Princess Bella was wide awake even before her rainbow-shaped alarm clock went off. Sometimes she liked to set her alarm instead of her mom waking her up.
Shortly after, there was a knock at her door, and Queen Katherine and King Phillip stepped inside Bella’s bedroom.
“Happy birthday, Bella!” Queen Katherine, clad in a plush white robe, exclaimed. She hurried to Bella’s bedside and kissed her forehead.
“Happy eighth birthday, sweetheart,” said King Phillip. He ruffled Bella’s hair after kissing her cheek.
“I can’t believe it!” Bella said excitedly. “I’m eight! I thought I’d be up all night and counting down until midnight, but I fell asleep.”
Her parents laughed.
“Throw on a robe and come to the breakfast table,” Queen Katherine said. “Your favorite breakfast is ready.”
Once her parents left Bella’s room, she flopped back onto her pillow. I’m eight! I’m eight! she chanted over and over in her head. She had been dreaming about this day for as long as she could remember. It was time to get her birthday started! Then Bella remembered. Ivy and Clara. She had called them last night, but neither of her friends had answered.
You have to at least smile and pretend to be happy for Mom and Dad, Bella thought.
She put her feet into fuzzy pink slippers and pulled her terry-cloth robe over her matching shorts and T-shirt pj’s. She dashed to the breakfast table. All of the castle staff—the chefs, gardener, stable workers, Lyssa, maids—had gathered around the table. They smiled and chanted, “Happy birthday, Princess Bella!”
Bella blushed as pink as her slippers. “Thank you,” she said to everyone.
Color-changing streamers that twirled in the air hung from the ceiling and formed a canopy around the breakfast table. Glittery balloons flashed on and off as they floated from the floor to the ceiling and back down again.
Plates, ready to be filled, hovered at the start of a luxurious breakfast buffet. Fruit, waffles, eggs, bacon, and sausage filled silver trays. A glass filled itself with orange juice for Bella, and two mugs soon were brimming with coffee for her parents. Bella’s plate, waiting in front of her, moved toward the buffet—ready to fill itself with whatever food Bella wanted.
“Ooh, this is so beautiful!” Bella said happily, clapping her hands. “Can we start eating now?”
Everyone laughed. King Phillip pulled out a chair for Bella and she took her seat, ready to dive into her birthday breakfast. Bella gulped her entire glass of juice first.
Lyssa poured Bella another glass of OJ, and the pitcher refilled itself. Bella glanced at the waffles and her plate wafted through the air, stopping in front of the waffles.
“Two, please,” Bella said.
Two steaming waffles lifted from the silver tray and slid onto Bella’s plate. Immediately, new waffles replaced the ones that had floated to her plate.
She grinned and looked at the fruit. Her plate was going to get a workout today!