A Princess' Diary

Dear Diary//2

"What?!", I shriek, immediately losing hold of dad's hands.

Married? How can I be married? I'm too young for that and I still have my whole life ahead of me.

Ohh, maybe dad's too drunk and doesn't even know what he's saying,I say, trying hard to convince myself.

"Dad, what do you mean by married?",little Ernie's puzzled tone questions dad, jerking me to reality.

We immediately get a reply to our question from dad.

A loud, I mean, very loud snore indicating that he had finally hit the hay.

"Okay kids. No need to panic. Your father's drunk and maybe he was just spluttering out some stuff from his drunk mind so let's all go to bed and we can question him again tomorrow when he's already in good shape", Mom says, leading us up the stairs to our respective bedrooms.

I stand, waiting for her at the door to Ernie's room while she tucks him in and plants a kiss on his forehead, his right thumb firmly sucked at by his mouth.

We head over solemnly to my room where I crumble on the bed and mom sits on a chair beside my bed, looking at me with so much affection and something else I couldn't decipher, helplessness?

"Honey, I know we are passing through a lot of tough times and I promise that it would pass soon. I just want you to know that I would always love you in spite of every decision we might make in the future", mom says, moving over to hug me passionately while I cry under her.

"Thanks mom. I love you too", I say to her. "Mom, you need to rest. There are bags under your eyes. Don't worry, I am fine", I say, escorting her to the door.

She kisses my forehead and closes the door behind her as I move back into my room to fall on my bed and go into a very deep sleep. I had already had a long day.

***

No kidding! It's 7:45am and I am just waking up! I am going to be so late to school.

I kick my stupid alarm far away from me. Can you imagine?It rang only just now! I quickly pull off my nightie, wrap a towel around my body and run into the bathroom to take the quickest bath ever and in seven minutes, I am through with that. I then jump out of the bathroom and rush over to my closet,scattering and searching and scouring for a suitable cloth to wear. I eventually settle on a pair of some blue jeans I found beneath my wardrobe and a  casual hello kitten shirt that is about two sizes bigger than I am.

I quickly cream my body and park my hair into a bun, turning off the light and retrieving my bag from the cupboard beside the light switch.

I climb down the stairs expecting to be scolded by mom for going late to school but instead, I find her in the kitchen, preparing some toasts and setting one before dad and another before Ernie and then she looks up and smiles at me!

Hmm, on another note, I see dad back to his cheery old self.

"Morning, dad. Morning, mom", I say casually,moving over to mom to collect my toast from her. That is the good thing about toast. I get to take it to school if I am running late.

"Honey, how was the night? ", mom asks,wrapping my toasts for me in a nylon bag and handing it to me.

"Well, I don't think I have had a better night in a long while. It was beautiful", I reply her."Dad, how was the night? ", I ask, trying to strike a conversation with him.

" It was very fine". Dad hesitates then talks again. "Hayley, I am sorry for my behavior the previous night. I know I made things hard for everyone by ending up drunk at the doorstep but there is a reason for it and I think this is the perfect opportunity to let the cat out of the bag".