“I’m sorry to interrupt,” the prince started right in.
“You’re not interrupting, Alexander, we’re just finishing up here,” the queen said.
“I wanted to give you an update that everything is in place for the tree lighting tonight,” the prince said.
“That’s wonderful news,” the queen said. “Let’s all meet in here before we go tonight. I’d like to get some pictures of you and Anna all dressed up.”
“I’m sorry, we’ll have to do that after the event because I need to get to the village early in case anything is needed last minute. I’ll meet you all there,” the prince said as he quickly turned to leave.
Kaylie felt sorry for the princess when she saw how disappointed she looked, but was impressed that she never complained or said a word.
A few moments after the prince left, Ms. Meyers entered.
“It looks like you’ve all had a wonderful tea,” Ms. Meyers said.
“It was delicious,” the princess said, making them all smile. “And now you’ve come to get me to go upstairs.” She turned to Kaylie. “I’m finishing a painting before we go to our tree lighting. I will see you later.”
Kaylie once again was amazed at how mature the princess was. “By all means, go create your next masterpiece. Thank you for inviting me to tea.”
“You only drank the champagne,” the princess said. “Next time, you should try the tea, too.”
The queen laughed and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
After Ms. Meyers and the princess left, the queen picked up the champagne bottle that was in the ice bucket and poured herself and Kaylie more champagne.
“It would be a shame to let this go to waste,” the queen said, lifting her glass. “Unless you’d rather have tea?”
Kaylie laughed. “No, champagne is perfect. Thank you. This really has been a wonderful day.”
The queen stood up, holding her glass. “And it’s not over yet. Please, bring your champagne and come with me. I have something for you.”
Kaylie stood up. “For me? What is it?”
“A Christmas surprise,” the queen said with a twinkle in her eyes.
A few minutes later, when Kaylie entered the queen’s personal sitting room, she was once again impressed with the queen’s design skills and how she gave the traditional royal décor, a modern twist so it felt fresh and inviting, not stuffy or pretentious.
For her sitting room, the queen had chosen soft shades of pink and gray to decorate with that made the room feel like a calming, peaceful retreat. Above the fireplace, on the mantel, there were wonderful candid family pictures of the prince and princess. She smiled seeing how happy and relaxed everyone looked.
“This is a lovely room,” Kaylie said.
“Thank you,” the queen said with a smile. “This room originally was very dark, decorated in the same deep red and gold tones you see throughout the castle. While those colors are a lovely part of our history, I felt like for this room it would be nice to brighten things up a little, and have softer colors. These color choices are inspired by a spa I visited in Switzerland that was so tranquil you could just feel your stress melt away. I wanted a place like that here so when things get too hectic or demanding, I could hide away in here and recharge and reboot.”
“That makes perfect sense,” Kaylie said. “You’ve done a marvelous job. You have quite the eye for design. I need to bring you back to New York so you can redesign my apartment, because I could definitely use a place to escape and reenergize.”
“And how have you decorated it?” the queen asked.
Kaylie looked guilty. “You know, come to think of it, I haven’t decorated it at all. I know that sounds terrible, but I’m working so much, I just think of it as a place to crash and get some sleep before I have to go back to work.”
“Then where do you relax?” the queen asked.
Kaylie laughed. “Relax? What’s that? That’s not really a New York City thing.”
The queen arched an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound healthy.”
“Now you sound like my friend Rachel who is always telling me I need more work-life balance, but honestly I love my work so much, I don’t mind,” Kaylie said.
“Until you lost your job,” the queen said.
Kaylie sighed. “Yes, and that has caused stress, that’s for sure, but hopefully this new job lead will pan out and I’ll be back on track soon.”
“But is work enough?” the queen asked, watching her closely. “Don’t you want a family, or someone special, a home, a place to start your own traditions?”
Kaylie shrugged. “I guess that hasn’t been on my priority list. I mean, sure, everyone wants to have someone in their life that’s special, but I’ve always said I’ll get a life once I make it in my career, because right now that’s where I have to put all my focus. I wouldn’t have any energy left to work on a relationship, and I know they’re a lot of work.”
The queen gave her a thoughtful look. “Yes, they are, but they’re also what life is all about. The people you love, your friends, and family—they are what really matter the most. Jobs come and go. You should work to live, not live to work. Maybe you shouldn’t be in such a rush to get this next job if you haven’t had a break in a while,” the queen said. “You could take this time over the holidays to breathe a little and enjoy your life beyond your work. Christmas has a way of reminding people of what really matters the most, like family. Work will always be there, you can always find a new job, but your family might not always be there. You should appreciate them while you can.”
When Kaylie saw the queen glance over at a family picture on the fireplace mantel that had her husband and the prince’s wife in it, she knew the queen must be thinking about all she’d lost in her own family.
Kaylie thought about her grandma and how she’d give anything in the world to have one more day with her and do one of the Someday Trips that were in their journal. Maybe the queen was right, she thought. Maybe she needed to find a way to spend more time with her family while she still could.
The queen interrupted her thoughts by walking over to a cozy-looking window seat in the corner and picking up a beautifully-wrapped Christmas present. The present was in a big box that was about two feet wide and one foot tall. It was wrapped in shimmering gold foil paper with a giant red satin bow. She handed the present to Kaylie.
“What’s this?” Kaylie asked, surprised.
“Just something I thought you might like to have while you’re here,” the queen answered with a smile. “You can call it an early Christmas present.”
“You shouldn’t have….” Kaylie started and then stopped when the queen held up her hand.
“You always accept a Christmas present graciously,” the queen said. “There doesn’t have to be a reason for them. It’s Christmas time, and that is reason enough. It’s the season for giving, and I only give gifts that I’ve put a lot of thought into, so please, open it.”
Kaylie knew better than to argue with the queen so she sat down in the window seat and slowly started to untie the red ribbon. She was savoring the moment. This was also one of the loveliest wrapped presents she’d ever seen and it had been a while since she’d opened a real Christmas present. Her family stopped exchanging gifts when they stopped getting together and when they did finally all meet up sometimes, there were little things, like the snow globes she got them to exchange, but they were never called Christmas presents. With her friends, like Rachel, they always just went for drinks or dinner and called it a day.
When Kaylie finally opened the box and took out the white tissue paper, she gasped when she saw what was inside. In awe, she reverently pulled out a luxurious white fur coat and was speechless.
“Since we’ll be outside for the tree lighting ceremony tonight, I thought this would be much more appropriate and nicer than my ski jacket you’ve been wearing,” the queen said.
“Oh, but I couldn’t,” Kaylie said, shaking her head in amazement.
“Don’t worry,” the queen said. “It’s not real fur. So, it’s politically correct, and I think still very stylish and the most important thing is it will keep you warm. The princess and I will also be wearing our faux furs. The princess has a whole collection, she adores them.”
Kaylie couldn’t resist cuddling the fur coat and rubbing her cheek against its softness. “I can see why. This is so beautiful. I don’t know what to say…”
“Just say thank you and enjoy it,” the queen said, looking pleased. “I got you white because I noticed you already wear a lot of black.”
Kaylie looked confused. “How would you…”
“We did a background check on you after Bob gave me your name, and in all your social media pictures you were wearing black, so I thought this would be a nice change,” the queen explained.
Kaylie’s eyes widened. “You did a background check on me?”
“Of course,” the queen said. “You don’t think I’d let just any journalist into our home to be with my family, trust them with our Christmas traditions and ask them to create this fairy tale for my granddaughter?”
“No, of course not,” Kaylie said. She felt honored that she had passed the queen’s scrutiny.
“Please, try the coat on, let’s see if it fits,” the queen said. “If not, we can take it back when we go into the village tonight and exchange it for another size.”
As Kaylie slipped into the coat, her smile grew. “It’s perfect. It feels so soft and luxurious. Now I’m the one who feels like a princess.” She snuggled the coat with a blissful sigh. “Truly, thank you. This is such a thoughtful gift. It will also really come in handy back in New York City. I will treasure it always.”
“I am so glad you like it,” the queen said, looking pleased. She then walked over to a nearby table and picked up a smaller Christmas present that was wrapped identically to the first one. “Then you will hopefully enjoy this, too.”
“Okay, seriously?” Kaylie said with a laugh as she took the present. “You have to stop.”
“No, I don’t,” the queen said with attitude. “I’m the queen. I get to do whatever I want. At least that’s what I tell my son all the time, even if he doesn’t listen.”
They shared a smile as Kaylie opened the next present. Kaylie couldn’t believe it when, inside the box, she found a matching white faux fur hat to go with her fabulous faux fur coat and some festive red leather gloves that she noticed right away had the family’s swan crest embossed in gold near each wrist.
“We have our Swan’s Gate crest put on special pieces of clothing, so I thought you might like to have it on your gloves. All the family’s gloves are like this.”
Kaylie shook her head, marveling at her gifts. “I don’t know what to say. This is so generous and thoughtful of you.”
“Well, I want to thank you for being here and staying with us,” the queen said. “I know for our privacy you weren’t told the whole story about this job and I can see how that has caused you concern. I’m truly thankful that you’ve chosen to stay with us and help me make this a very special Christmas for my granddaughter. I’ve always trusted Bob, but now meeting you in person, I know he was right that you are the perfect person to create this fairy tale, and I want you to know how grateful I am. This means everything to me and my family.”
“Thank you for having faith in me,” Kaylie said, feeling a little overwhelmed by the confidence the queen had in her. The last thing she wanted to do was let the family down. Even though she had just met the royal family, she already felt a growing sense of responsibility to create a fairy tale that would help preserve the family’s Christmas traditions for future generations.
“I have plenty of faith in you,” the queen said, as if reading her thoughts. “You just need to have faith in yourself.”
“Your faith in me is the best present of all,” Kaylie said, and meant every word.
The queen nodded, pleased. “I’m sure you’d like to relax before we go tonight. I can take you back to your room.”
“I don’t know about relaxing,” Kaylie said with a laugh. “But I could do some work on our story. I think I know my way to my room. I just leave here and turn right, right?”
“Left,” the queen said with a smile. “Then just go to the end of the hall, take a right and an immediate left and go all the way to the end of that hall and your room is on the right.”
“Fantastic,” Kaylie said. “And thank you again for everything.”
A few minutes later, Kaylie surprised herself by not getting lost. As she entered her room, she was surprised to see another call from Rachel coming in on her phone. When she answered, Rachel jumped right in.
“I have big news!” Rachel shouted, unable to contain her excitement. “You got the assignment!”