The Prince

Untitled Part 56

Before Skye could move any further into the house, he was bombarded by everybody giving him a team hug. This was a good moment, he thought, smiling at the family around him. Once they'd let go and peeled off into the living room, Gillie grabbed his hand.

"You are more special than you know. Grandma is so proud of you and what you've done today." She reached up to hug him. "There's nobody better to take the reins."

"Thanks, Gran." He smiled at how her face shone with pride. Sliding his arm around her shoulder, they walked into the sitting room. As soon as he entered, two confetti cannons went off, covering him in glittery strings that clung to him as if they were glued.

"Welcome home, your majesty!" Eric bowed in front of him, laughing. "Look everyone, the Prince has arrived." He taunted Skye.

The others laughed, each coming over to congratulate him. Even Noah offered him a quick hug. Sitting down, he started answering all their questions, which seemed to be endless. At one point Kelley cornered him, but he assured her that he was doing okay so far. Besides their excitement, they all seem to be concerned over him.

"Granddad, Grandpa, Dads, do you think we can talk for a bit?" He got up, walking toward his grandfather's study. He noticed the confusion on their faces as they filed into the room.

"Don't look so worried; it's only been my first day. I didn't cause any damage." He grinned.

"What's so important that we are locked away?" Damon asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"Well, it's about my name," he hesitated, not sure how everyone would feel. "Today I realised that from now on, I'm going to have to be two people. To make things easier, I think I have to make changes to my name."

"Can you be more explicit? You're going to have to learn how to break the bad news without breaking into a sweat, Squirt." Jesse reminded him, "

"Okay, my current name is a bit long and a mouthful." He looked at his dads apologetically. "I still love you guys, and I don't mean this disrespectfully, and I also don't want to choose one above the other." He smiled at the frowns on their faces. This would be one of the few times he would catch his dad unawares.

"Having said that, I think I would rather keep my real name to myself and to my private life." He smiled at his fathers "To simplify everything, I want to take Granddad's name and be called Skye Priestly when I'm doing business and in my public life. Sorry, Dad." 

"Is that okay with you, Granddad?" He turned his eyes hopefully to his grandfather. "It will also help me to keep my private life away from the public."

"It would be an honour that you'd want to take our companies into the future as Skye Priestly; you have always been, Squirt." Damon beamed at him. The young man in front of him seemed to have changed within a blink of the eye.

"It's okay with us if Granddad is happy." Raymond assured him. "So, have you had a look at the impact you made today?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused. He'd made sure that he got everything done and checked up on everything that was on his schedule. 

"Well, the stock price for both companies went up. When they posted online that you used one of Dealer's computers, sales in those also spiked. You're basically a walking billboard at the moment." Raymond laughed. "Anything you wear, eat, or do will be copied, and if you're clever, you can capitalise on that."

"Okay, now it makes sense." He looked troubled at the thought for a moment. "Well, let's not keep everyone from dinner," he got up to leave the room. As he walked into the dining room, another set of confetti cannons exploded over him. 

"Thanks, Uncle Eric." He said sarcastically, trying to wipe the confetti off him. "Please remember, I now have the power to take you out without breaking a sweat."

"Christ on a cracker, you're already abusing your power! I thought you'd wait at least a week before turning into a dick." Eric laughed at him.

"Grandma," he called, looking his uncle dead in the eye. "Uncle Eric just called me a dick!" He shouted loudly to get his grandmother's attention.

"You little shit!" Eric didn't get any further as he had to duck a spoon that went flying across the room, narrowly missing him.

"What did I tell you boys about swearing in front of Skye? She looked around the room for an answer.

"It was Eric, Mom. I had nothing to do with it." Raymond defended himself but quickly ducked his head under his mother's glare.

"You're just as much to blame for allowing him to speak like that! You three need to be taught a lesson." She pointed around the room.

"Now Gillie, let's not be hasty here; I wasn't involved at all and would never talk like that in front of the little one." Jackson tried to put some distance between him and the other two. 

Instead of saying anything, she gave Eric a parting smack to the head as she stormed out of the room.

"That will teach you to mess with me!" He burst out laughing as soon as his grandmother had left the room. "I'm the Prince, remember?"

"I'm questioning your parenting style right now," Eric turned to Raymond, chuckling himself. He walked right into that.

"How does it feel?" Noah asked, drawing his attention away from the others.

"Surreal. I didn't think it would turn out to be such a big thing. I mean, anything could have gone wrong, and this would have been a mess, so I'm also grateful that it didn't. But yeah, it's still hard to believe and to process." He shrugged his shoulder with a smile.

"And will you be okay with everyone climbing into your business like it's Mount Everest?"

"That is unavoidable, according to my PR team, so there is nothing I can do about it. But, thanks to you, I have a lot of experience walking through crowds and mobs!" He grinned, reminded of their forced outings.

"Good to know," Noah smiled. "You know you can always count on me if you need help or anything, don't you? Okay, maybe not money, but I'm always here to listen, buddy."

Skye pulled Noah into a tight hug, thankful for his friend who has steadfastly stayed by his side without changing at all.

"Eww, boy hugs!" Eric poked at them, pulling a face.

"Skye, think very carefully about what you want to say and how you say it." Raymond stalled him as he opened his mouth.

"I'd call you a farm animal, but that'd be an insult to livestock." He ground it out through clenched teeth before taking a seat at the table with the others.

As always, their visit turned out to be an all-nighter, with his grandmother insisting that they sleep over. Lying in the darkened room that was his second bedroom, since his grandmother would insist he stay over every chance she got. He wouldn't be surprised if they were allowed to skip school tomorrow.

Staring into the darkness, it felt like he was looking into his future, everything unknown, new, and unseen. He knew what he was doing when he agreed to own and take over the companies. There were so many ideas he had in his head, so many options and opportunities to be had. He knew that he had to prove himself to the rest of the world or he'd be seen as another nepo-baby with no brain.

His fans! He laughed at the idea. When Klara showed him the number of followers he had, he stumbled back in shock. Why would so many people want to invest their time - their energy—in his life? There were thousands of comments, updating every few seconds. It was insane. But this was the life he'd chosen, he reminded himself. There was no going back now, and in a way he felt relieved that he couldn't take it back and only move forward. 

But let tomorrow worry about tomorrow's problems, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.