“Hey, if doing a musical number was good enough for Princess Diana, it’s good enough for us,” she says. That’s like the fiftieth time she’s mentioned that. “Are you all set?”
We all mutter that we are, and she grins excitedly at us. “This is the greatest thing my family has ever done!”
“Better than, say, raising hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable donations for worthy causes?” King Winston says.
“Somuch better.” She gives each of us a quick hug, then gives me her pity face. “Your poor nose.”
Before I can tell her it’s nothing, Hadley calls her name and she says, “Gotta go!”
I roll my eyes at her dad and mutter, “The spotlight’s waiting.”
He snorts out a laugh. “My children really are obnoxious, aren’t they?”
“A little bit,” I tell him with a grin.
The emcee starts hollering into the mic. “Are you all ready for a royal surprise?!”
The crowd screams and my stomach flips. There are a lot more people out there than I thought there’d be (not to mention the ones watching from home and all the ones who will see it on their phones and laptops for the next twenty or so years…)
Hadley rushes around, spacing us all out, and whisper-yells, “The whole point is to have fun, okay? If you’re having fun, the crowd’ll have fun too! Now, go for it!”
With that, she hurries off-stage without making a sound, even though she’s in high heels. How do women do that?
“Please give a warm Paradise Bay welcome to the Bankses and the royal family of the Kingdom of Avonia!!!!!!”
The curtains open and the music starts up. Time to make fools of ourselves…
Chapter 28
Secret Beach Weddings and Other Magic…
Arabella
Royal News– The Official Website for All Things Avonian Royal
Forum Thread: It’s Finally Happened. The Banks Family Has Turned the Royals Completely Insane.(328 Currently Viewing, 42659 Total Views, 8992 Comments)
In a bizarre turn of events, all of Avonia’s senior royals performed a dance/lip-sync to the old disco tune We Are Family, by Sisters Sledge. Apparently, this was their pathetic attempt at making the world forget what awful people the Bankses are.
Stephen (Heir Presumptive): The only thing shocking about it is how quickly the Banks family managed to drag the royals down to their level. Next thing, we’ll see shirtless photos of King Winston all over the place.
Cindy (Serene Highness): Or better yet, shirtless Prince Arthur…
Felix (Courtier): Yup, we all knew they’d humiliate the family. And now, it’s happened.
Kitty (Aristocrat): I loved it. They looked like they were having fun for once.
It’s another beautiful morning here on Santa Valentina Island. The sun is hot, the water’s warm, and we’re now on the fifth day of our families getting along in a row. A miracle, really. Will was able to take his nose splint off last night, so, other than a bit of yellowing under his eyes, he’s back to normal.
Today we’ve been having the best time ever at the beach (with the exception of Rosy, who popped by for a few minutes, but then hustled back inside to get out of the un-air-conditioned air). I’m sitting on a beach towel with Will while the kids play in the water with their dads. Libby and Gran are snoring away on lounge chairs nearby, while Tessa reads a book in the shade.
Will leans over and kisses my bare shoulder. “Who knew things could turn out this well?”
“I did,” I tease. “I knew things would turn out the whole time.”
“Really?” he asks, giving me a skeptical look.
“Of course,” I say with a shrug. “The problem with you is you tend to overreact when things get stressful. You need to learn to relax.”
