?" She asked, checking on her name.
"Oh please, just call me Ana. I'm not one for formalities." Ana said.
"She's got a twin brother who's not much for anything." I said. Emma giggled, and Ana smiled.
"What were you thinking for your costume?" Emma asked.
"I'm not really sure. I've never really done Halloween before." She said.
"No? Well I have a good idea. I get a tomboyish vibe, but I think I might have an idea that you'll like." Emma said. Ana said and the two left. I looked around my empty room. I took in the silence, which I missed so much. I had silence for about 5 seconds. Tink burst in.
"Amberlyn!" She yelled. I jumped back, tripping over my dress and falling straight on my butt.
"Dear lord Tink!" I exclaimed.
"What do you think of this?" She asked showing me her costume. She was in a long blue dress, that looked kind of like a nightgown. Her hair was pulled back into long ringlet curls, and was pinned with a big blue bow. She looked amazing.
"Wendy Darling!" I exclaimed. She smiled.
"Oh thank goodness. Do you like it?" She asked.
"I love it! You look just like her!" I said, smiling at her.
"Thank you. What's your costume?" She asked.
"I actually don't know..." I said. I walked to my bathroom and opened the door. A beautiful dress was sitting there the yellow ruffles flowed to the floor. The dress sparkled in the sunlight coming from the window. I gasped.
"It's beautiful!" I exclaimed. Tink looked around me.
"Well try it on!" She said. I went into the bathroom and put the dress on. Tink had to help me with the corset but once it was on, I never wanted to take it off.
"You always steal the show, and I'm completely okay with it." Tink said in awe of my dress.
"Do you really think?" I asked.
"Absolutely. You look stunning!" She said. I smiled.
"Well you look amazing too!" I said, turning to her. She giggled.
"I have a costume partner. You'll have to look out for Peter Pan!" She said.
"Who!?" I asked, my mouth falling open.
"No one!" She exclaimed, and ran out the door. I smiled as she left, chuckling to myself. Addie and Amy came through the door. Addie was dressed in a purple dress with cute fairy wings strapped to her back.
"Addie you look fantastic!" I said. She smiled and ran to me. I picked her up. Addie had always been small, she looked like she was about four.
"Thank you!" She said, grinning from ear to ear. Teony and Abby walked in. Abby was wearing a bright blue dress with polka dots, red striped leggings, and had a mob cap with red yard braids falling from it. Her mouse brown hair was tucked away inside the cap.
"Abby, you look so cute!" I said. She smiled, blushing shyly.
"Thanks." She said meekly.
"Where's Ana?" I asked.
"Still getting her costume. She'll be here any minute." Abby said. She was right. Ana and Emma walked in at that moment. Ana was beautiful. In replace of her usual sneakers were a pair of small black heels. She was wearing brown leggings and a brown shirt with white fur attached to the belly. She had a small antlers and cute ears. She had white spots on her back going to down to her legs, and a small white tail. She was the most beautiful deer I had ever seen.
"Ana you look beautiful! Emma she looks perfect!" I complemented.
"Thank you!" Emma said.
"I feel...pretty." Ana said, blushing through her face paint.
"You look pretty." Abby said, admiring the costume.
"D-do you think mom and dad will come tonight?" Addie asked.
"I don't think so Ads." Ana said, and pulled the seven year old into a hug. Addie hugged her leg. Us four girls stood there quietly for a moment.
"I see you found your costume miss!" Amy said, trying to make thing better.
"I did! It's outstanding, you've outdone yourselves!" I exclaimed, twirling. All the girls giggled and smiled.
"Let's get you in some makeup." Teony said, but before I could go anywhere, Harmonia came in through the open door.
"How do I look?" She asked. She was wearing a dark blue dress with small straps. Her hair was up in a bun with a silver clip around the base. She looked magnificent.
"Anastasia. You look lovely." I said, smiling at her.
"Thank you so much! Jaxon is dressed as Dimitri." She said. I smiled.
"I bet you guys are so cute! Can't wait to see you." I said, smiling.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Addie squealed.