They Call Me Princess

Chapter Twenty Seven: Home

I woke up the next morning to loud knocking on the door. "Go away..." I groaned while snuggling closer to my pillow. My pillow also groaned as arms wrapped themselves tighter around me.

Oh yeah... He's here.

"I would say good morning, but that would be pushing it." I chuckled slightly and sat up a bit. The banging on the door continued however, so I did the only sane thing:

I unlocked and whoever it was got a pillow to the face.

"Nice to see you again too, Princess." Charles stood next to my brother while rubbing his nose, a bright smile still on his face. "Yes Charles it is lovely to see you, just not so early in the mourning."

He chuckled and looked behind me to see Alexei slowly getting out of bed. "Oh... Well pardon me, I didn't know that you two were-"

I slammed the door in his face and huffed in annoyance at his antics. "Aren't you a lovely little princess in the mornings."

I growled slightly and turned towards the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower." I heard him sigh, but he didn't argue.

I got out fifteen minutes later with a towel wrapped around me. Alexei was laying on the bed with an arm covering the top half of his face.

The bandages I needed were laying next to him, as if I would let him bandage me again, especially like this.

I quickly snatched the bandages without his noticing and grabbed some clothes out of a bag that Angelica packed me.

I was almost back in the bathroom when Stitch meowed loudly, very, very loudly. I glared at the cat as Alexei removed his arm from over his eyes and looked at me.

A blush dusted across his cheeks as he removed his eyes from my figure and looked at the wall on the other side of the room. "Go ahead and change, I'll apply the bandages afterwards."

I nodded and scurried back into the bathroom, closing the door with a slight slam. I changed as quickly as I could and walked out while drying my hair with a towel.

"Come here." He was already changed in some of Nicholas' clothes with Stitch on his lap. I sat in front of him and allowed him to change the bandages while I pet my cat. "Traitor."

Stitch just purred and wandered off somewhere else. "Weird little kitty..." Alexei gave me a questionable look and stood up after he tied the knot.

"We need to hit the road if we want to be back in time for dinner." I didn't question him and instead just grabbed my bag of clothes and hunted Stitch down to put him in his carrier.

With the bag on my shoulder and the cat carrier in hand, I walked up the stairs and into the living room where everyone was sitting with luggage around them. "Auntie Izzy! Can I ride with you, please!"

Tatianna was sitting between Charles and Nicholas with an annoyed look on her face. "Sure, I guess it won't hurt." She smiled brightly and stuck her tongue out at Charles, who seemed offended by the gesture.

"Well, if everyone's ready, let's go." I sighed as I heaved my bag back on my shoulder. Before I could take a step however, Alexei took it from me and grabbed my hand as he led us out and onto the street.

To my surprise, multiple reporters were standing outside talking on microphones while photographers took pictures of us. Tatianna began to clutch my leg out of nervousness when they noticed her.

"Is Isabelle your mother?"

"Who's the father?"

"How long have you been hidden?"

She buried her face in my leg as her body began to shake from all of the attention. "She's my niece. She wanted to ride with me, so will you please back away from us."

Most of them backed away, embarrassed at their assumptions and allowed us to enter the car. I sat down first and pulled Tatianna into my lap (limos don't really have seatbelts now do they).

Alexei scooted in next to us and closed the door behind him, much to the disappointment of the reports and newscasters.

The car ride was long and I took a small nap at some point, but the relief I felt when we arrived at the palace was the best emotion I've had in months. "Come on Princess, we're home."

The minute I stepped out of the car, Sofia and Maria ran out of the door and straight towards me. I was squished into a hug by them, their children soon imitating them.

"Hi there." I muttered as I awkwardly patted their backs. "I could have killed him. I should've!" I laughed softly at the thought, but ended up just accepting their love.

Tatianna looked at Oliver and Eliza for a moment wondering whether or not she should say something. "That's my niece Tatianna, why don't you three go say hi." Oliver happily complied while Eliza grabbed Catherine's hand and calmly walked over.

"Long time no see Izzy." I glared at my brother as his wife smacked the back of his head. "That's my brother Nicholas, sadly."

I watched as Charles exited their car last with a few bags in hand, and awkwardly wave at the royal family. The sisters looked at their brother questionably, but he just shrugged his shoulders. "He's a friend."

I laughed slightly at the siblings stare down with one another. "Ty vsegda smeyesh'sya, kak budto ty glupyy?"

Do you always laugh like an idiot?

"Tol'ko razdrazhat' tebya."

Only to annoy you.

Vlad smiled at me as he began to take all of our stuff inside with Charles and a few other servants.

I smiled even with his back turned to me. "Lul!"

Jerk!

I called out to him jokingly with a small smirk. "Könnte sein!"

Maybe!

Ah, the memories came flooding back, the car ride from the airport when we battled one another in so many languages. I looked down as Alexei grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Let's get inside, I haven't eaten for nearly a day." It was when he said that I realized that I too hadn't eaten in awhile. "Agreed."