The Prince

Paradise - Chapters 6 and 7

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Paradise Chapter 6 "Libertad"

It was the morning after the 4th of July, and everyone within the Barrington circle of influence was peacefully sleeping in the home in which JD had grown up. Jen and Lindsay were asleep in one of the spare rooms in which there were two twin beds. For so many years of her life, this had been referred to as Lindsay's room. Lidia was asleep in the other spare bedroom; Maxima and Tom were asleep in their master suite on the main floor of the house. On the third floor, though, peacefully slept Tyler and JD.

As usually, there were both smiling as both guys slept on their left side. Tyler's left arm was between two pillows atop which his head rested. His right hand was on top of JD's right hand that was peacefully resting on Tyler's furry chest. It had been a couple of days since they'd had sex, but it was just as nice to sleep beside each other without it, knowing that what they felt for each other was real, even if they hadn't expressed it in words...yet.

All seven of them peacefully slept, dreaming their own dreams, living the life that they lived in their subconscious. JD relived the walk on the beach that he and Tyler had taken the night before; Tyler had visions of being surrounded by a lot of people that wanted to meet him, to be him, to experience the glory of his life.

At around three in the morning, though, their sleep was disturbed by the sound of the phone ringing. Tom reached over and picked up the extension in their room without even looking first at the caller ID. They were used to getting calls at that hour of the night, given their profession, but the rest of them were disturbed by the sound of ringing through the house.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Tom?" the caller asked.

"Bill...do you know what time of the morning it is?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm at work. There's something coming across the wire that my sister needs to see," he stated. Bill, Tom's brother, worked for CNN and would often call them at odd hours of the day when something came across the AP news wire that he thought might be of interest to them.

"What is it?" Tom asked.

"The wire says: `Guil Santiago Dead at 90'," Bill read him directly from the screen of his computer.

"Hold on," Tom said as he turned over and gently shoved his wife, who was snoring after consuming too much alcohol the night before. "Max. Wake up! It's Bill."

"Tell him that we'll come get him out of jail tomorrow," Max said, joking even though she was half asleep.

"I'm serious," Tom said. She rolled over onto her back took the phone from him.

"Bill...This better be good, or I will murder you myself. Keep in mind that I still have diplomatic immunity in some places," she said.

"This is big!" Bill said as he told her.

Upon hearing his words, she shot straight up in the bed. "What else does it say?" she asked him. He read her a few details that had come across the AP and other news agencies, but they basically just said that he was dead and gave his age. "OK," she said as she stood from the bed and grabbed her robe from the chair that was close by. "I hope you know that you're my favorite brother-in-law, and I would never really murder you."

"Yes you would," Bill joked.

"Yeah. Probably so," Maxima smiled. "Will you call my cell if you see anything else?"

"Of course," Bill answered. "Talk to you later."

The two hung up the phone; Maxima stood there and looked at it for a moment as she thought about all that was going to be going on in the next few hours. She immediately called the answering service for which they paid to check their messages.

"Hello, Mrs. Barrington," the operator said answering the line.

"Have there been any messages for us?" she asked.

"Give me one moment, and I will check," the operator said as she punched some buttons. "Oh! In the last few minutes, there have been ten calls or so."

"Are they looking for comment about the situation in Morovia or anything listed about Guil Santiago?"

"All of them are, ma'am," the operator answered.

"Will you please make a note to tell any callers that there is no comment on the situation in Morovia? And would you please refer any callers seeking legal advice to Alan Gregorson?" she continued.

"Yes ma'am. I'll actually set all of your calls to route into me directly so that the message doesn't get messed up," the operator offered.

"Thank you. We would greatly appreciate it," she said.

"Consider it done!" she said just before the two of them hung up the phone. She opened a line so that anyone who called would get a busy tone when they tried to call into the house.

"Alan is gonna be pissed," Tom smiled as he lay in the bed.

"Alan owes us a favor. Remember a couple of months ago when he forwarded all his clients to us without warning?" Maxima asked with a smile.

"This is true," Tom smiled. "So are you OK?"

"I don't know. My maternal instincts are kicking in, I think."

"How so?"

"Whatever is happening is not just going to affect me," Maxima answered. "Lidia can handle it. It's JD and Lindsay that I'm worried about. Some vulturous reporter is going to see them as an easy target."

"Baby. They're both smart enough to know not to say anything," Tom said.

"I know, but I need to protect them," Maxima said.

"I bet Lindsay could kick any reporter's ass that stepped up to her the wrong way," Tom said.

"What if this is it? What if we get to go home?"

"Baby, I promised I would stand beside you no matter what. I knew what I was getting myself into when I proposed," Tom answered.

"I love you, Thomas Barrington."

"I love you too, Your Royal Highness," he said as she climbed back into the bed and snuggled next to him. "There's no chance of you going back to sleep like this is there."

"No," she answered. "This is too big to sleep."

"Then let me get up and get dressed. I'll fix you some breakfast."

"I love you, Tom."

"I love you more," he said with a wink as he pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

Within just a few minutes, Maxima was showering as Tom was working in the kitchen to prepare breakfast for his bride. He was trying to be as quiet as possible, but as Lidia, Jen, Lindsay, and Tyler were able to sleep through the sounds, JD was stirred by the sound. Perhaps he was more accustomed than he thought to the noise in the house produced when his parents woke in the middle of the night. Reluctantly, he pulled away from Tyler and stepped away from the bed. After he pulled his shorts up, he couldn't help but smile as he saw that Tyler had rolled over and taken the pillow atop which his head had been, moments before, resting.

It was almost an oddity to see him there, in that way. He fondly recalled the night that they met. It was only four Saturdays before, and he was already experiencing those feelings that it had taken him so long to feel with David and Paul. He almost wondered if those feelings that he'd felt with the others were just because they were comfortable. Tyler challenged him; they didn't. Tyler was sweet, smart, polite, confident. While Paul didn't lack confidence, David did. While David was sweet and polite, Paul was a jackass. Tyler was the better than the sum of both of them, though.

As JD walked out of the door, he strived to close it without waking the gently sleeping man in his bed. He walked downstairs to find his father working away in the kitchen.

"What'd you do?" JD asked as he walked in.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked. "OH! Breakfast?"

"Yeah," JD said as he grabbed a bottle of juice.

"Well. You're uncle called us with some news," Tom answered. "While I'm thinking about that, some people might approach you asking questions about something that's going on in Morovia. You know to give them no comment, right?"

"Yeah...that's a given. What's going on, though?"

"Guil has died," Tom answered nonchalantly as he folded over his special omlette that he always made for Maxima when he was in trouble with her for some reason.

"Does that mean that we can go to Morovia now?" JD asked.

"Don't know," Tom said. "Bill just said that all he could find was that Guil was dead."

"OK. So are you cooking for everyone or just Mom?" JD asked. The full gravity of the situation was still vague. No one knew what the death of one man would mean to a community of 17 million people, half of whom lived outside the motherland.

"Just your mother," Tom said with a smile. "I'm hoping that if it's good news coming out of Morovia that I might get lucky."

JD laughed. "You're such a perv, Dad."

"Damn right!" Tom said as he giggled.

As Maxima got ready for what promised to be a long day, the news of Guil's death was first and foremost on her mind. She recalled being on her way to America when she heard the news of the capture of the palace. For days, she'd refused to believe that her parents were going to perish, but it was that moment that told her that she would never again see her parents in that life. For a ten-year-old girl, it was a hard thing to grasp, and it made her grow up faster than she should have had to. All the feelings of guilt that she experienced at the realization came flooding back into her memory.

The day before they left, Caterina and Maxima were packing her things into a large trunk. Caterina was only packing those things that Maxima would need for the trip; Maxima got mad because she wouldn't let her take all the toys that she'd accumulated through her childhood. Maxima got mad told her mother that she hated her. Caterina's heart was broken by the comment, but more because she knew that it was one of the last times that she would ever see her daughter.

The next morning, Maxima was still mad as they left the palace and quickly went to the port, where the Royal Yacht was waiting to carry the girls away from the country with their aunt. Maxima hugged her, but it wasn't as it should have been. Later in her life, Maxima had wished she could go back in time to correct that moment, to tell her mother just how much she appreciated her and would miss her.

No one knew how the moment of their departure affected her. Not even Lidia knew the depth of the guilt that Maxima felt for those moments. With Tom, she just made reference to the day itself. She never talked about it, for fear that everyone around her would feel like she was a mean and horrible person for acting that way.

She cried as she remembered her mother's face exactly as it was. If only she'd known that the face was filled with fear and despair. If only she'd known then that her mother had already resolved herself to the fate that had befallen them. She stood beneath the super hot flow of water as long as she could bear it. After rinsing the conditioner out of her hair, though, it was time to pull herself together, both emotionally and physically. That day would, more than likely, be quite rough for the woman, the princess that preferred to her privacy to the spotlight. She knew that people would want to hear from her, as most living outside the country considered her their Queen.

Dressed and ready for the day, she left the bedroom to find her husband and son talking.

"Damn," Tom said.

"What?" she asked as he set the plate with the omlette at the dinner table.

"You...look...so...sexy..." he commented.

"JD. I think your father is still drunk."

"Nope. He's just horny," JD answered.

"He's always horny!" Maxima answered as she kissed his lips.

"You've never complained before," he reminded her.

"True..." she smiled.

She could have cried right there as the two most important men in her life stood there joking with her and with each other. Tom was completely different from any male person that she'd ever met. Most people had always been intimidated by her title, but he wasn't. He was the first, the only, the last man that she ever saw herself loving in an adult kind of way. He was gentle with her; he was strong; he was there; he adored every single thing about her.

Their only child, though, was what was making her relive the past in that moment. JD usually kept his hair cut short. If he'd let it grown, she pondered to herself, he would be almost indistinguishable from her father, a man who was honored in his name. JD was a little taller, a little more athletic, but his face often reminded people, especially Maxima, of the first man in her life.

In her ten years with her father, she recalled so much. She was a daddy's girl to the core. He would let her sit with him during important meetings; she would go along with him when he went on a tour of some facility or something. Ribbon cutting ceremonies were her favorite. It was the only time in her childhood that she could actually help him with his official functions.

She recalled one moment in particular that he was going to the opening of a department store in a new neighborhood on the north-eastern side of Talxiara. They arrived in the King's car about ten minutes later than they were supposed to be there. After some words, the owner didn't hand the scissors to the King, but rather to her. King David looked at her and smiled as she walked over to the blue ribbon blocking the door and snipped it in half. She looked up as cameras snapped photos of the young princess dressed in a red dress with a little pill box hat on top of her head.

After their departure for America, though, she changed. She hated to have her picture taken; she hated to be around large crowds; she had lost in those days that it took to travel from Talxiara to Paradise something that she'd always possessed. She often wondered if her father would have approved of Tom, but she knew that he would have. He would have adored JD, and Lindsay would have had him wrapped around her little finger, much as she and Lidia always were.

By six, the sound of movement had woken everyone from their shorter than desired slumber. Walking downstairs, everyone but Tyler convinced Tom to fix them breakfast as well. Tyler was trying to be polite by not asking him for an omlette, but Tom fixed him one anyway. He joked about liking Tyler better than anyone else, which made Tyler blush. Jen and Lindsay joked with about it; JD was brought to smiles.

JD was the only person other than his parents that knew of the news. At six, Maxima's cell phone rang again. She walked into the bedroom to answer it. It was Bill calling back again.

"His daughter is on TV," he said after her greeting. There was no conversation. She just hung up the phone and ran back into the living room. Shaking, she turned on the TV and tuned it to CNN Europe, the channel that was running round-the-clock coverage of the situation.

"In the wake of all that is going on with regard to the death of President Santiago, the governors of each of the provinces, in agreement with the local leadership and the Council of Ministers, are issuing a Twenty-four hour curfew. Stay at home; do not go to work; do not go shopping. Stay at home," she declared, her voice pleading with Morovians to remain calm, unsure of what forces beyond her control would do during the time of mourning.

"What?" Lidia asked as she walked into the room. "He's dead?" she looked to Maxima for leadership and guidance.

"He's really dead," Maxima answered as she looked at her sister.

Lidia had spent all her life in America. Her memories of Morovia and of their parents were fleeting as she aged. Natalie and Maxima had been the authority figures in her life for as long as she could remember. She could remember playing in the hallways of the palace, a single trip the family took to the beach, and the smell of the flowers that were planted in the courtyard of the palace.

As they suddenly went into an embrace, it was as if they were finally going to realize closure for all that had happened almost fifty years before. Everyone watched as they heard Lidia sobbing. Maxima held her tightly, as she had done so many times in the past.

"JD," Maxima whispered as she held her.

"Yes ma'am?" he asked as he watched.

"Will you and Tyler get the trunks from my storage area?" she asked.

"Sure," JD answered.

"No problem," Tyler said as he stood and walked with JD out the front of the house in which JD had grown up.

JD walked down the steps as if there were nothing out of the ordinary. Tyler had to keep his composure as he tried to ignore the TV trucks and photographers that were setting up across the street from JD's house, in the lot that had been vacant since Hurricane Katrina that Maxima and Tom had purchased so that they could see both the Gulf and Mobile Bay from their living room.

"Hey, JD?" Tyler asked as they entered the storage unit.

"Yeah," JD said as they both moved things out of the way to find the trunks.

"Do you think that Jen and I should leave? It just seems like a family moment," Tyler stated.

JD stopped what he was doing and looked at Tyler. "Can I be honest?"

"Of course."

"I don't want you to leave. If you feel like you should, that's fine, but I would really like it if you did. I don't know what's going to happen later today, but it would be nice to just know that you're there with me," JD answered.

"OK," Tyler responded as he turned back to the stacks of stuff that Maxima had accumulated over the years. "What's this?" Tyler said, holding up a box.

JD smiled. "My baptismal attire."

"It looks like a dress."

"What can I say, I've been gay all my life," JD joked as Tyler set the box down and continued to search for the trunks.

A few minutes later, they happened upon two trunks that were stuffed into the back of the storage unit. JD lifted up one of them that was fairly light, handing it to Tyler. The second was considerably heavier than the first, and it took JD a moment to lift it.

"God, I love your arms," Tyler said as they walked out, photographers snapping pictures of them walking out of the storage unit. JD set the trunk onto the ground for a second and shut the door back, locking it before the two of them returned to the house with the trunks.

Inside, Maxima and Lidia were both on the phone. Jen and Lindsay had been roped into helping make phone calls on behalf of the princesses. They could hear the shower in the master suite, letting them know that Tom was getting ready.

"Key?" JD asked his mom.

"Bedside table," she answered, pulling the phone away from her head to quickly answer him before returning to her call.

JD ran into the bedroom and grabbed the key from the table beside her bed. Running back into the living room, he quickly put the keys in and popped open the top of the trunks. Maxima motioned for him not to take anything out. JD didn't argue, assuming that she knew what was in there and what she would be looking for.

"We should probably get showered," Tyler said with a smile.

"Want to save some time and shower together?" JD asked.

"What do you think?" Tyler answered, winking at JD as they ran upstairs.

As they thoroughly scrubbed each other's body, Maxima got off the phone and sat on her knees in the floor in front of the trunk. Lidia quickly finished her call, as did Lindsay and Jen. The four women assembled around the trunks to see what was in them. In one of the trunks were some mementos of their mother's. Her wedding dress was in there, as was the tiara that she wore when she was married. A silver brush and mirror were in there as well.

Maxima ran it through her hair once, recalling an instance when Caterina was pregnant with Lidia. They were going to be going out to a dinner or something, and as Maxima prepared herself for the evening, Caterina came into the room and brushed her hair. That night, she let Maxima wear a bit of her perfume. She thought she was so big that evening as she was able to hold both of her parents' hands.

Lidia found a set of silver hairclips that their mother adored. When Jen commented about how pretty they were, Maxima and Lidia looked at each other and smiled. Lidia handed the small wooden box that they were in to her. Jen was surprised, looked at them and tried to hand them back, but the women that were held as matrons of the Morovian ex-pat movement refused to accept them. She looked at Lindsay, who just smiled and told her to enjoy them. Lindsay helped Jen pull her hair back and put them in.

"How do I look?" she asked.

"I'd do you," Lindsay commented as the four of them laughed.

In the second truck were things that belonged to their father. His shaving kit was one of things in there. There was also a box of cigars that were long since spoiled. There was also a lighter that he used every so often to light his cigars. It was a fancy one, one that was in the mode in the 50s. She pulled out a box in which he'd put his wedding ring and several other pieces of jewelry that he wore. His parents' and grandparents' wedding rings were also in there.

A bottle of his cologne was in there. Maxima sprayed it into the air as she and Lidia both inhaled deeply. Maxima began to cry as she recalled the morning they left. Unlike the situation with her mother, their goodbye with their father was sweet. Maxima remembered him telling her to take care of Lidia and be the `big girl' that she was. She could still hear his raspy deep voice as if he'd only spoken the words moments before.

"I hope that Guil Santiago rots in hell...not just rots...I hope he suffers the same fate as our parents," Maxima said as she placed the cologne back into the box and pulled another, large box from the trunk.

The box was so large and heavy that Maxima felt like she wouldn't be able to get it out at first. Being that it wasn't a regular box, she turned and set it on the coffee table behind her. She unfastened the latch that held it closed and opened it.

"OH GOD!" she exclaimed as Lidia stretched to see what was in it.

Both of them began to shake as they looked at the crown that had been designed especially for his coronation. In Morovian, each monarch had their own crown. It was their personal property until their death, when it went into a museum. To anyone's knowledge, it had been destroyed along with all the other crowns in the early 60s when Guil needed to raise money for something. In fact, Maxima recalled reading that it was among the crowns that had been destroyed for their gold and gems.

"What are y'all looking at?" Tom asked as he came out of the bedroom, straightening his tie. "Holy shit," he exclaimed as Maxima moved the box to show it to him. He had heard about that crown, but he never imagined that it would be in a trunk in a storage unit at his house.

"So y'all didn't know what was in these?" Jen asked.

"No," Lidia answered. "Nat would never let us open them. She just told us that there were some things in them from our parents. When she died, we put them over here without opening them. If my husband had known what was in them, he would have...damaged them...I'm sure."

"Dad is an asshole. Just mention him to JD and watch his reaction," Lindsay added.

Maxima looked inside the crown and found a few of her father's hairs in there.

"Lindsay," she noted as she stared at the single inch long hair that she held between the thumb and forefinger on her right hand.

"Yes, Aunt Max?" she asked.

"Do you remember that time when you and JD were playing in your room, and y'all found a box?"

"The one that you beat his ass for trying to pry open?" she asked.

"That's the one," Maxima smiled. "Run get it for me."

"OK," she responded as she stood.

"I'll come with you," Jen said, noting the expression of emotion that were running around in Maxima's head by the way her face looked in those few seconds.

"OK," Lindsay said as they scaled the stairs.

"You OK, Max?" Tom said as he knelt down beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

She just fell into him as she and Lidia both felt that it was time to mourn their parents' departure from the physical world. They had called themselves mourning in the past, but this moment was heart-wrenching for both of them. Looking at Lidia sitting with her hands in her lap as she sat on her knees, Tom reached over and pulled her in as well. For those who had joked that when he married Maxima he'd also married Lidia, this moment would have further proven that. Lidia was his sister as much as she was Maxima's. Hell, he even joked that he liked Lidia more than his own sister, who lived in Illinois or Indiana. He didn't know, exactly.

Within a few minutes, all four of the kids were returning to the main floor of the house. The image that they saw was so sweet as both women sobbed almost uncontrollably.

"JD, do you have a suit here?" Maxima asked after a moment.

"Yes ma'am," he answered.

"Go put it on for me. Tyler, what size are you?"

"34, 32," he answered.

"Tom," she stated, "get him one of your suits, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," he said to her. "Come on, Ty," he said to Tyler.

"Yes sir."

"Lindsay, you wear a two, right?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am," she answered. "And since I have a feeling what you're doing, shoes, cute, size 7. Do we get bags too?"

"Lindsay!" Lidia corrected her daughter as the four of the snickered.

"Jen. What size are you? And do you have a color that you prefer to wear?" Maxima asked as she and Lidia stood from the floor.

"Two and lilac," Jen answered as Maxima grabbed her cell phone and walked into their home office to take care of a couple of things.

"By the way," Lidia started at Jen, "I can't remember if I told you yesterday that it is very nice to meet you."

"You did, and the pleasure is mine," Jen answered.

A few minutes later, JD returned to the living room dressed in a grey suit. Tyler was strikingly handsome in Tom's suit. Mary, the Barringtons' assistant, was on her way with clothes for Jen and Lindsay. Lidia and Maxima stole away to get freshened up as everyone sat around.

"So why are we getting all dressed up?" Jen asked.

"I would have a feeling that Maxima wants the press that's outside to have a good image of us should they snap our picture or something," Lindsay answered.

"Exactly right," Tom concurred. "She's always said..." he turned to JD.

"There's no excuse for not looking your best when cameras are present," the two men said in sync.

After a few minutes, JD turned to Tyler, who was patiently sitting on the sofa for whatever was going to go down to actually go down. JD plopped on the couch next to him. As the others went into the kitchen for a mid-morning Mimosa, JD turned to him.

"You OK?" he asked.

"Yeah. I should call my mom, though, and tell her to put it on CNN, just in case she sees me or something," Tyler joked.

"Do they know about me?" JD asked seriously.

"No," Tyler answered. "They would respect you more if they heard it from you and not from me. Otherwise, they might think that it's something that you're trying to hide from them...or something."

"That's cool," JD said.

"I would like to call them though...just cause I'm not the kind of person that's normally on TV and shit," Tyler responded.

"I love you, Ty," JD said with a laugh.

"JD..."

"Yeah?" he said with a smile on your face.

"Do you realize what you just said?"

JD thought about it for a second. "Shit. I did," JD said in a tone that was a combination of nonchalant and surprise. It was true, but he surprised himself by allowing himself to utter those words. "It's the truth, though," he said.

"I'm kinda glad that you were the first one to say it. I didn't want to see like a loser or something by saying it and then not having you return the feelings."

"So it's the same for you?" JD asked.

"Has been for a while," Tyler answered.

"I love you, Ty," JD said.

"I love you, too, JD," Tyler said as he leaned in and kissed JD on the lips.

"That's my boy!!!" Tom yelled as Lindsay and Jen laughed. The three of them walked into the room. They broke their kiss as they smiled at each other.

"What?" Maxima asked.

"The gays were making out," Lindsay joked, smiling at her cousin who was giving her, by that point, an evil eye.

"Just don't get anything on my new sofa. I haven't had it scotch-guarded yet," Maxima smiled and winked at JD as she walked back into the room.

The laughter that ensued subsided shortly as Maxima began doling out duties to each of them. Jen and Tyler weren't excused from her instructions just because they weren't related by blood to the people in the room.

Most of them were set onto phone duty, calling a list of people that Tom helped them figure out as they stood in the kitchen. JD, however, got the ominous duty of talking to the press. It was something he'd never done, and he was as a virgin on her wedding day. Maxima gave him pointers, though. She'd argued cases before the Supreme Court, so talking to a few ravenous reporters was nothing for her.

With a couple of deep breaths and a little encouragement, JD walked from the front of the house and toward the reporters. He was thankful that he had a grey suit, though, as having a black one would have just accentuated the heat of the early July morning. He was also sweating from the nerves that were overtaking him.

He walked up to a place where several agencies had set up microphones and a small podium.

"Who are you?" one of the people asked.

"I'm Prince Joseph," he introduced himself as Maxima had told him. She'd said to use his title and only use his first name.

"Your Highness," one of the people said, "does Princess Maxima have anything she'd like to say?" The lady noticed his nerves at talking before the crowd and gave him a question that she was sure he could answer easily. Surely, she assumed, they'd been planning strategy.

"Actually," JD started, "she does, but you're going to have to wait for it. She's asked me to have you move around to the back of the house. There's a bridge that leads to a small island where a covered patio is set up. She thinks that it would be a great place for you guys to capture everything that will be going on when she does make a comment."

There was a little bit of grumblings, but for the most part, people were eager to hear what she had to say about everything going on in her homeland. JD showed them around the back of the house, though, after a few minutes. He showed them where to go and advised them where to set up the podium and their microphones.

He went back into the house, though, where Maxima had been watching him the whole time. "My little prince," she said as she hugged him and kissed his cheek from behind the curtains that they'd closed a moment before.

As the next few hours passed, people began assembling at the house. The children of her father's last Prime Minister were there, as were aging members of the government that left just before Guil captured Talxiara. There were so many people at the house that a couple of those people that had become regulars just walked away.

Tyler was impressed and honored as JD, Tom, Maxima, and Lidia all introduced him as Tyler, JD's boyfriend. Every one of those people, of a variety of ages, was all accepting of him and his sexuality. It was as if he were in a different world, a world that was completely progressive and understanding of difference; it was a place where everyone was equal to everyone else. Most of them even joked that he would have to learn Morovian if he hoped to be JD's `Prince Consort' one day.

"Lindsay!" Maxima yelled across the house, filled with people.

"Yes ma'am?" Lindsay yelled back.

"The box?"

"Here!" Lindsay said as she carried it from the kitchen to her aunt.

"Mr. Leon," she said as an old man proudly brought a key over to her.

As everyone watched, the old man unlocked the box. "On this day," Maxima noted, "may the world know that our struggle from freedom and liberty of our homeland are not over!" There was cheering from everyone inside the house. "JD!" she called. "Go give them all a three minute warning."

With more confidence than before, he walked out of the back of the house and went to the podium. Rather than just the media, though, he looked out over the bay behind his parent's house. People had come from all over, in boats large and small, to see what their Queen had to say. Everyone single boat was flying the Morovian flag in some way. It was attached to some boats. Others began waving it wildly as they saw JD walk to the podium. He waved at them as people began to cheer.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press," he started. "I've been asked to give you a three minute warning. Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Maxima will be speaking at that time."

He walked back inside to adulation from all those that were there.

"OK," Maxima started. "Mr. Leon. As the Bearer of the Flag, you will carry the box out. Everyone else will just walk with us. Alright?"

"Yes ma'am," a few people announced to her.

"Your Highness," Mr. Leon said as he walked over to her. He pulled a velvet box from his coat pocket and handed it to her. "Your father would want you to wear this," he stated as she opened the box.

She smiled as she looked at the medallion inside. It was one that were issued to the members of her father's personal chivalric order. Being that she was only 10 when she left, she wasn't ever inducted into the order. It would have been against tradition to do so before her 18th birthday. She took it from the case as he helped her place it in the appropriate location on her dress. Someone with the forethought to bring a camera pulled it out and snapped a couple of pictures as the old man did his duty by giving allegiance to the King and his heirs.

"Military men and women who are here!" he called throughout the house. "Stand at attention in the presence of Our Queen!" he ordered. He, in turn, stood at attention and turned to face her. "Saludan!" he ordered as every military person there raised their hands to their forehead and saluted Maxima. (Salute!)

She returned the salute to them, smiling the whole time. She had always shrugged the title that the community bestowed on her, but, that day, she gladly accepted it.

In just a moment, the whole group was walking outside. Four of the old men who were members of the Royal Guard, like Mr. Leon, flanked the three of them that were going to the microphone. They stood rigidly at attention, just as they'd done the day that they escorted they were given the responsibility of escorting the princesses to America. Maxima stood in the middle. Tom was on her right; Lidia was on her left. JD, Tyler, Lindsay, and Jen were closely behind her. Everyone else took a place they could find, whether it be on the perfectly manicured lawn or the stairs leading to the deck.

From the boats in the bay behind their house, there was cheering. There were video and digital cameras taping the movements of the Crown Princess, if nothing else. A few who were lucky enough to be close to the podium on their boots could hear the voice of their Queen as it carried as far as it could.

"My fellow Morovians," she started as the crowd cheered for her. She waved and smiled, but continued. "My fellow Morovians. We should never speak ill of the dead, but..." she started. There was more cheering and laughter as she stood at the podium without a prepared statement. The woman was so good she could wing it. "I would like to take a moment to speak to Zhola Santiago directly. Zhola, no one knows better than Lidia and me the emotional toll that losing your last parent takes on an individual. Whether you're 100 or 10, the event still makes you feel like an orphan. I ask all Morovians, on all sides of the Atlantic, to pray that Zhola finds comfort in the loss of her father."

The crowd applauded her words, as they were genuine. This woman was speaking from experience, offering support while stopping just short of giving her cell phone number.

"On this day, though, we not only grieve with Zhola, but we also celebrate. We don't celebrate that this man is dead; Morovians are better than that! Instead, we celebrate that one of the...darkest...chapters in Morovian history has come to end." As the members of the Royal Guard stood at attention still, everyone else cheered. Morovians in the boats that were blocking the entrance to the bay and those that were standing behind Maxima all clapped and cheered.

Tyler watched as JD hung on to every word his mother spoke. As she blasted the previous administration and plead with Morovians to demand their liberties, JD seemed to be swelling with pride. It was almost as if something inside JD had clicked, that his instincts related to his being the second in line for the Morovian throne were overpowering every other aspect of his being in that moment. He found himself, honestly, more attracted to him than he ever had.

"And to close out this little tirade," Maxima joked, "I shout in the words of so many Morovians before me the cry that MUST be heard: LIBERTAD!"

"LIBERTAD!" every Morovian there, Tyler, Jen, and Tom shouted with her.

It was a word, meaning `liberty' in Morovian, that had been the battle cry of those who were still solidly in the camp of the Royal Family. Libertad demanded that the government ruling Morovia take into consideration the will of the people, that the legitimate government be restored to its prominence before the war. It meant that every Morovian was free to express his opinions and be accepted and heard by those in power. It could mean that there could be a difference of opinion without the use of violence to solve problems.

As crowds cheered, Maxima took the flag from the box and with Tyler's help attached it to the chain on the flagpole that was in the middle of the back yard. Just the day before, it held the American flag in celebration of Independence Day. In that moment, though, the cries of generations of people rang louder than they had in some time. With each tug Maxima made against the metal chain, the flag went higher and higher toward the sky. Soon enough the people saw the brilliantly colored flag. The first stripe was yellow; the second was red; the third stripe was bright blue. Everyone thought it was the national flag from before the war, with the national seal across the front. People cheered and applauded, though, as a gentle breeze clipped the flag and everyone present saw the Royal Standard of King David XII flying.

Zhola watched from the quietly uncomfortable sitting room of the Presidential Suite. A tear ran down her face as Maxima spoke words of consolation to her as a woman, a person, and individual. She understood the other words she spoke; she needed to say them to reenergize the movement that she led.

With all her power and influence, Zhola felt alone, empty. Her "parents" were gone; her parents were gone. She had sisters, but they didn't know of their relation to her. The Chamboros were great, but they weren't what she needed right then. She needed to hug her Papa and to hear that everything would be OK, but, alas, as Maxima pointed out, he was dead and gone, never to return to the land of the living.

For most of the evening, she took calls from the world's leaders. Both Presidents Bush called, as did Nancy Reagan. The President of France called, but being that Guil and the French government had never seen eye to eye, it was a short call of condolences. No nation with a monarch called to send their prayers and wishes to her.

After her news conference, Maxima and her entourage went back into the house and continued the quiet celebration. News agencies camped out on the island behind their house, providing constant observations and commentaries on the speech. Several pundits from a conservative news agency based in America referred to her speech as presumptuous' and callous'. Most around the world, though, felt it was powerful and moving as she spoke to the Morovian populous as they were there, with her. Political analysts buzzed the airwaves with scenarios of what would happen in Morovia, given the absence of the Head of State. Zhola was doing a find job as a stand-in, but would she make it with the power that her father held.

The never several days were tense. On Sunday, the National Administrative Council, made up of the Council of Ministers, the Governors of the States, and several people who had been awarded membership by the President met and officially elected Zhola as President. For the time, she had to rule strongly, to consolidate the power that she had inherited.

Maxima managed, with her sweet demeanor, to keep things calm on her side of the Atlantic. Some people wanted to take boats and planes and mount an invasion of the country, but she knew that none of their ideas could be made a reality. The logistics of it all would require so much planning. She advised the she had faith that Zhola would use her power to make the right decisions regarding the nation.

The morning of the 8th should have been a joyously powerful day in Morovia. It was Victory Day, but no one was really in the mood to celebrate with parades and barbecues. It was a rainy day on which the funeral of the former President was to be held. The world watched as the service was broadcast live on Morovian State Television and all its affiliates worldwide.

That afternoon, with her father buried in the State Mausoleum, along side Kings and Queens of the past, Zhola went to work to articulate her vision. She'd had a few days to think about things, and to put into words all that she wanted to do for the Morovian people. At around three local time, and 8am in Paradise, she called a press conference. It was a press conference that so many people and governments were watching to see what would happen in the coming days, months, and years in the Mediterranean nation with a declining population of just over 7 million.

In front of dignitaries from the entire nation and the cameras of the most powerful media conglomerates watching her, she started things off by issuing a grandiose soliloquy in memory of Guil Santiago. "But, as it has been pointed out, he is gone and Morovia must take the steps necessary to move further into the 21st century," she transitioned form the first part of the speech to the second. "To that end, I have several proclamations that will be read publically and put into force immediately," she continued. "First. A modern nation must be willing to concede that peoples' consciousness cannot be controlled. To that end, my government will maintain its relationship with the Vatican. The Catholic Church of Morovia will remain the state church; it will continue to receive assistance to support parks, schools, and clinics across the nation. However," she said, looking right into the camera and holding up the index finger on her right hand, "mandatory attendance of Sunday services will no longer be required, effective immediately." Church leaders immediately began formulating a response to her actions. Benedict was sure that while he felt it was personally wrong, there was nothing that the church should do to condemn the actions of the Morovian Head of State. In the Grand Hall of Kings at the Presidential Palace, applause erupted as people cheered the decision to give credence and acceptance to faiths other than the Roman one. "Also, our nation shall simply be called the State of Morovia' from this point forward. The title Catholic Republic' shall be removed from all official state documents, buildings, and other instances where it is listed."

"Continuing," she said after the applause subsided. "We have a grave situation to which previous responses haven't been successful. As most know, the population of Morovia is slowly, but steadily, decreasing. While attempts have been made to restrict movement within and exit from the country, nothing has worked to increase the number of Morovians living within the borders of this nation." A few people sat anticipating her next words, but no one was expecting her to reverse a half-century of legal precedence as she was about to do. "The fact is that people are scared of the police. They are scared of the Courts. They are afraid that the blanket charges of `Crimes Against the Morovian State' will be applied to them, just as it has been applied to so many people in the past. The fact that this charge's definition isn't clear leads me to think that it's not necessary to continue charging people with the crime. Effective today, I am suspending the use of this charge against any individual until I can meet with both legal and social advisors to determine a valid definition. Further, I am setting up a commission under the Ministry of Justice that will review all uses of this charge against people. Once the definition is declared, the commission will review every single case, granting pardons, even posthumously, to individuals whose conviction didn't meat the definitions that I am outlining." She received a standing ovation, especially from those who had been trying to convince the man they knew as her father to do away with it for years. "To show that my intentions are real, to prove to the world that I intend to make a difference in my time as President, I am issuing the first pardons of my administration."

Maxima shushed everyone that was sitting around her as she and Lidia watched the speech from a restaurant just down the street from their house. A tourist had the audacity to give her the evil eye, but she was quickly corrected by the restaurant's owner.

Zhola shuffled a few pieces of paper that were sitting on the podium with her. "Proclamation 2008B-03 A and B," Zhola read directly from the paper. "A pardon to be issued upon promulgation for Their Majesties, King David XII and Queen Caterina," she said as she thought about the evening Guil had told her the truth about her identity. "King David and Queen Caterina are hereby pardoned posthumously. All of their titles and honors are to be restored. Their bodies, which are interred in an cemetery in the city of Casteló, are to be exhumed and moved to the State Mausoleum in the Cathedral of Talxiara." She reached down and signed the document. The Ministers for Justice and The Interior countersigned the documents, giving them full validity.

Maxima and Lidia looked at each other, crying as the declaration was read. "Proclmation 2008B-04 A, B, C, D, and E," she went on. "A pardon to be issued upon promulgation to Their Royal Highnesses, Crown Princess Maxima and Princess Lidia, Thomas Barrington, Joseph David Thomas Leandro Barrington, and Lindsay Catherine Cartieri. Being that all of the individuals listed, except for Thomas Barrington, were minors at the time of their convictions, and that all of them were convicted in absentia, it is clear that the motive for their conviction was purely and totally political. Therefore, they are all to be pardoned. The titles acquired by Princesses Maxima and Lidia are to be completely restored. Thomas Barrington shall inherit his wife's Royal Title. Henceforth," she looked at the cameras, "he shall be known as His Royal Highness, Prince-consort Thomas Barrington."

There was rapturous applause in the restaurant, especially as Lidia and Maxima hugged each other and cried. Remembrance Day, as it was called by Morovians living abroad, was turning out to be more like the Victory Day that Morovians had been forced to celebrate for almost 50 years. "In accordance with Royal tradition," she said, "this pardon will also recognize the titles given to Prince Joseph and Princess Lindsay at their birth. They shall be recognized as His Royal Highness, Joseph, Prince of Terraco and Her Royal Highness, Lindsay, Duchess of Murcia, respectively. Furthermore, as babies, Prince Joseph and Princess Lindsay were stripped of their Morovian citizenship; this citizenship will be restored upon the registration of their birth with the Morovian Consular Office in Mobile, Alabama."

Maxima and Lidia quickly paid their checks and left the restaurant before hearing the rest of the speech. They were, themselves, speechless as they ran to Maxima's house to find JD's birth certificate and then to Lidia's to find Lindsay's. They stopped by Maxima's office first to see if Tom had heard the good news.

"Mary's been calling me `Your Royal Highness' for the last hour!" he declared as Mary smiled from her seat in the lobby of their small office building. Mary offered both women congratulations just before they left to find their children.

The first stop was the gym, where JD was working away, blissfully unaware of what was going on. Maxima and Lidia walked past the reception desk as the girl working smiled at them and continued reading from her book. They entered the office and closed the door behind them. Emotionally, Maxima explained what had just happened and that they needed to get to Mobile before she changed her mind and withdrew the pardons and restoral of their citizenship. Just as they were getting ready to leave, Tyler came into the gym for a `personal training session' with JD. JD was crying he was so happy with the news coming from Morovia; before he could even explain it, he reached up and pulled Tyler into a kiss. One of his tears made its way to Tyler's cheek. It was warm, just as JD's heart had always been to him.

They called Lindsay, who was still on campus at the time of the announcement. Maxima, driving like a wild woman with three other people in her car, swung onto campus and picked her up. Getting back off campus seemed to take forever, but when the light turned green, Maxima pushed down on the accelerator and swung off the grounds of Owens University much like she had done so many times when she was a student there herself.

They drove north on Grand Avenue until it became State Highway 59 just out of the North Baursville neighborhood of Paradise. Between the city limits and I-10, she was pulled over. After explaining the situation to the Sheriff's Deputy, who was ethnically Morovian himself, they continued on their way. The Deputy, though, had called his dispatcher and asked for permission to escort them from where they were to the Consulate. Being Morovian, it was a great honor to do so, even though Maxima had initially said it wasn't necessary.

Once they were on the interstate, Maxima and the cop both opened up their engines and travelled at speeds greater than 100 miles per hour as they crossed over the top part of Mobile Bay via a bridge that connected the two areas. They got off in downtown Mobile, and since the officer was driving with lights and sirens, they were able to scoot past traffic easily and come to the entrance of the consulate.

The building so much reminded Maxima of the Royal Palace. There was a large brick wall guarding the complex; vines of roses climbed the wall, giving the bricks a softer look and feel. Maxima parked her car just in front of the build, and the five of them climbed out. At the gate, there were two guards standing sentry, checking documents and inquiring as to the reasons for everyone's visits.

The guard smiled as the five of them walked up. "Please state your purpose for visiting the Consulate of the...State of Morovia...today," he said to Maxima, who was wearing jeans and a nice blouse that day.

"I am here to register the birth of my child as a citizen of Morovia," she declared.

"I am as well," Lidia stated as the women took their hands.

"Your names?" the guard asked them.

"I am Crown Princess Maxima," Maxima answered.

"And I am Princess Lidia," Lidia responded as they looked at each, smiling as children.

"Your Highnesses," the guards said as they opened the gate to allow them entry. At just that moment, a news van arrived to capture a glimpse of them entering the consulate's grounds.

Slowly, so as to savor the moment as if it were a fine Murcian wine or a Castellan cheese, the ladies simultaneously set foot onto the lawn, manicured with azaleas and roses along side bushes filled with sapphire daisies and small lemons. A crowd of workers at the consulate had come outside to witness the event, for it was the first time in 46 years that the two children of the last king stepped foot on Morovian soil. The consulate was considered an extension of the embassy in Washington, thus it was considered to be Morovia proper. A man with a nice smile opened the door for them, watching Lindsay as she walked inside.

A moment later, they were standing at a desk just inside the grand hall. "May I help you?" the lady asked in perfect English, knowing full well why they were there.

"We would like to register our foreign-born children as Morovian citizens," Lidia answered.

"Yes ma'am," she said. "If you will just fill these papers out?"

"Your Royal Highness," a man said from behind the counter. "When you're finished, I have a call for you. I'll get it set up now."

"Thank you," Maxima stated as she turned and continued to fill the paper.

After a few minutes, the ladies certified the papers and said that they would receive their Morovian passports in about a month. Tyler, Lindsay, and JD went outside to enjoy the lawn of the consulate and to give their mothers a little bit of room to breathe.

"Wow," Lindsay said.

"Exactly," JD said.

"So what exactly happened today?" Tyler asked.

"We got our liberty," JD answered with a big smile on his face. Tyler could see in both of their eyes the pride that being Morovian meant to them. It was more like a devotion than anything else he'd ever seen. It was one of the many, many things that made seeing him, being with him, loving him, all the more like a religious experience.

Paradise Chapter 7 "These Are the Voyages"

Inside Maxima's SUV so many people were piled. Tom was driving while Maxima sat in the front passenger seat...navigating. In the middle seat, Lindsay, Jen, and Lidia were watching them, joking, and mimicking them as appropriate, or inappropriate, depending on the moment. Tyler and JD were in the third seat. Tyler was working for the Morovian class that he'd decided to take that term; JD was helping him with pronunciation. Every now and again their conversations mixed, especially when JD would teach him a dirty word, and Lidia and Maxima would turn around to correct him. They weren't attempting to correct him, or tell him not to use the words. As they explained it, cussing in Morovian was an art. They further went on to state that if he were going to do it, the pronunciation should be perfect.

At the airport, everyone said goodbye to Tom. Because of work related responsibilities, he was forced to stay in town. He also bore the burden of knowing the real destinations of all the groups that would be travelling. Maxima and Lidia had told everyone that they were taking a `sisters' weekend' to Memphis; however, Memphis was just a stop on the route to their real destination. JD and Tyler were flying to Birmingham, but their plans after that were unknown to anyone except the patriarch of the family. The only reason he knew where Lindsay and Jen were travelling to is because she begged him for permission to list him as her emergency contact, instead of her mother. They told her that they were going to Miami, but it was only for a layover while they waited on another flight.

Maxima and Lidia were the first to department...for Memphis. As the children snickered and Lidia tried to hurry her sister up, Maxima insisted on giving her devoted husband one last kiss. Next it was JD and Tyler, hugging everyone as they got ready to leave. Knowing that his cousin had more up her sleeve than met the eye, he told her to be careful. She assured him that she would be fine and hugged him tightly. As he and Tyler walked off, Lindsay and Jen screamed something about how they would bring them back nice gifts from...Miami.

As Tom walked out of the house, he only hoped that he wouldn't get in trouble by any of them if he slipped up and told any one of them where the others were headed.

MOB (Mobile-Owens International Airport) to BHM (Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport)

By far the shortest flight of the day was the one that JD and Tyler were taking. It took off at just after eight in the morning and landed just before nine. It was an interesting flight, as they were sitting next to a bald man that complained about everything. When the flight landed, they were just happy that it was all over and that they were again back on the ground.

Being the only one available to pick them up, Ronnie was aglow as she saw them coming toward the baggage claim from where they'd left the plane.

"Ronnie!" Tyler yelled as she stood there with a big sign that bore their names, written with sharpie markers of various colors. Hugs were in order even before they walked over to wait on the bags to come around the turnstile after being unloaded from the plane.

Ronnie hugged Tyler as she always did, but it only surprised JD when she reached up and hugged him as well. "There is nothing like hugging a man with muscles!" she joked.

"God, Ronnie!" Tyler said as Ronnie winked at JD, who was laughing at them. He thought about how wonderful it was to hear Tyler laugh and to see him smile. It warmed his heart from the very first conversation they had almost two months before.

Before long, they were fighting morning traffic in Birmingham as they drove North to Oneonta. By the time they reached the house, Ronnie claimed that she needed a drink of something to settle her nerves, reminding them countless times of how much she detested the traffic in Birmingham.

By the time that Tammy got home from work, they each had already thrown back a couple of beers. Tammy set her books and a stack of papers that she was to grade that weekend down on the counter and joined them. The conversation was nice and relaxing. For JD and Tyler both, that place was usually so relaxing that they were able to forget about all that had been going on in their lives in Paradise.

"I'm glad y'all are here!" Tammy said as she rubbed Tyler's hand and smiled at JD and Ronnie.

"We're glad to be here!" JD responded, feeling moved to respond for everyone there.

"This has been a week from hell," Tammy said.

"Ricky?" Tyler asked.

"You guessed it!"

"What's been going on?" JD asked.

"He's still seeing that Kara girl and going to her father's church. Bob and I met them for dinner Wednesday night before they went to church. Her father showed up and insisted that we go to their church, that it would open our eyes to a lot of things," Tammy said with a look that implied that she meant so much more than what she was actually saying. "We told him that we both had things to get done that evening and politely thanked him for the invitation. How about, the next day, Ricky comes blasting up in here telling us how Kara's father preached a sermon on Wednesday night about the evils of not going to church and how, if you didn't go to church and accept `the right path' that you were getting a one way ticket to Hell."

"What?" Ronnie asked.

"Uh huh... and I've got a couple of students that go to his church that I can't stand. For some reason, they all knew that I was the one he was talking about."

"Oh no he didn't!" Tyler stated.

"Oh yea! Somehow, they know that I have a gay son and another son who's...quote...living outside the bonds of...Holy...matrimony," Tammy explained. "He's getting so bad," she went on.

"What does Dad say?"

"Little," Tammy answered. "I'm really sorry. Y'all don't need to have to put up with my drama. How was your week, sweetie?" she asked Tyler.

"It was good. Interesting," Tyler said.

"How so?" she asked as she took a sip of the beer that she was holding.

"Before I tell you, JD should give you some background," Tyler said as he looked over at JD, placing his hand atop JD's that was resting peacefully on the top of the table.

"By the way," Ronnie interjected, hoping to help the conversation that was about to happen move along more smoothly, "Kevin and I googled you the other night."

"What did you find?"

"A picture of your..." she said as she held her forefinger and thumb about an inch from each other.

"Puh-lease! Have you not seen me walking funny? There ain't nothing...little...about it," Tyler joked. "And he's got staying power, too."

"Shit. That must be nice!" Tammy interjected as JD turned a bright shade of red.

"So anyway...what did you really find out?" JD asked Ronnie as everyone at the table snickered.

"You're FULL name," she explained.

"Oh! There were a bunch of news stories that popped up from recently," she explained.

"You're not on trial or anything, are you?" Tammy asked, preparing herself to go into `defensive mom' mode.

"No ma'am," JD said as he fidgeted for a second. "Tyler told me that it would be better if I told you something about me myself rather than letting you hear it from him."

"That's true. Now spill it, JD!" she insisted.

"A few weeks ago, I was pardoned."

"Pardoned?" she asked, confused a little bit, looking between him and Tyler.

"When I was about two months old, I was convicted, in absentia, in Lorenzia for Crimes Against the State."

"What could you have possibly done at two months old that would be considered treason?" she asked.

"It's more because of why my grandparents were and because of who my Mom is," JD answered.

"You're not making the picture any clearer, JD," she said.

"My grandparents were King David XII and Queen Caterina. My mother is Her Royal Highness, Maxima, Crown Princess of Morovia. My full name is Joseph David Thomas Leandro Barrington, Prince of Terraco, the honorific title given to the next male who can sit as King of Morovia," he said, looking directly into her eyes.

"So..." she started. "Are you telling me the truth, JD? This is so not the day for jokes."

"It's not a joke, Ms. Hall," he said.

"So Tyler...you're fucking a Royal?" she asked her son.

"It would be better to say that he's fucking me...and really good...daily," Tyler said. "Sometimes, twice a day!"

"Well. Really?" she asked Tyler. "Twice a day?"

"If I'm a really, really good boy," he winked at his Mom.

"Are y'all all this open about sex?" JD asked Ronnie.

"Just wait till Bob gets here," Ronnie smiled.

"Speak of the devil," Tammy noted as the sound of Bob's truck came up next to the house.

A few minutes later, he came into the house, carrying a briefcase and a stack of papers that had been carefully rolled up and were placed under his arm. "So what's going on?" he asked after he set everything down and grabbed a beer for himself.

"We were just learning some things about JD," Tammy answered with a wink.

"Like what?" he inquired.

"Well. That he puts out twice a day for Tyler," Tammy started.

"That's my boy!" he said as he gave Tyler a high five.

"And he's apparently got a huge penis," Ronnie added.

"Uh oh," Bob said.

"Oh there's not a damn thing wrong with it," Tyler said.

"That's my boy!" Tammy said as she gave her son a high five. "And we also found out that, a couple of weeks ago, JD received a pardon for `Crimes Against the State' in Morovia."

"What'd you do?"

"It was all political," JD answered Bob's question.

"He was convicted when he was two months old," Tyler answered.

"Really? Are you a member of the Royal Family or something?" he asked, seriously.

"Yes," JD answered.

"Get outta here!" Bob reacted with as much disbelief as Tammy had a few minutes before.

"He really is," Tyler said.

"What's your title?"

"Prince of Terraco, the title..."

"Given to the next male in line," Bob said with a smile. "I'm sorry. I already knew that, though. I googled you last week."

"Does everybody in this house google but me?" Tammy asked.

"Evidently, baby," Bob said as he kissed the top of his wife's head.

JD loved the camaraderie that existed in Tyler's family. Everyone was equal; there seemed to be no secrets. He loved the fact that Tyler was the same person there as he was in Paradise. He was the same sweet, gentle, kind, smart, extremely funny person to whom he was first attracted.

But that peace that existed in their house was shattered a few minutes later when another truck pulled onto the drive. The sound was unmistakably that of the truck that belonged to the youngest member of the clan. A couple of minutes later, he walked into the house with...her.

It was the first time that either Tyler or JD had laid eyes on the girl, and neither of them were impressed from an aesthetic standpoint. She was a dumpy girl with poorly bleached blond hair and teeth that needed work. She reeked of smoke, both the legal and illegal kind. There was also a curious aroma emanating from Ricky's being.

"I'm going to get some clothes, and then I'll be gone," Ricky explained to his parents as Kara remained in the kitchen.

"How are you, Kara?" Tammy asked, nicely, trying to include her in the conversation.

"I'm fine."

"I haven't met you yet," Tyler stood. "I'm Ricky's brother, Tyler." He extended his hand to shake hers; she didn't take it.

"I know," she responded coldly. She gave him a look of death that didn't go unnoticed by everyone there.

"And this is my partner, JD," he introduced. She said nothing to him in response.

"I'm sorry. I take serious offence to your lifestyle choices, and I do not even touch anything that a...homosexual...has touched," she said condescendingly.

"Miss Kara," Bob started. "Why don't you wait outside?"

"Fine with me," she said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and walked outside onto the back deck. "I just hope you realize that error or your ways, Mr. Hall, before it's...too late..."

Bob was standing closely behind her and slammed the door before she was even good out of the house. He locked the door as the five of them waited on Ricky to come back down from his room.

"Where's Kara?" he asked upon his return from the upstairs part of the house.

"She's outside."

"Why is she outside?" Ricky asked.

"Because I asked her to leave," Bob answered. "Ricky. I don't like her. I do not like the person that you've become since you started dating her, and if you know what's good for you, you will dump her..." he started.

"DO WHAT?" Ricky yelled. "You asked MY GIRLfriend to leave when you let Tyler's BOYfriend stay here? Your priorities are really fucked up, Dad." Ricky walked past his father, who had started to fume at those words.

"Richard," Bob said. Tyler knew that whenever the full first name was used, Bob meant business.

"How would you like to step outside?" Ronnie suggested to JD.

"Sounds like a good idea," JD said as the two grabbed their beers and walked out the backdoor. Kara was standing against the railing of the back porch, waiting on Ricky to come out. She turned and looked at them.

"So I've been studying some Morovian," Ronnie told him as they shut the door back. It wasn't a second later that they heard it lock back.

"Oh? What all do you know?"

"Let's see...Esta chica es una puta y necesita caera del superficie del mundo," Ronnie stated in almost flawless Morovian. (This chick is a bitch and needs to fall off the surface of the planet.)

"Tu sabe mas que impliques," JD returned to Ronnie as Kara turned around. (You know more than you let on.)

"Listen. I know that the two of you are talking about me," she started with the same angrily contemptuous attitude that she'd had inside, "and I want to let both of you know that I...am a Soldier of God. I have accepted Christ into my heart, and I know that I am forgiven and will be spending my eternity in Paradise. So go on, live your abominations of lives and leave the good Christians out of this."

"Number 1," Ronnie started, holding a single finger in the air. "I'm Jewish. One of the things that piss me off about people like you is that you think you are the only ones going. My people are the chosen ones, so I've got a ticket already. Number 2," she added, holding up a second finger, "You actually call yourself a Soldier of God. It's my understanding that...the Christian God...is one of understanding and love. Is that correct?"

"Yes," she said.

"OK. Then explain to me why you're such a bitch," Ronnie added, looking directly at her to find an answer.

Inside the house, nothing had yet been said except Bob's instruction for Tyler to sit at the table. Tammy was sitting there. "What is going on with you?" she asked him after a moment.

"There's nothing wrong with ME," he said to her. "The problem is that you two didn't correctly teach me the difference between right and wrong."

"OK. Explain what exactly we did and didn't do," Bob instructed.

"First. You taught me that all people are equal when they're not."

"How are they not?" Tammy asked.

"Because only those people that have accepted Christ are worth anything. Ronnie's a Jew; Tyler and...that guy..."

"His name is JD," Tammy answered.

"I really don't care. He's a fag, and all fags are going to hell."

"Where are you learning this shit?" Bob asked.

"At church."

"At church?" Tammy said. "Did you discuss our family situation with Kara's father?" she asked.

"No. He figured it out on his own. He told me that he was proud that I was able to move past the abominations that you've been teaching me. I just hope that Tyler does the same thing, and renounces his sexuality before it's too late."

"That's so...incredibly stupid to hear. You can't renounce your sexuality."

"God doesn't create fags."

"That's the last time you will use that word in my house, young man," Tammy said as she stood up.

"What else would you have me say?" he asked. "Ho-mo-sex-ual? Deviant? Hellbound."

"ENOUGH!" Bob yelled so loud that everyone inside and outside the house heard. "You want to live your life with those wackos, you go right ahead," Bob said as he walked out the room and up the stairs.

Ricky followed him up the stairs as Tammy stayed downstairs with Tyler. "The one time in my life that I'm truly happy..."

"I know, sweets," she said as she rubbed his back.

"You want to live by THEIR rules, then by God go!" Bob yelled again. "But I'll be damned if you're taking shit that I've paid for. This computer, for example," he said as he picked up the brand new computer that he'd purchased for Tyler just a few months before when he said that he had to have it for school. He opened the window of Ricky's room and threw it out. "All these clothes that I've bought you," he said as he opened Ricky's closet. He repeated the same thing, throwing them all out the window. For a second, Ricky thought about begging for his things, but he felt he was on a moral highroad in that moment. "All these shoes that you just had to have!" he started throwing them, box and all, from the window. "Where's your keys?"

"What do you want my keys for?"

"GIVE ME YOUR DAMN KEYS!" he yelled. Ricky pulled them from his pocket; Bob grabbed them. "The truck that I bought you. The car that I bought you cause you wanted something to save gas. They're mine now."

"I've got to have my car or my truck to get around in."

"And you can forget about me paying another cent of your tuition. You want to be a shit; that's what you're gonna get. Now...get the FUCK out of my house before I find something else to throw out!" Bob said as he took a step toward Ricky.

Ricky turned and walked out of his room. He was angry. He was looking for someone upon whom he could pass the blame, for nothing that was going on was his fault. He walked through the kitchen, glaring at Tyler while begging his mother, with his eyes, to stop the madness. When she wouldn't, he gave her the same look he was giving his brother. He unlocked the door and started walking off the porch. Before Kara could reach up to him, though, he turned and walked back onto the porch.

"You did this," he said to JD. "You made my brother gay. I hope you burn...you pathetic excuse for a human being!"

"Your brother was born gay, just like you were born ignorant," JD responded.

"You better watch yourself!" he said, pointing a finger at JD.

"Bring it. I'll be ready!" JD said as he continued to coolly stand on the edge of the porch.

All JD had to do was flex his muscles one time and Ricky turned tails. He and Kara quietly walked off the porch and down to the drive toward Highway 231.

Concerned for Tyler, as he hadn't shown his face outside as his parents had, JD walked inside the house to find him sitting at the table. Tammy quietly closed the door as JD sat across the table from him.

"I'm sorry, Ty," he said as he reached over and put his hand on top of Tyler's.

"It's not your fault," Tyler said, meekly, emotionally.

"It sort of is," JD said.

"Ricky's a dumbass. He always has been," Tyler started. "I guess I just refused to see it cause he was kid brother. I'm sorry that every time we come up here, something goes wrong...and it's always related to him."

"It's not your fault," JD said to him, a smile on his face to try to lift Tyler's spirits just a little bit.

Tyler looked up at him. There were tears on the edge of his eyes, but none had flowed down his face. There was something that he wanted to say, some emotion that he wanted to express, but he couldn't.

"It's OK," JD said. Tyler reached his hands up and wrapped them into JD's.

Crocodile tears began flowing from his face the same second as the inside of their hands touched. Not breaking the touch for a second, JD stood and walked around the small table. By the time he was around there, Tyler was standing. JD took Tyler's hands and wrapped them around his own waist. He then released his massive arms around Tyler, enclosing him into a cocoon of strength, love, and support. Tyler rested his head on JD's chest. As many times as it had lain there after great sex or during a night in which they simply shared the sensations of being next to one another, that chest that was rock hard was always soft to Tyler's face and head. It was warm and welcoming, inviting and invigorating.

"I love you, JD," Tyler said as his face was muffled into his chest.

"You what me?" JD asked, smiling and trying to make a joke.

"I LOVE you," Tyler said again.

"I am kinda loveable, aren't I?" JD joked as Tyler pulled back and looked into his face. "I love you, too," he said as he saw Tyler understood it to be a joke.

Over the rest of the evening, There was a general melancholy around the house. Everyone tried to have a good time, but it was obvious that the afternoon's events had weighed heavily on all of them. Bob and Tammy went to bed around 8:30, which was unusual for them. Ronnie went to Kevin's room around ten; Tyler slipped away to bed a few minutes after that.

"I need a cigarette," Kevin said to JD after everyone was in bed. "Wanna step outside with me?" There was something in his voice that said that it wasn't really a request but rather something that JD would do.

They stepped onto the back deck, beneath the clear night sky. They were quiet for a moment, until the moment that Kevin noticed Ricky's things lying on the ground. "Look. I'm sorry about Ricky."

"It's OK."

"No. It's not. Mom and Dad tried to teach us right from wrong. Ricky was wrong by what he...and that bitch...said to you," Kevin said as he pulled a Marlboro red from the pack and lit it with a bic lighter covered with a Mossy Oak, camouflage theme.

"Kevin..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not trying to knock your brother," JD started, "but I've been called worse by people with a lot more power than Ricky. It doesn't bother me what he said to me. What pisses me off is that he said those things to Tyler."

"Yeah."

"Kevin. I'm so in love with him. It hurts me to see him hurting."

Kevin smiled. "That's how I feel about Ronnie."

"And the sex!" they both said in tandem.

"It's so much better with Tyler than with either of my ex's," JD confessed.

"I'm glad. Ty's a great guy. Can I tell you something without pissing you off?"

"Yeah," JD answered.

"Please don't fuck with him. I know that there is the possibility that you might be going back to Morovia, at least from what I read online..."

"We've had that discussion," JD interrupted.

"And?" Kevin asked.

"He should tell you," JD said.

Kevin smiled. "OK. Well," he said as he flicked his cigarette butt out into the woods after putting it out against the back side of the railing to the porch, "I've got to get into bed. From what I understand, Tyler's probably waiting for you with bells on!"

"I'm never gonna live that down, am I?" JD asked as they walked inside.

"Nope," Kevin responded.

JD sneaked as quietly as he could into the room. Tyler wasn't asleep, but he didn't know that until he climbed into bed behind his man. "I love you, JD."

"I love you, too, Ty," JD said as he kissed the back of his neck.

From that moment, the two slipped into sleep. Beside each other, there was nothing that could harm them, at least from Tyler's perspective. Ricky stood no chance against JD if it came to fisticuffs; he had enough faith that JD wouldn't let anything happen to him either. It was a nice place for him to be, given everything that had happened to him in his life, things that he would never discuss with anyone, not even JD.

MOB (Mobile-Owens International Airport) to MEM (Memphis) to IAD (Dulles International Airport)

Lidia and Maxima were in the air for what seemed like such a short time before they were landing in Memphis. Rushed by their airline, they practically ran through the terminal as they got onto the flight that would take them to their real destination, the capital of the United States, Washington DC. As they got onto the plane, Lidia and Maxima sat next to each other. Lidia sat next to the window; Maxima was on the aisle, where she preferred to be.

"Are we doing the right thing?" Lidia asked her sister. She was looking for guidance, as she had since they were young.

"Yeah," Maxima answered, trying to convince herself more than her younger sister.

The flight to DC wasn't really very long at all. The whole time, thoughts of what was going to be happening in the next few hours plagued their mind. What would she be like? Would she be nice or would she be a total bitch who just played nice on TV? Was she intellectual? There were no answers, and that made both women a little nervous.

As they arrived, everything went on so quickly. The princesses were whisked off the plane before anyone else; Lorenzian security met them at the gate. Jenny, their valet for the weekend, introduced them to their detachment of the Lorenzian Royal Guard. They looked like typical guards. They had dark suits and sunglasses, even inside the building. Maxima's guard looked to be no older than JD; Lidia's guard looked like the kind of guy that Lindsay would fall for. Together with Jenny, they left the airport after a porter grabbed their bags and took them to the car that was waiting for them outside.

"So what is going to be happening this weekend?" Maxima asked.

"We'll get you checked into your hotel, and then the Ambassador asked me to extend to the two of you an invitation to dinner," Jenny said, moving her blond-brown hair out of her face as she looked over the itinerary.

"Will she be there?" Lidia asked.

"No, Highness," Jenny answered. "She's flying into DC tonight. She'll be staying at the Morovian Embassy tonight, and then she'll arrive at the Lorenzian Embassy at around ten to meet with the Ambassador. That meeting should be over by noon; then your meeting will begin at 1:30."

"OK," Maxima answered, looking at Lidia.

"Ma'am," the driver said, "we're arriving at the hotel."

"Thank you," Jenny noted.

After a moment, they stopped in front of the Royal American Washington DC Hotel. Being that they'd left all the arrangments in the hands of the Lorenzians, it was no surprise. Lorenzia had never really liked the idea of the monarchy's deposal in Morovia, but after years of negotiation, relations between the two countries were normalized in 2000. It was no surprise that they'd been asked to mediate the meeting that was taking place the next day.

After a wonderful dinner and a driving tour of the city at night, they returned to the hotel to find themselves more than ready for bed.

"So how about you read me a story?" Lidia asked her sister as they sat in the parlor attached to Maxima's suite.

"So you're as nervous as I am, then," Maxima answered, remembering so many times when they were little that, when Lidia would be frightened by something, she would climb into Maxima's bed. Maxima was strength and protection in the uncertain times of their youth.

"What could she possibly have to say to us?" Lidia asked. "Is she going to apologize for our parents' death? Is she going to offer us tea and act like her father didn't do his best to make sure that our youth was as bleak and dreadful as it could have been?"

"I don't know," Maxima answered. "I wonder if our children are having a good time."

"I'm sure they are. JD and Tyler are in Birmingham; Lindsay and Jennifer are enjoying wherever it is they went."

"So you don't believe they went to Miami either?" Maxima asked.

"My daughter thinks that I don't know the shit she pulls," Lidia said as Maxima laughed.

"It was the same shit that we pulled when we were her age!"

"Damn right! You used to sneak out to see Tom."

"And you would sneak to see Alfonse."

"Please don't remind me!" Lidia said as she rubbed her face. "That was a chapter from which I only got one good thing. So where do you think my good thing went?"

"I don't know. She was talking about going to the bars on Key West," Maxima said.

"No. That's too passé for her."

Maxima laughed. "I wouldn't be surprised if she's on her way or in Morovia right now, given that they got their passports this week."

"It wouldn't surprise me either. She did take Jen to New Orleans to get hers expedited the other day," Lidia noted.

"Maybe she'll bring us back some of those candies that Papa used to give us. Those mints that we so loved!" Maxima thought.

"Yes! I loved those things. Of course, if I'd eaten them all my life, I'd be bigger than I am right now!" Lidia said.

"I would have had to hide them from my husband and son," Maxima joked.

Their conversation continued for a good hour until both of them were falling asleep on the sofas where they sat. Rather than going to her suite, though, Lidia stayed in Maxima's. The bed inside the `Royal Suite' was large enough for the two of them to sleep comfortably, just as they had on the yacht-ride from Talxiara to Paradise.

The next morning, they slept until their leisure woke them up. Maxima ordered room service for both of them and waited quietly in the parlor on Lidia to bring herself into the world of consciousness. When she did, she was a bundle of nerves as she thought about what was going to happen early in the afternoon. Both women wondered what she would ask them, what she would say to them. At noon, both ladies got dressed and made sure that their hair and makeup were perfect. They called for the car and then waited until it got there just a few minutes later. Being that they were in a car with diplomatic markings, they were able to scoot through traffic without any problems.

The Lorenzian Embassy was beautifully decorated. There was a high, wrought iron fence that separated it from the traffic and stress of DC. Lorenzian magnolia trees lined the inside, obstructing the full beauty of the embassy from those who were looking at the place from the streets. Rather than pulling into the front of the embassy, though, the driver drove around to the side and entered by a gate that was large enough to pull a car through. Inside the compound, a wide, brick lined drive took them through a magnificently manicured garden where beautiful flowers in green and white grew.

The main building of the embassy was designed to look much like the Royal Palace in Cabocha, Lorenzia's capital. As they came upon it, they noticed the five white columns that held up the second and subsequent floors of the building. Lorenzian flags lined the front of the building. The Lorenzian flag was simple but beautiful. If one were looking at the front of it, they would see a green background with a single white stripe that ran from the top right hand corner to the bottom left. If the King were present, those flags would be replaced with ones that showed the royal seal in the right hand corner of the flag.

The driver pulled them to the front of the palatial building, where Jenny was standing. Their security detachment climbed from a second car that was with them and quickly opened the doors. From each of them emerged the Princesses of Morovia in all their glory. Two traditionally dressed Royal Guardsmen standing at the front door stood at stark attention as Jenny waited for them.

"This is truly a remarkably beautiful place," Maxima commented.

"Thank you. If you'd like, I'll introduce you to the groundskeeper later," Jenny noted. "He will be more than happy to give you a tour of the gardens and such."

"That would be nice," Lidia said.

At exactly 1:25, they entered the embassy to find that it had been cleared of all civilian traffic. People who normally worked there moved from their positions and greeted the Princesses with bowing and respectful smiles. Soldiers stood at attention upon seeing them and stayed that way until they were out of sight. For girls that had become simple folk by the actions of one man, they weren't used to the treatment. In Paradise, people would curtsy and bow, but this was different. It was as if their royal status had always been the same as they traipsed through the halls of this little microcosm of Lorenzian soil.

Jenny opened a door to what was called the Il salon grande, or the Grand Salon. They walked in and were instantly taken to another place. The room was decorated with great art of the Lorenzian Masters. There were paintings that hung on the wall, including the recreation of a portrait of King Alexander III, Lorenzia's reigning monarch. There were sculptures and vases that sat on the pristinely clean wooden floors. A rug that was probably older than the United States itself covered most of it, including there area where two sofas and several chairs were arranged in an oval pattern around an antique coffee table. A butler, wearing a black tuxedo with a green tie, stood beside one of the chairs with a smile on his face. Jenny introduced him, adding that he'd been working at the embassy for over fifty years. He joked that he was no closer to retirement than he was on the day he started working there.

"I bet you've seen a lot of people come through here," Maxima said to him as he invited them to sit.

"Oh yes ma'am," the man said. "Since 1958, I have seen all ten US Presidents, eleven monarchs, Princes and Princesses, Dukes and Grand Dukes innumerable," he answered. "And that's not counting all the Lorenzian dignitaries that have come through these doors."

"Who was your favorite person?" Maxima asked.

"I would have to say that Princess Grace of Monaco was, until today, the nicest and most beautiful woman to pass through those doors."

"Until today?" Lidia asked.

"Until entered the beauties that are the Princesses of Morovia," the man answered as they handed them each a cup of tea.

"Thank you, sir," Maxima and Lidia answered.

"My life has always been one of service," he explained, "but with that service has come great rewards. Today is included in that list." He smiled as he placed a small plate for each of them on the table with a sampling of Lorenzian pastries.

"You're going to give us big heads!" Maxima stated.

"Princesses should always have those, madam," he said as he stood beside the cart from which he was preparing everything.

A moment later, Jenny and the butler stood and turned, as did Maxima and Lidia, to see the door to the room open.

"Thank you," the woman entering said to the main with a gracious and genuine smile as she carried in with her a large wooden box into the room with her.

"Holy shit," Maxima whispered so lowly that only Lidia could hear her. "I'm sorry for doubting you."

"It's alright," Lidia answered in the same hushed tone. "You can make it up to me later."

"Alright," she said as the lady came over to where they were sitting.

"Madam President, is there anything we can get for you?" Jenny asked.

"Some tea would be wonderful," Zhola said as the butler went to work.

Their nerves were all on edge as Zhola turned to face the women who had been the personification of everything Guil had stood for, sisters that she had never met by parents that were killed.

"Your highnesses," Zhola said as respectfully tilted her head.

"Madam President," Maxima and Lidia responded, giving to this woman who they'd always thought was the offspring of their most bitter rival the respect that she deserved as the reigning Head of State of the nation that they so desired to see great again.

"Ladies. We are going to give you privacy," Jenny announced. "If there is anything you need, just pick up the phone on the table, and we'll be right in." As she spoke the butler set a cup of tea and a plate of pastries on the table across from where the princesses' things were sitting. As Zhola set the box onto the table, the butler, Mr. Almyero, set a pot of tea that had been steeping on his little table in the center for the ladies, should they want more before he returned to check on them.

"Thank you," the three of them said to her as they walked out of the room.

There was a moment where the three women just sat there. It was an uncomfortable silence since no one knew what to say to the other. Oh...there were things that Maxima always said she would say if the two ever came face to face, but she found herself unable to say them after the realization that came to her as Zhola entered the room. Lidia sat on the sofa, carefully holding her tea as she waited on one of them to speak.

"So...are your accommodations adequate?" Zhola asked, breaking the ice between the three of them.

"They are," Maxima answered.

"I think the room service was my favorite part," Lidia added, using the gift of gab that she'd inherited from their mother to flat melt the ice between the three of them. "If you ever get the chance to stay there, you should order their breakfast. It's amazing!"

"The ambassador was telling me that they added gravy to the menu, just because King Alexander asked for it!" Zhola said with a joking smile.

"It was better than some I've had in my life," Lidia answered. "My brother-in-law makes the best gravy, though. Come to think of it, I think he missed his calling when he became an attorney." Maxima smiled as she wished that she'd asked Tom to come along with her. Just having him there would make the situation so much more...bearable...than it was right then.

"Are you enjoying Washington?" Maxima asked, attempting to play off her sister's abilities in the moment. Normally, she was a very jovially powerful person, but being in that room was taxing her very being a bit. She was nervous, as were the other women, but in her there was a genuine desire to make this meeting work.

"I haven't seen much of it honestly. I arrived late last night and went straight to the embassy. Today has been packed with meetings and such."

"Did they go well?" Lidia asked.

"They have so far. I'm going to divulge state secrets to you. I hope that you won't carry them out of this room, despite the animosity that I'm sure you feel for me," Zhola said, looking between them.

"Zhola," Maxima started, "despite our differences, we all want to see Morovia become great."

Zhola smiled. "Guil always said that about you and all the other ex-patriots. He would always tell me that every Morovian was Morovian, and that every one of us wanted the same thing. We just went about it all differently."

"Interesting," Lidia and Maxima both noted.

"So what are these secrets?" Maxima asked.

"Well. Unbeknownst to most people, Guil borrowed money on the credit of Morovia. It all went into the state coffers, but it was so much that to pay it off would bankrupt the nation for at least a decade. I've been negotiating terms of settlement with the Canadian and US Governments for the past couple of weeks."

"How is it going?" Maxima asked.

"Well. The Canadians are forgiving most of the debt; the US creditors are willing to forgive it all if there is a certain transparency added to the tax system in Morovia," Zhola added.

"I think that would be easy to accomplish, given that the system is based primarily on sales and head taxes," Lidia stated.

"It's going to require cuts in some things, though, some that can't be cut very much more," Zhola confessed.

"Zhola. May I ask you a frank question?" Maxima inquired as they sat there.

"Of course," Zhola answered, sitting back to prepare for whatever it is that Maxima could throw at her.

"You didn't call us here to ask about our hotel and to discuss economics with us, did you?" she inquired.

"No," Zhola answered honestly, setting the cup back onto the table. "There are other things that I need to disucss with you, things that I hope will help to the reconciliation process."

"Like what?" Lidia asked.

Zhola nervously took the lid from the box that she was carrying to reveal the things that Guil had shown her weeks before. Just as they'd done with their parents' trunks, Lidia and Maxima looked toward the box with anticipation and anxiety.

"I'm not sure what these say," Zhola noted, "but Guil asked me to deliver them to you directly."

Maxima and Lidia each took their letters and opened them immediately. Lidia placed her hand over her mouth as she read; Maxima was almost stoically rigid as she read and reread words that she never thought she would see in print.

"Princess Maxima," the letter started, "I know that you are reading this because I have passed. The reason that I am writing this is to apologize for the way that I have spoken about you over the years. You were a child, and all I could see in you were the problems that I thought your parents had caused. For that, I am sorry. The other reason for this brief note is to explain why I've asked Zhola to hand-deliver them. The world assumes that she is alone, but you and I both know that she is not. Please let her know that she is loved, whether she chooses to live on my side of the Atlantic or yours."

Maxima couldn't finish the letter right then. She was already about to cry just because of the apology. She folded it back up as she sat there. A single tear was coming from Lidia's face as she continued to read the letter that Guil had written her.

"When did you find out?" Maxima asked.

"A couple of days before President Bush's arrival," Zhola answered.

"I'm sure it wasn't easy to hear," Maxima said before thinking.

"No. It wasn't," Zhola answered.

"Your name makes sense, though," Lidia answered. "Maxima means greatness."

"Lidia means fighter," Maxima noted.

"And your full name, Zhola Esperanza, means jewel of hope," Lidia continued.

"Our mother certainly had a way with names," Maxima noted as the tears could no longer be held back.

Lidia reached out her left hand to Zhola, who took it. She extended her right hand to Maxima, who in kind grabbed it quickly. Maxima looked at Zhola, though, and, with a genuine smile lifted up her hand. Zhola looked in disbelief at what was going on right before her eyes. She took it, though.

In an instant, she fell apart. She was no longer alone in the world. Her worst fears were allayed by sisters that accepted her without condition. The feeling was almost too much as it rushed through her.

"I have questions," Zhola stated as she looked between her sisters.

"We do, too," Maxima answered. "You first, though."

"What were they like?"

"Well. Papa was strong and a gentlemen."

"He would have adored you," Lidia answered.

"Oh yeah. He would have given you these little candies called..."

"Tasios?" Zhola asked.

"YES!" Lidia and Maxima answered. The three laughed heartily.

"I love those!"

"I haven't had any in years!" Maxima said.

Zhola smiled. "Hold on," Zhola stood and walked over to the phone. She asked the butler to bring her something from the things that she'd left in the office that the Lorenzian Ambassador had allowed her to use for a brief time that morning. In just a second, he brought in her purse. She took a pack of the minty soft candies from her purse and handed them to Maxima and Lidia. "I can't go anywhere without these! They're so addictive."

"I know!" Lidia said as the flavor brought back her final memory of good times in Morovia. "I remember once, when I was four," she said. "I had done something..."

"You'd taken the state tiara and were running around the palace with it," Maxima recalled.

"I was always in trouble for that!" Lidia noted to laughter from her sisters. "Well, mother had sent me to my room after dinner without dessert. Papa came into my room as I was getting ready for bed. He pulled a pack of these from his pocket and told me not to tell her about it. He smiled and walked out of the room."

"I wish he could have met JD," Maxima added.

"And Lindsay," Lidia said.

"Do you know that she could have gotten away with sooo much with him?" Maxima said.

"I was five and got away with so much! Imagine what we would have gotten away with when we were teenagers with him!"

"This is true," Maxima noted.

"So what was Guil really like?" Maxima asked after they joked and talked about random things for a few minutes.

"If you'd asked me that six months ago, I'm sure that I would have said that he was a great man, intelligent, surprisingly open to learning new things. He was strong. He was one of those people that people respected just because of the way he carried himself."

"Why six months ago?" Lidia asked.

"Because of all that I've found out since his death," Zhola answered.

"Did he love you? Did you love him?" Maxima asked.

"As much as a father could love his daughter, and yes. I did."

"Zhola," Lidia said. "It's OK to be angry with him, but you can't deny a lifetime worth of feelings."

"That's right. I can say that I forgave him a long time ago," Maxima said, surprising even Lidia, who never knew that little tidbit of information about her sister.

"Me too. I can't say that I believe he was right, but he was just a man...who made mistakes," Lidia added.

"I'm sure it will just take time," Zhola said.

"Time is an amazing thing," Maxima added with a smile.

They talked and got to know each other until around four in the afternoon. It was an amazing time for them as they laughed, cried, asked questions and answered others. Any nervousness and apprehension they had coming into the meeting were quashed as they talked candidly and openly.

"So there's something else that I want to discuss with you," Zhola said at a high point in the conversation.

"What's that?" Maxima asked.

"The Council of Ministers has been discussing ways to reopen the society and reconcile with Morovians that have left. There is a great need to rebuild and reunite families and friends. There is one way that has been discussed in private meetings that all the ministers agree would be the easiest way."

"What is that?" Maxima asked.

"Restoration," Zhola said plainly and to the point.

"OK..." Maxima said.

"Who to restore has been the issue of contention," Zhola added.

"I can't take it, because it will look like your pandering to the ex-pats," Maxima said.

"The same would go for me," Lidia added.

"And the ex-pats would never accept me as Queen," Zhola answered. "It would look like a power play on my part, since no one knows who I actually am, except for a handful of people. My ministers don't even know."

"Are they considering a foreign royal?" Maxima asked.

Zhola looked directly at her. In the brown eyes that she'd inherited from their father, Maxima could see the response.

"I see," she said with a smile.

"Do you think he would accept it?"

"He would," Maxima said. "It would have to be understood, though, that he would need latitude and very vocal support from those currently in power."

"He'll have it," Zhola promised.

"When would this be taking place?" Maxima asked.

"First of September," Zhola answered.

"That's not much time," Maxima answered.

"I know. If it's going to happen, though, it has to happen quickly," Zhola said. "Otherwise, we may have another civil war on our hands."

"You have a good point," Maxima added. "Should I tell him? Or wait?"

"Whatever you think is best," Zhola said. "You know him better than I do."

"OK," Maxima answered.

After a dinner at the Embassy, Maxima and Lidia returned to their hotel. Zhola returned to the Morovian Embassy. It wasn't before they all exchanged phone numbers, though. In addition to just finding out about the future of the nation, they found out about the future of the family. It was an interesting day, to say the least.

MOB (Mobile-Owens) to MIA (Miami) to XMO (Olanda Santiago International Airport)

At noon on Saturday, Lindsay and Jen were walking down a street in the Old City of Talxiara. They stopped at a sidewalk café for a quick bite and a coffee. It was only after those fleeting moments that the story of their weekend really began. As they walked further up what was once called the Via de la Reyna Sofie, after Lindsay's great-grand-grandmother. One person noticed her, but shook it off. A guy checked her out, and as he walked away wondered if she realized how much she looked like Princess Lindsay.

They eventually made their way into the Plaza de la Gente, a stone piazza with a fountain in the middle and trees lining the plaza on each of its three sides. On one side was the National Cathedral, where the President attended church. On another was the Casa de las Cortes, a building which had only been used on a handful of occasions in 50 years. It was one of the oldest Parliament houses in the world, but it had lain dormant for some time. The last time it was used, in fact, was at Zhola's swearing in.

To the third side was the building that housed the Security, Interior, and Information Ministries. Lindsay and Jen both felt it was probably because those three ministries were key to Guil's control over the country.

Just ahead of them, though, was the reason Lindsay and Jen had come to Talxiara and not visited any other part of the country. It was the Grand Palace of the Kings, or rather the Presidential Palace as it was known at that time. It was a majestic place soaring four stories into the sky. It was a stone building, but the outside parts of it were painted yellow, with white trim. The roof itself was white. On each of the four corners, there was a guard posted at the top inside a covered guard stand. On each of the corners, there was also a large Morovian flag flying overhead.

The whole complex was surrounded by a very tall wrought iron fence. On each side of the large gate in the middle, there were two guards posted in traditional dress. That was one of the things that Guil had left alone. Rather than having soldiers dressed in contemporary uniforms, those men who were chosen to stand sentry outside the palace were dressed in traditional uniforms with a yellow coat, blue pants, and a red hat. They were a little out of order, but it made good use of the Morovian national colors.

Being that it was just a weekend trip, though, they really only had that one day to spend in the city. After seeing a few more of the sights, the girls went back to their hotel and freshened up. There were few bars or pubs in Talxiara, but Lindsay had managed to spot a couple that seemed like they would be cool places to hang out. One was just down the street from their hotel. After a light dinner and a couple of drinks, though, they decided just to return to the hotel to get ready for the travelling they would have to do the next morning.

On their way out to the airport early the next morning, they stopped at a confectionary story just a few miles before the airport. Having heard her mother talking about tasios, Morovias traditional minty soft candy enjoyed by children and adults alike since it was invented in the 1700s, she decided to buy all the store had. The owner recognized her, but it was because of the volume that she was purchasing that he gave her a discount. The girls quickly put all their things into one bag and filled the second bag with the candy that they would be taking back. At the airport, people were smiling when Lindsay declared what was in her bag.

As the plane was taking off, Jen quickly went to sleep. For Lindsay, though, there was no sleep. Being in Morovia, breathing the air, drinking coffee and staying in a hotel that was one the palace occupied by the Princes of Terraco was all more than what she'd expected. She knew it would be a lovely, moving experience, but never had she expected that being the first member of the Royal Family to set foot on Morovian soil in 46 years would be such a moving experience. It was as Morovia disappeared into the distance that she realized that a little part of her was still there, and would be there forever. Her maternal family history took place on that soil that was sacred to Morovians everywhere.

Homecoming

Tom was peacefully sitting at home on that Sunday afternoon. It was the bottom of the ninth and the Red Sox were obviously about to lose to the White Sox. Tom was pissed off. He was wearing his green Red Sox hat and all his lucky baseball attire, and none of it seemed to be working on his team.

In the final at-bat of the game, JD and Tyler came walking through the door. A taxi had brought them from the airport there, where JD had parked his car on Saturday.

"Hey Dad," JD said.

"Fucking Sox!" Tom screamed at the TV.

"They losing?" JD asked as he looked at the large TV screen.

"Damn right they're losing!" Tom answered angrily.

"Baseball is a deep thing to him."

"And I never get to watch it, and the one game that I do get to see they're playing like pussy little GIRLS!" Tom yelled.

"You do know they can't hear you, right?" JD joked with his dad as he and Tyler sat in the living room next to each other on the love seat.

"Shut the fuck up, JD, before I write you out of my will," Tom said. He wouldn't have seriously done it, but it was in the heat of the moment. "DAMNIT!" he screamed as the game ended. He took off his hat and flung it across the room. "UGH!!!" he screamed and sat there for a second, chugging the rest of his beer. "So did y'all have a good weekend?" he asked as he returned to himself.

"It was interesting," Tyler answered as they explained all that had gone on with Ricky and his girlfriend. At a couple of points, Tom stared at them to see if they were telling the truth. He couldn't believe that two people could be so heavily influenced by beliefs that were to him so obviously wrong.

Maxima and Lidia arrived a while after them. There were smiles all around.

"Did y'all get laid or something?" Tom asked.

"Lidia did! You see, there was this hot gardner at the...hotel!" she said after realizing that JD and Tyler didn't know what their actual destination was.

"Maxima!" Lidia joked. "I didn't have sex, although there was one guy that I would have done in two seconds flat!"

"Hot?" Tom asked.

"He had a perfect ass!" Maxima explained.

"And was wearing tight pants," Lidia continued.

"JD!" Tyler said as he sat in his man's laugh. "I'm sorry. My man has a hard on."

"It's just cause you're sitting on my lap, Ty."

"What the fuck ever!" Tyler said as he pretended, for a few seconds to be mad.

"So did y'all eat a lot of barbecue while you were up there?" JD asked.

"Um...yeah! Barbecue! Lidia had some ribs last night, and I had a pork plate."

"Really? Where?" Tyler asked, innocently.

"What was it called?" Maxima asked Lidia, hoping that her little sister could save the day. "A place called Casandra's, right?"

"Yeah!" Lidia answered. "That was it!"

"Uh huh..." JD said with a smile. "Where did y'all really go?"

"How do you know we're lying?" Maxima asked her son.

"Hello. Both of my parents are attorneys! I was bound to pick up something."

"We went to DC," Lidia answered him.

"Really? Have fun?"

"It was an interesting trip," Maxima said. "We had tea and a nice long conversation with...our sister."

"Whoa! What?" Tom asked. "You didn't tell me that's why y'all were going up there?"

"We didn't know until we got up there and looked at pictures and read a letter that Guil had written us," Maxima answered.

"So you met Zhola? And she's your sister?" JD asked.

"Yes. There is also other news that we have to share, but we should wait until Lindsay is here," Maxima said. On the flight home, they'd agreed to tell the children together, in the event that the other needed to fill in information gaps.

They dropped it all for a couple of hours until the girls came into the house. "We're home!" Lindsay yelled as if it were her house that they were visiting.

"So how was Miami?" they all asked the girls.

"Mom. Aunt Max. We have a confession," Lindsay started as she took the second bag, the one filled with candy and set it in the middle of the living room.

"Where did you go?" Lidia asked.

"Maybe I should just show you the stamp in my passport," Lindsay said as she pulled out the yellow covered document and handed it to her mother. Her mother sifted through the pages until she came to the only stamp in the book. "Please don't be upset with me or Jen. It was all my idea, and I paid for it all. I just asked her to go along to keep me company."

JD had never seen Lindsay act the way she was acting. She was begging for forgiveness rather than arguing her point. It was uncharacteristic for her to do something like that. Lidia simply put her hand over her mouth as a sing tear dripped from her onto her the nervously shaking hand. She handed it to Maxima, whose jaw dropped.

"We brought a peace offering," Jen explained as she reached down and zipped open the suitcase.

Maxima handed the document to Tom. "Am I seeing this correctly?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Lindsay answered.

"Do you realize..." Tom started before pausing, "...that something could have happened to you? Someone could have kidnapped you? Someone could have...done worse to the two of you?"

"No one even recognized us," Lindsay countered.

"Still though, travelling to Morovia without arranging something first was a stupid, stupid mistake," Tom said.

"Wait," JD interjected, "you went to Morovia?"

"Yeah..." Lindsay answered.

"And we brought back candy?" Jen said as she threw him and Tyler each a piece of the soft minty goodness that their mothers had been addicted to as children.

"Lindsay Cartieri!" Lidia said as she stood and walked to her. "You're an adult, and I can't tell you where you can and cannot go; however, if you do something that dangerous and stupid again, you will feel my wrath. Do you understand me, young lady?"

"You could have at least called your aunt and told her that you were coming," Maxima said.

"My aunt? You were with mom, though," Lindsay said.

"No. Your other aunt," Maxima smiled.

"Zhola," JD answered.

"How...?" Lindsay asked.

"We'll explain it later," Lidia answered as she hugged her daughter. "Congratulations, by the way."

"For what?"

"For being the first member of the Morovian Royal Family, other than Zhola, who nobody knows about!" Maxima said, looking at all of them, "to set foot on Morovian soil in 46 years." Maxima also stood and took her niece into an embrace. "Did you take pictures?"

"Jen's got most of the trip on video," Lindsay said.

"OK. So let's watch it after I tell y'all some news," Maxima said. "Lidia and I, in our meeting with Zhola, got the inside track, from the President herself, on some changes coming to Morovia over the next few months."

"There are going to be reforms in the tax structure that will make it more transparent so that creditors will forgive debt against the nation," Lidia added.

"And the monarchy is going to be restored," Maxima said.

"HOLY SHIT!" JD and Tyler screamed as they looked at one another. Tom took a sip of his beer as the information was being digested.

"Aunt Max is going to be the real Queen...finally!" Lindsay yelled as she and Jen hugged and jumped up and down.

"No," Maxima answered.

"Zhola?" JD asked.

"No," Lidia answered.

"You?" Lindsay asked Lidia.

"No," Lidia and Maxima said together.

"Let us be the first to congratulate you," Maxima said, looking at her son, "on your becoming the next King of Morovia."

"And to you," Lidia turned to her daughter, "congratulations on becoming the next Crown Princess of Morovia."

Lindsay and JD looked at each other, surprise, shock, fear, excitement, trepidation, and anxiety splashing between them like the water against the coast just outside Maxima and Tom's house.