Chapter Twenty-Eight

"What's this about this fellow Lucian Anastasia's been hanging around with?" Princess Ella whispered conspiratorially. "Is he imaginary too?"
"Yeah."
Ella laughed with disbelief. "You girls have to be kidding me."
"She found him the other night."
"So in response to your mother saying you had to get married, the two of you dream up mates."
"We had to do something, or mom was going to withhold our dad's money."
"You really think she was going to make good on that threat?"
Alexandra shrugged her shoulders. "Well, we don't have access to any of it now, she blocked it."
Shaking her head incredulously, Ella leaned over. "What are you guys doing for money?"
"Well, we've got stipends coming in from the TV show, plus our wages from our jobs, so we're good."
"Are you still with Patrick?"
"Yeah, in fact, we're going on a fishing trip."

It was Saturday afternoon and Alexandra and Patrick had gone to Louie Falls, which had been her favorite campsite as a child and teen. "Dad took me here all the time," she recalled, "we'd go early in the morning before everyone got up."
"I was with you, remember?"
"Yeah, you'd be in my backpack."
"I can't fit there anymore."
"No, you can't, but it's much better this way, trust me." Alexandra grabbed Patrick's hand and held it for a little while. 


"I'm done trying to please my mother," Alexandra resolved. "I'll never make her happy, so why waste valuable time and energy trying?"
Patrick nodded. "Good for you."



As they cast their lines into the water, they continued to chat. "No matter what I or my sister do, she's never happy. You know how uncomfortable those dresses she made me wear were? It was miserable. They were tight and I hated them. Then she put all those curlers in my hair and I wore all that makeup -- it wasn't me, you know?"
Patrick laughed. "Yes, Alex, I do. Better than anyone, and don't you forget it."
"She hated that dad took me fishing and threw the football, and hated that Sebastian used to read me adventure stories.He'd take turns carrying me and Ana on his back."
"I remember falling a few times out of your backpack."
"Well, like I said, you don't have to worry about that anymore." Alexandra grinned. "Now you can actually do stuff. Believe me, it is definitely much, much better this way."
"Yeah," Patrick agreed, "yeah, it kind of is.  Feels liberating not to be made of stuffing anymore."
Alexandra sighed. "I'm ready to be, you know, just Alex. None of the drama or the makeup or the tight dresses. I'll still wear that stuff occasionally, maybe when I get married, but for the most part, I'm done. I like to go fishing, ride horses, play sports, go swimming and hiking. I'm an active person, I can't stay still for too long. I'm not much for the royal social scene either. If my mother can't accept that this is who I am, tough."



Patrick laughed as Alexandra put her rod down and walked into the lake."That water's ice cold by now!"
"That's the best time to swim!" replied Alexandra, now more than halfway submerged.