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Sniffling pitifully, she looks up at them with watery eyes. “Bye-bye, Uncle Max. I’m really sorry I got you in so much trouble, Tori.”
Pride swells in my chest. My sweet little princess.
“It’s okay,” Victoria responds with a tremulous smile. “Maybe you can come over and play dress-up soon?”
“Can I, Daddy?”
“If Uncle Max says it’s okay.”
“Of course. I was thinking of inviting the family over for dinner this weekend anyway. Why don’t you both come a few hours early so the girls have plenty of time to play? Preferably without the naughtiness this time,” he adds with a chuckle.
“That sounds perfect. What do you say to Uncle Max, princess?”
“Thank you, Uncle Max.”
“You are very welcome, sweet Juliet.” Shifting Victoria to his hip, he leans down to press a kiss to Juliet’s forehead. “You’re a good girl, Juju. We just need to curb those naughty urges a little bit.”
“Yes, Uncle Max.”
They exit the dining room together, and I carry Juliet to the kitchen and grab a bottle of milk from the fridge.
Back upstairs in her nursery, I hold my little princess in my arms, listening to the sound of her suckling the bottle, and I can only think how incrediblyrightthis feels. Naughtiness and all, Juliet is mine, and I don’t know how I ever thought it could be anyone but her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Juliet
“Which princess do you wanna be?” Standing in front of what looks to be a collection of dresses from every animated princess film in existence, Victoria tilts her head to the side. “Cinderella is my favorite, but you can be her today if you want.”
I’m not sure I’ve ever had a friend as sweet and giving as Victoria, and the guilt that’s been eating at me since yesterday afternoon claws at my stomach. “You can be Cinderella. Ummm. What’s this purple one?”
Victoria giggles, a high, pure sound that teases a laugh out of me as well. “That’s Rapunzel, silly. You look just like her with your hair!”
I doubt my hair is nearly long enough to contend with Rapunzel, but Victoria seems so excited about it I don’t have the heart to turn her down. Besides, I owe her big time for getting her in so much trouble yesterday.
Not that she or Uncle Max or my Daddy still seem upset. Quite the opposite. They’re all acting as if nothing happened at all. If anything, Uncle Max is acting even warmer toward methan he was before the playdate. When Daddy and I arrived this afternoon, Uncle Max greeted me with a giant hug, swinging me around in his arms before sending Victoria and I off to play.
The whole thing just feels off somehow. I’m used to my parents, and the way they would hold mistakes over my head for months, even years, depending on how badly I embarrassed them. So I can’t help but wonder when the other shoe is going to drop.
I try to ignore that niggling doubt as we change into our princess dresses and matching tiaras and jump feet first into a game Victoria has created for us. And for a few hours, I really feel like a little girl again, twirling in a pretty dress without a care in the world, spending time with my new best friend as we laugh and play until we both collapse onto the pretty pink beanbag chairs piled in the corner of her room.
“This is so much fun.” Victoria wiggles onto her side, grinning at me. “It’s nice to have a friend. Daddy and Caleb and everyone are great, but I like having a friend my own age. Or my own pretend age, I guess?”
“Do you ever get tired of pretending to be a baby?”
“Sometimes. Like yesterday when our Daddies caught us with the champagne, part of me was like ‘Oh my god we aren’tactuallytwo! Let us have some freaking champagne!’ you know?”
“Exactly!” Flopping back on my soft chair, I stare up at the ceiling and sigh. “It’s fun for a little bit but I don’t know if I can live like this forever.”
“Are you really so sad here?”
“No. And that’s the crazy part. Like, as long as I’m playing or spending time with Jasper, I don’t mind it. But when I sit and think about it for too long I start to question my sanity. We can’t possibly be happy here, can we? Forever?”
There’s a long silence, and I start to worry I’ve offended her when she finally speaks up again. “I could. But like we said the other day, you’re not me. I really think you should talk to your Daddy about how you’re feeling, Juju.”
Maybe she’s right. But the idea of approaching Jasper feels far too big at the moment, so I push the idea aside and turn my head to grin at her. “Have I ever told you how much I hated the nickname Juju?”
“No!” Eyes wide with horror, Victoria slaps a hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t know! That’s what Uncle Jasper calls you, so I just assumed…”