Choosing Family

Chapter Forty Five

The next day came faster than Ben had expected it to. Honestly, he didn't even remember falling asleep but he must have as he awoke with his stomach in knots. It was the day he had been looking forward to and yet dreading for months...his coronation day.

Okay, nothing to worry about, he thought as he started to get ready. Just getting coronated in front of the entire kingdom. Breathe. You've been preparing for this for sixteen years. You can do this. It's just kneeling in front of Fairy Godmother, my mom and my dad; saying one line. There's no way I can mess that up.

He shook his head, trying to stamp down the nerves that were building up inside him. He needed to talk to someone soon otherwise he'd be a jittery mess come Coronation. Okay, so coronation's not for a few hours. Why don't we see what Chip is up to? He's usually good at being a calming voice.

Ben pulled out his phone and quickly dialed up Chip's number. He listened to the ringing of the other line and couldn't help but hope that Chip would be available to pick up.

"Hey Benji! What's up?" Chip's chipper voice sounded thought the phone. "How're you feeling?"

"Nervous. Very nervous," Ben told him, seeing no reason to lie to the man who was his brother in all but blood.

"Completely understandable."

"But I mean should I be nervous? I'm only kneeling and saying one line. Really Fairy Godmother's doing all the work."

"Ben, you're not just kneeling," Chip told him. "You're also accepting responsibility for looking after the lives of everyone in the kingdom."

"Thanks Chip, I called you to alleviate my nerves. Not to be more nervous than I already was," Ben sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Ben, relax and listen to me okay? You will be fine. Have I ever been wrong? When it's important I mean?"

Ben sighed. "Chip....I don't know. I mean, I know I've been preparing for this for sixteen years but now that it's here..."

"I know Benji, I know," Chip said, his voice growing gentle. "It's a totally different thing. It's real now."

"It's stupid but...I'm just worried I'm going to mess everything up and Dad's going to realize he made a mistake stepping down—"

"Ben, he wouldn't be stepping down if he didn't feel you were ready. Like he said yesterday at Family Day, remember?"

"Yeah, okay, he thinks that now. What if in a month or so he realizes he made a mistake? Chip, I'm serious, I don't know if I can do this! I-I—"

"Ben, I want you to listen to me! Your dad would not be stepping down if he felt you weren't ready. You can do this."

Ben ran a hand through his hair once more. "Chip, what makes you so sure?"

"Because not only have you been raised and trained for this since birth but you want to do a good job ruling the kingdom."

"Well of course I want to do a good job! Doing a bad job would mean people might suffer!"

"You just proved my point," Chip said gently. "Ben, if you weren't ready for this, you wouldn't have said that. The fact that you're thinking about others being affected means you can do this."

Ben took a deep breath. Chip had a point—and besides he would have his friends by his side. Sure he would have the council, but when it came to advisors, there was no one Ben trusted more than his friends.

"Ben, trust me. You're going to be fine," Chip told him. "And honestly, I'd rather have a king who's nervous on his coronation day than have one who's completely calm."