Chapter 3, “Happily Ever After”
That night, Christine was climbing into bed when her aunt, Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald, came in. “Hi, Aunt Sher,” Christine called.
“Hey, Christie,” she replied. “You ready for more story?”
“You bet!”
“Well, here we go…”
After that wonderful time that both Officer Luis and Princess Sheridan had, they became even closer, and then, one day, he kissed her…
“Yuck.” Christine made a face. Sheridan just smiled.
… so she thought they really had something. She went to the wharf later on that night (that’s where they kissed) and found Officer Luis talking on the phone, about her. She listened carefully and heard him say that he was going to use Sheridan, since her family had used his over and over again. Sheridan was crushed. The next day, when Luis greeted her, Sheridan slapped him. Since her community service was over anyway, she avoided Luis, but when she left for Paris, he had a feeling she was in trouble. And she was. Two evil villains were after her because she knew them and she could ID them (they were criminals). Sheridan really didn’t want Luis’ help, since she heard him say that he used her, but he came anyway.
::Flashback::
“I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Sheridan said, defensively.
“Right.” Luis smiled.
“I always have. I always will.”
“I’ll call down for the ice,” Luis said, changing the subject. He went to the phone and dialed.
“I can make my own calls, thank you very much.” Sheridan had stood up from the couch (she twisted her ankle, that’s why she was on it in the first place) and started to hobble to the phone.
"You are not going anywhere except back on the couch." Luis turned to face Sheridan.
"Don't tell me what to do!" she said, furious.
"Would you stop being so pig-headed? You can't put weight on
your ankle, so you gotta stay off of it."
"I'll stand if I want to."
"Back on the couch," Luis demanded.
"NO!" Sheridan protested.
"You're not making this very easy." Luis walked to the other side
of Sheridan.
"What are you doing?" she wanted to know.
Luis picked her up and walked to the couch. "What do you think
I'm doing?"
"Put me down!"
"Yes, ma'am." Luis obeyed and dropped Sheridan on the couch.
"OW! Who do you think you are?" Sheridan said, now livid.
"Officer Lopez-Fitzgerald, at your service." Luis saluted her.
"Do you think you can go around and just do anything you
please?"
"No." Luis picked up an apple from the basket in the hotel room
and shined it while Sheridan was talking.
"You know, this routine might work back in Harmony, but when
you have your tin star and your Smokey the Bear…" She was cut off by
Luis sticking the apple in her mouth. Luis then walked over to the
phone and picked it up. "Yes, room service… I'd like a bucket of ice,
please…a large bucket? Thanks." Just as he hung up, Sheridan threw
the apple at him.
"That's a good arm," Luis commented.
"How dare you!"
"Dare what? After I try and save you?"
"Oh, you are such a male chauvinist!"
"Yeah, but you know what? If you hadn't listened to me in the
first place, you wouldn't almost have gotten yourself--and me--killed."
"Oh, so what, now it's my fault?" Sheridan asked.
Luis looked around. "Who else's?"
::Story::
Turns out Luis was right. He saved her about four times when they were in Paris. When they got back to the Eastern Kingdom, the criminals that were after Princess Sheridan were still after her, so the FBI assigned Officer Luis as her bodyguard. And once Officer Luis and Princess Sheridan spent time together, they became close again. One day, when Princess Sheridan was in her brother’s room in the castle, she needed something to write with. She started rummaging through the desk and, to her horror, found a mask that looked exactly like Officer Luis.
Christine gasped. “See, I knew Officer Luis didn’t do it!”
Sheridan just nodded, still overwhelmed as she had been when she first found the mask. “Go on, Aunt Sheridan,” her niece prompted. “I want to hear more.”
Sheridan smiled. “Okay.”
When Princess Sheridan saw the mask, she realized that her father, King Alistair, and her brother, Prince Julian had hired someone to impersonate Officer Luis so that they’d break up. In her anger, she threw the mask down, and Officer Luis saw it. Then Princess Sheridan told the officer why she slapped him; it was because she overheard him say that he used her. Of course, Officer Luis was confused, and then Princess Sheridan told him that it was all a big misunderstanding. And then, she told him how she really felt about him. She loved him.
::Flashback::
“Luis, there’s something else I need to tell you,” Sheridan said. “I’ve been keeping it from you all this time.”
“Well, what is it?” Luis asked.
“It’s about… it’s about how I feel about you,” she replied, lowering her head. “I think… I think I’m in love with you.”
Boy, I think that I'm in love with you
Got me doing silly things in my head for you
Boy, I think that I'm in love with you
I've been telling all my friends what I feel for you
Just the other night, baby,
I saw you hanging; you were with your crew
I was with mine too
You took me by surprise
when you turned and looked me in my eyes
Boy, you really blew my mind
I don't know what's gotten into me
but I kinda think I know what it is:
I think I'm in love
"I Think I'm in Love" is by Jessica Simpson.
Luis was surprised, but he lifted her head up so that she was looking into his eyes, and said, “I think I’m in love with you, too. I’ve been trying to hold it back all this time, but I can’t anymore.” And with that, he kissed her.
::Reality::
Christine made another face. “Ew.”
Sheridan laughed. “Well, you asked. Anyway, Christie, you better be getting ready for bed. You’re up way past your bedtime.”
“Okay, Aunt Sher. Night.”
“Night.” Sheridan kissed her niece’s forehead lightly and tucked her into her bed.
~next night~
“Mommy, I want to hear more of the bedtime story Rachel started,” Christine told Sara. “I want to hear more of Lady Sara and her knight in shining armor.”
“Okay, Mommy.” Christine gave her mother a small kiss and a hug, and then went into her room. After a few minutes to sort out the crazy jumble that followed (in the story), Sara followed her youngest daughter into her room. “Okay, Christine. Time for more story.”
“Yay!” she cheered. “Tell me more about Lady Sara and her knight.”
“I can’t do that yet. Princess Sheridan, Officer Luis, Lady Sara and her knight will all meet very soon, I promise. Right now, I have to tell you more about Princess Sheridan and Officer Luis…”
Well, Luis and Sheridan were falling more and more in love every day. But one day, Princess Sheridan’s nightmares came to haunt her again, and she wouldn’t tell Officer Luis why. She feared that she may have killed his father when she was younger, which is why Officer Luis hated her when he first met her—-she was a Crane, and he knew that the royal Cranes had something to do with his father’s disappearance. So as Luis was coming closer and closer to the truth, one day, she walked out of his life.
Sara remembered the pain when she asked Sheridan how she and Luis broke up… and she remembered how her best friend told her about it.
::Flashback::
“Luis, I… I can’t see you anymore.”
“Why? What did Julian and Alistair do?”
“It’s not them.”
“Then what? Sher, you know I can’t live without you, and you promised you’d never take your love away from me.”
“I know, Luis. I won’t take away my love. No one can. I just… I need space. Time to think.”
“About what?”
“It’s not important right now. Just hold me, please…”
Luis held on to Sheridan as tightly as he could. “Are you going to go?”
“I have to. I don’t have a choice.” Tears were now streaming down Sheridan’s cheeks. “Just remember that I love you, and I always will.” With that, she kissed Luis, then walked off. He just stood there and watched the only woman he had ever loved walk out of his life.
::Reality::
And then Sara went back to telling their story.
Princess Sheridan had decided to move all the way across the land, to the Western Kingdom. Meanwhile…
::Flashback::
“Then she told me about my aunt, and how my second cousin Sheridan was going to be living the rest of her life bound by a nightmare that never happened. They killed my aunt, Sara. And Sheridan has taken the blame for it.” Casey buried his head in Sara’s shoulder.
“Oh, Casey, I’m sorry.” Sara stroked his hair gently and let Casey relieve himself. “Do you know who this Sheridan is? We may be able to help her.”
“That’s the problem. It was so long ago… I was only a kid.”
“We’ll find her, Case. We have to.”
::Story::
Lady Sara’s knight, Casey, had just remembered something about his aunt and cousin Sheridan. Then, a few days later, by chance, Princess Sheridan ended up in the Western Kingdom, and the knight had to save her from drowning (she fell into the lake). He brought her to Lady Sara’s parents’ café, where they ate and talked, and they found out that they were indeed second cousins. And then…
Officer Luis and his sister, the beautiful Theresa, moved out to the Western Kingdom; Luis, so he could move on (he was devastated over the loss of his princess) and start out fresh, and Theresa, so she could finish her education in one of the most prestigious schools in the land. Well, their cousin, Lady Maria (remember? She’s the tall, dark, and handsome guy’s first wife), brought them to the café, and guess who they bumped into? Yep, Princess Sheridan. She was elated, as she found out her nightmares were not real. When the princess saw the love of her life, and when she realized she had nothing to hide from him, she surprised him. They worked everything out, and got back together.
Christine leaned forward in her bed, eager to hear more. It seemed like a happy ending, but she had a feeling something was going to go terribly wrong. She was right.
Chapter 4