Page 41 of The Princess Home for Christmas

Chapter 15

Dahlia pulled up in the Valdez limo, dressed in a glittering holiday gown. She chose to wear blue and white as more universal colors of the holiday. Her door opened to huge crowds. She had arrived with Lucan and Queen Anna who were the King and Queen of the tree lighting ceremony this year. Which Dahlia thought so fitting. She and Thomas had not talked about coming at all, and in fact, had been so busy with other things, her the refugees, he trying to solve Theresa’s situation, that they hardly spoke.

The royal gift exchange had been charming, funny, nice to connect with old friends, but it felt lonely, and she wished Thomas had come.

She missed him but she knew once these problems were resolved, they could spend all the time in the world getting to know each other. The couple walked ahead, waving as they made their way down the gold trimmed, red carpet. She felt like a lady in waiting, trailing behind, like she should be gathering Queen Anna’s train or something.

People waved at her and smiled. But they didn’t mob her like they had been doing. Perhaps she and Thomas were old news now? She could only hope as much.

They made their way to the front and all the festivities began. The storytelling, the free food, the giveaways, the games. A regular carnival of reading related activities and Dahlia knew her mother would be shaking with happiness. She went in search of her.

Her mother sat in the grandma chair, a huge, oversized rocking chair where children could come and hear stories with Grandma. The former queen had taken to calling herself the Grandma of Torren, and it had stuck.

Dahlia watched, her smile growing until her cheeks ached. She had a queen of a mother.

Then the whole Valdez family was called to the front.

Lucan took the microphone. “As soon as they all get up here with me, we have a fun announcement to make.”

Dahlia couldn’t wait for the children to hear they could each come and choose a book. The tree towered over them all, decorated, bursting with book and literacy related décor, and under it, must be thousands of books. Dahlia’s eyes misted looking over at them all. So many donations. So many good people in her country.

Then Lucan turned to Dahlia and smiled. “I have one special announcement before we begin.” Someone passed him a piece of paper. “Two special announcements.” He cleared his throat. And then Dahlia looked closer. Lucan was getting emotional. Tearing up right in front of them. And he couldn’t speak. Dahlia immediately filled with emotion herself.

Anna took over. “I’ll share the first. We are so pleased to announce a special guest tonight. If you remember, the original King and Queen of the tree lighting ceremony were Princess Dahlia and Thomas Castellanos.”

Dahlia opened her mouth. What were they doing?

“But they’ve been busy with some very demanding and exciting things and so had to pass on the crown to Lucan and me. But we would like to create a new position here at the tree lighting, A Prince and Princess. And we bequeath that title to the two of them with the understanding that they will return next year as king and queen.”

Everyone cheered and Dahlia smiled. And her heart twinged that Thomas wasn’t also there.

And then the crowd grew louder, people laughing and cheering, growing more boisterous the closer they moved to the front. From far away in the back, they moved towards the front until they parted to reveal Thomas, dressed in a bright blue tux, standing in front of her. He approached closer and grabbed the microphone. “Thank you for that great honor, Queen Anna. The princess and I would be honored to accept the title of Prince and Princess now, to become King and Queen next year.” He looked to her for confirmation and Dahlia nodded. She couldn’t believe he had come and wondered what he was up to. Considering all he’d done since she met him, the world was wide open with possibilities.

“I’d like to also announce a brand new wing on the orphanage for a library! Your donations made that possible.”

The crowd cheered and Dahlia filled with pride.

“And now I have something very important to do.”

The people cheered again. And Dahlia looked around, surprised.

“Can I get three of the most awesome children I know to come forward?”

Joe and Carrie and Stefanie were brought up to the front by Thomas’ mother. What was Thomas doing?

She looked to Lucan and was shocked to see tears flowing down his face. What?

Anna just smiled, a pleased, expectant look on her face.

“We’ve received special permission for their mother to be with them over Christmas. Theresa, could you come forward?”

The kids whipped around their heads, searching the crowd for their mother. The sight made Dahlia’s own tears start to come. A woman, weak, slow, stepped forward. She could have been beautiful, but now she just looked tired. When she saw her children, her face crumpled in tears and she reached a hand out to them. They ran to her, squeezing her anywhere they could reach.

Thomas cleared his throat. “Theresa is receiving excellent care and will continue to heal. And now we have another special guest I would like you to meet. We are pleased to invite this soldier and his wife to our ceremony.”

Theresa’s head whipped up, suddenly nervous.

“And we honor him today for his service in Iraq and around the globe. Will Jonathon Ferris and his wife, Chloe, come forward?”

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