Once Upon a Wish

2

Luke takes me by the hand and leads me to the elevators. As we wait, I start to feel the weight of eyes on me. I glance around and see at least eight people gawking at us. I push my finger to my lower lip as nerves threaten to overtake me and nudge Luke in the side.

"People are staring," I whisper.

Without missing a beat, he leans over and says loud enough for those closest to hear, "Of course they are, Sugar. We're stunning. They're just jealous," he punctuates the last word, "that they don't get to play princess for the kids upstairs."

I notice one of the onlookers that is standing just a few feet behind us pull at his collar and clear his throat. When he sees me looking, he smiles sheepishly and nods. I step closer to Luke and he tucks me into a side hug.

"See, nothing to worry about." The elevator doors open and we get in. Everyone else stays behind, waiting for the next one, and Luke and I end up with the whole lift to ourselves.

"So, Cupcake, how should we entertain the little ones?" he muses.

"I-I don't know," I stutter. I hadn't thought this through. We'll have to actually do things! I find myself wishing the others were here, and that they would provide a bit of a buffer for me...something of a human shield from the kids that are sure to have higher expectations than I can meet. Gabriel could sing to them, and I'm just positive that Victor and Kota would play the roles of Prince Charming excellently. I can just picture Nathan and Silas giving the kids rides, and grumbly North would probably end up being a big softie.

The elevator stops moving, and I am yanked out of my panicked thoughts when the doors don't open. I look over at Luke and he's studying me seriously.

"I've just paused the elevator, Sang. Don't worry." He takes my face in between his hands and looks directly into my eyes. "We don't have to do this if it's too much for you, Sugar. I just thought it might be something you would enjoy."

I nod my head and he smiles down at me.

"I can do this," I say more to myself than to him. "We just need to make a plan first."

"Kota would be proud," he tells me. It centers me, the idea of making any of my amazing boys proud.

An idea pops into my head, and I slip my phone from my bra as discreetly as possible. Luke grins and I blush.

"You have the best pockets!"

I ignore him and open up the itunes app on my phone. I search for a few minutes before finding the song I'm looking for. I hesitate for a moment before downloading it, and promise myself that I'll slip a dollar into Victor's pocket the first chance I get.

"What do you have there?" Luke inquires. I show him the song from Frozen, and his face lights up. "Oh! You should get the karaoke version, and we can sing it for the kids!"

I laugh and shake my head vehemently. "No way, Luke. Your voice might sound like heaven, but I've had one too many vinegar and lemon juice cocktails to carry this one off." He cringes, but I try to keep my tone light. "We'll lip sync and dance around for them, and then maybe read some books or something. They do have books up there, right?"

His voice goes gentle and he takes my hand in his. "I'm sure they do, Sugar, and I can tell you that your singing is perfectly fine, but if you want to do it this way, I won't argue. Besides, I'm not sure if they're ready for a baritone Elsa. Maybe I should have gotten a Kristoff costume instead-"

I take a page from Gabriel's book and pinch his lips shut with my fingers.

"Shh. I think your Elsa is brilliant. You're the most beautiful Elsa I've ever met!"