“Lucky! Lucky! Lucky!” they yell.
“I like that name. You girls are pretty wound up.”
“They were awake the entire flight,” Mom tells us, looking exhausted. “We need to get them to bed.”
Gracie pulls on my hand, leading me toward her room. “I show Kiki something!”
“I wouldn't show her, Gracie,” Avery says. “She's gonna be mad at you.”
Grace sticks her tongue out at Avery, then turns to me with a grin and pulls me through the living room, down the hall, and into her closet.
She waves her hand at five pairs of my high-heeled shoes.
“Why do you have my shoes in here, Gracie?”
“Cuz when Kiki went on adventure, I go in Kiki’s closet. These shoes missed you.”
“We never told Mommy on her,” Ivery confides.
“I took care of Kiki shoes,” Gracie tells me. “I pet them. Talk to them. Wear them.”
I give her a big hug. “Thanks for taking care of my shoes, sweetie. I really appreciate it.”
She gives me a satisfied grin and says quietly, “They want to live with me now.”
“Hmm,” I say, pretending to deal with her. “Is it okay if I borrow them sometimes?”
She nods, her little curls springing around her face. “I let you wear them. I told Mommy I want to be on TV. That I promise to be good.” She picks her Pooh Bear off the floor. “Watch.” She sets Pooh on her bed and says, “Mr. Pooh, I think you should change your name, because it’s like dog poo. And dog poo is yucky.” Then she pretends to be Pooh, holding him up in front of her face and talking in a deeper voice. “I don't want to be named Pooh. I want to be called Mr. Bear.” Then she puts Pooh out in front of her and replies in her voice. “I think Mr. Bear is a lovely name.”
She shakes Pooh's hand and turns toward me and bows.
Of course, I clap.
“You will be a brilliant actress, Gracie, if that's what you want to be.”
She gives me a neck-crushing hug, then screams when Brooklyn brings the triplets in to get ready for bed.
“Tell us a story!” Avery yells.
“Yes! We missed your princess stories,” Emery agrees.
“Fine. Everyone on the bed!”
I smile at Brooklyn as Gracie sits on his lap.
Then I start telling the girls our story.
“Once upon a time, there was a girl.”
“No!” Ivery says. “She can't be just a girl.”
“Yeah,” Emery chimes in. “She has to be a princess.”
“Okay, fine. She was a Hollywood princess.”
“Like me?” Gracie says.
“If that’s what you want to be, Gracie, sure.”
“Wait,” she says as she leaps off his lap. “I need something!” She digs in a toy chest, pulls out a pink-jeweled tiara, and puts it on her head. Then she runs out of the room and comes flying back in with one of Mom’s faux fur vests.
She does a little bow. “Okay, I ready!”
“So the Hollywood princess went to school, where she was popular, dressed nice, and dated the perfect boy. But the princess was sad.”
“Why was she sad?” Avery asks.
“Because the princess worried too much about what everyone thought about her and not enough about what she thought of herself. And sometimes the princess was kinda mean to people.”
“Was she a bad princess?” Ivery asks.
“Princesses can't be bad,” Emery says sarcastically, shaking her head at her sister.
“So, one night after a big ball—”
“Was Prince Charming at the ball?” Gracie yells and does a twirl. “Did they dance and kiss?”
“Did she lose her shoe?” Avery asks seriously.
Gracie turns and looks up at Brooklyn. “I hate when I lose my shoe. Bad Kiki chewed up my red glitter shoes and I was very mad. I say, Bad Kiki! But, now, Kiki—I mean Lucky—is a good puppy. She very brave.”
“I agree. She’s very brave. But, no,” I continue. “Prince Charming wasn't at the ball. And the princess was sad, so she went outside and sat on her beach. She wondered where her prince was. Sometimes she almost felt like she could feel him. So she made a wish on the moon. She wished she would find him.”
They all speak at the same time:
“Did a bad guy keep them apart?”
“Was the prince in a dungeon?”
“Did she go rescue him from a dragon?”
“No, silly. The prince is supposed to rescue the princess.”
“Well,” I say. “There was a very bad man. He wanted to lock the princess away in a tower and keep her all to himself.”
“Like Rapunzel?” Avery asks.
“Kinda. The princess was afraid of the bad man, so, to protect her family and her adorable little sisters, she ran away and hid.”
“Where did she go?”
Emery raises her hand. “I know. I know! She went on an adventure!”
“She did. To a school where no one knew she was a princess.”
Gracie grabs my face in her little hands. “Did she lose her crown?”
“Kinda. But she found herself.”
“What do you mean?” Ivery asks, looking perplexed.