Chapter Fifty-Three

"

Anastasia came running into her mother's study, where she saw an empty urn sitting on her desk. "Was that -- was that -- I thought I saw --"



"Yes, dear, it's true. I retrieved your father's urn from the mausoleum. The science lab called and said they wanted his ashes --"
"Mom, I don't believe this. You donated my father's remains in the name of science??"



Just then Alexandra arrived, returning from her flight classes.
"What did the science lab say? How did they approach you? Did they specifically ask for my father? Why didn't you tell us about this, he IS our dad?!"
Between the two of them, asking questions, Queen Catarina couldn't hear herself think. Rising from her chair, she ordered them to sit down, and they did.



"Girls, you have no idea what I went through just so you could exist. When your father and I got married, we discussed ways of adding to our family. We talked about surrogacy, in vitro, even adoption. Then, at the age of 46, with two adult children, against all the odds, I got pregnant. I was the happiest woman on earth. Your father might have been even happier, he was just over the moon with delight. I was on bed rest the entire last trimester of my pregnancy, because I was considered high risk with my age and the fact that I was carrying twins. I told the doctors that if it came to a choice between me and the two of you, I would choose you every day and twice on Sundays. And I still would. You see, girls, I do what I do because I love you and I want the best for you. Everything I do, everything I've done, everything I've told you and tried to teach you about being princesses and women, I do out of love and because I love you. So you see, Alexandra, when you disobey me to join the military and attend flight school and you run around on your horse in the woods like a wild child and you don't give a second thought to marriage and your life after the military, it hurts me deeply. So you see, Anastasia, when you say all the hurtful things to me and you close yourself off from everyone and you postpone your marriage to that fine young Lucian to go to architecture school, it hurts me deeply. And when Francisca did what she did, in running off to do whatever the heck she's chosen to do with her life, it hurt me deeply. When the two of you behave like absolute spoiled brats at the photo shoot the other day, it hurt me deeply, and not only hurt me but embarrassed me, and the two of you should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Chapter Fifty-Two

While the girls were at the concert, their mother, Queen Catarina, had received a phone call from the science lab, about an experiment they were doing with resurrections. The longtime monarch had given it some thought. What if she could bring back her husband, the father of her two young daughters?
So, in the dead of night, snow blinding her eyes, the longtime monarch hailed a limousine and secretly rode to the mausoleum, nearly mirroring a snow-filled journey her daughter had taken a month earlier into the mountains. 



With her husband's ashes in hand, Queen Catarina walked into the science lab. And waited.



Two hours later, a white ghost emerged with the monarch from the science lab, and accompanied her to the palace.



The ghost spotted the two young daughters he left behind, who enveloped him in a long embrace, well, as deep an embrace as one can have with a ghost.

Chapter Fifty-One

The pop star Madison Avenue belted out a medley of her famous hits to the delight of her audience, especially the young princesses who sneaked out of the palace to see her perform.

 

There were other people in the private nightclub, but there seemed to be an audience of two. 



Their former IF boyfriends were with them as well, their constant companions. They looked on with bemusement. 



Just then Anastasia's phone rang. "Uh oh," she sighed with trepidation when she saw her brother the Crown Prince's name and number appear in her caller ID box. 



"Where are you, Baby Sis?  I can barely hear anything over the music."
"At a Madison Avenue concert.  She was here for one night only --"
"Well, you and Alex need to get back to the palace, immediately!"
"Why?  What's going on?"

Chapter Fifty

The Princesses and the Pop Star



After their respective jobs on Friday evening, as they did almost every evening, the twins sat down to eat dinner. This time, it was hot wings. Sometimes, they'd talk about what they did at work. Most times, though, they'd talk about happenings in the community.



On this Friday, Anastasia came to the dinner table with some seriously hot gossip.  "Alex, you are not going to believe who is in town," began Anastasia. "It's Madison Avenue."
"Oh-em-gee!" exclaimed Alexandra, nearly choking on a hot wing. "She is only THE biggest pop star in Simland. She's HERE?"
Madison Avenue, real name Madison Brooke Westley, shot to fame a year ago on the strength of a runaway hit debut album and subsequent world tour. She'd recently sung during halftime at the SimBowl. In addition, she'd been dating one of Simland's most eligible bachelors, actor Sebastian Plumb, scion of the Plumb musical and entertainment dynasty.  



"The rumor is, she met her boyfriend, the actor Sebastian Plumb, right there at Lars Disco Tech while she and her mom were on vacation here last year."
"Wow." Alexandra shook her head. "Sebastian Plumb. Wasn't he in the Zombies? Zombies! movie?"
"Yep that's him. The word on the street is, he caught her cheating on him, and now he's suing for custody of their daughter. And the suit was filed right here in Hidden Springs."



Alexandra sat silently, with an incredulous look pasted on her face. Madison Avenue was in Hidden Springs? "Do you know if she has a concert scheduled here?"
"I can check, sure."





When a star as big as Madison Avenue shows up in tiny little Hidden Springs, it's a media circus. Especially if it's her first public performance since her much-publicized breakup with her actor ex, Sebastian Plumb, and it's happening while the magistrate in Hidden Springs is deciding the fate of their young daughter, Kaydence.



The Port a Party Warehouse was the scene of a private concert given by Madison for the patrons of that club. 



The pop superstar arrived through the back door and inspected her dressing room. "I've never seen it like this," she mused, referring to Hidden Springs' blanket of fresh powder. "Colder than I remember, too." 



Despite the bone chilling cold and intermittent snow showers, guests arrived at the private club in their swanky limousines. Among the arrivals were the young princesses, who were determined to see Madison perform in concert before she left town. 



Sneaking in through another back door, Alexandra watched Madison getting dressed in her dressing room. "Is there something you wanted?" asked Madison.
"Um, I'm sorry, excuse me, I just wanted to get a glimpse of you," Alexandra muttered, "I was just leaving --"
"Do I know you?"
"Um --"



Just then Anastasia emerged. "We're the Princesses of Hidden Springs."
Madison managed a smile. "Oh yeah, and you are?"
"Anastasia."
"Nice to meet you, Anastasia," Madison said, extending her hand warily. "And I assume the girl in the black vest is Alexandra."
"Yep."
"You all have the reality show. Yeah, I've seen it a couple times when I've been on the road."