CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

MORE ADVENTURES AWAIT

Filomena’s back in North Pasadena, where nothing ever happens. The sun is shining. The birds are chirping. The weather is warm and ordinary. Since her return home, the most exciting thing that’s happened was when she spilled a plate of saucy spaghetti all over her white T-shirt.

Her parents told her everything, showed her the letter and the basket.

In Westphalia, the thorns disappeared. The kingdom awoke. And they discovered that King Vladimir had been killed, his corpse rotting in the middle of the ballroom, where he had tried to kill Olga and save his daughter. Her father died fighting for her. She will never know him, but she knows she was loved.

Filomena knows who she is now. She is the daughter of Vladimir and Rosanna, and she has a whole family in Never After. Zera told her she can come visit anytime.

But she also knows who she really is. She might be Princess Eliana of Westphalia, but she will always be Filomena Jefferson-Cho of North Pasadena, California, and her parents are Bettina Jefferson and Carter Cho. She is their kin. For love is thicker than blood. And she has been theirs since the moment they found her in their yard.

She tells her parents this.

They are glad. But they also tell her that she’s grounded.

Especially when they hear she was back in Hollywood and did not call them. But it’s not like she was ever allowed out much in the first place. So, in reality, being grounded feels no different from any other day. She’s stayed mostly in her room, reading books, doing homework, and enjoying other non-adventurous things of that nature.

It was hard to say goodbye to her friends in Never After. Her friends. How about that. So many. Even snarky Sid.

Gretel wanted to come back, too. She decided she’d be biportal and go between the fairy and mortal worlds. They promised to hang sometime.

Luckily, before she left the Never After, Filomena asked Zera for a favor. An enchantment or spell to hide the mark of the thirteenth fairy. Her aunt explained that she couldn’t make it disappear forever, but she could conceal it. Now, if Filomena ever wants to see it, all she has to do is shine a flashlight on the spot on her skin and utter these words: Carabosse, Carabosse, if you’re near, present the mark of the thirteenth fairy and make it clear.

So now, with that mark no longer visible on her forehead, she doesn’t have to wear beanies to school and pretend she has lice. It’s the little things, she reminds herself. And since she lost her backpack in Never After (her parents sure weren’t thrilled when she told them she left it there), they bought her brand-new copies of the books she’d left behind. Matter of fact, they bought her the entire series. Only this version has updated covers! Jack has a few more companions—a dark, curly-haired princess, a stylish fashion designer, and an entire wolf pack, in addition to the loyal Alistair.

As she sits on her bed, with her little fluffy Pomeranian, Adelina Jefferson-Cho, nuzzling against her leg, Filomena flips open one of the books. Right where she’d left off reading last night. Being grounded isn’t bad at all. And in her case, apparently you get rewards, like a new backpack and new books.

“Filomena!” her mother calls from downstairs. “Come down, honey! It’s time for dinner!”

“Coming, Mum!” Filomena yells back, putting her book down open-faced on her bed to save her spot. She never has a bookmark when she needs one.

She puts on her slippers and calls Adelina to follow her, then heads down the steps with a skip to join her parents in the kitchen. The familiar bag of delivery dinner sits on the counter, and the aroma of lemon and chicken sifts through the room.

“Mmm,” Filomena hums. “Is that what I think it is?” She eyes the bag hungrily, rubbing her hands together as she takes her seat at the table.

“Yup,” her father responds with a grin. “Only the best chicken francese from your favorite restaurant.”

Filomena does a little dance in her seat, making her father chuckle. “I should get in trouble more often.”

This earns her a warning glare from her mother, who says, “I don’t think so. And, hey, up.” She beckons Filomena with her pointer finger. “Come help me set the table.” She sets down three plates and three bowls on the counter.

Filomena gets up, carries the dishes to the table, and sets them down in their appropriate places. Then she grabs three napkins and folds them in triangles, placing them next to each plate.

While her mother is rummaging through the silverware drawer for forks and knives, there’s a knock at the front door.

Filomena and her parents exchange curious glances, and her father says, “I wonder who that could be. Are you expecting anyone, honey?” he asks his wife.

“No…,” she says, almost as if asking a question. “Fil? Are you?”

Filomena shakes her head, confused. “No. Come on. You guys know I don’t have any friends.” The Fettucine Alfredos have disappeared from school—the only explanation was that they had transferred—but Maggie Martin found another group to hang out with.

“I’ll go see who it is,” she says, half hoping for something, though she’s not quite sure what.

She peeps through the hole to see who it is, and smiles. For just outside, on her doorstep, are Jack, Gretel, and Alistair.

Filomena opens the door. There they are. Gretel, her hair in a high ponytail; Alistair, looking no worse for the wear after being squeezed by ogres; and Jack, his vines popping out of his arms, that jaunty green cap on his forehead.

“Hey,” says Jack.

“Hey,” says Filomena.

“You look fabulous!” says Gretel. “Is that your school uniform? So chic.”

“You guys should come in. We’re having dinner. Mum and Dad will insist you join us,” Filomena tells them.

“Oooooh,” says Alistair.

“No time,” says Jack. “We’re not just dropping by to say hi. This is important.”

“What’s going on?”

Jack lowers his voice. “The Stolen Slipper. We’ve got to get it back.”

“For Cinderella?” Filomena asks, confused.

“From Cinderella,” says Gretel. “That wench!”

Filomena scrunches her face in response. If she remembers the story correctly …

Oh, never mind, she thinks as she recalls previous versions of stories that are blatantly untrue or false, at least according to the people who actually live in fairy tales.

Filomena is about to cross the doorstep when she stops. “Wait, I forgot something!” She rushes back inside, closes the door, and heads to her bedroom, where she grabs a book.

“I started writing the thirteenth book,” Filomena informs them, out of breath from running upstairs and back down so fast. “But not all the pages are filled in.”

“So let’s fill them in,” says Jack.

“You are coming, aren’t you?” Gretel asks. “I blew off a nail appointment for this. You’d better come!”

Alistair stifles a laugh and Jack elbows him, letting him know it’s time to be serious.

Filomena looks back and forth among her small group of Never After pals, each of them awaiting her response with eager and expectant eyes. In that moment, she realizes she just accidentally lied to her parents … again.

“Mum, Dad, come over and meet my friends. Because I do have friends,” she says. “They’re just not from school.”

Her parents come over to meet everyone, and there’s a lot of hugging.

“You’ve got to go back to Never After, don’t you?” asks Mum.

Filomena nods.

“Be brave,” says Dad. “And come home to us.”

“Group hug!” she says, holding on to both of her parents as tightly as she can.

They let go. They let her go.

Now she and her friends are on to their next adventure. But not before they hunt down a couple of cheeseburgers.