Sofia the First: A Royal Birthday

The Hunt Is Over

For the whole week, Sofia had been worrying about how her birthday will be this year. Meanwhile, Hugo had been worrying about finding the perfect gift for her.

Finally, it was the day before Sofia's birthday, and Hugo still hasn't found a great birthday present for Sofia. He was so tired from doing so that he just lay on his bed with a pillow covering his face and groaned much to Axel's concern.

"Are you okay?" Axel asked.

"I'm fine, Axel," Hugo replied, sounding muffled with the pillow still covering his face. "I've been searching for a birthday present for Sofia all week, and I still can't find the perfect one. Maybe I shouldn't go to the party after all."

Axel was surprised to hear his little brother say something like that. He removed the pillow from Hugo's face and asked, "Are you out of your mind? That's the most ridiculous thing you've ever said."

"It sounded less ridiculous in my head," Hugo said. "But I can't show up at Sofia's party without a gift for her—I'd really let her down."

Axel knew that Hugo was really upset with himself, but he wanted him to look on the bright side. "Well, I can only think of one way you can let her down: if you don't show up at the party," he said. "You told Sofia you'd be there, and if you choose not to go, you'd let her down anyway. Who knows what she'll think of you if that happened?"

Hugo thought about that, and he wouldn't be any better to Sofia if he didn't show up at her party. "Gosh, you're right," he smiled. "Maybe I shouldn't be so worried about getting Sofia a birthday present—she should be happy that I showed up."

Axel liked how Hugo felt saying that, but then the former realized something. "Hugo, you know Sofia wears her amulet and Enchantlet all the time," he noted. "Does she have a specific pair of earrings that she wears all the time?"

Hugo thought about that—he knew that Sofia never wears any kind of jewelry other than her amulet and Enchantlet, but she didn't have a specific pair of earrings that she loved. "No, she wears earrings, but she doesn't have a specific pair that she loves," he said.

"Then maybe you can give her a pair of earrings," Axel smiled. "They'd have to be her favorites because they came to her from her boyfriend."

Hugo smiled and blushed.

"Maybe we have great earrings in the jewel room," Axel suggested.

Hugo and Axel entered the jewel room, and Hugo looked at many earrings until he came across a pair of ruby pink teardrop earrings. Each teardrop was hanging from a circular ruby. "Wow, these are great," he smiled. "They're the same color as her amulet."

"All righty," Axel smiled.

Hugo put the earrings in a little box and left the jewel room with Axel. Hugo wrapped the little box with purple wrapping paper and tied a pink bow on it. He couldn't wait to give Sofia this little gift.