Page 17 of Mommy Calls Me Princess

“You’re welcome. Ugh, I hate to see you leave. We made a great team.”

“We did,” McKenna and I hugged. “But you have my number so next time you’re off message me and we’ll hang out.”

“I’d like that.” Her radio went off and she shook her head. “I better get going,” I handed her my uniforms. “It was nice to meet you, Vivienne. I’ll for sure see you guys on my next break.”

As soon as the door shut, I remembered something mommy had said. “Mommy, what did you mean when you said I don’t have to work if I don’t want to.”

Mommy kissed the top of my head and sat on the bed. “I meant just that. You don’t need to work. Or, if you want to, you could help in the littles room at Blush. Either way, I’d like to wake up with you, go to work with you, go home with you, and give you special tickles at bedtime. What do you say, do you want to be mommy’s full-time princess?”

“For real? I mean, I need to earn something, but if you’re serious about the littles room, I’d love that. I want to be with you all the time too, Mommy. You keep the sads away.”

“I try my best, baby girl. But I’m sure mommy will screw up from time to time. That’s when you need to be a big girl and talk to mommy and let me know. Don’t stew in it or act up because of it. Mommy can’t fix what she doesn’t know is broken. Deal?”

“Deal, Mommy.” I gave her a big smacky kiss. “Let’s go.”

“Lead the way, my love.”

I was all smiles as we walked through the ship, pointing out the different places to Mommy. Mommy was getting an insider’s glimpse into my world, or what used to be my world. Now my world consisted of one thing – Mommy.

“I knew these ships were huge, but I had no idea there was so much going on inside them. A movie theater, food court, shopping center, restaurants. Is that a casino?”

“It is. This ship has three pools, and a water slide too. Bars everywhere, nail and hair salons and even a spa. There is also a real theater where they do live plays and sometimes even have ice skating shows.”

“Wow. How do they get the ice made?”

“Great question, but that’s one for the maintenance team. Once they start rattling off technical stuff, it goes right over my head. I clean rooms, or I did, and that’s about it for me.”

“Silly, smart girl. You already know more than you realize.”

We disembarked and Mommy and I got into the car service waiting curbside for us. I was so excited to officially start our new life together. We kinda had but then I left. My new life was gonna be great!

Many times, the cruises I’d worked on stopped in San Diego, but never once had I stepped foot into the city itself. My eyes were glued to the windows as the driver weaved through town. It was exciting to go to someplace new. The weather was perfect, many people were out walking around, enjoying the day.

Mommy slid her fingers through mine. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it Princess?”

“Yes, and no rain.” There were times I loved the Seattle weather and others when I didn’t. We never got enough outdoor time between bursts of rain, and it never failed, the days I had time to hit the park or even the zoo, it rained.

“Is this our hotel?” I stepped out of the car and into the sounds of the waves crashing. “Do we have a view of the ocean?” Deciding to take a job on a cruise ship was a no brainer for me. I loved the water even though I hadn’t spent much time in it, just on the ship. Whenever there was a break in work I loved to sit on deck and stare out at the water.

“It is. Wait until you see the view from our room.” Mommy waved the valet over. He loaded my luggage onto a cart and followed us up in the elevator.

Mommy tipped the valet while I wandered around. “This room is huge.” It had a living room and a separate bedroom.

“Wait until you see this.” She pulled the curtains back and opened the double doors to the balcony.

“This is amazing. I love the sound of the waves breaking.”

“There’s an entrance downstairs that takes you out to a private beach. How about we spend tomorrow being lazy, soaking up the sunshine.”

“Sounds perfect to me.”

Chapter Six

Vivienne

The real reason behind us staying in Cali for a few days was so the contractors could finish the loft reno. They were nearly done but wanted a couple more days to set up the furniture for me. I really scored using the same company that had done renovations at Blush over the years. Hell, they were the ones who originally built out the loft to begin with.

“Now,” I wrapped my arms around her waist and stood behind her, taking in the view. “We have a few options for food. We can either dine in the restaurant downstairs or walk down the boardwalk where there are far too many food choices. Or order room service and eat on the balcony.”

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