Hidden Princess

Chapter 20

On Christmas morning, I wake up to Alex's arm laying across my stomach. I guess we fell asleep watching movies last night. Instead of getting up, I snuggle against Alex and close my eyes, trying to go back to sleep. However, before I even close my eyes, the alarm goes off. I groan and maneuver my way over Alex and across the bed to turn it off. The downfall of having such a big bed. When I finally get the stupid thing to turn off, I feel Alex wrap his arms around my waist.

"Merry Christmas, babe," He says against my ear.

"Feliz Natal, meu amor," I say as I turn around to give him a kiss his cheek. "Merry Christmas, my love." I glance over at the clock again and sigh. "We better head downstairs before they send someone up here to get us, and my mother gets the wrong idea about what happened in here last night."

Alex laughs as I climb out of the bed. I grab the light blue silk robe that is draped over the foot of my bed and pull it on as I slip on the pair of silver flip flops I keep by my bed. Alex climbs out of the bed and slips on the pair of sandals he wore up here last night. He is shirtless and is wearing a pair of black basketball shorts. I let my eyes wander down his torso, a smile forming on my face.

"Like what you see, babe?" Alex asks, smirking as he catches me checking him out.

"Oh, meu amor, I like it very much," I wink at him before we both crack up laughing. "We are going to stop by your room and you are going to put on a shirt first," I tell him after we calm down.

When we stop by Alex's room, he grabs a light grey t-shirt and throws it on. Then we head downstairs and I lead Alex to the parlor in the back of the palace. Its the only room that is only our family, and our invited guests, are allowed in. Mamãe only allows one maid back here to clean the room. Dário, Amália and Nicodemo are allowed as well, but that's because they are like family to us.

"Here we are," I say as I push open the parlor door. The parlor is set up more like a normal living room, due to Mamãe's wishes. She wasn't a royal before she married Papai, so she wanted at least one room that wasn't outrageously lavish, like every other room in the palace. There is a Christmas tree in the far corner of the parlor, with colored lights and ornaments hung up on the branches. Remi, Mamãe and I spent all day on Monday decorating the tree just like we used to do when we were younger.

"Wow, why have we never been back here before?" Alex asks quietly as we walk in. Everyone else is sitting around the parlor, waiting for us.

"Because we only come back here for family time and special holidays, and we haven't had any of that since we've been here." I whisper back. "Bom dia mamãe, feliz Natal. (Good morning mom, merry Christmas)" I say as I lean over and kiss my mother's cheek before I sit down on the floor next to the tree, Alex sitting next to me.

"Feliz Natal, querida, Alex." My mother smiles at us.

"Feliz Natal, Lygia." Alex says, causing my mother's smile to grow.

"I see you two finally made it down," Remi says as he walks in with a tray of glasses, while Dário follows behind with the bottles of champaign and orange juice for mimosas, as well as the sparkling cider for those of us who are under the age of 19.

"And I see my favorite cider, so hurry up and pour me a glass!" I tell them as they set everything down.

"Someone is impatient," Dário smirks.

"I always am when cider is involved, you should know that Rio," I throw back at him with a smirk as he hands me my glass, filled to the top with the bubbly goodness. "Mmm" I moan as I take a long sip.

"I'm ready for presents!" Amália says, as she bounces in her spot beside Xavier.

"You're always ready for presents, Lia," Remi says.

"Well, duh, it's the best part!" Lia squeals. Just then the door to the parlor opens and Nicodemo comes in.

"Desculpe estou atrasado (Sorry I'm late)" He says as he sits down next to Remi on the couch. 

"Nico?" I ask the question with just his name and the look I give him. 

"Estou bem, Nia. (I'm fine)" He says with a small smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes. I nod and let it be for now. I know he's having a hard time, and it's always worse around the holidays. Remi pats Nico on the back as Dário plops on the couch on the other side of him.

"Alright time for presents!" Lia says, before repeating it in Portuguese for Nico, who shakes his head with a smirk in her direction. She grabs the first present and checks the name on it. "Cami, this one is yours!" She says excitedly as she hands her the gift. "It's from Nia."

I watch with a smile as Cami rips the wrapping paper off the gift and opens the box before she gasps at what is inside.

"I had it made especially for you," I tell her as she looks at me. She looks back down in the box before pulling out the tiara I commissioned our royal jeweler to make for her.

"It's so pretty, I love it Nia!" She says as she looks at it from every angle.

"Put it on! I want to see how good it looks on you!" I say and Cami hesitates for a second before carefully placing the tiara on her head. "See you were just born to wear a tiara," I say with a smile before I turn to look at Remi. "What do you think, Remi? She looks good in a tiara right?" Remi clears his throat before answering.

"Um, yeah. It looks great Cami," he says, a hint of a blush on his cheeks. I smile to myself as I turn back.

The next gift is to Lacey and James. Lacey looks confused as she pulls out a set of keys.

"Those would be to our beach house, about an hour away from here. You two are welcome to use it whenever you would like," my mom tells them and Lacey's jaw drops.

After everyone opens all their presents, Alex reaches behind me and grabs one last present that I hadn't noticed before.

"This is for you," he says as he hands me the small package. I take the gift and I open it to reveal a charm bracelet. There are two charms on it, one is a heart and the other is a soccer ball. "I know it's not as extravagant as what you're used to -" I cut him off with a kiss.

"I love it," I say as I pull back. I hand it to him before holding my wrist out to him. "Put it on for me?" I ask and Alex smiles as he takes the bracelet and clasps it around my wrist. He rubs circles on the inside of my wrist with his thumb before bringing my wrist up to his lips and places a kiss on the inside of my wrist and I smile as our eyes meet.